THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT, 1554-1555.
From Dieppe, after having launched across the channel the thunderbolt
of the "Faithful Admonition," Knox retired to Geneva, where he enjoyed
the friendship of John Calvin and other Swiss divines, and where,
though he was now bordering on fifty years of age, he applied himself
to the study of Hebrew with all the ardour of youth. But such a man
could not long be permitted to enjoy learned leisure. Accordingly we
find that in the end of September, 1554, he was called to be one of the
pastors of a congregation of English exiles who had found an asylum in
Frankfort-on-the-Maine, a city whose inhabitants had early embraced the
principles of the Reformation, and befriended refugees from all
countries so far as that could be done by them without coming to an
open breach with the Emperor. Already a church of French Protestants
was in existence there, and on application to the authorities the
English exiles obtained the joint use of the place of worship allotted
to that congregation, on condition that they should in their {84}
service conform as nearly as possible to the forms observed by the
French. This was thankfully accepted by the English, who agreed among
themselves, be it observed before Knox appeared among them, to give up
the audible responses, the Litany, the surplice, and other things which
"in these reformed churches would seem more than strange." It is added
in the "Brief Discourse of the Troubles begun at Frankfort" which lies
before us as we write, that "as touching the ministration of the
sacraments, sundry things were also by common consent omitted as
superstitious and superfluous;" and that "after that the congregation
had thus concluded and agreed, and had chosen their minister and
deacons to serve for a time, they entered their church on the 29th of
July."
Having thus secured for themselves religious privileges, the Frankfort
exiles by a circular letter invited their brethren in other continental
cities to come and share the blessing with them. To this the English
residents at Strasburg replied recommending certain persons as well
qualified to fill the offices of superintendent or bishop, and pastors,
but before receiving that communication the brethren at Frankfort had
already chosen three persons, one of whom was Knox, to be their
pastors, and to be invested with co-ordinate authority. The invitation
was not specially attractive to Knox, both because he was loth to
sacrifice the advantages for study which he was enjoying at Geneva, and
because he feared the outbreak of such a {85} controversy as ultimately
arose. But moved by what McCrie has styled "the powerful intercession
of Calvin," he accepted the call and went to Frankfort about the end of
October or the beginning of November. Before his arrival there,
however, the harmony of the congregation had been disturbed by the
reception of a letter from the English residents at Zurich, who
declined to come to Frankfort unless they obtained security that the
Church would use the Prayer-Book of King Edward VI., on the ground that
the rejection or alteration of that form of service would give occasion
for the charge against them of fickleness in their religion, and would
be a virtual condemnation of those who at that very time were suffering
persecution on its account. To this the members of the church at
Frankfort replied that they had obtained permission to use their place
of worship on the condition of their conforming as closely as possible
to the French ritual; that there were some things in the English book
which would give offence to the Protestants of the place whose
hospitality they were enjoying; that certain ceremonies in that book
had been occasion of scruple to conscientious persons at home; that
they were very far indeed from pronouncing condemnation of those who
had drawn up that book, since they themselves had altered many things;
and that the sufferers in England were testifying for more important
matters than rites of mere human appointment. This answer, while it
somewhat abated the confidence of the friends at Zurich, did not {86}
drive them from their purpose, for they instigated their brethren at
Strasburg to make the same request both by letter and by deputation,
and thus widened the area of the controversy.
This was the state of things when Knox appeared upon the scene, and
although his convictions were strongly on the side of those who opposed
the adoption of the Book of Common Prayer, he strove to act the part of
a peacemaker, as far as he consistently could. For when the
congregation agreed to adopt the order of worship followed in Calvin's
Church at Geneva, he declined to carry out that determination until
their learned brethren in other places should be consulted. He
confessed that he could not conscientiously administer the sacraments
according to the English book, but he offered to restrict himself
solely to the preaching of the word, and let some one else administer
the sacraments; and if that freedom could not be granted to him, he
desired that he might be altogether released from the pastorate to
which he had been chosen. But the congregation would not consent to
give him up, and in the hope of preventing future controversy, Knox,
who was joined by Whittingham, afterwards Dean of Durham, and others,
drew up a fair summary and description of the English Prayer-Book,
which they sent to Calvin for his inspection and advice. In his reply
the Genevese Reformer bewailed the existence of unseemly contentions
among them; claimed that he had always counselled moderation respecting
external {87} ceremonies, yet condemned the obstinacy of those who
would consent to no change of old customs; declared that in the English
liturgy he had found many "_tolerabiles ineptias_,"--tolerable
fooleries,--which might be borne with in the beginning of the
Reformation, but ought to be removed as soon as possible; gave it as
his opinion that the circumstances of the exiles in Frankfort warranted
them to attempt the removal of such blemishes; and rather caustically
remarked that "he could not tell what they meant who so greatly
delighted in the leavings of popish dregs."
This letter produced considerable effect, and a committee, of which
Knox was one, was appointed to draw up a form which might harmonize all
parties. When this committee met, Knox acknowledging that there was no
hope of peace unless "one party something relented," indicated how far
he was willing to go in the direction of compromise; and the result was
the drawing up of a form of which "some part was taken from the English
Prayer-Book, and other things put to, as the state of the Church
required." By the consent of the congregation this order was to
continue until the month of April; and if any contention should
meanwhile arise, the matter was to be referred for decision to these
five learned men, namely, Calvin, Musculus, Martyr, Bullinger, and
Vyret. This agreement was put in writing, and subscribed by the
members of the congregation amid the joy of all. "Thanks were given to
God, brotherly reconciliation followed, great familiarity (was) used,
and the former {88} grudges forgotten; yea, the Holy Communion was upon
this happy agreement also ministered."
But this peace was not of long continuance, for on the 13th of March
Dr. Richard Cox, who had been the preceptor of Edward VI., and who was
afterwards a bishop under Queen Elizabeth, arrived in Frankfort with a
company like-minded with himself; and on the very first day on which
they attended public worship, they broke the _concordat_ by indulging
in audible responses. When they were expostulated with by some of the
seniors, or elders, of the congregation for their disorderly conduct,
they replied that "they would do as they had done in England, and that
they would have the face of an English Church;" and on the following
Sunday one of their number, without the knowledge or consent of the
congregation, entered the pulpit and read the Litany, while the rest
answered aloud. This was a still more flagrant breach of the
agreement, for Knox and his friends specially objected to the Litany;
and therefore on the afternoon, it being his turn to preach, Knox made
a public protest against such procedure. He showed how after long
trouble and contention among them, a godly agreement had been made, and
how it had been ungodly broken, "which thing it became not the proudest
of them all to have attempted." He further alleged that as we must
seek our warrant for the establishing of religion from the word of God,
and without that nothing should be thrust into any Christian
congregation; and as in the English Prayer Book there {89} were, as he
was prepared to prove, things both superstitious, impure, and
imperfect, he would not consent that it should be received in that
Church; and he declared that if the attempt should be made, he would
not fail to speak against it from that place, as his text might furnish
occasion. He also affirmed that, among other things which provoked
God's anger against England, slackness to reform religion when time and
opportunity were granted was one; and as an instance of that slackness
he specified, to the sore wounding of some then present, the allowing
of one man to have three, four, or five benefices, to the slander of
the gospel, and the defrauding of the people.
This remonstrance brought things to a crisis, and on the following
Tuesday the congregation met to take the whole matter into
consideration. Cox and his company claimed the right of sitting and
voting with the rest, but it was contended that they should not be
admitted until they had subscribed the discipline of the Church. This
objection would have prevailed, but on the intercession of Knox they
were received, and they rewarded his magnanimity by outvoting him, and,
at the instigation of Cox, discharging him from preaching and from all
interference in the affairs of the congregation. This, however, only
made matters worse; and to prevent a disgraceful tumult, the whole case
was referred to the senate of the city, from whom they had obtained
permission to use the place of worship in which they assembled. That
body, after in vain recommending a {90} private accommodation, issued
an order requiring the congregation to conform exactly to the French
ritual, and threatening if that were disobeyed to shut up the church.
With this injunction Cox and his party outwardly complied for the time;
but seeing the influence which Knox possessed, and having no hope of
carrying their point so long as he should remain among them, they took
means of the basest sort to get him out of the way. For two of them
went privately to the magistrates of the city and accused Knox of high
treason against the emperor, and against Mary, Queen of England,
putting forth as the ground of their charge those passages from the
Faithful Admonition which we have already quoted. On receipt of this
charge the magistrates sent for Whittingham, and asked him concerning
the character of Knox, whom he described in his reply as "a learned,
grave, and godly man." They then informed him of the charge which had
been preferred against him, and requested that he would furnish them
with an exact Latin translation of the sentences of his tract, nine in
number, which had been brought to their particular attention. They
gave orders also that meanwhile Knox should desist from preaching until
their pleasure should be known. With this command Knox loyally
complied; but when he appeared next day in the church as an ordinary
hearer, not thinking that any would be offended at his presence, "some
departed from the sermon, protesting with great vehemence that they
would not tarry where he was."
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The action of the informers was most embarrassing to the magistrates,
who abhorred the malice by which they were evidently actuated, but at
the same time feared that the matter might come to the ears of the
emperor's council then sitting at Augsburg, and that they might be
compelled to give Knox up to them or to the Queen of England; and as
the best means of extricating themselves from the difficulty, they
suggested that he should privately withdraw from the city. Accordingly
on the evening of the 25th of March, 1555, he delivered a most
consolatory address to about fifty of the members of the Church in his
own lodgings; and "the next day," to borrow the words of the author of
the Brief Discourse, "he was brought three or four miles on his way by
some of these unto whom the night before he had made that exhortation,
who, with great heaviness of heart and plenty of tears, committed him
to the Lord."
The sequel is soon told. Cox, by falsely representing that the
congregation was now unanimous, obtained an order from the senate for
the unrestricted use of the English Prayer-Book, and then procured in
the Church the abrogation of the code of discipline, and the
appointment of a superintendent or bishop over the other pastors. The
result was that a considerable number of the members left the city, and
the remainder continued a prey to strife, which Cox and his friends did
not stay to compose, for they also soon took their departure to other
places. The Church was thus virtually broken {92} up; and it is not
without significance that, in seeking afterwards to be excused from
performing service before a crucifix in the chapel of Queen Elizabeth,
Cox employed the very argument which Knox had urged without effect upon
himself, for he said, "I ought to do nothing touching religion which
may appear doubtful, whether it pleaseth God or not; for our religion
ought to be certain, and grounded upon God's word and will."
We have gone thus fully into the "Frankfort troubles," not so much
because, as McCrie says, they present in miniature a striking picture
of that contentious scene which was afterwards exhibited on a larger
scale in England, or because it would not be difficult to find similar
divisions on precisely similar points in the days in which we live, but
because of the insight which the history gives us into the character of
Knox himself. The controversy was keen and bitter; but throughout it
all our Reformer shows to great advantage,--evincing what Carlyle has
called "a great and unexpected patience," by which we suppose he means
a patience which those who know nothing more about him than the usual
caricature of his character, which too many have accepted, would hardly
have expected. But the readers of his letter to his Berwick friends,
on which we have already commented, could have looked for nothing else
at his hands; and we commend the study of this episode in his history
to all those who have been accustomed to regard him as a dogmatic,
domineering, impracticable {93} man, who was determined always to have
his way in the scorn of every consequence. The offer to restrict
himself solely to preaching, or, if that should not be granted, to go
quietly away, stands out to his lasting honour, and shows how eager he
was to prevent all strife; while the simple mention by the chronicler
of the "plenty of tears" shed by those who accompanied him out of the
city, witnesses to the tenderness of his friendship; and by both alike
we are reminded of the great apostle whose words were so constantly
upon his lips. In reviewing the whole case, he cannot help recalling
that his opponents had brought against him the old cry, "He is not
Caesar's friend;" but he prays for them thus, "O Lord God, open their
hearts that they may see their wickedness, and forgive them for Thy
manifold mercies; and I forgive them, O Lord, from the bottom of my
heart. But that Thy message sent by my mouth should not be slandered,
I am compelled to declare the cause of my departing, and so to utter
their folly, to their amendment I trust, and the example of others who,
in the same banishment, can have so cruel hearts to persecute their
brethren." His opponents tried to excuse themselves, and in a letter
to Calvin put the best possible construction on their case; but nothing
said by them altered the opinion of the great Reformer, in which we are
persuaded all fair-minded men, whatever may be their ecclesiastical
opinions will agree, to this effect:--"But certainly this one thing I
cannot keep secret, that Mr. Knox was, in my judgment, neither godly
nor {94} brotherly dealt withal." It was a hard and bitter experience,
and no doubt it had its influence in determining him, when he came to
deal with the Reformation of Scotland, to make more thorough work of it
than they had done in England.
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