TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
This book is a collection of twenty separate ‘Chap-books’.
There is only one Footnote, which has been placed at the end of its
Chap-book.
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Many minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.
John Cheap
The Chapman’s Library:
THE
_SCOTTISH CHAP LITERATURE_
OF LAST CENTURY CLASSIFIED
RELIGIOUS AND SCRIPTURAL.
_GLASGOW_:
ROBERT LINDSAY, QUEEN STREET.
1877.
_CONTENTS._
The Life of John Knox.
The Life of John Welch.
The Life and Prophecies of Alexander Peden.
The Life and Prophecies of Donald Cargill.
The Battles of Drumclog and Bothwell Bridge.
The Laird of Lag’s Elegy.
A Wedding King for the Finger.
The Pilgrim’s Progress.
Watt’s Divine Songs.
The Plant of Renown.
Honey from the Rock of Christ.
Sins and Sorrows before God.
A Token for Mourners.
Prayers for Families and Private Persons.
The New Pictorial Bible.
Lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The History of Moses.
History of Joseph and his Brethren.
The Life and Death of Judas Iscariot.
The Wife of Beith. (_Verse._)
THE LIFE
AND
MERITORIOUS TRANSACTIONS,
OF
JOHN KNOX,
THE GREAT SCOTTISH
_REFORMER_.
[Illustration]
GLASGOW:
PRINTED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS.
THE
LIFE OF
JOHN KNOX.
At the Reformation one half of the lands of Scotland were the
property of the church. David I. had made over almost the whole of
those belonging to the crown, and his example was imitated, not
only by many of his successors, but by all orders of men, with whom
the founding a monastery, or endowing a church, was thought to
be a sufficient atonement for the breach of every command in the
decalogue.
Besides the influence derived from the nature and extent of their
property, generally let on lease, on easy terms, to the younger
sons and dependants of great families, the weight the clergy had
in Parliament was very considerable. The number of temporal barons
being extremely limited, and the lesser barons and representatives
of boroughs looking upon it as a hardship to attend, combined with
the mode of choosing the Lords of the Articles. Its proceedings in
a great measure were left under their direction and control.
The Lords of the Articles were a Committee whose business it was
to prepare and digest all matters that were to be laid before
Parliament. Every motion for a new law was made in this committee,
and approved or rejected by the members of it; what they approved
was formed into a bill, and presented to Parliament; what they
rejected could not be introduced into the house. This committee
owed the extraordinary powers vested in it to the military genius
of the ancient nobles, and in this way not only directed all the
proceedings of Parliament, but possessed a negative before debate.
It consisted of eight temporal and eight spiritual lords, of eight
representatives of boroughs, and of eight great officers of the
crown, and when its composition is considered, it will easily be
seen how much influence it would add to the already too great power
of the clergy.
Their character also was held sacred; neither were they subject
to the same laws, nor tried by the same judges as the laity, a
remarkable instance of which occurred on the trial of the murderers
of Cardinal Beaton, one of whom was a priest. He was claimed by a
delegate from the clerical courts, and exempted from the judgement
of Parliament on that account.
By their reputation for learning, they almost wholly engrossed
the high offices of emolument and trust in the civil government;
but even this was not for acting in their capacity of confessors,
they made use of all these motives which operate so powerfully on
the human mind, to promote the interest of the church, so that
few were allowed to leave the world without bestowing on her some
marks of their liberality, and where credulity failed to produce
this effect, they called in the aid of law. (When a person died
intestate, by the 22d Statute of William the Lion, the disposal
of his effects was vested in the bishop of the diocese, after
paying his funeral charges and debts, and distributing among his
kindred the sums to which they were respectively entitled, it being
presumed that no Christian could have chosen to leave the world
without destining some of his substance to pious purposes.) Their
courts had likewise the cognisance of all testamentary deeds and
matrimonial contracts, and to these engines of power, and often
in their hands of oppression, they super-added the sentence of
excommunication, which besides depriving the unhappy victim on
whom it fell of all Christian privileges, cut him off from every
right as a man or citizen. To these, and other causes of a similar
nature, may be ascribed the power of the Popish church; and to
these, also, combined with the celibacy to which by the rule of
their church they were restricted, may be attributed the dissolute
and licentious lives of the clergy, which in the end destroyed that
reputation for sanctity, the people had been accustomed to attach
to their character.
According to the accounts of the reformers, confirmed by several
popish writers, the manners of the Scottish clergy were indecent in
the extreme. Cardinal Beaton celebrated the marriage of his eldest
daughter with the son of the Earl of Crawford, with an almost regal
magnificence, and maintained a criminal correspondence with her
mother to the end of his days. The other prelates were not more
exemplary than their primate, and the contrast between their lives,
and those of the reformers, failed not to make a considerable
impression on the minds of the people. Instead of disguising their
vices the Popish clergy affected to despise censure; instead of
endeavouring to colour over the absurdity of the established
doctrines, or found them on Scripture, they left them to the
authority of the church and decrees of the councils; the only
apology they have ever been able, even to the present day, to
offer for the monstrous absurdity of their system. The duty of
preaching was left to the lowest and most illiterate of the monks.
The following anecdote will give a lively idea of their mode of
preaching:--The prior of the Black Friars at Newcastle, in a sermon
at St Andrews, asserted that the Paternoster should be said to God
only, and not the saints. This doctrine not meeting the approbation
of the learned of that city, they appointed a Gray Friar to refute
it, who choose for his text, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,”
which he illustrated in this manner. Seeing we say, good day,
father, to any old man in the street, we may call a saint pater,
who is older than any alive; and seeing they are in heaven, we
may say to any of them, “Our father who art in heaven;” seeing
they are holy, we may say, “hallowed be thy name;” and, since
they are in the kingdom of heaven, may add, “thy kingdom come;”
and as their will is God’s will, “thy will be done;” but when he
come to “give us this day our daily bread;” he was much at a loss
confessing it was not in the power of the saints to give us our
daily bread; “yet they may pray to God for us,” he said, “that he
may give us our daily bread.” The rest of his commentary being not
more satisfactory, set his audience a laughing and the children on
the streets calling after him, Friar Paternoster, he was so much
ashamed that he left the city.
The only device by which they attempted to bring back the people
to their allegiance was equally unfortunate and imprudent; they
had recourse to false miracles, which the vigilance of the
reformers detected and exposed to ridicule. The bare-faced
impositions that were practised by the monks on the credulous,
are almost inconceivable.--Among other customs of those times, it
was common for them to travel to Rome and come home laden with
relics, blessed by his holiness, dispensations for sin, by which
they wheedled the credulous out of their money. One of these, on
a holiday, endeavouring to vend his wares to the country people,
among other things shewed them a bell with a rent in it, possessing
the virtue of discovering the truth or fallacy of an oath; for, as
he pretended, if any one swore truly, with his hand on the bell,
he could easily remove it, without any change; but if the oath
was false, his hand would stick to it, and the bell rent asunder.
A farmer, rather more shrewd than the rest of his auditors,
suspecting the truth of this assertion, asked liberty to take an
oath in the presence of those assembled, about an affair which
nearly concerned him. The monk could not refuse; and the farmer
addressing the crowd, said, “Friends, before I swear, you see the
rent, how large it is, and that I have nothing on my fingers to
make them stick to the bell.” Then laying his hand on it, he took
this oath.--“I swear, in the presence of the living God, and before
these good people, that the pope of Rome is Antichrist, and that
all the rabble of his clergy, cardinals, archbishops, bishops,
priests, monks, with all the rest of the crew, are locust, come
from hell, to delude the people, and to withdraw them from God;
moreover, I promise they will all return to hell;” and lifting his
hand he added. “See, friends, I have lifted my hand freely from the
bell, and the rent is no larger, this sheweth that I have sworn
the truth.”
The cause of reformed religion, was powerfully supported by the
ambition of the Queen-dowager. (Mary of Guise) After the death of
James V. her husband, the Earl of Arran, was appointed Regent of
the kingdom during the minority of her daughter; and from that
situation she wished to exclude him, that she might enjoy the first
honours of the state alone, and promote the designs of her brothers
upon Scotland. For this purpose she applied to the favourers of the
Reformation, as being the most numerous of the Regent’s enemies,
and forming a respectable body in the state; and although her
promises of protection were insincere, they, in a very considerable
degree, abated the fury of persecution.
John Knox, who contributed so much, both by precept and example,
to work out the Reformation from Popery; was the descendant of an
ancient family, and born at Gifford, near Haddington, in 1505. On
finishing his education at the grammar school, he was removed to
St. Andrew’s, to complete his studies under the celebrated John
Mair, by whose instructions he made such progress that he received
orders before the time prescribed by the rules of the church. After
this, he quitted scholastic learning, so much in reputation at
that period, and applied himself with diligence to the reading of
the fathers of the church, particularly St Angustine, from which,
attending the preaching of one Thomas Enillam, a Black Friar, and
the conversation of Mr George Wishart, a celebrated reformer, who
came from England in 1545 with the commissioners sent by Henry
VIII. to conclude a treaty with the Earl of Arran, after the death
of James V. he attained a more than ordinary degree of scriptural
knowledge, and entirely renounced the Roman Catholic religion.
On leaving St Andrew’s, Mr Knox acted as tutor to the sons of
Douglas of Longniddry, and Cockburn of Ormiston, whom, besides the
different branches of common education, he carefully instructed
in the principles of the reformed religion, having composed a
catechism for their use, besides reading lectures to them on
various portions of the scriptures. In this practice he continued
till Easter 1547, when werried out by the repeated persecutions
of Cardinal Beaton, he left Longniddry for St. Andrew’s, resolved
to visit Germany, the state of England proving unfavourable to
his views. Against taking this step, however, he was persuaded
by the gentlemen whose children he had the charge, to remain in
St. Andrews, the castle of that place being in the hands of the
reformers.
Here he continued to teach his pupils in the usual manner, but his
lectures were now attended by a number of people belonging to the
town, who earnestly intreated him to preach in public. This task he
at first declined, but afterwards accepted a call from the pulpit,
and in his very first sermon discovered such zeal, learning, and
intrepidity, as evinced the prudence of their choice, and how
eminently qualified he was for the discharge of those duties.
This success caused such alarm among the Popish clergy, that a
letter was sent to the sub-prior by the abbot of Paisley, natural
brother of the Regent, who had been nominated to the archbishopric
reproving him for his negligence, in allowing such doctrines to
be taught without opposition. A meeting of the clergy was held in
consequence, and every scheme they could devise put in practice to
hurt Mr Knox’s usefulness; but, in a public disputation, he replied
to all their arguments with so much acuteness as completely to
silence them, and gained many proselytes, who made prefession of
their faith by partaking of the communion openly, which he was the
first to administer in the manner practised at present.
This success was not of long duration, for a body of French troops
was sent to besiege the castle, and it was compelled to surrender
on the 23d July, when he, along with the garrison, was sent
prisoner to France, and confined in the gallies till the year 1549.
On obtaining his liberty he retired to England, where he preached
sometime at Berwick, afterwards at Newcastle and London, and was at
last chosen one of the itinerants appointed by Edward VI. to preach
the Protestant doctrine through England. Upon the death of that
prince, on the 6th July, 1553, he went to Geneva, where he resided
when he was chosen by the English church at Frankfort, on the 24th
September, 1554, to be their pastor, a situation he accepted by
the advice of the celebrated John Calvin, but which he did not
long enjoy, for having opposed the introduction of the English
liturgy, and refused to celebrate the communion according to the
forms prescribed by it, he was deprived of his office; and, such
was the malice of his enemies, that, taking advantage of a passage
in his “Admonition to England,” wherein he compares the Emperor
to Nero, and the Queen of England to Jezebel, they accused him to
the magistrates of treason. These gentlemen perceiving the spirit
by which his accusers were actuated, found means to apprise him
of his danger; and on the 26th march, 1555, he left Frankfort for
Geneva, from whence he proceeded to Dieppe, and shortly afterwards
to Scotland, where he arrived in the month of August.
On his arrival he found the reformers much increased in number,
and after assisting them to rectify some errors which had crept
into their practice, accompanied John Erskine of Dun to his seat in
the Mearns, where he continued a month, preaching to the principle
people in that country. He afterwards resided at Calder-house,
the residence of Sir James Sandilands, where he was attended by a
number of personages of the first rank; and, among others, by the
prior of St Andrew’s afterwards earl of Moray. During the winter
he visited Edinburgh; preached in many places of Ayrshire; and in
the beginning of 1556, at the request of the earl of Glencairn,
administered the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to his lordship’s
family, and a number of friends, at his seat of Finlayston.
In this way did Mr Knox continue preaching, sometimes in one
place, and sometimes in another, when his success excited so much
attention that the Popish clergy summoned him to appear before
them, on the 15th of May, in the church of the Black Friars
in Edinburgh. He did appear, but attended by such a number of
followers that the clergy deemed it prudent to desist from their
intended prosecution; and that same day he addressed a much
greater audience than ever he had done on any prior occasion, and
continued to do so for ten days.
The earl of Glencairn, one of his firmest friends, prevailed on
the earl Marshal, and Mr Henry Drummond, to attend one of Mr
Knox’s sermons, they were so highly gratified with it that they
persuaded him to address a letter to the Queen, in the hope she
also might be induced to hear the doctrine of the reformers. In
this letter, contending for the truth of what he taught, he says,
“Albeit, Madam, that the messengers of God are not sent this day
with visible miracles, because they teach no other doctrine than
that which is confirmed with miracles from the beginning of the
world, yet will not he (who hath promised to take charge over his
poor and little flock to the end) suffer the contempt of their
ambassage to escape punishment and vengeance, for the truth itself
hath said, ‘he that heareth you heareth one, and he that contemneth
you contemneth one.’ I do not speak unto you, Madam, as Pasquillus
doth to the Pope and his carnal cardinals, in the behalf of such as
dare not utter their names, but I come in the name of Christ Jesus;
affirming, that the religion ye maintain is damnable idolatry,
which I offer myself to prove, by the most evident testimony of
God’s Scriptures; and in this quarrel I present myself against all
the Papists in the realm, desiring no other armour but God’s holy
word, and the liberty of my tongue.” It was delivered to the Queen
by the earl of Glencairn, and by her to the bishop of Glasgow,
(nephew of Cardinal Beaton) with this observation, “Please you, my
lord, to read a pasquil,” which coming to the ears of Mr Knox, was
the occasion of his making a number of additions when the letter
was printed afterwards at Geneva.
At this time he received letters from the English church at Geneva,
which had separated from the one at Frankfort, commanding him, “in
God’s name, as he was their chosen pastor, to repair to them for
their comfort.” Having preached in almost every congregation he had
formerly visited, and sent his wife and mother-in-law before him to
Dieppe, he sailed from Scotland in the month of July for Geneva.
No sooner had he left the kingdom than the bishops summoned him
to answer a charge of heresy; and, on his non-appearance, burnt
him in effigy at the cross of Edinburgh. Against this sentence, in
1558, he published his “Appellation,” addressed to the “Nobility
and Estates of Scotland.” In this composition, which has been much
admired, after appealing “to a lawful and general council,” and
requiring of them that defence which, as princes of the people,
they were bound to give him, he adds, “these things I require of
your honours to be granted unto me, viz. that the doctrine which
our adversaries condemn for heresy may be tried by the plain and
simple word of God; that the just defences be admitted to us that
sustain the battle against this pestilent battle of Antichrist;
and that they be removed from judgment in our cause, seeing that
our accusation is not intended against any one particular person,
but against that whole kingdom which we doubt not to prove to be a
power usurped against God, against his commandments, and against
the ordinance of Christ Jesus, established in his church by his
chief apostles; yea, we doubt not to prove the kingdom of the Pope
to be the kingdom and power of Antichrist, and therefore, my lords,
I cannot cease, in the name of Christ Jesus, to require of you that
the matter may come to examination, and that ye, the estates of the
realm, by your authority, compel such as will be called bishops,
not only to desist from their cruel murdering of such as do study
to promote God’s glory, in detecting and disclosing the damnable
impiety of that man of sin the Roman Antichrist; but, also, that
ye compel them to answer to such crimes as shall be laid to their
charge, for not righteously instructing the flock committed to
their care.”
In March, 1557, sensible of his importance, a letter, subscribed
Glencairn, Erskine, Lorn, and James Stuart, was transmitted to Mr
Knox at Geneva, entreating him to return home. Having communicated
its contents to his congregation, for which he provided another
minister, and taking the advice of John Calvin, and other
ministers, he set out for Scotland.
Addressing himself to the lords who had invited his return, Mr
Knox expostulates with them on their rash conduct, as having a
tendency to cause both them and him to be evil spoken of.--“For
either,” said he, “it shall appear that I was marvellous vain,
being so solicited, where no necessity required, or else that such
as were my movers thereto lacked the ripeness of judgment in their
first vocation.” Along with this letter he sent one to the whole
nobility, and others to particular gentlemen, advising them in what
manner they ought to proceed. On their receipt a new consultation
was held, and a bond subscribed at Edinburgh on the 13th December,
1557, whereby they agreed to “forsake and renounce the congregation
of Satan, with all the superstitious abominations and idolatry
thereof.” From this period those subscribing, and their adherents,
were known by the title of the Congregation. Previous to this
agreement, however, a number of letters were sent off to Mr Knox,
and to John Calvin, that he might use his influence in persuading
him to return.
This year (1558,) the Queen Regent, through the concurrence of
the Protestant party in Parliament, obtained an act to be passed,
conferring the matrimonial crown on the Dauphin, the husband of
her daughter, the unfortunate Mary. They had been induced to
forward her views in this favourite scheme, that they might obtain
from her an exemption from that tyranny with which the ancient
laws armed the ecclesiastics against them, and enjoy the free
exercise of their religion. No sooner, however, had she obtained
the gratification of her wishes, than the accomplishment of a new
scheme, the placing her daughter on the throne of England, and to
which she had been prompted by the ambition of her brothers, the
princes of the house of Lorraine, at that time in the plenitude
of their power at the Court of France, rendered an union with the
Catholics necessary. It was vain to expect the assistance of the
Scots Protestants to dethrone Elizabeth, whom all Europe considered
as the most powerful defender of the Reformed faith. She therefore
began to treat them with coldness and contempt, and not only
approved the decrees of a convocation of the Popish clergy, in
which the principles of the Reformation were condemned, but at the
same time issued a proclamation enjoining the observance of Easter
according to the ritual of the Romish church.
Alarmed at these proceedings, and still more at an order summoning
all the Reformed clergy in the kingdom, to attend a court of
justice at Stirling, on the 10th May, 1559, the earl of Glencairn,
and Hugh Campbell of Louden, were deputed to wait on her and
intercede in their behalf. On urging their peaceable demeanour,
and the purity of their doctrine, she said, “In despite of you,
and your ministers both, they shall be banished out of Scotland,
albeit they preached as true as ever did St. Paul.” And on pleading
her former promises of protection, she replied, “The promises
of princes ought not to be too carefully remembered, nor the
performance of them exacted unless it suits their convenience.”
Perth, in the meantime, having embraced the Reformed religion,
added to the rage which agitated the Queen against the Protestants,
and she commanded the provost (Patrick Ruthven,) to suppress all
their assemblies. The answer of this gentleman deserves to be
recorded for its manly freedom. “I have power over their bodies
and estates,” said he, “and these I will take care shall do no
hurt; but have no dominion over their consciences.” The day of
trial now approached, and the town of Dundee, and the gentlemen of
Angus and Mearns, in comformity of an old custom which prevailed
in Scotland, resolved to accompany their pastors to the place of
trial. Intimidated by their numbers, though unarmed, she prevailed
on John Erskine of Dun, a person of great influence among them,
to stop them from advancing nearer to Stirling, while she, on her
part, promised to take no further steps towards the intended trial.
This proposition was listened to with pleasure, the preachers and
some of the leaders remained at Perth, and the multitude quietly
dispersed to their respective homes.
Notwithstanding this promise, on the 10th May, the queen proceeded
to the trial of the persons summoned; and, on their failing to
appear, sentence of outlawry was pronounced upon them. This open
and avowed breach of faith added greatly to the public irritation,
and the Protestants boldly prepared for their defence. Mr Erskine
having joined his associates at Perth, his representation of the
Queen’s irreconcilable hatred so inflamed the people, that scarcely
the authority of the magistrates, or the exhortations of their
preachers, could prevent them from proceeding to acts of violence.
At this juncture, Mr Knox landed in Scotland from France, and,
after residing two days in Edinburgh, joined his brethren in Perth,
that he might aid them in their cause, and give his confession
along with theirs. On the 11th, the day after the sentence of
outlawry was pronounced, he made a vehement discourse against
idolatry, and while the minds of the people were yet in a state
of agitation, from the impression made upon them by his sermon,
a priest prepared to celebrate mass, which made a youth observe,
“This is intolerable, that when God in his word hath plainly
condemned idolatry we shall stand and see it used in despite.”
The irritated priest struck him a blow on the ear, and the youth
in revenge threw a stone at him, which broke an image of one of
the saints. This was the signal of tumult, and ere two days had
elapsed, all the churches and convents about Perth were destroyed.
Such was the anger of the Queen on receiving this intelligence,
that she avowed to reduce Perth to ashes, and ordered M. D’Ossal,
the commander of a corps of French auxiliaries, at that time in the
service of Scotland, instantly to march, and carry her threats into
execution. Both parties, however, were desirous of accommodation,
and a treaty was concluded, in which it was stipulated that the
two armies should be disbanded, the gates of Perth set open to
the queen, but that none of her French soldiers should approach
within three miles of that city, and that a Parliament should be
immediately held to settle the remaining differences.
No sooner were the Protestant forces disbanded, than the Queen
violated every article of the treaty. In consequence of which the
earl of Argyle, and the prior of St Andrew’s, who had been her
commissioners for settling the peace, with some other gentlemen,
openly left her. Having warned the confederates of her intention
to destroy St Andrew’s and Cupar, a considerable army was soon
assembled, which assaulted Crail, broke down the altars and
images, and proceeded thence to St Andrew’s, where they levelled
the Franciscan and Dominican monasteries to the ground. The Queen
immediately gave orders to occupy Cupar, with the intention of
attacking them at St Andrew’s, but in this she was anticipated, an
army equal to her own having occupied the place two days before.
Finding herself too weak to encounter them in the field, she had
again recourse to negotiation; but mindful of her former duplicity,
the Protestants would only agree to a truce for eight days, by
which the Duke of Chatelherault and D’Ossal became bound to
transport all the French soldiers to the other side of the Frith,
and send commissioners to St Andrew’s with full powers to conclude
a formal treaty of peace.
Several days elapsed without any person appearing on the part
of the queen, and suspecting some new plan to entrap them, the
Protestants, after concerting measures to expel the French garrison
from Perth, wrote to her Majesty, complaining that the terms of the
first treaty were still unfulfilled, and begging her to withdraw
her troops from that city in conformity with its stipulations.
Their letters remaining unnoticed, they laid siege to Perth, which
surrendered, after a feeble resistance, on the 26th June, 1559.
Being informed that the Queen resolved to seize Stirling, and
cut off the communication between the reformers on the opposite
sides of the Frith, by a rapid march they frustrated her plans,
and in three days, after they had made themselves masters of
Perth, the victorious reformers entered Edinburgh. The Queen on
their approach retired to Dunbar,--where she amused them with
hopes of an accommodation, in the expectation of being joined
with reinforcements from France. Intelligence, in the meantime,
was received of the death of the French king, which, while it was
favourable to the cause of the reformers, rendered their leaders
more negligent and secure. Numbers of them left the city on their
private affairs, their followers were obliged to disperse for
want of money, and those who did remain were without discipline
or restraint. The Queen receiving advice of this, by means of her
spies, marched with all the forces she could muster directly to
Edinburgh, and possessed herself, on the 25th of July, of Leith.
She consented, however, to a truce, to continue till the 5th
January, 1560, by which liberty of conscience was secured; Popery
was not to be established again where it had been suppressed, the
reformers were not to be hindered from preaching wherever they
might happen to be, and no garrison was to be stationed within the
city. These terms were preserved till she received the expected
reinforcements, when she fortified Leith, from which all the
efforts of the reformers were unable to dislodge her troops. A
mutiny also breaking out among their soldiers for want of pay, and
having been defeated in two skirmishes with the French troops,
it was resolved, by a majority of the lords of the congregation,
to retire to Stirling. This rash step was productive of great
terror and confusion, and contrary to the advice of Knox; who,
notwithstanding, followed the fortunes of his friends, animating
and reviving them by his discourses, and exhorting them to
constancy in the good cause.
At a meeting held shortly after their arrival at Stirling, it was
resolved, to despatch William Maitland, who had lately deserted
the Queen’s party to England, to implore the assistance of Queen
Elizabeth, and a treaty was at last concluded, by which a body of
troops was sent to their assistance. These being joined by most of
the Scottish nobility, a peace was established on the 8th July,
1560, by which the reformed religion was fully established in
Scotland.
On the abolition of Popery, the form of church goverment
establishment in Scotland was, upon the model of the church at
Geneva, warmly recommended to his countrymen by Knox, as being
farthest removed from all similarity to the Romish church; and
at his suggestion, likewise, the country was divided into twelve
districts, for the more effectually propagating the doctrines of
the Reformation, of which Edinburgh was assigned to his care. Knox,
assisted by his brethren afterwards composed a confession of Faith,
and compiled the first books of discipline for the government of
the church. These were ratified by a convention of Estates, held
in the beginning of the following year (1571), and an act passed
prohibiting mass and abolishing the authority of the Pope.
On the return of Mary, daughter of Mary of Guise, from France, and
so well known afterwards throughout all Europe for her beauty,
her accomplishments, and her misfortunes, after the death of
her husband Francis II. the celebration of mass in the chapel
royal excited a great tumult, many crying out, “The idolatrous
papist shall die the death, according to God’s law;” and John
Knox, in a sermon preached the Sunday following after showing the
judgments inflicted on nations for idolatry, added, “one mass
is more fearful to me than if ten thousand armed enemies were
landed in any part of the realm, of purpose to suppress the whole
religion.” In consequence of this language he was sent for by the
queen, who accused him of endeavouring to excite her subjects to
rebellion, of having written against her lawful authority, and
of being the cause of great sedition. To this he answered, among
other things, “that if to teach the word of God in sincerity, if
to rebute idolatry, and to will a people to worship God according
to his word, be to raise subjects against their princes, then
cannot I be excused; for it hath pleased God in his mercy to make
me one amongst many to disclose unto this realm the vanity of the
papistical religion.--And touching that book, that seemeth so
highly to offend your majesty, it is most certain that if I wrote
it I am content that all the learned of the land should judge of
it. My hope is, that, so long as ye defile not your hands with the
blood of the saints of God, that neither I nor that book shall
either hurt you or your authority; for, in very deed, Madam, that
book was written most especially against that wicked Mary of
England.” To a question by the Queen, if subjects, having power,
may resist their princes? He boldly answered they might, “if
princes do exceed their bounds.” The following part of the dialogue
will give a good idea of the character of Knox, and the freedom
of his speech: Speaking of the church, the Queen observed, “but
ye are not the church of Rome, for I think it is the true church
of God.” “Your will, Madam,” said he, “is no reason; neither doth
your thought make that Roman harlot to be the immaculate spouse of
Jesus Christ. And wonder not, Madam, that I call Rome an harlot,
for that church is altogether polluted with all kinds of spiritual
fornication, as well in doctrine as in matters.” He had afterwards
two other conferences with the queen, at the last of which she
burst into tears, crying out, “Never prince was used as I am.”
Knox’s situation became very critical in April, 1571, when Kircaldy
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 proposed 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 him, and offered to send Melvil, one of his officers, to
conduct him to and from church. “He wold gif the woulf the wedder
to keip,” says Bannatyne. Induced by the importunity of the
citizens, Kircaldy applied to the Duke and his party for a special
protection to Knox; but they refused to pledge their word for his
safety, because “there were many rascals and others among them who
loved him not, that might do him harm without their knowledge.”
Intimations were often given him of threatenings 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 different part of the
room from that in which he had been accustomed to take his seat,
otherwise the ball, from its direction, must have struck him.
Alarmed by these circumstances, 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 in 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 at last had recourse to an argument
which prevailed. Upon this he consented, “sore against his will,”
to remove from the city.
In May, 1571, at the desire of his friends, and for greater
security, he left that city for St Andrew’s, where he remained
until the August following. The cause that forced him to change
his residence having ceased to operate, at the express desire of
his congregation he again returned, but could not long continue
to preside over it, on account of the exhausted state of his
health; and on the 9th November, abmitted Mr James Lawson, formerly
professor of philosophy at Aberdeen, to be his successor.
From this time till the 24th of the same month, when he expired,
about eleven o’clock at night, in the 67th year of his age; his
principal employment was reading the Scriptures and conversing
with his friends; and over his remains, which were accompanied to
the churchyard by the Earl of Morton, the Regent, and a number of
other noblemen, and people of all ranks, his lordship pronounced
the following eulogium: “Here lies a man, who in his life never
feared the face of man; who hath been often threatened with dag and
dagger, but yet hath ended his days in peace and honour.”
FINIS.
HISTORY
OF THE LIFE & SUFFERINGS
OF THE
REV. JOHN WELCH,
SOMETIME MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL AT AYR.
[Illustration]
GLASGOW:
PRINTED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS.
THE
LIFE OF JOHN WELCH.
Mr. John Welch was born a gentleman, his father being laird of
Colieston, (an estate rather competent, than large, in the shire
of Nithsdale) about the year 1570, the dawning of our reformation
being then but dark. He was a rich example of grace and mercy, but
the night went before the day, being a most hopeless extravagant
boy: it was not enough to him, frequently when he was a young
stripling to run away from the school and play the truant; but
after he had passed his grammar, and was come to be a youth, he
left the school, and his father’s house, and went and joined
himself to the thieves on the English border, who lived by robbing
the two nations, and amongst them he stayed till he spent a suit of
clothes. Then he was clothed only with rags, the prodigal’s misery
brought him to the prodigal’s resolution, so he resolved to return
to his father’s house, but durst not adventure, till he should
interpose a reconciler. So in his return homeward, he took Dumfries
in his way where he had an aunt, one Agnes Forsyth, and with her
he diverted some days, earnestly entreating her to reconcile him
to his father. While he lurked in her house, his father came
providentially to the house to salute his cousin, Mrs. Forsyth;
and after they had talked a while, she asked him, whether he had
ever heard any news of his son John; to her he replied with great
grief, O cruel woman, how can you name his name to me? The first
news I expect to hear of him, is, that he is hanged for a thief.
She answered, many a profligate boy had become a virtuous man,
and comforted him. He insisted upon his sad complaint, but asked
whether she knew his lost son was yet alive. She answered, Yes, he
was, and she hoped he should prove a better man than he was a boy,
and with that she called upon him to come to his father. He came
weeping and kneeled, beseeching his father, for Christ’s sake, to
pardon his misbehaviour, and deeply engaged to be a new man. His
father reproached him and threatened him. Yet, at length, by the
boy’s tears, and Mrs. Forsyth’s importunities, he was persuaded to
a reconciliation. The boy entreated his father to send him to the
college, and there to try his behaviour, and if ever thereafter
he should break, he said he should be content his father should
disclaim him for ever: so his father carried him home, and put
him to the college, and there he became a diligent student, of
great expectation, and shewed himself a sincere convert, and so he
proceeded to the ministry.
His first post in the ministry was at Selkirk, while he was yet
very young, and the country rude; while he was there, his ministry
was rather admired by some, than received by many; for he was
always attended by the prophet’s shadow, the hatred of the wicked;
yea, even the ministers of the country, were more ready to pick
a quarrel with his person, than to follow his doctrine, as may
appear to this day in their synodical records, where we find he
had many to censure him, and only some to defend him; yet it was
thought his ministry in that place was not without fruit, though
he stayed but a short time there. Being a young man unmarried, he
lodged himself in the house of one Mitchelhill, and took a young
boy of his to be his bed-fellow, who to his dying day retained both
a respect to Mr. Welch and his ministry, from the impressions Mr.
Welch’s behaviour made upon his mind though but a child.
The special cause of his leaving Selkirk, was a profane gentleman
in the country (one Scot of Headschaw, whose family is now extinct)
but because Mr. Welch had either reproved him, or merely from
hatred, Mr. Welch was most unworthily abused by the unhappy man,
amongst the rest of the injuries he did him, this was one, Mr.
Welch kept always two good horses for his use, and the wicked
gentleman when he could do no more, either with his own hand, or
his servants, cut off the rumps of the two innocent beasts, upon
which followed such effusion of blood, that they both died, which
Mr. Welch did much resent, and such base usage as this persuaded
him to listen to a call to the ministry at Kirkcudbright, which was
his next post.
But when he was about to leave Selkirk, he could not find a man in
all the town to transport his furniture, except one Ewart, who was
at that time a poor young man, but master of two horses, with which
he transported Mr. Welch’s goods, and so left him, but as he took
his leave, Mr. Welch gave him his blessing, and a piece of gold for
a token, exhorting him to fear God, and promised he should never
want, which promise, providence made good through the whole course
of his life, as was observed by all his neighbours.
At Kirkcudbright he stayed not long; but there he reaped a harvest
of converts, which subsisted long after his departure, and were
a part of Mr. Samuel Rutherfoord’s flock, though not his parish,
while he was minister at Anwith: yet when his call to Ayr came to
him, the people of the parish of Kirkcudbright never offered to
detain him, so his transportation to Ayr was the more easy.
Mr. Welch was transported to Ayr in the year 1590, and there he
continued till he was banished, there he had a very hard beginning,
but a good ending; for when he came first to the town, the country
was so wicked, and the hatred of godliness so great, that there
could not be found one in all the town, that would let him a house
to dwell in, so he was constrained to accommodate himself in the
best he might, in a part of a gentleman’s house for a time, the
gentleman’s name was John Stewart, he was an eminent Christian, and
a great assistant of Mr. Welch.
And when he had first taken up his residence in that town, the
place was so divided into factions, and filled with bloody
conflicts, a man could hardly walk the streets with safety;
wherefore Mr. Welch made it his first undertaking to remove the
bloody quarrelings, but he found it a very difficult work; yet such
was his earnestness to pursue his design, that many times he would
rush betwixt two parties of men fighting, even in the midst of
blood and wounds.
His manner was, after he had ended a skirmish amongst his
neighbours, and reconciled these bitter enemies, to cause them
to cover a table upon the street, and there brought the enemies
together, and begining with prayer he persuaded them to protest
themselves friends, and then to eat and drink together, then last
of all, he ended the work with singing a psalm: after the rude
people began to observe his example, and listen to his heavenly
doctrine, he came quickly to that respect amongst them that he
became not only a necessary counsellor, without whose counsel they
would do nothing, but an example to imitate, and so he buried the
bloody quarrels.
He gave himself wholly to ministerial exercises, he preached once
every day, he prayed the third part of his time, was unwearied
in his studies, and for a proof of this, it was found among his
papers, that he had abridged Suarez’s metaphysics, when they came
first to his hand, even when he was well stricken in years. By
all which, it appears, that he has not only been a man of great
diligence but also of a strong and robust natural constitution,
otherwise he had never endured the fatigue.
But if his diligence was great, so it is doubted whether his sowing
in painfulness, or his harvest in his success was greatest; for
if either his spiritual experiences in seeking the Lord, or his
fruitfulness in converting souls be considered, they will be found
unparalleled in Scotland: and many years after Mr. Welch’s death,
Mr. David Dickson, at that time a flourishing minister at Irvine,
was frequently heard to say, when people talked to him of the
success of his ministry, that the grape gleanings in Ayr, in Mr.
Welch’s time, were far above the vintage of Irvine, in his own. Mr.
Welch, in his preaching, was spiritual and searching, his utterance
tender and moving; he did not much insist upon scholastic purposes,
he made no shew of his learning. I once heard one of his hearers
say, That no man could hear him and forbear weeping, his conveyance
was so affecting. There is a large volume of his sermons, now in
Scotland, wherein he makes it appear, his learning was not behind
his other virtues: this also appears in another piece, called Dr.
Welch’s Armagaddon, printed, I suppose, in France, wherein he
gives his meditation upon the enemies of the church, and their
destruction; but the piece itself is rarely to be found.
Sometimes before he went to sermon, he would send for his elders,
and tell them, he was afraid to go to pulpit because he found
himself sore deserted; and thereafter desire one or more to pray,
and then he would venture to pulpit. But, it was observed, this
humbling exercise used ordinarily to be followed, with a flame
of extraordinary assistance: so near neighbours are many times
contrary dispositions and frames. He would many times retire to
the church of Ayr, which was at some distance from the town, and
there spend the whole night in prayer: for he used to allow his
affections full expression, and prayed not only with audible, but
sometimes, loud voice, nor did he irk, in that solitude, all the
night over, which hath, it may be, occasioned the contemptible
slander of some malicious enemies, who were so bold as to call him
no less than a witch.
There was in Ayr, before he came to it, an aged man a minister
of the town, called Porterfield, the man was judged no bad man,
for his personal inclinations, but so easy a disposition, that he
used many times to go too great a length with his neighbours in
many dangerous practices; and amongst the rest, he used to go to
the bow-butts and archery, on Sabbath afternoon, to Mr. Welch’s
great dissatisfaction. But the way he used to reclaim him, was not
bitter severity, but this gentle policy; Mr. Welch together with
John Stewart, and Hugh Kennedy, his two intimate friends, used to
spend the Sabbath afternoon in religious conference and prayer, and
to this exercise they invited Mr. Porterfield, which he could not
refuse, by which means he was not only diverted from his former
sinful practice, but likewise brought to a more watchful, and
edifying behaviour in his course of life.