As my grandfather, in the grey of the morning, was waiting in the
Canongate till the worship was over in the house of the Lord James
Stuart, he frequently rode up and down the street as far the
Luckenbooths and the Abbey's sanctuary siver, and his mind was at times
smitten with the remorse of pity when he saw, as the dawn advanced, the
numbers of poor labouring men that came up out of the closes and
gathered round the trone, abiding there to see who would come to hire
them for the day. But his compassion was soon changed into a frame of
thankfulness at the boundless variety of mercies which are dealt out to
the children of Adam, for he remarked, that, for the most part, these
poor men, whose sustenance was as precarious as that of the wild birds
of the air, were cheerful and jocund, many of them singing and whistling
as blithely as the lark, that carries the sweet incense of her melodious
songs in the censer of a sinless breast to the golden gates of the
morning.
Hitherto he had never noted, or much considered, the complicated cares
and trials wherewith the lot of man in every station is chequered and
environed; and when he heard those bondmen of hard labour, jocund after
sound slumbers and light suppers, laughing contemptuously as they beheld
the humiliating sight, which divers gallants and youngsters, courtiers
of the court, degraded with debauch, made of themselves as they stumbled
homeward, he thought there was surely more bliss in the cup that was
earned by the constancy of health and a willing mind, than in all the
possets and malvesia that the hoards of ages could procure. So he
composed his spirit, and inwardly made a vow to the Lord, that as soon
as the mighty work of the redemption of the Gospel from the perdition of
papistry was accomplished, he would retire into the lea of some pleasant
green holm, and take, for the purpose of his life, the attainment of
that happy simplicity which seeks but the supply of the few wants with
which man comes so rich from the hands of his Maker, that all changes in
his natural condition of tilling the ground and herding the flocks only
serve to make him poorer by increasing.
While he was thus ruminating in the street, he observed two strangers
coming up the Canongate. One of them had the appearance of a servant,
but he was of a staider and more thoughtful aspect than belongs to men
of that degree, only he bore on his shoulder a willease, and had in his
hand a small package wrapt in a woollen cover and buckled with a
leathern strap. The other was the master; and my grandfather halted his
horse to look at him as he passed, for he was evidently no common man
nor mean personage, though in stature he was jimp the ordinary size. He
was bent more with infirmities than the load of his years. His hair and
long flowing beard were very grey and venerable, like those of the
ancient patriarchs who enjoyed immediate communion with God. But though
his appearance was thus aged, and though his complexion and countenance
betokened a frail tenement, yet the brightness of youth shone in his
eyes, and they were lighted up by a spirit over which time had no power.
In his steps and gait he was a little hasty and unsteady, and twice or
thrice he was obliged to pause in the steep of the street to draw his
breath; but even in this there was an affecting and great earnestness, a
working of a living soul within, as if it panted to enter on the
performance of some great and solemn hest.
He seemed to be eager and zealous like the apostle Peter in his temper,
and as dauntless as the mighty and courageous Paul. Many in the street
stopped, and looked after him with reverence and marvelling, as he
proceeded with quick and desultory steps, followed by his sedate
attendant. Nor was it surprising, for he was, indeed, one of those who,
in their lives, are vast and wonderful,--special creations that are sent
down from heaven, with authority attested by the glowing impress of the
signet of God on their hearts, to avenge the wrongs done to His truths
and laws in the blasphemies of the earth.--It was John Knox!
When he had passed, my grandfather rode back to the yett of the Lord
James Stuart's lodgings, which by this time was opened, and instanter,
on mentioning to the porter from whom he had come, was admitted to his
master.
That great worthy was at the time sitting alone in a back chamber, which
looked towards Salisbury Crags, and before him, but on the opposite side
of the table, among divers letters and papers of business, lay a large
Bible, with brass clasps thereon, in which, it would seem, some one had
been expounding to him a portion of the Scriptures.
When my grandfather presented to him the letter from the Earl of
Glencairn, he took it from him without much regarding him, and broke
open the seal, and began to peruse it to himself in that calm and
methodical manner for which he was so famed and remarkable. Before,
however, he had read above the half thereof, he gave as it were a sudden
hitch, and turning round, looked my grandfather sharply in the face, and
said,--
"Are you Gilhaize?"
But before any answer could be made, he waved his hand graciously,
pointing to a chair, and desired him to sit down, resuming at the same
time the perusal of the letter; and when he had finished it, he folded
it up for a moment; but, as if recollecting himself, he soon runkled it
up in his hand and put it into the fire.
"Your Lord informs me," said he, "that he has all confidence, not only
in your honesty, Gilhaize, but in your discernment; and says, that in
respect to the high question anent Christ's cause, you may be trusted to
the uttermost. Truly, for so young a man, this is an exceeding renown.
His letter has told me what passed last night with the Queen's Highness.
I am grieved to hear it. She means well; but her feminine fears make her
hearken to counsels that may cause the very evils whereof she is so
afraid. But the sincerity of her favour to the Reformed will soon be
tried, for last night John Knox arrived, and I was with him; and, strong
in the assurances of his faith, he intends to lead on to the battle.
This morning he was minded to depart for Fife.--'Our Captain, Christ
Jesus,' said he, 'and Satan, his adversary, are now at open defiance;
their banners are displayed, and the trumpet is blown on both sides for
assembling their armies.' As soon as it is known that he is within the
kingdom, we shall learn what we may expect, and that presently too; for
this very day the clergy meet in the monastery of the Greyfriars, and
doubtless they will be advertised of his coming. You had as well try if
you can gain admittance among the other auditors, to hear their
deliberations; afterwards come again to me, and report what takes place;
by that time I shall be advised whether to send you back to Glencairn or
elsewhere."
My grandfather, after this and some farther discourse, retired to the
hall, and took breakfast with the household, where he was much edified
with the douce deportment of all present, so unlike that of the lewd and
graceless varlets who rioted in the houses of the other nobles. Verily,
he used to say, the evidences of a reforming spirit were brightly seen
there; and, to rule every one into a chaste sobriety of conversation, a
pious clerk sate at the head of the board, and said grace before and
after the meal, making it manifest how much all things about the Lord
James Stuart were done in order.
Having taken breakfast, and reposed himself some time, for his long ride
had made him very weary, he rose, and, changing his apparel, went to the
Greyfriars church, where the clergy were assembling, and elbowing
himself gently into the heart of the people waiting around for
admission, he got in with the crowd when the doors were opened.
The matter that morning to be considered concerned the means to be
taken, within the local jurisdictions of those there met, to enforce the
process of the summons which had been issued against the reformed
preachers to appear at Stirling.
But while they were busily conversing and contriving how best to aid and
further that iniquitous aggression of perfidious tyranny, there came in
one of the brethren of the monastery, with a frightened look, and cried
aloud, that John Knox was come, and had been all night in the town. At
the news the spectators, as if moved by one spirit, gave a triumphant
shout,--the clergy were thunderstruck,--some started from their seats,
unconscious of what they did,--others threw themselves back where they
sat,--and all appeared as if a judgment had been pronounced upon them.
In the same moment the church began to skail,--the session was
adjourned,--and the people ran in all directions. The cry rose
everywhere, "John Knox is come!" All the town came rushing into the
streets,--the old and the young, the lordly and the lowly, were seen
mingling and marvelling together,--all tasks of duty, and servitude, and
pleasure, were forsaken,--the sick-beds of the dying were deserted,--the
priests abandoned their altars and masses, and stood pale and trembling
at the doors of their churches,--mothers set down their infants on the
floors, and ran to inquire what had come to pass,--funerals were
suspended, and the impious and the guilty stood aghast, as if some
dreadful apocalypse had been made;--travellers, with the bridles in
their hands, lingering in profane discourse with their hosts, suddenly
mounted, and speeded into the country with the tidings. At every cottage
door and wayside bield, the inmates stood in clusters, silent and
wondering, as horseman came following horseman, crying, "John Knox is
come!" Barks that had departed, when they heard the news, bore up to
tell others that they saw afar at sea. The shepherds were called in from
the hills;--the warders on the castle, when, at the sound of many
quickened feet approaching, they challenged the comers, were answered,
"John Knox is come!" Studious men were roused from the spells of their
books;--nuns, at their windows, looked out fearful and inquiring,--and
priests and friars were seen standing by themselves, shunned like
lepers. The whole land was stirred as with the inspiration of some new
element, and the hearts of the persecutors were withered.
"No tongue," often said my grandfather, "could tell the sense of that
great event through all the bounds of Scotland, and the papistical
dominators shrunk as if they had suffered in their powers and
principalities, an awful and irremediable overthrow."