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[Illustration]
Engraved by J. Cochran.
JOHN KNOX
FROM THE ORIGINAL PICTURE IN THE POSSESSION OF
LORD TORPHICHEN.
_Published by W. Blackwood, Edinburgh, April 10, 1831._
{i}
LIFE
OF
JOHN KNOX:
CONTAINING
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE HISTORY OF
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.
THE FIFTH EDITION.
VOL. I.
WILLIAM BLACKWOOD, EDINBURGH; AND
T. CADELL, STRAND, LONDON.
MDCCCXXXI.
{ii}
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY,
PAUL’S WORK, CANONGATE.
{iii}
PREFACE
TO THE
FIRST EDITION.
The Reformation from Popery marks an epoch unquestionably 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. Nothing, surely,
can be more interesting than an investigation of the history of that
period, and of those men who were the instruments, under Providence,
of accomplishing a revolution which has proved so beneficial 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 {iv} 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 regret that no one had
undertaken to digest and exhibit the information on this subject
which lay hid in manuscripts, and in books which are now little known
or consulted. Not presuming, however, that I had the ability or the
leisure requisite for executing a 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 with 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 histories 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 {v} 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
instructive. Nor can it escape observation, that a number 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 consequence of my
possessing a manuscript volume of Knox’s Letters, which throw
considerable light upon his character and history. The advantages
which I have derived from this volume will appear in the course of the
work, where it is quoted under the general title of _MS. Letters_.[1]
{vi} 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
information respecting the early period of the Reformation, contains
a collection of letters written by Knox between 1559 and 1572, which,
together with those in my possession, extend over twenty years of
the most active period of his life. I have carefully consulted 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 written 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 Historie of the Kirk,
had the assistance of Memoirs written {vii} by David Ferguson,
his father‑in‑law, who was admitted 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 matter 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 volumes in
folio, containing collections which he had made for illustrating the
lives of the Scottish reformers 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 {viii} 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 mention facts that are not recorded by historians.
In the Advocates’ Library, which contains an invaluable treasure
of information respecting Scottish affairs, I had an opportunity of
examining the 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 given 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, I wish not to be
understood as intimating that the reader may expect in the following
work, much information which is absolutely new. He who engages in
researches of this kind, must lay his account with finding the result
of his discoveries reduced {ix} 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 histories, and are
already established and unquestionable, I did not reckon it necessary
to be so particular in producing the authorities.
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. {x} Desirous of giving unity to the narrative,
and at the same time anxious to convey information respecting the
ecclesiastical and literary history of the period, I have separated a
number of facts and illustrations of this description, 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 sentiments on the public questions which
naturally occurred 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
uncandid and exaggerated censures. The attacks which have been made
on his {xi} character from so many quarters, and the attempts to wound
the Reformation 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 published. 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 Reformer, and published in the year after his death, is reprinted
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 Lordship, in the most obliging manner, favoured the
publishers. 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 {xii} ECCLESIÆ EDIMBURGENSIS PASTOR. OBIIT EDIMBURGI
AN. 1572. ÆT. 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 inscription was copied from his _Icones_, and that
the medal was struck on the continent.
_EDINBURGH,_
_November 14, 1811._
{xiii}
PREFACE
TO THE
SECOND EDITION.
In preparing this work for a second impression, I have endeavoured
carefully to correct mistakes which had escaped me in the first, both
as to matter and language. 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 access 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
improvements.
I have added to the Supplement a number of original Latin Poems on the
principal characters mentioned in the course of the work, which may
not be unacceptable to the learned reader.
_EDINBURGH,_
_March 1, 1813._
{xv}
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
Martyrs, at the end of the first volume. The portrait of the Regent
Murray, now prefixed to the second volume, is taken from the original
in Holyrood Palace.
_EDINBURGH,_
_February 14, 1831._
{xvi}
{xvii}
CONTENTS
OF
VOLUME FIRST.
PERIOD FIRST.
Birth and parentage of Knox――his education――state of literature
in Scotland――introduction of Greek language――political and
ecclesiastical opinions of John Major――their probable influence
on Knox and Buchanan――Knox teaches scholastic philosophy
at St Andrew’s――is admitted to clerical orders――change
in his studies and sentiments――state of religion in
Scotland――urgent necessity of a reformation――gratitude
due to the reformers――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 1
PERIOD SECOND.
Knox retires from St Andrew’s, and joins himself to the
reformed――is degraded from the priesthood――reformation favoured
by Regent Arran――Scottish Parliament authorize the use of
the Scriptures in the vulgar language――the Regent abjures
the reformed religion――Thomas Guillaume――George Wishart――Knox
enters the family of Langniddrie as a tutor――Cardinal Beatoun
assassinated――Knox persecuted by Archbishop Hamilton――averse to
go to England――takes refuge in the Castle of St Andrew’s――his
sentiments respecting the assassination of Beatoun――Sir David
Lindsay of the Mount――Henry Balnaves of Halhill――John
Rough――Knox’s call to the ministry――his reluctance to comply
with it――reflections on this――his first sermon――his disputation
{xviii} before a convention of the clergy――the clergy begin to
preach at St Andrew’s――success of Knox’s labours――castle taken,
and Knox confined in the French galleys――his health injured――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 37
PERIOD THIRD.
Knox arrives in England――state of the Reformation in that
kingdom――Knox sent by the privy council to preach at Berwick――his
great exertions――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
displeasure of Earl of Northumberland――is honourably acquitted
by the privy council――bad state of his health――preaches in
London――declines accepting a benefice――refuses a bishopric――his
objections to the worship and government of the church of
England――private sentiments of English reformers similar
to his――plan of Edward VI. for improving the church of
England――state of his court――boldness and honesty of the royal
chaplains――Knox’s sermons at court――his distress at the death
of Edward――he retires to the north of England on the accession
of Mary――returns to the south――his prayer for the queen――marries
Marjory Bowes――displeasure 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 78
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 {xix} 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 ecclesiastical 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 the vulgar language――Queen Dowager made Regent――she privately
favours the protestants――violence of English Queen drives
preachers into Scotland――William Harlow――John Willock――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 Calder house――Sir James
Sandilands――John Spotswood――Lord Lorn――Lord Erskine――The Prior
of St Andrew’s――Knox dispenses 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――summary 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 121
PERIOD FIFTH.
Knox arrives at Geneva――happiness which he enjoyed in that
city――his passionate desire to preach the gospel in his native
country――he {xx} receives an invitation from the protestant
nobles in Scotland――leaves Geneva――receives letters at Dieppe
dissuading him from prosecuting the journey――his animated letter
to the nobility――persecution of the protestants in France――Knox
preaches in Rochelle――and at Dieppe――reasons which induced
him not to proceed to Scotland――he writes to the protestants
of Scotland――warns them against the Anabaptists――writes to
the nobility――his prudent advice respecting resistance to
the government――he returns to Geneva――assists in an English
translation of the Bible――publishes his letter to the queen
regent――and his Appellation from the sentence 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 congregations――resolutions of a
general meeting――protestant preachers taken into the families
of the nobility――correspondence between the Archbishop
of St Andrew’s and Earl of Argyle――martyrdom of Walter
Mill――important 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 194
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 {xxi} repairs to Dundee――protestants of the
north resolve to attend the 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――protestants resolve to defend themselves――a treaty――Knox’s
interview with Argyle and Prior――treaty violated by the
Regent――the name of the Congregation given to the protestant
association――Lords of the Congregation invite Knox to preach
at St Andrew’s――archbishop opposes this by arms――intrepidity of
Knox――he preaches at St Andrew’s――magistrates and inhabitants
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 the monasteries――Lords
of the Congregation 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――Knox undertakes a tour of preaching through
the kingdom――his family arrive in Scotland――Christopher
Goodman――settlement of protestant ministers in principal
towns――French troops come to the assistance of the Regent――Knox
persuades the Congregation to seek assistance from the court
of England――apologizes to Elizabeth for his book against
female government――undertakes a journey to Berwick――succeeds
in the negotiation――reasons for his taking a part in
political managements――embarrassments in which this involved
him――prejudices 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 reformation on
civil liberty――political principles of Knox――resistance to
tyrants not forbidden in the New Testament――disasters of
the Congregation――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 {xxii} miracle at Musselburgh――meeting
of parliament――petition of Protestants――Protestant Confession
of Faith ratified by parliament――retrospective view of the
advancement of the Reformation, Page 245
NOTES. Page 335
{1}
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 Haddington, the principal town of the
county. The house in which he is said to have been born is still shewn
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 possessed, 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 {2} oldest and most credible
writers, that he was born in the village of Gifford.[2]
His father was descended from an ancient and respectable family, who
possessed the lands of Knock, Ranferly, and Craigends, 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.[3]
At what particular period his paternal ancestors removed from their
original seat, and settled in Lothian, I have not been able exactly
to ascertain. His mother’s name was Sinclair.[4]
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.[5] They were able to give their son a liberal education,
which, in that age, was far from being common. In his youth, {3}
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.[6]
The state of learning in Scotland at that period, and the progress
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 inferior importance. There were
unquestionably learned Scotsmen in the early part of the sixteenth
century; but most of them owed their chief acquirements to the
advantage of a foreign 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
originally 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 universities were
the Aristotelian philosophy, scholastic theology, and canon law.[7]
{4} Even in the darkest ages, Scotland was never altogether destitute
of schools for teaching the Latin language.[8] It is probable 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.[9] 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 who 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 mentioned 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 Vaus was
rector of the school of Aberdeen, and is commended by Hector Boece,
the learned principal of the university, {5} for his knowledge of
the Latin tongue, and his success in the education of youth.[10] At
a period somewhat later, Andrew 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.[11]
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 almost unknown in Scotland. Individuals acquired the
knowledge of it abroad; but the first attempts {6} 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 by 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
patronised 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 encouraged 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.[12] After this statement, I need scarcely add, that the
Oriental tongues were at that time utterly unknown in Scotland. I
shall afterwards have occasion to notice the introduction 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,[13] a defect in his education which he exceedingly
{7} 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 preceptor of Knox, and of the celebrated scholar Buchanan,[14]
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 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 Europe. 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 Gallican church, against the advocates for the uncontrollable
authority of the Sovereign Pontiff. He taught that a General Council
was superior to {8} 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
human appointment; 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
holidays.[15]
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, collectively
considered; that if rulers become tyrannical, or employ their power
for the destruction of their subjects, they may lawfully be controlled
by them, and proving incorrigible, may be deposed by the community
as the superior power; and that tyrants may be judicially proceeded
against, even to capital punishments.[16]
The affinity between these sentiments, and the political principles
afterwards avowed by Knox, and defended by the classic pen of Buchanan,
is too {9} striking to require illustration. Some of them, indeed, had
been taught by at least one Scottish author, who flourished before the
time of Major; but it is most probable 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 that, consequently, the
important changes which these 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.
But though, in these respects, the opinions of Major were 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 by the most servile adherence to all the
minutiæ 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 {10} his countrymen several of the more glaring errors
and abuses of his time; but his mind was deeply tinctured with
superstition , and he defended some of the absurdest tenets of popery
by the most ridiculous and puerile arguments.[17] 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 an 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 studies, 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 {11} 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 in view the advancement
of true religion and liberty, with the love 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.[18]
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 {12} ingenious mind. It
had a shew 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, it 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.[19] His class became celebrated; and he was considered
as equalling, if not excelling his master, in the subtleties of the
dialectic art.[20] 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.[21] This must have taken place previous to
the year {13} 1530, at which time 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 simplicity 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, Jerom 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 completely emancipated
from superstition, his mind was fitted for improving the means
which Providence had prepared, for leading him to a fuller and more
comprehensive view of the system of evangelical religion. It was
about the year 1535, when this {14} favourable change commenced;[22]
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 commenced Reformer, it may
not be improper to take a survey of the state of religion in Scotland
at that time. Without an adequate knowledge of this, it is impossible
to form a just estimate of the necessity and importance of that
reformation, in the advancement of which he laboured with so great
zeal; and nothing has contributed so much to give currency, among
Protestants, 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 deemed superfluous or
disproportionate.
* * * * *
The corruptions by which the Christian religion was universally
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, {15} 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 nobility in magnificence, and preceded them in
honours: they were Privy‑Councillors, and Lords of Session, as well as
of Parliament, 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 possession of
by the same weapons.[23] 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.[24]
Pluralities were multiplied without bounds, and benefices, given _in
commendam_, were kept vacant, during the {16} life of the commendator,
nay, sometimes during several lives;[25] so that extensive parishes
were frequently deprived for a long course of years, of all religious
service,――if a deprivation it could be called, at a time when the
cure of souls was no longer regarded as attached to livings originally
endowed for that purpose. The bishops never, on any occasion,
condescended to preach; indeed, I scarcely recollect an instance of
it, mentioned in history, from the erection of the regular Scottish
Episcopacy, down to the era of the Reformation.[26] The practice had
even gone into desuetude among all the secular clergy, and was {17}
wholly devolved on the mendicant monks, who employed it for the most
mercenary purposes.[27]
The lives 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 doweries which they brought.[28]
Through the blind devotion and munificence of princes and nobles,
monasteries, those nurseries of {18} superstition and idleness, had
greatly multiplied in the nation; and though they had universally
degenerated, and were notoriously become the haunts of lewdness and
debauchery, it was deemed impious and sacrilegious to reduce their
number, abridge their privileges, or alienate their funds.[29] The
kingdom swarmed with ignorant, 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,
Premonstratensians, 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.[30]
The ignorance of the clergy respecting religion was as gross as
the dissoluteness of their morals. Even bishops were not ashamed to
confess that they were {19} unacquainted with the canon of their faith,
and had never read any part of the sacred scriptures, except what they
met with in their missals.[31] Under such pastors 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 taken to prevent even
catechisms, {20} composed and approved by the clergy, from coming
into the hands of the laity.[32]
Scotland, from her local situation, had been less exposed to
disturbance from the encroaching ambition, the 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.[33] 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 prelacies,
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 jurisdiction, were frequently
carried to Rome. Large sums of money were annually exported out of the
kingdom, for the confirmation of benefices, the conducting of appeals,
{21} and many other purposes; in exchange for which, were received
leaden bulls, woollen palls, wooden images, old bones, and similar
articles of precious consecrated mummery.[34]