deputies to Dunbar, to assure the queen that they had no intention
of throwing off their allegiance, and to induce her to yield to
reasonable terms of accommodation. As a preliminary, she agreed to
release their ministers from the sentence of outlawry, and allow
them to preach to those who chose to hear them.[411] Meanwhile, she
was busily employed in endeavours to disunite her opponents. Having
spun out the negotiations which they had opened with her, until she
understood that the greater part of their forces had left them, she
advanced suddenly with her army to Edinburgh. The protestants took
up a position on the east side of Craigingate,[412] and resolved to
defend the capital, though against superior forces;[413] but Leith
having opened its gates {278} to her, and lord Erskine, who commanded
the castle, threatening to fire upon them, they were forced to
conclude a treaty, by which they agreed to leave Edinburgh. They
stipulated, however, that the inhabitants should be left at liberty
to use that form of worship which was most acceptable to them.[414]
Knox would have remained with his congregation after the regent took
possession of the city; but the nobles, knowing the value of his
services, and the danger to which his life would be exposed, insisted
on his accompanying them.[415] Willock, who was less obnoxious to the
hatred of the court and clergy, was therefore substituted in his place;
and the prudence and firmness which this preacher displayed in that
difficult situation proved that he was not unworthy of the choice
which had fallen on him. The regent was extremely anxious to have
the Roman catholic service re‑established in the church of St Giles,
and employed the earl of Huntly to persuade the citizens to declare
in favour of the measure; but neither the authority of the queen, nor
the entreaties which Huntly employed, both in private and at a public
meeting called with that view, could prevail with them to swerve
from their profession of the reformed religion, or to relinquish the
right which was secured to them by the late treaty.[416] Although the
French {279} soldiers who had come to the regent’s assistance kept
the city in alarm, and disturbed the protestant service,[417] Willock
maintained his place; and in the month of August he administered
the sacrament of the supper after the reformed manner in St Giles’s
church.[418] The celebration of the popish worship was confined to the
royal chapel and the church of Holyroodhouse, during the time that the
capital was in the possession of the royal forces.[419]
In the month of August, a singular phenomenon was seen in the Abbey
church. The archbishop of St Andrews appeared in the pulpit, and
preached. If his grace did not acquit himself with great ability
on the occasion, he at least behaved with becoming modesty. After
discoursing for a short time, he requested the audience to excuse the
defects of his sermon, as he had not been accustomed to the employment,
and told them that he had provided a very skilful preacher to succeed
him; upon which he concluded, and gave way to friar Black.[420]
On retiring from Edinburgh, Knox undertook a tour of preaching through
the kingdom. The wide field which was before him, the interesting
situation in which he was placed, the dangers by which he was
surrounded, and the hopes which he cherished, increased the ardour of
his zeal, and stimulated him to extraordinary exertions both of body
and mind. Within less than two months, he travelled over a great {280}
part of Scotland. He visited Kelso, and Jedburgh, and Dumfries, and
Ayr, and Stirling, and Perth, and Brechin, and Montrose, and Dundee,
and returned to St Andrews. This itinerancy had great influence
in diffusing the knowledge of the truth, and in strengthening the
protestant interest. The attention of the nation was aroused; their
eyes were opened to the errors by which they had been deluded; and
they panted for a continued and more copious supply of the word of
life, which they had once been permitted to taste, and had felt so
refreshing to their souls.[421] I cannot better describe the emotions
which this success excited in Knox’s breast, than by quoting from
the familiar letters which he wrote at intervals snatched from his
constant employment.
“Thus far hath God advanced the glory of his dear Son among us,” says
he, in a letter written from St Andrews, on the 23d of June. “O! that
my heart could be thankful for the superexcellent benefit of my God.
The long thirst of my wretched heart is satisfied in abundance that
is above my expectation; for now forty days and more hath my God used
my tongue, in my native country, to the manifestation of his glory.
Whatsoever now shall follow as touching my own carcass, his holy name
be praised. The thirst of the poor people, as well as of the nobility,
here, is wondrous great; which putteth me in comfort, that Christ
Jesus shall triumph here in the north and {281} extreme parts of the
earth for a space.” In another letter, dated the 2d of September,
he says: “Time to me is so precious, that with great difficulty
can I steal one hour in eight days, either to satisfy myself, or
to gratify my friends. I have been in continual travel since the
day of appointment;[422] and, notwithstanding the fevers have vexed
me, yet have I travelled through the most part of this realm, where
(all praise to His blessed Majesty!) men of all sorts and conditions
embrace the truth. Enemies we have many, by reason of the Frenchmen
who lately arrived, of whom our papists hope golden hills. As we
be not able to resist, we do nothing but go about Jericho, blowing
with trumpets, as God giveth strength, hoping victory by his power
alone.”[423]
Soon after his arrival in Scotland, he wrote for his wife and family,
whom he had left behind him at Geneva. On the 13th of June, Mrs Knox
and her mother were at Paris, and applied to Sir Nicholas Throkmorton,
the English ambassador, for a safe conduct to pass into England.
Throkmorton, who by this time had penetrated the counsels of the
French court, not only granted this request, but wrote a letter to
Elizabeth, in which he urged the propriety of overlooking the offence
which Knox had given by his publication against female government, and
of {282} conciliating him by the kind treatment of his wife; seeing he
was in great credit with the lords of the Congregation, had been the
principal instrument in producing the late change in Scotland, and was
capable of doing essential service to her majesty.[424] Accordingly,
Mrs Knox came into England, and, being conveyed to the borders by the
directions of the court, reached her husband in safety, on the 20th of
September.[425] Mrs Bowes, after remaining a short time in her native
country, followed her daughter into Scotland, where she remained until
her death.[426]
The arrival of his family was the more gratifying to our Reformer,
that they were accompanied by Christopher Goodman, his late colleague
at Geneva. He had repeatedly written, in the most pressing manner,
{283} for him to come to his assistance, and expressed much uneasiness
at the delay of his arrival.[427] Goodman became minister of Ayr, and
was afterwards translated to St Andrews. The settlement of protestant
ministers began to take place at an earlier period than is mentioned
in our common histories. Previous to September, 1559, eight towns were
provided with pastors; and other places remained unprovided owing to
the scarcity of preachers.[428]
In the mean time, it became daily more apparent that the lords of
the Congregation would be unable, without foreign aid, to maintain
the struggle in which they were involved. Had the contest been
merely between them and the domestic party of the regent, they would
soon have brought it to a successful termination; but they could
not withstand the veteran troops which France had already sent to
her assistance, and was preparing to send in still more formidable
numbers.[429] As far back as the middle of {284} June, our Reformer
had renewed his exertions for obtaining assistance from England, and
persuaded William Kircaldy of Grange, first to write, and afterwards
to pay a visit, to Sir Henry Percy, who held a public situation on the
English marches. Percy immediately transmitted his representations to
London, and an answer was returned from Secretary Cecil, encouraging
the correspondence.[430]
Knox himself wrote to Cecil, requesting permission to visit
England,[431] and inclosed a letter to queen Elizabeth, in which he
attempted to apologize for his rude attack upon female government.
When a man has been “overtaken in a fault,” it is his glory to confess
it; but those who have been so unfortunate as to incur the resentment
of princes, must, if they expect to appease them, condescend to very
ample and humiliating apologies. Luther involved himself more than
once by attempting this task, and, had not the lustre of his talents
protected him, his reputation must have suffered materially from his
ill success. He was prevailed on to write submissive apologies to
Leo X. and Henry VIII. for the freedom with which he had treated them
in his writings; but, in both instances, his apologies were rejected
with contempt, {285} and he found himself under the necessity of
retracting his retractations.[432] Knox was in no danger of committing
himself in this way. He was less violent in his temper than the German
reformer, but he was also less flexible and accommodating. There was
nothing at which he was more awkward than apologies, condescensions,
and civilities; and on the present occasion he was placed in a very
embarrassing predicament, as his judgment would not permit him to
retract the sentiment which had given offence to the English queen.
In his letter to Elizabeth, he expresses deep distress at having
incurred her displeasure, and warm attachment to her government; but
the grounds on which he advises her to found her title to the crown,
and indeed the whole strain in which the letter is written, are such
as must have aggravated, instead of extenuating, his offence in the
opinion of that high‑minded princess.[433] But, although his apology
had been more ample and humble than it was, it is not probable that
he would have succeeded better with {286} Elizabeth than Luther did
with her father. Christopher Goodman, after his return to England,
was obliged, at two several periods, to subscribe a recantation of the
opinion which he had given against the lawfulness of female government,
nor could all his condescensions procure for him the favour of his
sovereign.[434] In fact, Elizabeth was all along extremely tender on
the subject of her right to the throne; she never failed to resent
every attack that was made upon this, from whatever quarter it came;
and, although several historians have amused their readers with
accounts of her ambition to be thought more beautiful and accomplished
than the queen of Scots,[435] I am persuaded that she was always more
jealous of Mary as a competitor for the crown, than as a rival in
personal charms.
It does not, however, appear, that Elizabeth ever saw Knox’s letter,
and I have little doubt that it was suppressed by the sagacious
secretary.[436] Cecil was himself friendly to the measure of assisting
the Scottish {287} Congregation, and exerted all his influence to
bring over the queen and her council to his opinion. Accordingly, Knox
received a message, desiring him to meet Sir Henry Percy at Alnwick,
on the 2d of August, upon business which required the utmost secrecy
and dispatch; and Cecil himself came down to Stamford to hold an
interview with him.[437] The confusion produced by the advance of the
regent’s army upon Edinburgh, retarded his journey; but no sooner was
this settled, than Knox sailed from Pittenweem to Holy Island. Finding
that Percy was recalled from the borders, he applied to Sir James
Croft, the governor of Berwick. Croft, who was not unapprized of the
design on which he came, dissuaded him from proceeding farther into
England, and undertook to despatch his communications to London, and
to procure a speedy return. Alexander Whitlaw of Greenrig, who had
been banished from Scotland, having come to London on his way from
France, was intrusted by the English court with their answer to
the letters of the Congregation. Arriving at Berwick, he delivered
the despatches to Knox, who hastened with them to Stirling, where a
meeting of the protestant lords was to be held. He prudently returned
by sea to Fife; for the queen regent had come to the knowledge of his
journey to England, and Whitlaw, in travelling through East Lothian,
being mistaken for Knox, was hotly pursued, and made his escape
with great difficulty.[438] The irresolution or {288} the caution of
Elizabeth’s cabinet had led them to express themselves in such general
and unsatisfactory terms, that the lords of the Congregation, when the
letters were laid before them, were both disappointed and displeased;
and it was with some difficulty that our Reformer obtained permission
from them to write again to London in his own name. The representation
which he gave of the urgency of the case, and the danger of further
hesitation or delay, produced a speedy reply, desiring them to send
a confidential messenger to Berwick, who would receive a sum of money
to assist them in prosecuting the war. About the same time, Sir Ralph
Sadler was sent down to Berwick, to act as an accredited but secret
agent, and the correspondence between the court of London and the
lords of the Congregation continued afterwards to be carried on
through him and Sir James Croft, until the English auxiliary army
entered Scotland.[439]
If we reflect upon the connexion which the religious and civil
liberties of the nation had with the contest in which the protestants
were engaged, and upon our Reformer’s zeal in that cause, we shall not
be greatly surprised to find him at this time acting in the character
of a politician. Extraordinary cases cannot be measured by ordinary
rules. In a great {289} emergency, when all that is valuable and dear
to a people is at stake, it becomes the duty of every individual to
step forward, and exert all his talents for the public good. Learning
was at this time rare among the nobility; and though there were men
of distinguished abilities among the protestant leaders, few of them
had been accustomed to transact public business. Accordingly, the
management of the correspondence with England was for a time devolved
chiefly on Knox and Balnaves. But our Reformer submitted to the task
merely from a sense of duty and regard to the common cause; and when
the younger Maitland acceded to their party, he expressed the greatest
satisfaction at the prospect of being relieved from the burden.[440]
It was not without reason that he longed for this deliverance. He
now felt that it was as difficult to preserve integrity and Christian
simplicity amidst the crooked wiles of political intrigue, as he had
formerly found it to pursue truth through the perplexing mazes of
scholastic sophistry. In performing a task foreign to his habits,
and repugnant to his disposition, he met with a good deal of vexation,
and several unpleasant rubs. These were owing partly to his own
impetuosity, and partly to the grudge entertained against him by
Elizabeth, but chiefly to the particular line of policy which the
English cabinet had resolved to pursue. They were convinced of the
danger of allowing the Scottish protestants to be suppressed; {290}
but they wished to confine themselves to pecuniary aid, believing
that by such assistance the lords of the Congregation would be able to
expel the French, and bring the contest to a successful issue, while,
by the secresy with which it could be conveyed, an open breach between
France and England would be prevented. This plan, which originated
in the personal disinclination of Elizabeth to the Scottish war,[441]
rather than in the judgment of her wisest counsellors, protracted the
contest, and gave occasion to some angry disputes between the English
agents and those of the Congregation. The former were continually
urging the associated lords to attack the forces of the regent,
before she received fresh succours from France, and blaming their
slow operations; they complained of the want of secresy in the
correspondence with England; and even insinuated that the money,
intended for the common cause, was partially applied to private
purposes. The latter were irritated by this insinuation, and urged
the necessity of military as well as pecuniary assistance.[442]
{291} In a letter to Sir James Croft, Knox represented the great
importance of their being speedily assisted with troops, without which
they would be in much hazard of miscarrying in an attack upon the
fortifications of Leith. The court of England, he said, ought not to
hesitate at offending France, of whose hostile intentions against them
they had the most satisfactory evidence. But “if ye list to craft with
thame,” continued he, “the sending of a thousand or mo men to us can
breake no league nor point of peace contracted betwixt you and France:
for it is free for your subjects to serve in warr anie prince or
nation for their wages; and if ye fear that such excuses will not
prevail, ye may declare thame rebelles to your realme when ye shall be
assured that thei be in our companye.” No doubt such things have been
often done; and such “political casuistry” (as Keith not improperly
styles it) is not unknown at courts. But it must be confessed, that
the measure recommended by Knox (the morality of which must stand
on the same grounds with the assistance which the English were at
that time affording) was too glaring to be concealed by the excuses
which he suggested. Croft laid hold of this opportunity to check the
impetuosity of his correspondent, and wrote him, that he wondered
how he, “being a wise man,” would require from them such aid as they
could not give “without breach of treaty, and dishonour;” and that
“the world was not so blind but that it could soon espy” the “devices”
by which he proposed “to colour their doings.” Knox, in his reply,
apologized for his {292} “unreasonable request;” but, at the same
time, reminded Croft of the common practice of courts in such matters,
and the conduct of the French court towards the English in a recent
instance.[443] He was not ignorant, he said, of the inconveniences
which might attend an open declaration in their favour, but feared
that they would have cause to “repent the drift of time, when the
remedy would not be so easy.”[444]
This is the only instance in which I have found our Reformer
recommending dissimulation, which was very foreign to the openness of
his natural temper, and the blunt and rigid honesty that marked his
general conduct. His own opinion was, that the English court ought
from the first to have done what they found themselves obliged to
do at last――avow their resolution to support the Congregation. Keith
praises Croft’s “just reprimand on Mr Knox’s double fac’d proposition,”
and Cecil says, that his “audacite was well tamed.” We must not,
however, imagine, that these statesmen had any scruple of conscience,
or nice feeling of honour on this point. For, on the {293} very day
on which Croft reprimanded Knox, he wrote to Cecil that he thought the
queen ought openly to take part with the Congregation. And in the same
letter in which Cecil speaks of Knox’s audacity, he advises Croft to
adopt in substance the very measure which our Reformer had recommended,
by sending five or six officers, who should “steal from thence with
appearance of displeasure for lack of interteynment;” and in a
subsequent letter, he gives directions to send three or four, fit for
being captains, who should give out that they left Berwick, “as men
desyrous to be exercised in the warres, rather than to lye idely in
that towne.”[445]
Notwithstanding the prejudice which existed in the English court
against our Reformer,[446] on account of his “audacity” in attacking
female prerogative, they were too well acquainted with his integrity
and influence to decline his services. Cecil kept up a correspondence
with him; and in the directions sent {294} from London for the
management of the subsidy, it was expressly provided, that he should
be one of the council for examining the receipts and payments, to see
that it was applied to “the common action,” and not to any private
use.[447]
In the mean time, his zeal and activity, in the cause of the
Congregation, exposed him to the deadly resentment of the queen regent
and the papists. A reward was publicly offered to any one who should
apprehend or kill him; and not a few, actuated by hatred or avarice,
lay in wait to seize his person. But this did not deter him from
appearing in public, nor from travelling through the country in the
discharge of his duty. His exertions at this period were incredibly
great. By day he was employed in preaching, by night in writing
letters on public business. He was the soul of the Congregation; was
always found at the post of danger; and by his presence, his public
discourses, and private advices, animated the whole body, and defeated
the schemes employed to corrupt or disunite them.[448]
{295} The Congregation had lately received a considerable increase
of strength by the accession of the former regent, the duke of
Chastelherault. His eldest son, the earl of Arran, who commanded the
Scots guard in France, had embraced the principles of the Reformation;
understanding that the French court, which was entirely under the
direction of the princes of Lorrain, intended to throw him into prison,
he secretly retired to Geneva, from which he was conveyed to London
by the assistance of Elizabeth’s ministers. In the month of August he
came to his father at Hamilton. The representations of his son, joined
with those of the English cabinet, and with his own jealousy of the
designs of the queen regent, easily gained over the vacillating duke,
who met with the lords of the Congregation, and subscribed their bond
of confederation.[449]
Our Reformer was now called to take a share in a very delicate and
important measure. When they first had recourse to arms in their
own defence, the {296} lords of the Congregation had no intention of
making any alteration in the government, or of assuming the exercise
of the supreme authority.[450] Even after they had adopted a more
regular and permanent system of resistance to the measures of the
queen regent, they continued to recognise the station which she held,
presented petitions to her, and listened respectfully to the proposals
which she made for removing the grounds of variance. But finding that
she was fully bent upon the execution of her plan for subverting the
national liberties, and that her official situation gave her great
advantages in carrying on this design, they began to deliberate
upon the propriety of adopting a different line of conduct. Their
sovereigns were minors, in a foreign country, and under the management
of persons to whose influence the evils of which they complained were
principally to be ascribed. The queen dowager held the regency by the
authority of parliament; and might she not be deprived of it by the
same authority? In the present state of the country, it was impossible
for a free and regular parliament to meet; but the majority of the
nation had declared their dissatisfaction with her administration; and
was it not competent for them to provide for the public safety, which
was exposed to such imminent danger? These were the questions which
formed the topic of frequent conversation at this time.