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Illustration: Engraved by J. Cochran.
JAMES STUART, EARL OF MURRAY.
FROM THE ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION AT
HOLYROOD PALACE, EDINBURGH.
_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. II.
WILLIAM BLACKWOOD, EDINBURGH; AND
T. CADELL, STRAND, LONDON.
MDCCCXXXI.
{ii}
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY,
PAUL’S WORK, CANONGATE.
{iii}
CONTENTS
OF
VOLUME SECOND.
PERIOD SEVENTH.
Knox resumes his situation in Edinburgh――urges the settlement
of ecclesiastical polity――aversion to this on the part
of the nobles――Knox is employed in compiling the Book of
Discipline――this is approved by General Assembly and subscribed
by greater part of Privy Council――sketch of the form and
order of the reformed church of Scotland――attention to
education――avarice of the nobility――influence of the Reformation
on literature――introduction of Hebrew into Scotland――John
Row――return of Buchanan――remarks on Mr Hume’s representation
of the rudeness of Scotland――literary hours in a
Scottish minister’s family――cultivation of the vernacular
language――David Ferguson――First General Assembly――Knox
loses his wife――corresponds with Calvin――his anxiety for
the safety of the reformed church――Queen Mary arrives in
Scotland――her education――her fixed determination to restore
popery――alarm excited by her setting up of mass――behaviour of
Knox on this occasion――remarks on this――sanguinary spirit and
proceedings of Roman Catholics――hostile intentions of the Queen
against Knox――first interview between them――Knox’s opinion of
her character――his austerity and vehemence useful――he vindicates
the right of holding ecclesiastical assemblies――inveighs
against the inadequate provision made for the ministers of
the church――his own stipend――attention of town‑council to his
support and accommodation――he installs two superintendents――is
employed in reconciling the nobility――the Queen is offended at
one of his sermons――second interview between them――his great
labours in Edinburgh――he obtains a colleague――incidents
in the {iv} life of John Craig――the Prior of St Andrew’s
created Earl of Murray, and made prime minister――insurrection
under Huntly――conduct of Knox on that occasion――Quintin
Kennedy――dispute between him and Knox――Ninian
Wingate――excommunication of Paul Methven――reflections on the
severity of the protestant discipline――third interview between
Knox and the Queen――artifice of Mary――she prevails on the
parliament not to ratify the protestant religion――indignation
of Knox at this――breach between him and Earl of Murray――his
sermon at the dissolution of parliament――fourth interview
between him and the Queen――apology for the sternness of his
behaviour――slander against his character――he is accused of
high treason――the courtiers endeavour to intimidate him into a
submission――his trial and defence――indignation of the Queen at
his acquittal, Page 1
PERIOD EIGHTH.
The courtiers charge Knox with usurping a papal power――the
General Assembly vindicate him――he marries a daughter of
Lord Ochiltree――splenetic reflections of the papists on this
alliance――dissensions between the court and preachers――apology
for the liberty of the pulpit――debate between Knox and secretary
Maitland――on Knox’s form of prayer for the Queen――and on
his doctrine respecting resistance to civil rulers――Craig’s
account of a similar dispute in Bologna――the Queen marries Lord
Darnley――change in the court――reasons which induced the nobles who
opposed the marriage to take up arms――Queen amuses the protestant
ministers――Knox is reconciled to Earl of Murray――gives offence to
the King――is inhibited from preaching――town‑council remonstrate
against this――he resumes his employment――Goodman leaves
St Andrew’s――petition for Knox’s translation to that town refused
by Assembly――he is employed to write different treatises for the
church――extract from the treatise of Fasting――measures taken by
the queen for restoring popery――assassination of Rizzio――sudden
changes in the court――Knox retires to Kyle――queen refuses to
permit his return to the capital――he resolves to visit his
sons in {v} England――receives a recommendation from the General
Assembly――carries a letter to the English bishops――archbishop
Hamilton restored to his ancient jurisdiction――spirited letter
of Knox on that occasion――alienation between Mary and her
husband――the King murdered by Bothwell――the Queen’s participation
in the murder――her marriage to Bothwell――independent behaviour of
John Craig――the queen resigns the crown to her son――Knox returns
to Edinburgh――preaches at the coronation of James VI.――his opinion
concerning the punishment of Mary――the Earl of Murray is installed
in the Regency――act of parliament in favour of the protestant
church――state of the church during the regency of Murray――Knox
cherishes the desire of retiring from public life――the regent
opposed by a party attached to Mary――attempts made on his life――he
is assassinated by Hamilton of Bothwelhaugh――national grief at
this event――character of Murray――Knox bewails his loss――fabricated
conference between them――Thomas Maitland insults over the death of
the regent――Knox’s denunciation against him――his pathetic sermon
before the regent’s funeral――is struck with apoplexy, Page 107
PERIOD NINTH.
Knox recovers from the apoplectic stroke――Kircaldy of Grange
joins the Queen’s party――Knox involved in a personal quarrel
with him――interposition of the gentlemen of the west in his
favour――anonymous libels against him――his spirited answers from
the pulpit――Queen’s party take possession of the capital――danger
to which Knox is exposed――he is prevailed on to retire to
St Andrew’s――civil war――hostility of the Queen’s faction against
Knox――he is opposed by their adherents at St Andrew’s――John
Hamilton――Archibald Hamilton――execution of archbishop
Hamilton――the regent Lennox slain――is succeeded by Earl
of Mar――invasion on the jurisdiction of the church――tulchan
bishops――not approved of by the General Assembly――Knox’s letter to
the assembly at Stirling――his sentiments respecting episcopacy――he
refuses to install Douglas as archbishop of St Andrew’s――gradual
decay of his health――striking description of his appearance and
{vi} pulpit eloquence――his familiarity with the students at the
university――he publishes an answer to a Scots Jesuit――ardently
desires his dissolution――his last letter to the General
Assembly――his subscription to Ferguson’s sermon――he returns to
Edinburgh――requests a smaller place of worship――Craig removes from
Edinburgh――Lawson chosen as successor to Knox――Knox’s letter to
him――Bartholomew massacre in France――Knox’s denunciation against
Charles IX.――he begins to preach in the Tolbooth church――his last
sermon――his sickness――interview between him and his session――his
message to Kircaldy――his religious advices, meditations, and
comfort during his last illness――his death――his funeral――opinions
entertained respecting him by the papists――by foreign
reformers――by Scottish protestants――by divines of the church
of England――origin and causes of prejudices against him――his
character――reflections on the prophecies ascribed to him――account
of his family――sufferings of John Welch, his son‑in‑law――interview
between him and Lewis XIII.――interview between Mrs Welch and
James VI.――character of Knox’s writings――conclusion, Page 180
NOTES, 281
APPENDIX, 374
SUPPLEMENT, 429
INDEX, 465
{1}
THE LIFE
OF
JOHN KNOX.
PERIOD VII.
FROM AUGUST 1560, WHEN HE WAS SETTLED AS MINISTER OF EDINBURGH,
AT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REFORMATION, TO DECEMBER 1563,
WHEN HE WAS ACQUITTED FROM A CHARGE OF TREASON.
IN appointing the protestant ministers to particular stations, a
measure which engaged the attention of the privy council immediately
after the conclusion of the civil war, the temporary arrangements that
had been formerly made were in general confirmed, and our Reformer
resumed his charge as minister of Edinburgh.[1] For several months he
had officiated as minister of St Andrews;[2] but in the end of April
1560, {2} he left that place, and returned to the capital,[3] where he
preached during the siege of Leith, and the negotiations which issued
in a peace.
Although the parliament had abolished the papal jurisdiction and
worship, and ratified the protestant doctrine, as laid down in the
Confession of Faith, the reformed church was not yet completely
organized in Scotland. Hitherto the Book of Common Order, used by
the English church at Geneva, had been generally followed as the rule
of public worship and discipline. But this having been compiled for
a single congregation, and for one that consisted chiefly of men of
education, was found inadequate for the use of an extensive church,
composed of a multitude of confederated congregations. Our reformers
were anxious to provide the means of religious instruction to the
whole people in the kingdom; but they were very far from approving
of the promiscuous admission of persons of all descriptions to the
peculiar privileges of the church of Christ. From the beginning, they
were sensible of the great importance of ecclesiastical discipline,
to the prosperity of religion, the maintenance of order, and the
preservation of sound doctrine and morals. In the petition presented
to parliament in August, the establishment of this was specially
requested.[4] And Knox, who had observed the great advantages which
attended the observance of a strict discipline at Geneva, {3} and the
manifold evils which resulted from the want of it in England, insisted
very particularly on this topic, in the discourses which he delivered
from the book of Haggai during the sitting of parliament.[5] The
difficulties which the reformed ministers had to surmount, before they
could accomplish this important object, began to present themselves
at this early stage of their progress. When it is considered, that
Calvin was subjected to a sentence of banishment from the senate of
Geneva, and exposed to a popular tumult, before he could prevail on
the citizens to submit to ecclesiastical discipline,[6] we need not
be surprised at the opposition which our reformers met with in their
endeavours to introduce it into Scotland. Knox’s warm exhortations
on this head were at first disregarded; he had the mortification to
find his plan of {4} church‑polity derided as a “devout imagination,”
by some of the professors of the reformed doctrine;[7]――and the
parliament dissolved without coming to any decision on this important
point.
As the ministers, however, continued to urge the subject, and the
reasonableness of their demands could not be denied, the privy council,
soon after the dissolution of the parliament, gave a commission
to Knox, and four other ministers, who had formerly been employed
along with him in composing the Confession, to draw up a plan of
ecclesiastical government.[8] They immediately set about this task,
with a diligence and care proportioned to their convictions of its
importance. They “took not their example,” says Row, “from any kirk in
the world, no, not from Geneva;” but drew their plan from the sacred
scriptures. Having arranged the subject under different heads, they
divided these among them; and, after they had finished their several
parts, they met together and examined them with great attention,
spending much time in reading and meditation on the subject, and in
earnest prayers for divine direction. When they had drawn up the whole
in form, they laid it before the General Assembly, by whom it was
approved, after they had caused some of its articles to be abridged.[9]
It was also submitted to the privy {5} council; but, although many
of the members highly approved of the plan, it was warmly opposed by
others. This opposition did not arise from any difference of sentiment
between them and the ministers respecting ecclesiastical government,
but partly from aversion to the strict discipline which it appointed
to be exercised against vice, and partly from reluctance to comply
with its requisition for the appropriation of the revenues of the
popish church to the support of the new religious and literary
establishments. Though not formally ratified by the council, it was,
however, subscribed by the greater part of the members;[10] and as the
sources of prejudice against it were well known, it was submitted to
by the nation, and carried into effect in most of its ecclesiastical
{6} regulations.[11] It is known in history by the name of the Book of
Policy, or First Book of Discipline.
Considering the activity of Knox in constructing and recommending
this platform, and the importance of the subject in itself, it cannot
be foreign to our object to take a view of the form and order of the
protestant church of Scotland, as delineated in the Book of Discipline,
and in other authentic documents of that period.
The ordinary and permanent office‑bearers of the church were of four
kinds: the minister, or pastor, to whom the preaching of the gospel
and administration of the sacraments belonged; the doctor, or teacher,
whose province it was to interpret scripture and confute errors
(including those who taught theology in schools and universities); the
ruling elder, who assisted the minister in exercising ecclesiastical
discipline and government; and the deacon, who had the special
oversight of the revenues of the church and the poor. But, besides
these, it was found necessary, at this time, to employ some persons
in extraordinary and temporary charges. As there was not a sufficient
number of ministers to supply the different parts of the country,
that the people might not be left altogether destitute of public
worship and instruction, certain pious persons, who had received a
common education, were appointed to read the scriptures and the common
prayers. These were called _readers_. In large parishes, {7} persons
of this description were also employed to relieve the ministers from
a part of the public service. If they advanced in knowledge, they
were encouraged to add a few plain exhortations to the reading of the
scriptures. In this case they were called _exhorters_; but they were
examined and admitted, before entering upon this employment.
The same cause gave rise to another temporary expedient. Instead of
fixing all the ministers in particular charges, it was judged proper,
after supplying the principal towns, to assign to the rest the
superintendence of a large district, over which they were appointed
regularly to travel, for the purpose of preaching, of planting
churches, and inspecting the conduct of ministers, exhorters, and
readers. These were called _superintendents_. The number originally
proposed was ten; but, owing to the scarcity of proper persons, or
rather to the want of necessary funds, there were never more than
five appointed.[12] The deficiency was supplied by commissioners,
or visitors, appointed from time to time by the General Assembly.
{8} None was allowed to preach, or to administer the sacraments, till
he was regularly called to this employment. Persons were invested
with the pastoral office in the way of being freely elected by the
people,[13] examined by the ministers, and publicly admitted in the
presence of the congregation. On the day of admission, the minister
who presided, after preaching a sermon suited to the occasion, put a
number of questions to the candidate, to satisfy the church as to his
soundness in the faith, his willingness to undertake the charge, the
purity of his motives, and his resolution to discharge the duties of
the office with diligence and fidelity. Satisfactory answers having
been given to these questions, and the people having signified their
adherence to their former choice, the person was admitted and set
apart by prayer, without the imposition of hands;[14] and the service
was concluded with an exhortation, the singing of a psalm, and the
pronouncing of the blessing. Superintendents were admitted in the
same way as other ministers.[15] The affairs of each congregation
were managed by the minister, elders, and deacons, who constituted
the kirk‑session, which met regularly once a‑week, and oftener if
business required. There was a meeting called the weekly exercise,
or prophesying, held in every considerable town, consisting of
the ministers, {9} exhorters, and learned men in the vicinity, for
expounding the scriptures. This was afterwards converted into the
presbytery, or classical assembly. The superintendent met with the
ministers and delegated elders of his district, twice a‑year, in the
provincial synod, which took cognizance of ecclesiastical affairs
within its bounds. And the General Assembly, which was composed of
ministers and elders commissioned from the different parts of the
kingdom, met twice, sometimes thrice, in a year, and attended to the
interests of the national church.
Public worship was conducted according to the Book of Common
Order, with a few variations adapted to the state of Scotland. On
Sabbath‑days, the people assembled twice for public worship; and, to
promote the instruction of the ignorant, catechising was substituted
for preaching in the afternoon. In towns, a sermon was regularly
preached on one day of the week besides Sabbath; and on almost every
day, the people had an opportunity of hearing public prayers and
the reading of the scriptures. Baptism was never dispensed unless it
was accompanied with preaching or catechising. The Lord’s supper was
administered four times a‑year in towns, and there were ordinarily
two “ministrations,” one at an early hour of the morning, and another
later in the day. The sign of the cross in baptizing, and kneeling
at the Lord’s table, were condemned and laid aside; and anniversary
holidays were wholly abolished.[16] We {10} shall afterwards have
occasion to advert to the discipline under which offenders were
brought.
The compilers of the First Book of Discipline paid particular
attention to the state of education. They required that a school
should be erected in every parish, for the instruction of youth in the
principles of religion, grammar, and the Latin tongue. They proposed
that a college should be erected in every “notable town,” in which
logic and rhetoric should be taught, along with the learned languages.
They seem to have had it in their eye to revive the system adopted by
some of the ancient republics, in which the youth were considered as
the property of the public rather than of their parents, by obliging
the nobility and gentry to educate their children, and by providing,
at the public expense, for the education of the children of the poor
who discovered talents for learning. Their regulations for the three
national universities discover an enlightened regard to the interests
of literature, and may suggest hints which deserve attention in the
present age.[17] If these were not reduced to practice, the blame
cannot be imputed to the reformed ministers, but to the nobility and
gentry whose avarice defeated the execution of their plans.
To carry these important measures into effect, permanent funds were
requisite; and for these it was natural to look to the patrimony of
the church. The hierarchy had been abolished, and the popish clergy
excluded from all religious services, by the alterations {11} which
the parliament had introduced; and, whatever provision it was proper
to allot for the dismissed incumbents during life, it was unreasonable
that they should continue to enjoy those emoluments which were
attached to offices for which they had been found totally unfit.
No successors could be appointed to them; and there was not any
individual, or class of men in the nation, who could justly claim
a title to the rents of their benefices. The compilers of the Book
of Discipline, therefore, proposed that the patrimony of the church
should be appropriated, in the first instance, to the support of the
new ecclesiastical establishment. Under this head they included the
ministry, the schools, and the poor. For the ministers they required
that such “honest provision” should be made, as would give “neither
occasion of solicitude, neither yet of insolencie and wantonnesse.” In
ordinary cases, they thought that forty bolls of meal, and twenty‑six
bolls of malt, with a reasonable sum of money, to purchase other
necessary articles of provision for his family, was an adequate
stipend for a minister. To enable superintendents to defray the
extraordinary expenses of travelling in the discharge of their duty,
six chalders of bear, nine chalders of meal, three chalders of oats,
and six hundred merks in money, were thought necessary as an annual
stipend. The salaries of professors were fixed from one to two hundred
pounds; and the mode of supporting the poor was left undetermined,
until means should be used to suppress “stubborne and idle beggars,”
and to ascertain the number of the really {12} necessitous in each
parish. The stipends of ministers were to be collected by the deacons
from the tithes; but all illegal exactions were to be previously
abolished, and measures taken to relieve the labourers of the ground
from the oppressive manner in which the tithes had been gathered by
the clergy, or by those to whom they had farmed them. The revenues
of bishoprics, and of cathedral and collegiate churches, with the
rents arising from the endowments of monasteries and other religious
foundations, were to be divided, and appropriated to the support of
the universities, or of the churches within their bounds.
Nothing could be more unpalatable than doctrine of this kind to a
considerable number of the protestant nobility and gentry. They had
for some time fixed a covetous eye on the rich revenues of the popish
clergy. Some of them had seized upon church‑lands, or retained the
tithes in their own hands. Others had taken long leases of them from
the clergy for small sums of money, and were anxious to have these
private bargains legalized. Hence their aversion to have the Book
of Discipline ratified;[18] hence the poverty and the complaints of
the ministers, {13} and the languishing state of the universities.
The Swiss Reformer, by his eloquence and his firmness, enabled
his countrymen to gain a conquest over their avarice, which was
more honourable to them than any of their other victories, when he
prevailed on them to appropriate the whole revenues of the popish
establishment to the support of the protestant church and seminaries
of literature.[19] But it was not so easy a matter to manage the
turbulent and powerful barons of Scotland, as it was to sway the minds
of the burgomasters of Zurich. When we consider, however, the extent
of the establishments proposed by our reformers, including the support
of the ministry, of parochial schools, of city colleges, and of
national universities, we cannot regard the demand which they made on
the funds devoted to the church as extravagant or unreasonable. They
showed themselves disinterested by the moderate share which they asked
for themselves; and the worst that we can say of their plan is, that
it was worthy of a more enlightened and liberal age, in which it might
have met with rulers more capable of appreciating its utility, and
better disposed to carry it into execution.[20]
It is peculiarly pleasing to observe the restoration of religion and
of letters going hand in hand, in our {14} native country. Everywhere,
indeed, the Reformation had the most powerful influence, direct and
remote, on the general promotion of literature. It aroused the human
mind from the lethargy in which it had slumbered for ages, released
it from the fetters of implicit faith and blind obedience to human
authority, and stimulated it to the exertion of its powers in the
search of truth. It induced the learned to study with care the
original languages in which the sacred books were written; and
it diffused knowledge among the illiterate, by laying open the
scriptures, and calling upon all to examine them for themselves. The
unintelligible jargon which had long infested the schools began to be
discarded. Controversies were now decided by appeals to scripture and
to common sense; and the disputes which were eagerly maintained led to
the improvement of the art of reasoning, and a more rational method of
communicating knowledge. Superstition and credulity being undermined,
the spirit of enquiry was soon directed to the discovery of the true
laws of nature, as well as the genuine doctrines of revelation.
In the south of Europe, the revival of letters preceded the
reformation of religion, and materially facilitated its progress.
In the north, this order was reversed; and Scotland, in particular,
must date the origin of her literary acquirements from the first
introduction of the protestant opinions. As the one gained ground,
the other was brought forward. We have already seen that the
Greek language began to be studied almost as soon as the light of
Reformation {15} dawned upon this country; and I have now to state,
that the first school for teaching the Hebrew language in Scotland was
opened immediately after the establishment of the protestant church.
Hebrew was one of the branches of education appointed by the Book of
Discipline to be taught in the reformed seminaries, and Providence had
furnished a person who was well qualified for that task, which those
who filled the chairs in our universities were totally unfit to
undertake.
The person to whom I refer was John Row. After finishing his education
at St Andrews, and practising for some time as an advocate before the
consistorial court there, he left the country about the year 1550,
with the view of prosecuting his studies to greater advantage on the
continent. Within a short time he received the degree of Doctor of
Laws from two Italian universities. He did not, however, confine
himself to one branch of study; but, improving the opportunity which
he enjoyed, made himself master of the Greek and Hebrew languages. His
reputation as a lawyer being high, the Scottish clergy employed him
as agent to manage some of their causes before the court of Rome. This
introduced him to the friendship of Guido Ascanio Sforza, cardinal
of Sancta Flora, and to the acquaintance of two sovereign pontiffs,
Julius III. and Paul IV. Had he remained in Italy, it is highly
probable that he would soon have attained to honourable preferment
in the church; but having lost his health, he determined, in 1558, to
return to his native country. The reigning {16} pope had heard, with
deep concern, of the progress which the new opinions were making in
Scotland, and, as he had great confidence in Row’s talents, appointed
him his nuncio, with instructions to use his utmost exertions to
oppose them. When he came home, he endeavoured for some time to
discharge his commission; but despairing of success, and foreseeing
the confusions in which the country was about to be involved, he
resolved on returning to Italy. From this resolution he was diverted
by the prior of St Andrews, who admired his learning, and conceived
good hopes of his conversion, from the candour which he displayed in
the management of religious controversy. His constancy was soon after
shaken by the discovery of the imposture which the clergy attempted to
practise at Musselburgh;[21] and, having held several conferences with
Knox, he became a complete convert to the protestant faith. Upon the
establishment of the reformation, he was admitted minister of Perth,
and, at the recommendation of his brethren, began to give lessons in
the Hebrew language to young men who were placed under his tuition.[22]
The interests of literature in Scotland were not a little promoted
at this time by the return of Buchanan to his native country. That
accomplished scholar, since his flight in 1538, had visited the most
celebrated seminaries on the continent, greatly improved his stock of
learning, and given ample proof {17} of those talents which, in the
opinion of posterity as well as of his contemporaries, have placed him
indisputably at the head of modern Latin poets. The reception which he
obtained from his countrymen evinced that they were not incapable of
estimating his merits; and the satisfaction with which he spent the
remainder of his life among them, after he had enjoyed the society of
the most learned men in Europe, is a sufficient proof that they had
already made no inconsiderable advances in the acquisition of polite
literature.[23]
We are apt to form false and exaggerated notions of the rudeness
of our ancestors. Scotland was, indeed, at that period, as she is
still at the present day, behind many of the southern countries in
the cultivation of some of the fine arts, and she was a stranger
to that refinement of manners which has oftener been a concealment
to vice than an ornament to virtue. But that her inhabitants were
“men unacquainted with the pleasures of conversation, ignorant of
arts and civility, and corrupted beyond their usual rusticity by a
dismal fanaticism, which rendered them incapable of all humanity or
improvement,”[24] is an assertion which argues either inexcusable
ignorance or deplorable prejudice. Will this character apply to such
men as Buchanan, Knox, Row, Willock, Balnaves, Erskine, Maitland,
Glencairn, and James Stewart, not to name many others; men who
excelled in their respective ranks and professions, who had {18}
received a liberal education, travelled into foreign countries,
conversed with the best company, and, in addition to their
acquaintance with ancient learning, could speak the most polite
languages of modern Europe? Perhaps some of our literati, who
entertain such a diminutive idea of the taste and learning of those
times, might have been taken by surprise, had they been set down at
the table of one of our Scottish reformers, surrounded with a circle
of his children and pupils, where the conversation was all carried on
in French, and the chapter of the bible, at family worship, was read
by the boys in French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Perhaps they might
have blushed, if the book had been put into their hands, and they
had been required to perform a part of the exercises. Such, however,
was the common practice in the house of John Row.[25] Nor was the
improvement of our native tongue neglected at that time. David
Ferguson, minister of Dunfermline, was celebrated for his attention
to this branch of composition. He had not enjoyed the advantage of a
university education, but, possessing a good taste and lively fancy,
was very successful in refining and enriching the Scottish language,
by his discourses and writings.[26]
The first meeting of the General Assembly of the church of Scotland
was held at Edinburgh on the 20th of December, 1560. It consisted
of forty members, only six of whom were ministers.[27] Knox was
one of these; and he continued to sit in most of the meetings {19}
of that judicatory until the time of his death. Its deliberations
were conducted at first with great simplicity and unanimity. It is
a singular circumstance that there were seven different meetings
of Assembly without a moderator or president. But as the number of
members increased, and business became more complicated, a moderator
was appointed to be chosen at every meeting; and he was invested with
authority to maintain order. The first person who occupied that place
was John Willock, superintendent of Glasgow and the West. Regulations
were also enacted concerning the constituent members of the court, the
causes which ought to come before them, and the mode of procedure.[28]
In the close of this year, our Reformer suffered a heavy domestic loss,
by the death of his valuable wife, who, after sharing the hardships
of exile along with her husband, was removed from him just when he
had obtained a comfortable settlement for his family.[29] He was left
with the charge of two young children, in addition to his other cares.
His mother‑in‑law was still with him; but though he took pleasure in
her religious conversation, the dejection of mind to which she was
subject, and which all his efforts could never completely cure, rather
increased than lightened his burden.[30] His acute feelings were
severely wounded by this stroke; but he endeavoured to moderate his
grief by the consolations which he {20} administered to others, and
by application to public duty. He had the satisfaction of receiving,
on this occasion, a letter from his much respected friend Calvin,
in which expressions of great esteem for his deceased partner were
mingled with condolence for his loss.[31]
I may take this opportunity of mentioning, that Knox, with the consent
of his brethren, consulted the Genevan reformer upon several difficult
questions which occurred respecting the settlement of the Scottish
Reformation, and that a number of letters passed between them on this
subject.[32]
Anxieties on a public account were felt by Knox along with domestic
distress. The Reformation had hitherto advanced with a success equal
to his most sanguine expectations; and, at this time, no opposition
was publicly made to the new establishment. But matters were still in
a very critical state. There were a party in the nation, by no means
inconsiderable in numbers and power, who remained addicted to popery;
and, though they had given way to the torrent, they anxiously waited
for an opportunity to {21} embroil the country in another civil war,
for the restoration of the ancient religion. Queen Mary, and her
husband, the king of France, had refused to ratify the late treaty,
and dismissed the deputy sent by the parliament, with marks of the
highest displeasure at the innovations which they had presumed to
introduce. A new army was preparing in France for the invasion of
Scotland against the spring; emissaries were sent, in the mean time,
to encourage and unite the Roman catholics; and it was doubtful if the
queen of England would subject herself to new expense and odium, by
protecting them from a second attack.[33]
The danger was not unperceived by our Reformer, who laboured to
impress the minds of his countrymen with its magnitude, and to excite
them speedily to complete the settlement of religion throughout the
kingdom, which, he was persuaded, would prove the principal bulwark
against the assaults of their adversaries. His admonitions were now
listened to with attention by many who had formerly treated them
with indifference.[34] The threatened storm, however, blew over, in
consequence of the death of the French king; but this necessarily led
to a measure which involved the Scottish protestants in a new struggle,
and exposed the reformed church to dangers less obvious and striking,
but, on that account, not less to be dreaded, than open violence and
hostility. This was the invitation given by the protestant nobility
to {22} their young queen, who, on the 19th of August, 1561, arrived
in Scotland, and assumed the reins of government into her own hands.
The education which Mary had received in France, whatever
embellishments it added to her beauty, was the very worst which can
be conceived for fitting her to rule her native country in the present
juncture. Of a temper naturally violent, the devotion which she had
been accustomed to see paid to her personal charms, rendered her
extremely impatient of contradiction.[35] Habituated to the splendour
and gallantry of the most luxurious and dissolute court in Europe, she
could not submit to those restraints which the severer manners of her
subjects imposed; and while they took offence at the freedom of her
behaviour, she could not conceal the antipathy and disgust which she
felt at theirs.[36] Full of high notions of royal prerogative, she
regarded the late proceedings in Scotland as a course of rebellion
against her legitimate authority. Nursed from her infancy in a blind
attachment to the Roman catholic faith, every means had been employed,
before she left France, to strengthen this prejudice, and to inspire
her with aversion to the {23} religion which had been embraced by
her people. She was taught that it would be the great glory of her
reign to reduce her kingdom to the obedience of the Roman see, and
to co‑operate with the popish princes on the continent in extirpating
heresy. If she forsook the religion in which she had been educated,
she would forfeit their powerful friendship; if she persevered in it,
she might depend upon their assistance to enable her to chastise her
rebellious subjects, and to prosecute her claims to the English crown
against a heretical usurper.
With these fixed prepossessions, Mary came into Scotland; and she
adhered to them with singular pertinacity to the end of her life.
To examine the subjects of controversy between the papists and
protestants, with the view of ascertaining on which side the truth
lay,――to hear the reformed preachers, or permit them to lay before her
the grounds of their faith, even in the presence of the clergy whom
she had brought along with her,――to do any thing, in short, which
might lead to a doubt in her mind respecting the religion in which
she had been brought up, were compliances against which she had formed
an unalterable determination. As the protestants were in possession
of power, it was necessary for her to temporize; but she resolved to
withhold her ratification of the late proceedings, and to embrace the
first favourable opportunity to overturn them, and re‑establish the
ancient system.[37]
{24} The reception which she met with on landing in Scotland was
flattering; but an occurrence that took place soon after, damped the
joy which had been expressed, and prognosticated future jealousies
and confusion. The deputies sent to France with the invitation from
the nobles, could not promise her more than the private exercise of
her religion; but her uncles, by whom she was accompanied, wishing to
take advantage of the spirit of loyalty which had been displayed since
their arrival, insisted that she should cause the Roman catholic rites
to be performed with all publicity. Influenced by their opinion, and
willing to give her subjects an early proof of her firm determination
to adhere to the ancient faith, Mary directed preparations to be made
for the celebration of a solemn mass in the chapel of Holyroodhouse,
on the first Sabbath after her arrival. This service had not been
performed in Scotland since the conclusion of the civil war, and was
prohibited by an act of the late parliament. So great was the horror
with which the protestants viewed its restoration, and the alarm which
they felt at finding it countenanced by their queen, that the first
rumour of the design excited expressions of strong discontent, which
would have burst into an open tumult, had not some of the leading
men among the protestants interfered, and exerted their authority
in repressing the zeal of the multitude. From regard to public
tranquillity, and reluctance to offend the queen at her first return
to her native kingdom, Knox used his influence in private conversation
to allay the fervour of the more zealous reformers, who were ready {25}
to prevent the service by force. But he was not less alarmed at the
precedent than his brethren were; and, having exposed the evils of
idolatry on the following Sabbath, he concluded his sermon by saying,
that “one mass was more fearfull unto him, than if ten thousand armed
enemies wer landed in ony parte of the realme, of purpose to suppress
the whole religioun.”[38]
At this day, we are apt to be struck with surprise at the conduct
of our ancestors, to treat their fears as visionary, or at least as
highly exaggerated, and summarily to pronounce them guilty of the same
intolerance of which they complained in their adversaries. Persecution
for conscience’ sake is so odious, and the least approach to it so
dangerous, that we deem it impossible to express too great detestation
of any measure which tends to countenance or seems to encourage it.
But let us be just as well as liberal. A little reflection upon the
circumstances in which our reforming fathers were placed may serve
to abate our astonishment, and to qualify our censures. They were
actuated by a strong abhorrence of popish idolatry, a feeling which
is fully justified by the spirit and precepts of Christianity; and
the prospect of the land being again defiled by the revival of its
impure rites produced on their minds a sensation, with which, from our
ignorance and lukewarmness, as much as our ideas of religious liberty,
we are incapable of sympathizing. But they were also {26} influenced
by a proper regard to their own preservation; and the fears which they
entertained were not fanciful, nor the precautions which they adopted
unnecessary.
The warmest friends of toleration and liberty of conscience (some
of whom will not readily be charged with protestant prejudices) have
granted, that persecution of the most sanguinary kind was inseparable
from the system and spirit of popery which was at that time dominant
in Europe; and they cannot deny the inference, that the profession
and propagation of it were, on this account, justly subjected to
penal restraints, as far, at least, as was requisite to prevent it
from obtaining the ascendency, and from reacting the bloody scenes
which it had already exhibited.[39] The protestants of Scotland had
these scenes before their eyes, and fresh in their recollection; and
infatuated and criminal indeed would they have been, if, listening
to the siren song of toleration, by which their adversaries, with no
less impudence than artifice, now attempted to lull them asleep, they
had suffered themselves to be thrown off their guard, and neglected
to provide against the most distant approaches of the danger by
which they were threatened. Could they be ignorant of the perfidious,
barbarous, and unrelenting cruelty with which protestants were treated
in every Roman catholic kingdom? In France, where so many of their
brethren had been put to death, under the influence of the {27} house
of Guise; in the Netherlands, where such multitudes had been tortured,
beheaded, hanged, drowned, or buried alive; in England, where the
flames of persecution were but lately extinguished; and in Spain and
Italy, where they still continued to blaze? Could they have forgotten
what had taken place in their own country, or the perils from which
they had themselves so recently and so narrowly escaped? “God forbid!”
exclaimed the lords of the privy council, in the presence of Queen
Mary, at a time when they were not disposed to offend her,――“God
forbid! that the lives of the faithful stood in the power of the
papists; for just experience has taught us what cruelty is in their
hearts.”[40]
Nor was this an event so incredible, or so unlikely to happen, as
many seem to imagine. The rage for conquest, on the continent, was
now converted into a rage for proselytism; and steps had already been
taken towards forming that league among the popish princes, which
had for its object the universal extermination of protestants. The
Scottish queen was passionately addicted to the intoxicating cup
of which so many of “the kings of the earth had drunk.” There were
numbers in the nation who were similarly disposed. The liberty taken
by the queen would soon be demanded for all who declared themselves
catholics. Many of those who had hitherto ranged under the protestant
standard were lukewarm in the cause; the zeal of others had already
suffered a sensible {28} abatement since the arrival of their
sovereign;[41] and it was to be feared, that the favours of the court,
and the blandishments of an artful and accomplished princess, would
make proselytes of some, and lull others into security, while designs
were carried on pregnant with ruin to the religion and liberties of
the nation. In one word, the public toleration of the popish worship
was only a step to its re‑establishment, and this would be the signal
for kindling afresh the fires of persecution. It was in this manner
that some of the wisest men in the kingdom reasoned at that time;[42]
and, had it not been for the uncommon spirit which then existed among
the reformers, there is every reason to think that their predictions
would have been realized.
To those who accuse the Scottish protestants of displaying the same
spirit of intolerance by which the Roman catholics were distinguished,
I would recommend the following statement of a French author, who had
formed a more just notion of these transactions than many of our own
writers. “Mary (says he,) was brought up in France, accustomed to see
protestants burnt to death, and instructed in the maxims of her uncles,
the Guises, who maintained {29} that it was necessary to exterminate,
without mercy, the pretended reformed. With these dispositions she
arrived in Scotland, which was wholly reformed, with the exception
of a few lords. The kingdom received her, acknowledged her as their
queen, and obeyed her in all things according to the laws of the
country. I maintain, that, in the state of men’s spirits at that time,
if a Huguenot queen had come to take possession of a Roman catholic
kingdom, with the slender retinue with which Mary went to Scotland,
the first thing they would have done would have been to arrest her;
and if she had persevered in her religion, they would have procured
her degradation by the pope, thrown her into the Inquisition, and
burnt her as a heretic. There is not an honest man who can deny
this.”[43]
After all, it is surely unnecessary to apologize for the restrictions
which our ancestors were desirous of imposing on queen Mary, to those
who approve of the present constitution of Britain, according to
which every papist is excluded from succeeding to the throne, and the
reigning monarch, by setting up mass in his chapel, would virtually
forfeit his crown. Is popery {30} more dangerous now than it was two
hundred and fifty years ago?