John Knox Part 3

Having thus secured for themselves religious privileges, the Frankfort exiles by a circular letter invited their brethren in other continental cities to come and share the blessing with them. To this the English residents at Strasburg replied recommending certain persons as well qualified to fill the offices of superintendent or bishop, and pastors, but before receiving that communication the brethren at Frankfort had already chosen three persons, one of whom was Knox, to be their pastors, and to be invested with co-ordinate authority. The invitation was not specially attractive to Knox, both because he was loth to sacrifice the advantages for study which he was enjoying at Geneva, and because he feared the outbreak of such a {85} controversy as ultimately arose. But moved by what McCrie has styled "the powerful intercession of Calvin," he accepted the call and went to Frankfort about the end of October or the beginning of November. Before his arrival there, however, the harmony of the congregation had been disturbed by the reception of a letter from the English residents at Zurich, who declined to come to Frankfort unless they obtained security that the Church would use the Prayer-Book of King Edward VI., on the ground that the rejection or alteration of that form of service would give occasion for the charge against them of fickleness in their religion, and would be a virtual condemnation of those who at that very time were suffering persecution on its account. To this the members of the church at Frankfort replied that they had obtained permission to use their place of wors.h.i.+p on the condition of their conforming as closely as possible to the French ritual; that there were some things in the English book which would give offence to the Protestants of the place whose hospitality they were enjoying; that certain ceremonies in that book had been occasion of scruple to conscientious persons at home; that they were very far indeed from p.r.o.nouncing condemnation of those who had drawn up that book, since they themselves had altered many things; and that the sufferers in England were testifying for more important matters than rites of mere human appointment. This answer, while it somewhat abated the confidence of the friends at Zurich, did not {86} drive them from their purpose, for they instigated their brethren at Strasburg to make the same request both by letter and by deputation, and thus widened the area of the controversy.

This was the state of things when Knox appeared upon the scene, and although his convictions were strongly on the side of those who opposed the adoption of the Book of Common Prayer, he strove to act the part of a peacemaker, as far as he consistently could. For when the congregation agreed to adopt the order of wors.h.i.+p followed in Calvin's Church at Geneva, he declined to carry out that determination until their learned brethren in other places should be consulted. He confessed that he could not conscientiously administer the sacraments according to the English book, but he offered to restrict himself solely to the preaching of the word, and let some one else administer the sacraments; and if that freedom could not be granted to him, he desired that he might be altogether released from the pastorate to which he had been chosen. But the congregation would not consent to give him up, and in the hope of preventing future controversy, Knox, who was joined by Whittingham, afterwards Dean of Durham, and others, drew up a fair summary and description of the English Prayer-Book, which they sent to Calvin for his inspection and advice. In his reply the Genevese Reformer bewailed the existence of unseemly contentions among them; claimed that he had always counselled moderation respecting external {87} ceremonies, yet condemned the obstinacy of those who would consent to no change of old customs; declared that in the English liturgy he had found many "_tolerabiles ineptias_,"--tolerable fooleries,--which might be borne with in the beginning of the Reformation, but ought to be removed as soon as possible; gave it as his opinion that the circ.u.mstances of the exiles in Frankfort warranted them to attempt the removal of such blemishes; and rather caustically remarked that "he could not tell what they meant who so greatly delighted in the leavings of popish dregs."

This letter produced considerable effect, and a committee, of which Knox was one, was appointed to draw up a form which might harmonize all parties. When this committee met, Knox acknowledging that there was no hope of peace unless "one party something relented," indicated how far he was willing to go in the direction of compromise; and the result was the drawing up of a form of which "some part was taken from the English Prayer-Book, and other things put to, as the state of the Church required." By the consent of the congregation this order was to continue until the month of April; and if any contention should meanwhile arise, the matter was to be referred for decision to these five learned men, namely, Calvin, Musculus, Martyr, Bullinger, and Vyret. This agreement was put in writing, and subscribed by the members of the congregation amid the joy of all. "Thanks were given to G.o.d, brotherly reconciliation followed, great familiarity (was) used, and the former {88} grudges forgotten; yea, the Holy Communion was upon this happy agreement also ministered."

But this peace was not of long continuance, for on the 13th of March Dr. Richard c.o.x, who had been the preceptor of Edward VI., and who was afterwards a bishop under Queen Elizabeth, arrived in Frankfort with a company like-minded with himself; and on the very first day on which they attended public wors.h.i.+p, they broke the _concordat_ by indulging in audible responses. When they were expostulated with by some of the seniors, or elders, of the congregation for their disorderly conduct, they replied that "they would do as they had done in England, and that they would have the face of an English Church;" and on the following Sunday one of their number, without the knowledge or consent of the congregation, entered the pulpit and read the Litany, while the rest answered aloud. This was a still more flagrant breach of the agreement, for Knox and his friends specially objected to the Litany; and therefore on the afternoon, it being his turn to preach, Knox made a public protest against such procedure. He showed how after long trouble and contention among them, a G.o.dly agreement had been made, and how it had been unG.o.dly broken, "which thing it became not the proudest of them all to have attempted." He further alleged that as we must seek our warrant for the establis.h.i.+ng of religion from the word of G.o.d, and without that nothing should be thrust into any Christian congregation; and as in the English Prayer Book there {89} were, as he was prepared to prove, things both superst.i.tious, impure, and imperfect, he would not consent that it should be received in that Church; and he declared that if the attempt should be made, he would not fail to speak against it from that place, as his text might furnish occasion. He also affirmed that, among other things which provoked G.o.d's anger against England, slackness to reform religion when time and opportunity were granted was one; and as an instance of that slackness he specified, to the sore wounding of some then present, the allowing of one man to have three, four, or five benefices, to the slander of the gospel, and the defrauding of the people.

This remonstrance brought things to a crisis, and on the following Tuesday the congregation met to take the whole matter into consideration. c.o.x and his company claimed the right of sitting and voting with the rest, but it was contended that they should not be admitted until they had subscribed the discipline of the Church. This objection would have prevailed, but on the intercession of Knox they were received, and they rewarded his magnanimity by outvoting him, and, at the instigation of c.o.x, discharging him from preaching and from all interference in the affairs of the congregation. This, however, only made matters worse; and to prevent a disgraceful tumult, the whole case was referred to the senate of the city, from whom they had obtained permission to use the place of wors.h.i.+p in which they a.s.sembled. That body, after in vain recommending a {90} private accommodation, issued an order requiring the congregation to conform exactly to the French ritual, and threatening if that were disobeyed to shut up the church.

With this injunction c.o.x and his party outwardly complied for the time; but seeing the influence which Knox possessed, and having no hope of carrying their point so long as he should remain among them, they took means of the basest sort to get him out of the way. For two of them went privately to the magistrates of the city and accused Knox of high treason against the emperor, and against Mary, Queen of England, putting forth as the ground of their charge those pa.s.sages from the Faithful Admonition which we have already quoted. On receipt of this charge the magistrates sent for Whittingham, and asked him concerning the character of Knox, whom he described in his reply as "a learned, grave, and G.o.dly man." They then informed him of the charge which had been preferred against him, and requested that he would furnish them with an exact Latin translation of the sentences of his tract, nine in number, which had been brought to their particular attention. They gave orders also that meanwhile Knox should desist from preaching until their pleasure should be known. With this command Knox loyally complied; but when he appeared next day in the church as an ordinary hearer, not thinking that any would be offended at his presence, "some departed from the sermon, protesting with great vehemence that they would not tarry where he was."

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The action of the informers was most embarra.s.sing to the magistrates, who abhorred the malice by which they were evidently actuated, but at the same time feared that the matter might come to the ears of the emperor's council then sitting at Augsburg, and that they might be compelled to give Knox up to them or to the Queen of England; and as the best means of extricating themselves from the difficulty, they suggested that he should privately withdraw from the city. Accordingly on the evening of the 25th of March, 1555, he delivered a most consolatory address to about fifty of the members of the Church in his own lodgings; and "the next day," to borrow the words of the author of the Brief Discourse, "he was brought three or four miles on his way by some of these unto whom the night before he had made that exhortation, who, with great heaviness of heart and plenty of tears, committed him to the Lord."

The sequel is soon told. c.o.x, by falsely representing that the congregation was now unanimous, obtained an order from the senate for the unrestricted use of the English Prayer-Book, and then procured in the Church the abrogation of the code of discipline, and the appointment of a superintendent or bishop over the other pastors. The result was that a considerable number of the members left the city, and the remainder continued a prey to strife, which c.o.x and his friends did not stay to compose, for they also soon took their departure to other places. The Church was thus virtually broken {92} up; and it is not without significance that, in seeking afterwards to be excused from performing service before a crucifix in the chapel of Queen Elizabeth, c.o.x employed the very argument which Knox had urged without effect upon himself, for he said, "I ought to do nothing touching religion which may appear doubtful, whether it pleaseth G.o.d or not; for our religion ought to be certain, and grounded upon G.o.d's word and will."

We have gone thus fully into the "Frankfort troubles," not so much because, as McCrie says, they present in miniature a striking picture of that contentious scene which was afterwards exhibited on a larger scale in England, or because it would not be difficult to find similar divisions on precisely similar points in the days in which we live, but because of the insight which the history gives us into the character of Knox himself. The controversy was keen and bitter; but throughout it all our Reformer shows to great advantage,--evincing what Carlyle has called "a great and unexpected patience," by which we suppose he means a patience which those who know nothing more about him than the usual caricature of his character, which too many have accepted, would hardly have expected. But the readers of his letter to his Berwick friends, on which we have already commented, could have looked for nothing else at his hands; and we commend the study of this episode in his history to all those who have been accustomed to regard him as a dogmatic, domineering, impracticable {93} man, who was determined always to have his way in the scorn of every consequence. The offer to restrict himself solely to preaching, or, if that should not be granted, to go quietly away, stands out to his lasting honour, and shows how eager he was to prevent all strife; while the simple mention by the chronicler of the "plenty of tears" shed by those who accompanied him out of the city, witnesses to the tenderness of his friends.h.i.+p; and by both alike we are reminded of the great apostle whose words were so constantly upon his lips. In reviewing the whole case, he cannot help recalling that his opponents had brought against him the old cry, "He is not Caesar's friend;" but he prays for them thus, "O Lord G.o.d, open their hearts that they may see their wickedness, and forgive them for Thy manifold mercies; and I forgive them, O Lord, from the bottom of my heart. But that Thy message sent by my mouth should not be slandered, I am compelled to declare the cause of my departing, and so to utter their folly, to their amendment I trust, and the example of others who, in the same banishment, can have so cruel hearts to persecute their brethren." His opponents tried to excuse themselves, and in a letter to Calvin put the best possible construction on their case; but nothing said by them altered the opinion of the great Reformer, in which we are persuaded all fair-minded men, whatever may be their ecclesiastical opinions will agree, to this effect:--"But certainly this one thing I cannot keep secret, that Mr. Knox was, in my judgment, neither G.o.dly nor {94} brotherly dealt withal." It was a hard and bitter experience, and no doubt it had its influence in determining him, when he came to deal with the Reformation of Scotland, to make more thorough work of it than they had done in England.

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CHAPTER VIII.

THE MINISTRY AT GENEVA, 1555-1559.

On his departure from Frankfort Knox made his way to Geneva, whither he was followed by a considerable number of those who had adhered to him in the former city. There it seems evident that he was invited by them, and probably also by others who had joined them, to resume his pastoral labours; for at the solicitation of Calvin, the Lesser Council of Geneva granted for the joint use of the English and Italian congregations the church called the Temple de Nostre Dame la Nove; and it is recorded that on the first of November, 1555, when the English Church was formed, Christopher Goodman and Arthur Gilby were "appointed to preach the word, _in the absence of John Knox_." This indicates that Knox was already recognised as one of the permanent pastors of the Church, and that just at that time he was for some reason or other, away for a long season from the scene of his labours.

Where he was and what he was doing we have ample means of tracing, for in the September of that {96} year we find him back again in Scotland, for the first time since he had been taken prisoner by the French. But much as he cared for the spiritual interests of his native land, it is probable that his return to Great Britain at this time was more immediately prompted by feelings of a personal nature. We have already referred to his attachment to Marjory Bowes, daughter of Richard Bowes, and of Elizabeth Aske, of Aske, near Berwick, and Dr. Laing has given strong reasons for believing that he came now for the purpose of making her his wife. The precise date of his marriage, indeed, is uncertain.

Dr. McCrie has put it in 1553, before he left England on the ground that after that date Knox invariably addressed Mrs. Bowes as his "mother" and spoke of Marjory as his "wife." The truth, however, seems to have been that owing to the strong opposition of her father and other relatives to the alliance, and also, perhaps, to the very uncertain position of the Reformer himself, in these times of unsettlement and peril, they contented themselves in 1553 with formally pledging themselves to each other "before witnesses." But now, immediately on his landing, at a point on the east sh.o.r.e not far from the boundary between England and Scotland, he repaired to Berwick, where he found Marjory and her mother enjoying the happiness of religious society. After this, he visited Scotland, where he laboured for some months, and the marriage may not have taken place until the time when, preparatory to their setting out for Geneva, Mrs. Bowes {97} resolved to leave all her relatives and cast in her lot with her son-in-law.

The visit of Knox to Scotland, at this juncture, was of immense service to the cause of the Reformation. The clergy, unable or unwilling to discern the signs of the times, had sunk into supineness, under the belief that what they called heresy had been well-nigh banished from the land. Arran, now Duke of Chatellerault, had given place as Regent to Mary, the mother of Mary Queen of Scots, whose policy it was just then to temporize with the Protestant n.o.bles, and to disguise for a season her deep-rooted and undying hatred of their cause. In the good providence of G.o.d, also, a number of the leading adherents of the new faith, like Erskine of Dun, Maitland of Lethington, and others, had come to Edinburgh to confer with and enjoy the ministrations of John Willock, who had been sent over by the d.u.c.h.ess of East Friesland, ostensibly on a commercial mission to the Scottish court, but really to see "what good work G.o.d would do by him to his native land;" and the private meetings which he held with the Protestants in Edinburgh for prayer and the exposition of the word, may have suggested to Knox that he should follow a similar plan. That at least was the course which he determined to pursue. He was received into the houses of certain burgesses whose names he has enshrined in his history, and though the number of meetings and the necessity of holding them in secret kept him busy night and day, he was greatly {98} encouraged by the results.

Writing to Mrs. Bowes, he says that "the fervent thirst of his brethren, night and day, sobbing and groaning for the bread of life, was such, that if he had not seen it with his own eyes he could not have believed it;" and again that "the fervency here did far exceed all others that he had seen;" and "did so ravish him, that he could not but accuse and condemn his slothful coldness."

The news of his arrival spread among the Reformers in all parts of the country, and his presence was so eagerly desired everywhere that he was obliged to postpone his return to Berwick, and enter upon a series of evangelistic journeys through different districts of the land. But we will allow him to describe his work at this time himself. Thus he writes in his "History": "John Knox, at the request of the Laird of Dun, followed him to his place of Dun, where he remained a month, daily exercised in doctrine, whereunto resorted the princ.i.p.al men of that country. After his returning, his residence was most in Calder, where repaired unto him the Lord Erskine, the Lord Lorn, and Lord James Stuart, Prior of St. Andrews (half-brother to Mary Stuart), where they heard and so approved his doctrine, that they wished it to have been public. That same winter he taught commonly in Edinburgh; and after the Yule (Christmas) by the conduct of the Laird of Barr, and Robert Campbell of Kinzeancleugh, he came to Kyle, and taught in the Barr, in the house of the Carnell, in the Kinzeancleugh, in the town of Ayr, {99} and in the houses of Ochiltree and Gadgirth, and in some of them ministered the Lord's Table. Before the Pasch (Easter) the Earl of Glencairn sent for him to his place of Finlaston, where, after doctrine, he likewise ministered the Lord's Table; whereof, besides himself, were partakers his lady, two of his sons, and certain of his friends. And so returned he to Calder, where divers from Edinburgh, and from the country about, convened as well for the doctrine as for the right use of the Lord's Table, which before they had never practised. From thence he departed the second time to the Laird of Dun, and teaching them in greater liberty, the gentlemen required that he should minister likewise unto them the Table of the Lord Jesus; whereof were partakers the most part of the gentlemen of the Mearns, who professed that they refused all society with idolatry and bound themselves to the uttermost of their power to maintain the true preaching of the Evangel of Jesus Christ, as G.o.d should offer to them preachers and opportunity." Well done, ye men of the Mearns, and ye worthy descendants of the Lollards of Kyle! Often in the history of Scotland have the dwellers in these parts stood up manfully for the truth, but never was a n.o.bler thing done in either locality, than when ye thus received and welcomed the apostle of your country's Reformation!

Such labours were sure sooner or later to attract the attention of the bishops; and accordingly while he was in the Mearns he was summoned to appear {100} before them at Edinburgh, in the Church of the Blackfriars, on the 15th May, 1556. They probably imagined that this mere "show of force" on their part would suffice to frighten him into silence. If they did, they reckoned without their host; for encouraged by his friends he came to Edinburgh to meet and face his accusers. But when it came to the pinch, they shrank from the encounter; and so it was that on the very day on which he had been summoned to stand before them, he preached, of all places, in the very lodging of the Bishop of Dunkeld, to a greater audience than he had hitherto addressed in Edinburgh. For ten days he continued morning and afternoon at this work, and so thoroughly was his heart refreshed by it that he writes of it thus to Mrs. Bowes: "O sweet were the death that should follow such forty days in Edinburgh as here I have had three."

But the boldest, if we should not call it the most audacious thing, which he did in this visit, was to address a letter to the Queen Regent, wherein he vindicated himself from the charges made by his enemies against him, and exhorted her to hear the word of G.o.d, and regulate her government by its principles. The suggestion to send such an epistle came from the Earl Mareschal and Henry Drummond, who had been brought to hear him by Lord Glencairn, and who declared, on what they said they knew of the queen's mind, that she was in a mood to be propitious. But though the letter is correctly described by Lorimer as one "which for its {101} courtesy of phrase, and faithfulness of counsel, was equally suitable to her dignity as a queen, and to his character as a minister of G.o.d," it met with only a mocking reception.

"Please you, my lord, to read a pasquil," said Mary of Guise, after it had been put into her hands, and while she was giving it to the Archbishop of Glasgow, and that was all the notice of it which she condescended to take. This treatment of his expostulation being reported to Knox, revealed to him how little he had to expect from Mary of Guise; and as just at this time letters arrived from Geneva "commanding him, in G.o.d's name, as he that was their chosen pastor, to repair unto them for their comfort," he made immediate preparations for his departure thither. He took leave of the several congregations to whom he had preached, and sent on his wife and his mother-in-law to Dieppe before him, there to await his arrival. He reached them in the month of July, and shortly after went with them to Geneva; for in the "Livre des Anglois" there is an entry to the effect that on the 13th of September, 1556, John Knox; Marjory, his wife; Elizabeth, her mother; James ----, his servant; and Patrick, his pupil, were received and admitted members of the English Church and congregation there.

The reception of Mrs. Bowes into his household, especially with his knowledge of her deep-seated melancholia, says much for the kindliness of Knox's heart; and contrasts strongly with the spirit manifested on a similar matter by that other Scotsman whose {102} correspondence has so recently been given to the world. We know not if the cheap sneer indulged in by so many at the expense of the mother-in-law were as common in his days as it is in ours, but, in any case, Knox in all this was thoughtfully tender, and though he admits that the desponding habit of Mrs. Bowes was often a great trial to him, yet he never withdrew his regard from her. The following sentences of Dr. Laing express all that needs to be said more on this subject: "Her husband, I presume, was a bigoted adherent of the Roman Catholic faith, and this may serve as the key both to his opposition to Knox's marriage with his daughter, and to the mother's attachment to her son-in-law. It cannot at least be said that Knox was actuated by the expectation of wealth. In his last will and testament he states that all the money he received from the mother's succession for the benefit of his two sons was one hundred marks sterling, which he, 'out of his poverty,' had increased to five hundred pounds Scots, and had paid through Mr. Randolph to their uncle, Mr. Robert Bowes, for their use. The comparative value of money at this time was very variable; but we may reckon (that) the hundred marks, or 66 13s. 4d., were increased by Knox to 100 sterling."[1]

After Knox left Scotland the courage of the bishops revived, for they actually summoned him again, and on his failure to put in an appearance they were bold enough to burn him in effigy at the Cross of Edinburgh!

{103} But this _brutum fulmen_ of theirs could not undo the work which he had wrought. For by his labours at this time, especially in exposing the evil of the Protestants' any longer countenancing, papal wors.h.i.+p, he detached from the Romish communion the nucleus round which the Church of Scotland, in a reformed state, was ultimately to form itself. Hitherto there had been no separate organization of the adherents to the Protestant faith; and no formal observance by them of the ordinance of the Supper. But now they had, to some extent at least, committed themselves to ultimate separation from the Church of Rome. As Lorimer says, "They were now a "Congregation" or community of Evangelical Christians, as much bound to one another as they were dissevered from the Church of the popes." And Knox's leaving of them in that condition was as much for their good as his arrival among them some months before had been. Had he remained longer in Scotland at this time, his presence would have undoubtedly provoked an outburst of persecuting fury on the part of the bishops and their friends; while as it was, the seed which he sowed had opportunity to root itself in the hearts of those who had received it at his hands; and this it would a.s.suredly do if they followed the directions which he had left behind him. For before his departure he drew up a letter of wholesome counsel addressed to his brethren in Scotland, in which he exhorts them to give themselves to the daily study of the Bible and wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d in their homes, and gives them {104} directions as to the holding and conducting of a.s.semblies for public wors.h.i.+p and mutual conference and prayer, recommending them to observe a regular course in their reading, and cautioning those who should speak, to do so with modesty, avoiding "multiplication of words, perplexed interpretation, and wilfulness in reasoning." If anything occurred in the text which they could not resolve for themselves, he advised them to apply for a.s.sistance to the more learned, and offered if they should refer it to him, to give them such help as he could render, saying, "I will more gladly spend fifteen hours in communicating my judgment with you, in explaining as G.o.d pleases to open to me any place of Scripture, than half an hour in any matter beside."

To the same period belong his "Answers to some Questions concerning Baptism," etc., which had been proposed to him by some inquirers, and which are of a sort that have often troubled young converts in similar cases. They are, whether baptism administered by the popish priests was valid and did not require repet.i.tion? Whether the decree of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem be still in all its points binding on believers? Whether the prohibition in 2 John 10 extended to the common salutation of those who taught erroneous doctrine? How the directions respecting dress in 1 Peter iii. 3 are to be obeyed? and the like. And with them all he deals in a spirit of wisdom for which mult.i.tudes unacquainted with his works would hardly give him credit. We need not enter into details regarding them; {105} but as the first mentioned of the above subjects was debated a few years ago in the a.s.sembly of the Presbyterian Church (North) of the United States, it may not be uninteresting to state that, while Knox declares unequivocally that it would be wrong for Protestant believers to seek baptism for their children from popish priests, he yet as plainly affirms that a man who had been baptized in infancy in papistry ought not to be rebaptized when he cometh to knowledge, because Christ's inst.i.tution could not be utterly abolished by the malice of Satan or by the abuse of man.

From September, 1556, to September, 1557, Knox laboured in Geneva, delighting in his work and rejoicing in the fellows.h.i.+p of congenial friends. Indeed, these halcyon months seem to have been the most peaceful of his chequered life, and we do not wonder that he wrote regarding Geneva: "I neither fear nor shame to say, it is the most perfect school of Christ that ever was in the earth since the days of the apostles." In the public services of the Church he used the form of prayer which had been drawn up by himself and others for the English congregation, and which was the groundwork of the "Book of Common Order" that was received by the Church of Scotland in 1565. But as that will come up for description in its proper place, we need not dwell upon it here. The harmony of the Geneva Church was sweet after the controversies of Frankfort, and the intercourse of the brethren from England, who were then engaged in the preparation of that version of the {106} Scriptures which continued to be for nearly a hundred years the favourite Bible of the Puritans, must have been a constant joy.

But this happiness did not last long; for in the month of May (1557) James Syme and James Barron, two burgesses of Edinburgh, and his own very devoted friends, arrived with a letter from Glencairn, Lorn, Erskine, and Lord James Stuart, beseeching "in the name of the Lord,"

that he would return to his native land; and affirming that he would find all the faithful whom he had left behind him, not only glad to hear his doctrine, but also ready to jeopardise their lives and goods for the setting forward of the glory of G.o.d. The opinion of Calvin and other friends to whom he submitted this request, was that he could not refuse such a call "without declaring himself rebellious unto G.o.d and unmerciful to his country"; and no doubt his own heart had already given a similar response. Accordingly, after making all due arrangements for the leaving of his charge, and for the care of his family in his absence, he set out from Geneva in the end of September, and arrived at Dieppe on the 24th October. He was met there, however, with letters which gave him the impression that those who had invited him to return to Scotland had repented of their action in that regard; and that many of the professed adherents of the truth had drawn back and became faint-hearted in the cause. This brought him to a stand, and he determined to go no farther until his way should be more clear.

He {107} immediately wrote to his correspondents, explaining how he came to be at Dieppe, upbraiding them for their fear and fickleness; admonis.h.i.+ng them of the great importance of the enterprise to which they had committed themselves; and alleging that they ought to hazard their lives and fortunes to deliver themselves and their brethren from spiritual bondage. This letter is dated October 27th, 1557, and was followed by another of a more general tenour to his brethren in Scotland, which appears to have been written in the same place on the 1st of December.

In the expectation of receiving some definite information from Scotland, Knox lingered in Dieppe for some considerable time, and officiated as temporary preacher to a Protestant Church which had recently been formed there. But when no answer came to his appeal to his countrymen, he set his face again toward Geneva, to which, after visiting Lyons, Roch.e.l.le, and other towns, he returned in the spring of 1558.

But though he had heard nothing from Scotland, matters there had been making steady progress. There may have been just enough of wavering on the part of some to give occasion for the desponding letters which had arrested him at Dieppe, yet there had been no great reaction. For on the 3rd December, perhaps after the receipt of Knox's letter of the preceding October, there had been a conference of the leading Protestants as to what was best to be done, and as the result a Common Bond or Band--the earliest of those {108} covenants which have had so conspicuous a place in the church history of Scotland--was drawn up and subscribed by Argyle, Glencairn, Morton, Lorn, Erskine of Dun, and many others. By this "engagement" they pledged themselves in the most solemn manner "to strive in their Master's cause even unto death;" "to maintain, set forward, and establish the most blessed word of G.o.d, and His congregation;" with their "whole power, substance, and their very lives; and to labour to the utmost of their possibility, to have faithful ministers purely and truly to preach Christ's gospel, and minister His sacraments to His people."

This was brave and hopeful in the highest degree. But Knox knew nothing of it meanwhile, and in his despondency composed and issued that tract which must be p.r.o.nounced the greatest mistake of his life.

We refer, of course, to "The First Blast of the Trumpet against the monstrous Regiment (_i.e._ government) of Women," which is an elaborate argument designed to establish the proposition that "to promote a woman to bear rule, superiority, dominion, or empire, above any realm, nation, or city, is repugnant to nature, contumely to G.o.d, a thing most contrarious to His revealed will and approved ordinance; and finally it is the subversion of good order, of all equality and justice." We have already seen from the questions which he put to Bullinger, that he had been pondering this subject for some time; and there is evidence in the tract itself, that he had diligently consulted what we should now {109} call "the literature of the subject," for he refers to Aristotle's politics; to the Books of the Digests; to such Fathers of the Church as Tertullian, Augustine, Ambrose, Chrysostom, etc. But it was clearly prompted by the fact that Mary Tudor was on the throne of England; and there is throughout a strong undercurrent of application to her character and cruelties. Whatever opinion may be taken on the main question, however,--and the very existence of the Salic law in some states still proves that there _are_ two sides to it, there can be no doubt that Knox's treatment of it at all, not to speak of the sort of treatment which he gave it, was at this time impolitic and imprudent.

In his preface he intimates that he is prepared to be condemned by mult.i.tudes, and even for being accused by some of high treason; and doubtless, he thought that he had counted the cost before he built his tower. But the publication brought such a storm about his head, that though he had purposed to follow his first blast with a second and a third, the two latter were never blown. His friend and colleague, Christopher Goodman, put himself by his side in a work ent.i.tled "How Superior Powers ought to be Obeyed of their Subjects;" and at a later day John Milton, in quoting from Goodman, and referring to him and others, in his "Tenure of Kings and Magistrates" says, "These were the pastors of those saints and confessors, who, flying from the b.l.o.o.d.y persecution of Queen Mary, gathered up at length their scattered members into {110} many congregations ... _These were the true Protestant divines of England_, our fathers in the faith we hold."[2]

But such laudations were exceptional. Foxe, the martyrologist, wrote a long and friendly letter to Knox, in which he expostulated with him on the impropriety of its publication; and even his friend John Calvin, in a letter to Cecil, felt compelled to deny all complicity with its production. Mary Tudor did not live long to resent it; but her sister Elizabeth never either forgot or forgave it; and it prejudiced the mind of Mary Stuart against him long before she looked upon his face. Not many months after its publication he was constrained to say "My first Blast hath blown from me all my friends in England," and could he have foreseen what the alliance of Elizabeth was ultimately to do for Scotland in the very climax of her Reformation agony, we may safely say that the work would neither have been written nor published.

But his excuse (_valeat quantum_) is not far to seek, and we cannot do better than give it in the words of Carlyle.[3] "It is written with very great vehemency; the excuse for which, so far as it may really need excuse, is to be found in the fact that it was written while the fires of Smithfield were still blazing, on best of b.l.o.o.d.y Mary, and not long after Mary of Guise had been raised to the Regency of Scotland--maleficent crowned women these two--covering poor England and poor Scotland {111} with mere ruin and horror, in Knox's judgment, and may we not still say to a considerable extent, in that of all candid persons? The book is by no means without merit; has in it various little traits unconsciously autobiographic, and others which are illuminative and interesting. One ought to add withal, that Knox was no despiser of women, far the reverse in fact; his behaviour to good and pious women is full of respect; and his tenderness, his filial helpfulness in their suffering and infirmities (see the letters to his mother-in-law and others) are beautifully conspicuous. For the rest his poor book testifies to many high intellectual qualities in Knox, and especially to far more of learning than has ever been ascribed to him, or is anywhere traceable in his other writings."

To this time also belongs his treatise on Predestination, in answer to an anonymous writer who called his work "The Careless of Necessity."

It is the most elaborate of all the Reformer's productions, and goes into the Augustinian controversy, on the side of the great ecclesiastical father, with much vigour of logic, great clearness of language, and apt and extended references to Scripture. Nowhere else, as it seems to us, does Knox indulge in such closely compacted argument, or write in such a nervous style. He is very careful to keep himself from misrepresentation, and all he states may be accepted as true; but there is another side to the s.h.i.+eld to which he rarely refers, and which must be admitted as implicitly as that to which he has restricted {112} his attention. It is not, of course, equal to the great work of Mozley on the same subject; but they who would master the literature of the controversy cannot afford to overlook this valuable contribution to its doc.u.ments.

Knox continued at Geneva until the month of January, 1559, when, in response to a request sent to him by those who had signed the "G.o.dly Band," which was backed by letters of a more recent date, informing him of the state of things in Scotland, he left his wife and family behind him and set out for his native land. Mary, the English queen, had now gone to her account, and her sister Elizabeth had succeeded to the throne, so that the Protestant refugees on the continent could safely return to their own country, and it was, therefore, no longer necessary for him to retain his position as pastor. Before the breaking up of the congregation, however, its members met to give thanks to G.o.d, and agreed to send one of their number with letters to their brethren in Frankfort and other places, congratulating them on the happy change which had come about at home, and requesting them to forget all past unpleasantness, while they co-operated as brethren to procure such a settlement of religion in England as would be well-pleasing to all the friends of the Reformation. Having received favourable replies to these letters, they went in a body to the council of the city, and William Whittingham, in their name, expressed to the seigneurie the grat.i.tude which they felt for the good reception given to them during {113} their exile, presenting them at the same time as a lasting memorial of their names the "Livre des Anglois," which is still preserved among the archives of Geneva, and from which we have quoted an interesting entry. They then left the city in which they had found so safe an asylum, and Knox sent letters with them to some of his former acquaintances in England, desiring that they would obtain permission for him to travel through England on his way to Scotland.

Naturally enough he wished to see some of those among whom he had formerly laboured; but there is reason to believe that his princ.i.p.al motive in asking this favour, at this time, was that he might disclose to Cecil the existence of a plan which had been formed by the Princes of Lorraine, with which somehow he had become acquainted, and which had for its objects the setting up of the claim of Mary Stuart to the throne of England, the dethronement of Elizabeth under pretence that she was a b.a.s.t.a.r.d and a heretic, the union of England and Scotland under one crown, and the suppression of the Reformation in both by bringing the whole island under the virtual control of France. But the indignation of Elizabeth at his "First Blast" was such that his request was indignantly refused, and it was with difficulty that those who presented his letters escaped imprisonment. He did not learn this result of his application until his arrival in Dieppe; and even then, impressed with the importance of the information which he had to communicate, he himself wrote to Cecil, seeking to remove all difficulties, and desiring a personal {114} interview. But this overture met with no better success; and so, determined to wait no longer for that which seemed to be hopeless, he sailed from Dieppe on the 22nd of April, and arrived at Leith on the 2nd of May, 1559. From this time up till his decease, with the exception of a brief visit which he made to England, Scotland was the sole scene of his labours; and during these thirteen years the incidents of his public life became part and parcel of the history of his country.

[1] "Works," vol. vi. p. lxvi.

[2] "Knox's Works," by Laing, vol. iv. p. 359.

[3] Carlyle's Works, vol. xii. p. 137.

{115}

CHAPTER IX.

RETURN TO SCOTLAND, 1559.

The landing of Knox in Scotland was almost dramatic in its timeliness; and though we cannot here undertake to rewrite the annals of the period, we must as briefly as possible outline the situation. The Queen Regent, who had so far succeeded in her temporizing policy as even at one time to have secured the commendation of Knox, had now openly declared herself as the enemy of the Reformation; and, at that very moment, four of its preachers were under summons, at her instance, to stand trial before the justiciary court at Stirling on the 10th of May, for "administering without the consent of the ordinaries the sacrament of the altar in a manner different from that of the Catholic Church, during three several days of the late feast of Easter, in the burghs and boundaries of Dundee, Montrose, and various other places in the sheriffdoms of Forfar and Kincardine, and for convening the subjects in these places, preaching to them, seducing them to their erroneous doctrines, and exciting seditions and tumults." How things had come to this crisis it is not hard to tell. {116} At the consultation at which the "G.o.dly Band" was adopted, the Reformers agreed besides on these two things, viz. first, that prayers and the lessons of the Old and New Testaments should be read in English, according to the Book of Common Prayer, in every parish on Sundays and festival days by the curates, or, if they refused, by such persons within the bounds as were best qualified; and second, that the Reformed preachers should teach in private houses only, until the government should allow them to do so in public. In accordance with the latter of these resolutions, the Protestant n.o.blemen took preachers as private chaplains into their homes, kept them under their protection, and encouraged them in informal and domestic meetings to expound the word of G.o.d. This soon came to the knowledge of the bishops, and the primate, presuming on his influence with some of Argyle's friends, wrote to that earl, expostulating with him for having John Douglas under his care. Such interference provoked a very smart and stinging retort; and the archbishop, falling back on the old tactics of persecution, thought he would strike terror into the hearts of the Protestants by another execution. He found a victim in Walter Mill, a venerable old man, who, though condemned years before as a heretic by Cardinal Beaton, had escaped the stake at that time, but was now discovered and consigned to the flames, in the midst of which he expired, with these pathetic and prophetic words upon his lips, "As for me, I am four-score and two years old, and cannot live long by the {117} course of nature, but a hundred better shall arise out of the ashes of my bones. I trust in G.o.d I shall be the last to suffer death in Scotland in this cause." This horrible deed--done on the 28th August, 1558--thrilled the people into earnestness in a moment, and determined them to make open profession of their adherence to the Reformed wors.h.i.+p, so that their ministers were emboldened to preach and administer the sacraments in public, even without the permission of the government, for which until then they had waited.

Meanwhile, in the month of July, a formal pet.i.tion had been presented to the Regent by the Protestant barons, requesting her to restrain the violence of the clergy, and asking liberty of wors.h.i.+p according to a restricted plan, to which they were willing to conform until their grievances should be examined and redressed. To this she replied after her usual plausible fas.h.i.+on, in such a way as to make them believe that she was friendly to their proposals. But the hollowness of her words is apparent from the fact that in the very same month she was in consultation with the archbishop of St. Andrews, as to the course which should be adopted for checking the Reformation; yet, as she needed the help of the Protestants at the meeting of the Parliament in November for the carrying of certain measures on which her heart was set, nothing was done openly by her against them until after that date. In December, however, she gave the primate such a.s.surances of her support, that he summoned the Reformed preachers to {118} appear before him at St. Andrews on the and of February following, to answer the charges of usurping the sacred office and of disseminating heresy. This proceeding on his part stirred up the Protestant n.o.bles, so that they informed the Regent that if the trial went on they would be present to see justice done, and she, fearing the consequences, prevailed upon the archbishop to prorogue the trial. At the same time she summoned a convention of the n.o.bility to meet at Edinburgh on the 7th of March, and induced the archbishop to call a provincial council of the clergy to meet in the city on the first of the same month.

When the clergy met, two representations were laid before them, one from the Protestants, asking what they felt to be needed, and another from persons still attached to the Roman Catholic faith, praying for the redress of certain grievances in ecclesiastical administration; but both were treated with indifference. A secret treaty had been entered into by them with the Queen Regent, wherein they had promised to raise a large sum of money to enable her to put down all heresy, and so in the most uncompromising confidence they confirmed all the doctrines and practices of the Church, and declared that both the preachers who administered the sacraments after the Reformed manner, and those who received them at their hands should be excommunicated.

This action of theirs convinced the Reformers that nothing was to be hoped for from the clergy, and the {119} treaty to which we have referred having somehow come to their knowledge revealed to them that they had just as little to hope for from the court; so they broke off all further negotiations and left the city. But they had scarcely gone when a proclamation was made at the Market Cross, by order of the Regent, prohibiting any person from preaching or administering the sacraments without authority from the bishops; and it was because they had disregarded that injunction that Paul Methven, John Christison, William Harlow, and John Willock were now summoned to appear at Stirling on the 10th of May, before the Court of Justiciary. When, therefore, Knox arrived at Leith on the 2nd of that month, he could truly say that he had come "even in the brunt of the battle." Nor was he dismayed thereat. Rather like the war-horse of the sacred poet, he said among the trumpets Aha! and went forth rejoicing in his strength to mingle in the fray.

The next morning the announcement of his arrival to the provincial council of the clergy which was still in session in Edinburgh broke up that a.s.sembly in haste, but not before its members had despatched a messenger with the news to the Queen Regent who was then at Glasgow, and who a few days later proclaimed Knox as a rebel and an outlaw in virtue of the sentence formerly p.r.o.nounced against him in his absence by the bishops. But all this counted for little with him, for after waiting only a few hours at Edinburgh, he had already gone to Dundee, where he found the Protestants of Angus and {120} neighbourhood gathered in great numbers and determined to attend their ministers to Stirling. Lest, however, they should do harm, when they only intended to do good, they determined to halt at Perth, from which place they sent forward Erskine of Dun to inform the Regent at Stirling of the peaceable object of their approach. As usual, when she heard what he had to say, she sought to gain time by temporizing. She authorized him to promise in her name that the trial should not go on, and prevailed on him to persuade them to give up their purpose. Accordingly the larger number of them returned to their homes. But when the day appointed for the trial came, the summons was called by the Regent's orders, the ministers were outlawed for non-appearance, and all persons were prohibited, under pain of being treated as rebels, from harbouring or a.s.sisting them. Erskine, finding that he had been grievously befooled, escaped from Stirling and carried the news to Perth, where on the day of his arrival Knox preached a sermon in which he denounced the idolatry of the ma.s.s, and on which consequences followed which he did not at the moment antic.i.p.ate. For after his discourse had been concluded a priest "in contempt" uncovered a rich altar-piece and prepared to celebrate ma.s.s, whereupon a youth uttered an exclamation of indignation. This provoked the priest to strike him "a great blow,"

and he retaliated "in anger" by throwing a stone at the priest, which hit the altar and broke one of the images. This was the spark to which the people were {121} as tow, and in the course of a few minutes everything in the church that savoured of idolatry--altar, images, ornaments and the like--was thrown down and demolished. The report of this outbreak soon gathered a mob described by Knox as "not of the gentlemen, neither of them that were earnest professors, but of the rascal mult.i.tude," who finding nothing more to be done in the church rushed to the monasteries of the Black and Grey Friars and to the Charterhouse and laid them all in ruins.