# The Life of John Knox (1851)

NEW AND IMPROVED SERIES.
NO. 92.
THE
LIFE
OF
JOHN KNOX,
THE CELEBRATED SCOTTISH REFORMER;
CONTAINING
An Account of his Early Education,
HIS PERSECUTION BY THE ROMAN CATHOLICS,
AND
His efforts to Establish the Protestant Religion in Scotland.
GLASGOW: PRINTED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS, 1851.
Price One Penny.
LIFE OF JOHN KNOX.
JOHN KNOX, the celebrated Scottish Reformer, was born at Haddington, in the year 1505. He was the descendant of an ancient family, who possessed some property in Renfrewshire. Some writers have asserted that his parents were in poor circumstances; but this has not been established by facts, for they seem to have been in a position to give him a liberal education. At an early age he was sent to the grammar school of Haddington, and after acquiring the principles of the Latin language there, he was removed to the University of St. Andrews, where he prosecuted his studies with great success, and was soon created master of arts, and ordained a priest, before the time prescribed by the rules of the church, although he had no other interest than his own merit, or the recommendation of his teachers procured him. This must have taken place before the year 1530, when he was only twenty-five years of age. About this time, his studies received a new direction which effected an entire change in his sentiments, and had a very important influence on his future life. By the writings of the fathers of the christian church, he was led to the scriptures as the only pure fountain of divine truth, and renouncing scholastic theology, he was led to a more comprehensive view of the system of evangelical religion. He did not, however, profess himself a Protestant till the year 1542. Relinquishing all thoughts of officiating in the Catholic Church, he left St. Andrews, and acted as tutor to the sons of ​Hugh Douglas of Langniddrie, and John Cockburn of Ormiston, whom he instructed in the principles of the Reformed religion, as well as the different branches of ordinary education. He catechised them publicly, and regularly read and explained a chapter of the bible, so that not only the families who employed him, but the people in the neighbourhood, had the advantage of his instruction. He was not long suffered to continue his lectures in this way, for Cardinal Beatoun, and the clergy of the Romish Church, alarmed lest he should draw others after him, were anxious to get rid of such an adversary, and employed every means in their power to destroy him; but in the midst of his cruelties, the Cardinal himself was suddenly cut off. A small but determined band, animated by a desire to deliver their country from oppression, formed a conspiracy against his life, and on the 29th of May, 1546, seized St. Andrews Castle, in which he then resided, and put him to death.
The death of Beatoun, however, did not free Knox from persecution, for he was frequently obliged to conceal himself, and to fly from place to place, to avoid falling into the hands of his enemies. At last, wearied of persecution, he determined to leave Scotland and visit Germany; but the lairds of Langniddrie and Ormiston prevailed on him to take refuge, along with their sons, in the castle of St. Andrews, which was still held by the conspirators. He accordingly entered the castle, and conducted the education of his pupils in his usual way. In the chapel within the castle, he read to them his lectures on the scriptures, and catechised them in the parish church.
During the few months he preached at St. Andrews, his labours were so successful, that, besides those in the castle, many of the inhabitants of the town renounced Popery, professed the Protestant faith, and ​participated in the Lord's Supper, which he administered in the manner afterwards practised in the Reformed Church of Scotland.
Towards the end of June, 1547, a French fleet, with a large body of land forces, appeared before St. Andrews, for the purpose of besieging the castle. Knox did not expect that the garrison would be able to hold out, but he determined to share with his brethren the hazard of the siege. After a spirited resistance, they surrendered on the 23d of July, and Knox and his companions were conveyed on board the fleet, which in a few days sailed for France. On their arrival there, they were confined in the galleys, and bound with chains. Knox's health was very much impaired by the severity of his confinement, for in addition to the rigours of ordinary captivity, he was treated with all the indignities offered to heretics, and he was seized with a fever which threatened to close his career. He however recovered, and in the month of February, 1549, obtained his liberty, after an imprisonment of nineteen months. He now returned to England, where his reputation as a preacher was well known, and soon after his arrival in London, the privy council ordered him to Berwick, where he laboured for two years, during which time many were, though his instrumentality, converted from error and ignorance. He spared neither time nor bodily strength in instructing those to whom he was sent. While resident in Berwick, he formed an acquaintance with Miss Marjory Bowes, a young lady, who afterwards became his wife. In 1551 he was removed to Newcastle, where in addition to his ordinary services on Sabbath, he preached regularly on the other days of the week.
In the beginning of April, 1553, he returned to London, and remained there till the death of Edward VI., when, being apprehensive of the measures which ​might be pursued by Queen Mary's government, he retired to the north. In August following, he resumed his labours, although his safety was daily becoming more precarious. By the end of November, Parliament had repealed all the laws in favour of the Reformation, and restored the Roman Catholic religion, but liberty was allowed to such as pleased to observe the Protestant worship, until the 20th of December, after which they were to be exposed to the pains decrced against hereties. Knox, however, could not prevail on himself to leave the kingdom, till he found that he could no longer clude the pursuit of his enemies, if he continued to preach in England, so he set sail in a vessel which landed him safely at Dieppe, on 28th Jannary, 1554. About the end of February of that year, he set out from Dieppe, “ not knowing whither he went," and, travelling through France, came to Switzerland, where he spent some time in visiting the churches, and conferring with the learned men in that country. Early in May following, he returned to Dieppe to receive information from England, and, shortly after, visited Geneva, where he became acquainted with the celebrated John Calvin, and formed that intimate friendship which subsisted between them till the death of the latter in 1564. While residing here, the English Church at Frankfort invited him to become their pastor, a charge which he was averse to undertake ; but, by the persuasion of Calvin, he was induced to accept the call, and, repairing to Frankfort in November, he commenced his ministry with the unanimous consent of the congregation. This situation, however, he did not long enjoy ; for having refused to administer the sacrament according to the form prescribed by the English Liturgy, he was deprived of office, and, leaving Frankfort, he returned to Geneva. In the month of August, 1555, he came to Dieppe, and, ​sailing from that port, arrived in Scotland about the end of harvest. After remaining some time with his friends in Berwick, he secretly visited Edinburgh, and as soon as his arrival was known, the Protestants there immediately repaired to attend his instructions. Among these was John Erskine of Dun, who prevailed on Knox to accompany him to his family seat in Angus, where he preached every day for a month,-the principal persons in that neighbourhood attending his sermons.
The dangers to which Knox and his friends were accustomed, taught them to conduct matters with such secresy, that he preached for a considerable time in various places, before the clergy knew that he was in the kingdom. Concealment however was impracticable, for his audiences became so numerous that the friars flocked from all quarters to the bishops, instigating them to take speedy measures for cheeking the alarming effects of his preaching, and Knox was consequently summoned to appear before a convention of the clergy at Edinburgh, on the 15th of May. This diet he determined to keep, and came to Edinburgh before the day appointed, accompanied by Erskine of Dun, and several other gentlemen; but the clergy, who never thought he would have attended, were afraid to bring matters to extremity, and under pretence of some informality in the summons, deserted the diet against him. The day on which Knox should have appeared as a pannel, he preached to a larger andience than had ever attended him in Edinburgh.
About this time, the Earl Marischal, at the desire of the Earl of Glencairn, attended one of Knox's evening sermons, with which he was so much pleased, that he joined Glencairn in urging the preacher to address a letter to the Queen, which they thought might have the effect of inclining her to give a ​favourable ear to their doctrine. With this request he was induced to comply, and as a specimen of the manner in which this letter was written, we give the following quotation:- “Albeit, Madam, that the messengers of God are not sent this day with visible miracles, because they teach no other doctrine than that which is confirmed with miracles from the beginning of the world, yet will not He (who hath promised to take charge over his poor and little flock to the end,) suffer the contempt of their ambassage to escape punishment and vengeance, for the truth itself hath said, 'he that heareth you heareth me, and he that contemneth you contemneth me.' I do not speak unto you, Madam, as Pasquillus doth to the Pope and his carnal cardinals, in the behalf of such as dare not utter their names, but I come in the name of Christ Jesus; affirming, that the religion ye maintain is damnable idolatry, which I offer myself to prove, by the most evident testimony of God's Scriptures; and in this quarrel I present myself against all the Papists in the realm, desiring no other armour but God's holy word, and the liberty of my tongue."
About this time he received letters from the English congregation at Geneva, stating that they had made choice of him as one of their pastors, and urging him "in God's name to repair to them for their comfort." He considered it his duty to accept this call, and accordingly, in the month of July 1556, he left Scotland, and, arriving at Dieppe, proceeded to Geneva.
As soon as the clergy understood that he had left the kingdom, they renewed the summons against him, and on his non-appearance, adjudged his body to the flames, and his soul to damnation. His person being out of their reach, they burnt him in effigy at the cross of Edinburgh. Against this sentence, he published his "Appellation," in which he appeals to a "lawful ​and general council ;” adding, “these things I require of your honours to be granted unto me, viz., that the doctrines which our adversaries condemn for heresy may be tried by the plain and simple word of God; that the just defences be admitted to us that sustain the battle against this pestilent battle of Antichrist; and that they be removed from judgment in our cause, seeing that our accusation is not intended against any one particular person, but against that whole kingdom which we doubt not to prove to be a power usurped against God, against his commandments, and against the ordinance of Christ Jesus, established in his church by his chief apostles; yea, we doubt not to prove the kingdom of the Pope to be the kingdom and power of Antichrist, and therefore, my lords, I cannot cease, in the name of Christ Jesus, to require of you that the matter may come to examination, and that ye, the estates of the realm, by your authority, compel such as will be called bishops, not only to desist from their cruel murdering of such as do study to promote God’s glory, in detecting and disclosing the damnable impiety of that man of sin the Roman Antichrist ; but, also, that ye compel them to answer to such crimes as shall be laid to their charge, for not righteously instructing the flock committed to their care.”
On the death of Mary, Queen of England, and the accession of Elizabeth, the Protestant refugees hastened to return to their native country, and Knox wrote some of his former acquaintances, who were now in the court of Elizabeth, requesting permission to travel through England on his way to Scotland ; but as he was accused of disloyalty to the Queen, the government would not allow him to pass through their dominions. This refusal touched his irritable temper to the quick; but there was another object which gave him still more concern. In the course of his ​journeys through France he discovered that a plan was projected by the princes of Lorrain, brothers of the queen regent of Scotland, to set up the claim of the young Queen of Scots to the crown of England; to attack Elizabeth, and wrest the sceptre from her hands as a bastard, and that they were to begin by suppressing the Reformation. Knowing that the Scottish reformers were unable to resist the power of France, and that it was the interest as well as the duty of the English court to support then, Knox resolved to obtain an interview with some confidential agent of the English Government. With this view, he wrote to Secretary Cecil; but despairing of the success of his application, he sailed for Scotland on the 22d of April, and landed at Leith in the beginning of May. On his arrival, he found matters in the most critical state. The Protestant leaders had frequently supplicated the Regent and the clergy, to use their influence in removing those corruptions in religion which could no longer be concealed, but without success. They therefore resolved to abolish Popish superstition, and set up the Protestant worship wherever their influence extended. St. Andrews was the place fixed on for the commencement of these operations, and such was the influence of the discourses delivered by Knox, that the inhabitants agreed to set up the reformed worship in the town: the church was stripped of its images, and the monasteries demolished. This example was speedily followed in other places, and in a few weeks the houses of the monks were overthrown, and all the instruments which were employed to foster idolatry were destroyed. Knox continued at St. Andrews till the end of June, when he returned to Edinburgh, and the Protestants of that city having chosen him for their minister, he entered upon the charge; but was soon obliged to relinquish it on account of the extreme hostility with which the Papists ​regarded him. He now undertook a journey through Scotland, and in less than two months he visited the principal towns, arousing the attention, and opening the eyes of the inhahitants to the errors by whieh they were deluded. After completing this tour, he returned to St. Andrews. Meantime it beeame evident, that they could not long maintain the struggle in which they were engaged. Franee had already sent, and was preparing to send more, troops to oppose them, and being unable to keep the field, they resolved to divide, till they obtained the assistanee promised them by Elizabeth,-one half of the eouneil remaining at Glasgow, the other at St. Andrews. Knox was appointed to attend the latter, and the Freneh having penetrated into Fife early in the year 1560, he encouraged that small band whieh, under the Earl of Arran, resisted their progress, until the appearance of the English fleet obliged them to retreat. In the beginning of April, the English army entered Seotland, and the Freneh troops having retired within the fortifications at Leith, were invested by sea and land. The Queen-regent died in Edinburgh Castle during the siege, and the ambassadors of Franee were obliged to agree to a treaty, which provided that the Freneh troops should be immediately removed from Seotland, and that an amnesty be granted to all who had been engaged in resisting the measures of the Regent. This treaty, which obviated hostilities, left the power in the hands of the Protestants, and put an end to the Roman Catholie religion in Seotland. After the proclamation of peaee, Knox resumed his station as minister of Edinburgh, and employed himself in composing the Confession of Faith. Abont this time the Protestant nobility invited their young Queen to assume the reins of government, and on the 19th of August, 1561, she arrived in Seotland. Edueated in the Roman Catholie religion, she determined to ​give her subjects an early proof of her attachment to it. Mary gave instructions to celebrate mass in the chapel of Holyrood, on the first Sunday after her arrival. The Protestants were struck with horror when they found it was countenanced by the Queen, and the more zealous of them would have prevented the service by force, had not the leaders interfered. Knox, from regard to the public pence, used his influence to allay the tuumlt, but he was not less alarmed than his brethren, for in his sermon on the following Sabbath, he said, that "one mass is more fearful to me, than if ten thousand armed enemies were landed in any part of the realm, of purpose to suppress the whole religion." Soon after this he was sent for by the Queen, who accused him of raising her subjects against her mother and herself, of writing against her authority, and being the cause of sedition and bloodshed To these charges Knox replied, "If to teach the word of God in sincerity, if to rebuke idolatry, and to exhort a people to worship God according to his word, be to raise subjects against their princes, then cannot I be excused; for it hath pleased God in his mercy to make me one amongst many to disclose unto this realm the vanity of the Papistical religion- And touching that book, that seemeth so highly to offend your majesty, it is most certain that if I wrote it I am content that all the learned of the land should judge of it. My hope is, that, so long as ye defile not your hands with the blood of the saints of God, that neither I nor that book shall either hurt yon or your authority; for, in very deed, Madam, that book was written most especially against that wicked Mary of England." "Think you," said the Queen, "that subjects, having the power, may resist their princes?" He answered they might, "if princes do exceed their bonnds." The Queen who had hitherto maintained her courage, was overpowered by this ​bold reply, and broke off the conversation. Soon after, he was tried for treason at Edinburgh, but his accusers were unable to substantiate the charge, and, much to the Queen's displeasure, he was acquitted.
During the year 1564, the country continued quiet, but the same jealousies subsisted between the court and the church. The Queen's prejudices against the Reformed religion were unabated, and she maintained a correspondence with its enemies on the continent, which did not escape the vigilance of her Protestant subjects. The preachers, however, did not relax in their warnings against Popery.
By appointment of the General Assembly in August, Knox visited the churches in Aberdeen and the north, where he remained some weeks. He had a similar appointment from the subsequent Assembly, to Perth and Fifeshire.
In December 1566, he requested permission from the General Assembly to visit England. It was readily granted, on condition that he would return by the time of their next meeting in June. In the testimonial sent along with him, he was described as “a true and faithful minister, in doctrine pure and sincere, in life and conversation in our sight inculpable," and one who "has so fruitfully used that talent granted to him by the Eternal, to the advancement of the glory of his godly name, to the propagation of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and edifying of them who heard his preaching, that of duty we most heartily praise his godly name, for that so great a benefit granted unto him for our utility and profit."
Before undertaking this journey, he had to perform another service to the church. The Queen having granted a commission to the Archbishop of St. Andrews, restoring him to his ancient jurisdiction, which had been abolished by act of Parliament in 1560, Knox became alarmed, and he addressed a letter to ​the principal Protestants in the kingdom, requesting their immediate advice on the means to be adopted on the occasion. After referring to this daring measure, he says, “How that any such assignation, or any promise made thereof, can stand in any stable assurance, when that Roman antichrist, by just laws once banished from this realm, shall be intrusted above us, we can no ways understand. Yea, farther, we cannot see what assurance can any within this realm, that hath professed the Lord Jesus, have of life, or inheritance, if the lead of that odious beast be cured among us." Having enforced, his request, he adds: “as from the beginning we have neither spared substance nor life, so mind we not to faint unto the end, to maintain the same, so long as we can find the concurrence of brethren; of whom (as God forbid), if we be destitute, yet are we determined never to be subject to the Roman antichrist, neither yet to his usurped tyranny; but when we can do no farther to suppress that odious beast, we mind to seal it with our blood to our posterity, that the bright knowledge of Jesus Christ hath banished that man of sin, and his venomous doctrine, from our hearts and consciences. Let this our letter and request bear witness before God, before his church, before the world, and before your own conscience."
It was during Knox's residence in England that the tragedy was acted, which led to a revolution in the government of the kingdom, and contrary to the designs of the actors, threw the power into the hands of the Protestants. Mary's affection for Darnley, which cooled soon after their marriage, was converted into hatred after the assassination of Rizzio, and in proportion as her mind was alienated from the king, the Earl of Bothwell grew in favour, and was treated by her Majesty with every mark of regard. The unhappy king was decoyed to Edinburgh, lodged in ​a solitary dwelling in the extremity of the city, and was murdered on the 9th of February 1567, the house having been blown up with gunpowder. Bothwell was the prime contriver in the murder, and that Mary was accessory to it, is evident from her behaviour towards the king, her remissness in inquiring into the murder, and her marriage with the man who was stigmatized as the murderer. The events which followed this unlawful marriage; the confederation of the nobility for revenging the king's death, and preserving the infant prince; the flight of Bothwell, the imprisonment of Mary; her resignation of the government; coronation of her son, and the appointment of a regent during his minority, are well known. Knox had now reached that point from which he could take a calm view of the struggle in which he had been engaged. True religion was now established, and he cherished the hope of retiring to that privacy from which the Reformation had drawn him, but he was destined to endure further trials. From the time that the Earl of Murray was appointed regent, a number of the nobility, headed by the house of Hamilton, stood aloof, and refused to acknowledge any other than the Queen's authority. After her escape from Lochleven Castle, they collected to her standard, and avowed their design to restore her to the throne, but the defeat at Langside broke up her party; Mary was driven from the kingdom, and the rigorous measures of the Regent, restored a state of obedience to the king's authority. The partisans of Mary, desparing to accomplish their purpose during the Regent's life, determined to cut him off, and employed two persons to assassinate him; but their design having been discovered, Hamilton of Bothwell-haugh undertook to carry it into execution, and, following the Regent in his progress through Glasgow, Stirling, and Linlithgow, found an opportunity in the ​last-mentioned place, and shot him through the body. The wound having proved mortal, the Regent died on the same evening, and the melancholy intelligence was conveyed to Edinburgh the following morning. It is impossible to describe the feelings of Knox on the occasion. An intimate friendship had long subsisted between them, and of all the Scottish nobility, he had the greatest confidence in Murray's attachment to religion. He looked upon his death as the greatest calamity which could befal the nation, and in his sermon on the following day, he introduced the subject, saying, that God in his mercy raised up godly rulers, and took them away in his displeasure. He thus poured out the sorrows of his heart, “O Lord, in what misery and confusion found he this realm! To what rest and quietness now by his labours suddenly he brought the same, all estates, but especially the poor commons, can witness. Thy image, O Lord, did so clearly shine in that personage, that the devil, and the wicked to whom he is prince, could not abide it; and so to punish our sins and our ingratitude (who did not rightly esteem so precious a gift), thou hast permitted him to fall, to our great grief, in the hands of cruel and traitorous murderers. He is at rest, O Lord: we are left in extreme misery."
Upon the Tuesday after, the Regent's corpsc was conveyed from the palace of Holyrood, and interred in the Collegiate Church of St. Giles. Before the funeral, Knox preached a sermon from these words, “ Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord," and while he described the Regent's virtues, and bewailed his loss, upwards of three thousand persons were dissolved in tears. The grief caused by this event preyed upon his spirits and injured his health. He was struck with apoplexy, which affected his speech to a considerable degree, but he gradually recovered, and was soon able to preach. The confusion which he ​had augured from the death of the Regent, soon broke out, and spread civil discord through the nation. The Hamiltons raised the Queen's standard; and Kircaldy of Grange, governor of Edinburgh Castle, declared himself on the same side. Knox, however, persisted in warning his hearers from joining with those who sought to overthrow the king's authority, and the Reformed religion. At the meeting of the General Assembly, in March 1571, he was charged with seditious railing against the Queen, and refusing to pray for her welfare, but having successfully defended himself, his enemies accused him of inconsistency in writing against female government, and yet praying for Elizabeth, and requesting her aid against his native country. This accusation he also met and refuted, concluding thus: “One thing, in the end, I may not pretermit, that is, to give him a lie in his throat, that either dare, or will say, that ever I sought support against my native country. What I have been to my country, albeit this unthankful age will not know, yet the ages to come will be compelled to bear witness to the truth. And thus I cease, requiring of all men that has to oppose any thing against me, that he will do it so plainly as I make myself and all my doings manifest to the world; for to me it seems a thing most unreasonable, that, in my decrepid age, I shall be compelled to fight against shadows and houlets, that dare not abide the light."
Knox was now so debilitated in body, that he seldom went out except on the Sabbath, and could then only preach part of the day. He gave up attending the church courts, and previous to the breaking out of the last disturbances, he took no part in public affairs; but whenever the welfare of the church was threatened, he forgot his infirmities and resolutions, and stood prepared to repel the attacks of his adversaries, whether open or clandestine. His situation in ​Edinburgh was very critical in the month of April, 1571, when Grange received the Hamiltons and their forces into the castle. Their inveteracy against him was so great, that his house required to be watched during the night. He often received intimations threatening his life, and one evening he was fired at through the window, but he happened to be in a different part of the house from that in which he usually sat, otherwise the ball must have struck him. Alarmed by this circumstance, a number of his friends waited on him, and renewed a request they formerly made, that he would remove to a place where his life would be in greater safety ; but he refused to listen to them, under the impression that his enemies wished to intimidate him to fight, that they might the more easily carry on their designs, and then accuse him of cowardice. Being unable to persuade him by any other means, they intimated their determination to defend him at the peril of their lives, and if blood was shed in the quarrel, they would leave it on his head. On hearing this, he consented to leave the city, "sure against his will," and, on the 5th of May, he left Edinburgh for St. Andrews, where he remained till the month of August following. During his stay, he published a vindication of the Reformed religion, in reply to a letter written by Tyrie, a Scots Jesuit. The work was sent abroad as a farewell address to the world, and a testimony to the truth which he so long taught and defended. In concluding it he says: “Call for me, deir brethren, that God, in his mercy, will pleas to put end to my long and paneful battell. For now being unable to fight, as God sumtymes gave strength, I thrist an end, befoir I be moir troublesum to the faithfull. And yet, Lord, let my desyre be moderat be thy Holy Spirit. To thee, O Lord, I commend my spirit. For I thrist to be released from this body of sin, and am assured that I ​all rise agane in glorie; howsoever it be that the wicked for a tyme sall trode me and others thy servandes under their feit. Be merciful, O Lord, unto the kirk within this realme; continew with it the light of thy evangell; augment the number of true preieheris. And let thy mercyfull providence luke upon my desolate bedfellow, the fruit of hir bosome, and my two deir children, Nathaneal and Eleazer. Now, Lord, put end to my miserie." The advertisement " to the Faithful Reader," dated from St. Andrews, 12th July, 1572, concludes as follows: "I hartly salute and take my good night of all the faithful in both realmes, earnestly desyring the assistance of their prayers, that, without any notable slander to the evangel of Jesus Christ, I may end my battell. For as the world is wearie of me, so am I of it."
His health declined so rapidly in the Spring of 1572, that it was thought he would end his days in St. Andrews, but he was once more restored to his flock. The Queen's forces having abandoned Edinburgh, his hearers, who were anxious that once again his voice might be heard among them," intreated him to come to them immediately, if his health permitted. He accordingly left St. Andrews on the 17th of August, but on account of his weakness, he was obliged to travel slowly, and it was the 23d of the month before he arrived at Leith. After resting a day or two, he came to Edinburgh, and the inhabitants had the satisfaction of seeing him in his own pulpit once more. His voice was now so enfeebled, that he could searcely be heard by half the congregation, and he requested the session to provide a smaller house where he could be heard, if it were only by a few. Perceiving that he would not long be able to preach, or attend to other ministerial duties, he was desirous to have an assistant and successor appointed, that his followers might not be left "as sheep without a ​shepherd," when he was taken away. They accordingly fixed on James Lawson, formerly of the college of Aberdeen, and Knox urged him to comply with the call without delay. The invitation was accepted, Lawson hastened to Edinburgh, and having preached to the people, he gave universal satisfaction. On Sabbath, the 9th of November, Knox presided at the installation of his colleague, and having finished the service and pronounced the blessing with a cheerful but exhausted voice, he descended from the pulpit, and walked down the street, which was lined by the audience, who followed him till he entered the house On the Tuesday following, he was seized with a severe cough, which greatly affected his breathing, and his friends proposed to call in the physician, but although he readily acquiesced, he was "persuaded that the Lord would soon put an end to his troubles." It was his daily custom to read some chapter of the Old and New Testaments, but on Thursday, the 13th, he became so ill that he was obliged to desist. The scriptures however were read to him during the whole time of his illness. He was anxious once more to meet with the session, and bid them fare well, and in compliance with his wish, his colleague, the elders and deacons, with David Lindsay, one of the ministers of Leith, assembled in his room on the 17th, when he addressed them as follows:- "The day now approaches, and is before the door, for which I have frequently and vehemently thirsted, when I shall be released from my great labours and innumerable sorrows, and shall be with Christ. And now, God is my witness, whom I have served in spirit, in the gospel of his Son, that I have taught nothing but the true and solid doctrine of the gospel of the Son of God, and have had it for my only object, to instruct the ignorant, to confirm the faithful, to comfort the weak, the fearful, and the distressed, by the promises ​of grace, and to fight against the proud and rebellious, by the divine threatenings. I know that many have frequently and loudly complained, and do yet complain, of my too great severity; but God knows that my mind was always void of hatred to the persons of those against whom I thundered the severest judgments. I cannot deny but that I felt the greatest abhorrence at the sins in which they indulged, but I still kept this one thing in view, that if possible I might gain them to the Lord. What influenced me to utter whatever the Lord put into my mouth so boldly, without respect of persons, was a reverential fear of my God, who called, and of his grace appointed, me to be a steward of divine mysteries, and a belief that he will demand an account of my discharge of the trust committed unto me, when I shall stand before his tribunal. I profess, therefore, before God, and before his holy angels, that I never made merchandise of the sacred word of God, never studied to please men, never indulged my own private passions or those of others, but faithfully distributed the talent intrusted to me, for the edification of the church over which I watched. Whatever obloquy wicked men may cast on me respecting this point, I rejoice in the testimony of a good conscience. In the meantime, my dearest brethren, do you persevere in the eternal truth of the gospel; wait diligently on the flock over which the Lord hath set you, and which he redeemed with the blood of his only begotten Son. And thou my brother, Lawson, fight the good fight, and do the work of the Lord joyfully and resolutely. The Lord from on high bless you, and the whole church of Edinburgh, against whom, as long as they persevere in the word of truth which they have heard of me, the gates of hell shall not prevail."
He was much worse after this interview with the ​session, but he continued to receive persons who came to visit him, and allowed none to leave without exhortations.
On Friday he was much engaged in prayer, and often repeated these words, "Come, Lord Jesus. Sweet Jesus, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Be merciful, Lord, to thy church which thou hast redeemed, give peace to this afflicted commonwealth. Raise up faithful pastors who will take the charge of thy church. Grant us, Lord, the perfect hatred of sin, both by the evidences of thy wrath and mercy. Lord grant true pastors to thy church, that purity of doctrine my be retained. Restore peace again to this commonwealth, with godly rulers and magistrates. Once, Lord, make an end of my trouble." In the midst of his meditations, he frequently addressed those who stood by, in such sentences as the following; "O serve the Lord in fear, and death shall not be terrible to yon. Nay, blessed shall death be to those who have felt the power of the death of the only begotten Son of God."
On Sabbath, the 23d, after lying a long time quiet, he exclaimed, “If any be present, let him come and see the work of God;" and on their coming to his bed-side, he said, “I have been these two last nights in meditation on the troubled state of the church of God, the spouse of Jesus Christ, despised of the world, but precious in the sight of God. I have called to God for her, and have committed her to her head, Jesus Christ. I have fought against spiritual wickedness in heavenly things, and have prevailed. I have been in heaven, and have possession. I have tasted of the heavenly joys, where presently I am." In reply to a question asked by one of his friends if he felt much pain, he replied that "he was willing to lie there for years, if so God pleased, and if he continued to shine upon his soul through Jesus Christ." ​Monday, the 24th of November, was his last day on earth. About 5 o'clock he said to his wife, “Go read where I east my first anchor;" upon which she read to him the 17th chapter of St. John. He afterwards fell into a deep slumber, during which he uttered heavy groans, and on being asked the cause, replied, "I have formerly, during my frail life, sustained many contests, and many assaults of Satan; but at present that roaring lion hath assailed me most furiously, and put forth all his strength to devour, and make an end of me at once. Often before has he placed my sins before my eyes, often tempted me to despair, often endeavoured to ensnare me by the allurements of the world; but with these weapons, broken by the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, he could not prevail. Now he has attacked me in another way; the cunning serpent has laboured to persuade me that I have merited heaven and eternal blessedness, by the faithful discharge of my ministry. But blessed be God who has enabled me to beat down and quench this fiery dart, by suggesting to me such passages of Scripture as these: What hast thou that thou hast not received ? By the grace of God I am what I am : Not I, but the grace of God in me. Being thus vanquished, he left me. Wherefore I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ, who was pleased to give me the victory; and I am persuaded that the tempter shall not again attack me, but, within a short time, I shall, without any great bodily pain, or anguish of mind, exchange this mortal and miserable life for a blessed immortality through Jesus Christ."
He then lay quiet for sometime. About 10 o'clock they read the evening prayer, which, thinking he was asleep, they delayed beyond the usual time, and after it was concluded, Dr. Preston asked him if he had heard the prayers. “Would to God," he said, “that you and all men had heard them, as I have heard ​them. I praise God for that heavenly sound." Shortly after 11 o'clock, he said, “Now it is come," and, sighing twice, expired.
This extraordinary man died in the sixty-seventh year of his age; not so much oppressed with years, as worn out by his labours of body, and anxiety of mind. Very few men underwent so many hardships, or were exposed to more dangers, for, from the time he embraced the Protestant religion, till his latest hour, he seldom enjoyed a respite, and he emerged from one difficulty, only to be plunged into another. Forced to fly from St. Andrews, to escape the persecution of Cardinal Beatoun, he went to East Lothian; but his retreat having been discovered by Archbishop Hamilton, he wandered as an outlaw for several years in daily apprehension of falling into the hands of those who sought his life. The few months' protection he enjoyed in the castle of St. Andrews, were succeeded by a long imprisonment, and, soon after his return to England, he was again driven into banishment to wander as an exile on the Continent for five years. On his return to Scotland, he engaged in a struggle of the most perilous kind, and even after the Reformation was established, he was continually involved in a contest with the court. No wonder, then, that he was weary of the world, and anxious to be called hence, to " rest from his labours." His funeral was attended by the Earl of Morton, the nobility who were at the time in the city, and a vast concourse of people. When his body was laid in the grave, the Regent pronounced the following eulogium: “ There lies he who never feared the face of man, who hath been often threatened with dag and dagger, but yet hath ended his days in peace and honour."
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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