Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1848-03-31

host thar SIX hunered clustering trum-
pets Single handed he met the rage of
a disappointed government and an Iniu-
rated priesthood, and conquered by the
silent might of his magnanimous audaclty.
In the widest whirl Of contending emo
ton. he never lost sight of the great end
of his being, as a servant of God, nor
sWerved hairs breadth from truth and
right.
Yet this stern old CovenaRter was not
without touch of gentieness and even of
hilarity. Heloyed MS home, his children.
and his friends. An honest. quiet laugh
often mantIed his pale earnest visage.-
: They 60 fur wrong says Carlyle, whose
thorough appreciation ofsuch men as Lu-
ther, Cromwell, and Knox, is truly re-
ireshlng amid the vapid inanities or course
preludices of ordinary historians, "who
think that Knox was a gloomy. spasmod-
Ic, shrieking fanatic. Not at all. He is
one of the solilest Of men. Practical,
cautious, hopeful, patient a most shrewd.
observing. quietly discerning man. In
fact, he has very much the type of char
acter we assign TO the Scotch at present:
a certain sardonlc taclturnty is IN him
insight enough and stouter heat than
he himself knows of. An honest-heart-
ed, brotherly man brother to the high,
brother also to the low; sincere in his
sympathy with both
Knox, doubllessly had his faults; and
what of that? He made some mistakes
and what, too, of that Was he not
true man. and true minister of Gods
Word Did he not accomplish great and
beneficial work of Reform and, having
done this, did he not die a sweet and tri-
umphant death God has set his seal
upon him, and upon his work and that
is enough for Us.
We hesitate not, with Carlyle, to name
the Reform under Knox as the greatest
era in Scottish history, as the one glo-
rious event which gave life to the nation.
Thence resulted freedom, activity, purity
OF morals science, national and IndlvIdu-
al greatness. Previous to this event Scot.
land possessed only rough, tumutuous,
pAvsical life her polite s--IissensIons
and executions ; her religlon-a puerlle
superstition her literature-ballads ard
monkish legends; her Joy-hunting,
fitting. and drinking But the reforma-
ton breathed into her the breath OF
spiritual existence. Her national pros
perity dates from that era. Thence pro-
ceeded faith and order, education, indus
try, and wealth. Ii was not a smooth
business; but it was welcome surely, and
cheap at that price, had It been far rough
e.. On the whole, cheap 1T any price, as
life is. The people began 10 Ire; they
needed first OF all 10 do that. at what cost
and costs sCever. Scottish literature and
thought. Scottish industry, James Watt,
David Hume, Walter Scott, Robert Burns:
| find Knox and the Reformation acting
in the hearts core OF every one of these
persons and phenomena ; find that; with,
out the Reformation, they would not have
been. Or what Of Scotland The Pu-
rlanism Of Scotland became that of Eng
land, of New England 4 tumult in the
High Church Of Edinburgh spread into u
universal battle and struggle over all these
realms and there came out OF It, after
fifty years struggling, what we all call
'lhe GLORIOUS Revolution, a habeaS Cor
pus Act, Free ParIiaments and much
else
1t has become fashionable of late, in
certain quarters, TO under value the Ref
ormation, and contemn those great and
rugged spirits by whom it was accomplish
ed. \ sentimental, baby-hcarteG, super
stltlon- smitten generation, cannot adpre-
ciate those mighty men, and mIghtier re
formers Of the oden time But how well
ana worthily does the Iarge-heartcd and
ethereal Milton speak of 1t: When |
recall TO mind, at last. after 50 many dark
ages, wherein the huge ovcr-shadowing
train of error had almost swept all the
stars out Of the armament Of the church
how the brigh. and bllsslul Reformation.
by divine power, struck through the black
and settled night Of ignorance and anti
Christian tyranny, methinks a sovereign
and revying JOY must needs rush INTO the
bosom Of him that reads or hears, and the
sweet odor of the returning Gospel in
battle his soul with III aerancy OF heav-
en-. Then was the sacred Bible sought
out Of the dusty corners, where pTotane
ialsehOod and neglect had thrown II, the
schools opened, divine and human lear
ming raked out of the embers of forgotten
tongues; the princes and cities trDoping
apace to the new-erected banner of saliva
ton; the martyrs, with the unresistible
might of weakness, shaking the powers Of
darkness, and scorniug the fiery rage of
the red old dragon A noble testimony
like this far outweighs all the cant Of a
whining sentlmentalism. Its truth, as
well as ITS eloquence, all must admit.
*.Of Reformation in-Engiand.' BY John
Milton.