The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1908-05-30
JOHN KNOX, REF6RMER AND PATRIOT.


This week the Presbyterians of the United States
concluded their very successful convention, held IN
Kansas City. One of the reverend speakers went
out of his way to sing the praises OF John hnox'
the founder of Anglo-Saxon and Scotch Presbyter-
ianism. lauding him as one of Scotland's greatest
sons and one of the noblest patriots of whom the
world can boast.
Seeing that this same John Knox was the fautor
and encourager of murderers the avowed eulo-
gist of assassins one who approvngly spoke of the
murder of Rizzio, "as if it had been an innocent
or commendabIe deed" (Robertson's History of
Scotland. b. w. who allied himself with the band
of ruffans who in cold blood murdered Cardinal
Beaton; and who at last captured in St. An
drews castle. together with many of his rascaIly
accompces, and sent to the galleys as punish
ment--one would think it hard task, even for
Kansas City preacher to wash this moral black
amoor white. Yet the reverend gentleman gallantly
attempted the feat and no doubt imagined that he
had accomplished it, by the simple process of sup
pressing the truth-the truth even told by Prot
estant historians whose sympathies all with the
reformers, and church robbers of the sixteenth cen
fury. We give instance
Processing to give rapid sketch of the main
the fact that at thiryseven years of age he openly
professed himself Protestant the reverend gen
tleman continued:
"a man of Knox's temperament and ability could
not but speedily come in those times into prom-
nence. In 1547 he was taken prisoner, and for tive
years endured all the nameless horrors of service
in the French galeys."
Not word of the how or the where he was
taken prisoner, or of the why he was sent to the
galleys as felon These were prudenty omitted,
though these the main points in the case; and
trusting to the ignorance of his audience. and the
contempt for truth of many in the seats the speak
er left his hearers to suppose that it because
of his prominence as Protestant reformer that
Knox sent to the galleys. When the facts are
known, every honest and dispassionate man will adj
nit that Knox was righteously dealt with. He was
accessory after if before the deed to the brutal
murder of Cardinal Beaton. After the consumma-
ton of the crme-with the moral character of the
victim we have nothing to do-Knox and the act
ua murderers took refuge in the castle. which he
and his accomplices held for many months against
the lawful government of his country.
At last, with the cooperation of French feet,
the castle was taken, the murderers made prisoners
and punished for their crimes-that is murder and
rebellion
On this the Protestant historian Buckle remarks
that 1T is with certain sense of satisfied Jus
tice that learn that in 1547, the castle being
taken by the French Knox was treated with great
severity and was made to work at the galleys from
which he not liberated till 1549" (Vol II, D,
177)
These are ugly facts in the life of saint. but
still they are facts and the preacher perhaps did
well to suppress them For the rest, what one good
or Christian-like thing can be predicated of Knox
He approved of, have seen from Protestant
testimony, the cowardly murder of Rzzo; he allied
himself with the assassins of Cardinal Beaton
whose murder he applauded. and called "godly
fact" writes Buckle; he gave proofs of his manli-
ness and of his being mbued with the spirit of that
Christian charity without which the most noisy pro-
fessors are-according to St. Paul-but "as sound
ing brass or tinkling cymbal y by his foul abuse
of his queen, of whose head one hair was worth
more than his whole carcass In short, from first
to las Knox approved himself-spiritually akin to
him u whom it has been said that ''he was muir
derer from the beginning" And this is the man
whose character presented to the Kansas CITY
people as without spot or blemish.