KNOX, John, the great reformer of Scotland, was born at the village of Gifford in Haddingtonshire in the year 1505. His father is said, though perhaps without foundation, to have been descended from the family of Ranferly, in the same county. The name of his mother was Sinclair; and some of his letters, written in seasons of danger, were subscribed John Sinclair. Whatever might be the lineage or the situation of the father, the son was enabled to obtain the benefit of a liberal education, such as his native country could then afford. After having been instructed in the Latin language at Haddington school, he was in the year 1521 sent to the university of Glasgow, where philosophy and divinity were taught by John Mair, a celebrated schoolman. The Greek and Hebrew languages were not then publicly taught in Scotland; but the former of these he acquired when he was yet in the vigour of life, and the latter during the period of his continental exile. It is not sufficiently ascertained that he took a degree; but if it be correctly stated that he publicly taught philosophy in this university, and afterwards at St Andrews, we are perhaps to infer that he was a master of arts.

He soon felt himself dissatisfied with the dry and barren speculations of scholastic philosophy and scholastic theology, and was gradually conducted to a more edifying course of enquiry. Not contented, as his excellent and lamented biographer has stated, with the extracts “from ancient authors, which he found in the writings of the scholastic divines and canonists, he resolved to have recourse to the original works. In them he found a method of investigating and communicating truth, to which he had hitherto been a stranger, and the simplicity of which recommended itself to his mind, in spite of the prejudices of education, and the pride of superior attainments in his own favourite, art. Among the fathers of the Christian church, Jerom and Augustine attracted his particular attention. By the writings of the former, he was led to the Scriptures as the only pure fountain of divine truth, and instructed in the utility of studying them in the original languages. In the works of the latter, he found religious sentiments very opposite to those taught in the Romish church, who, while she retained his name as a saint in her calendar, had banished his doctrine, as heretical, from her pulpits. From this time, he renounced the study of scholastic theology; and although not yet completely emancipated from superstition, his mind was fitted for improving the means which Providence had prepared, for leading him to a fuller and more comprehensive view of the system of evangelical religion. It was about the year 1535 when this favourable change commenced; but it does not appear that he professed himself a protestant before the year 1542.” The reformed doctrines had been preached to his benighted countrymen by Patrick Hamilton, abbot of Ferme, who was allied to the royal family, and who had the higher honour of being the proto-martyr of Scotland to the protestant faith. On the last of February 1528, he was most inhumanly committed to the flames in the archiepiscopal city of St Andrews. But the seed which he had thus moistened with his blood, sprung from the ground with a degree of vigour which the foulest blasts of persecution were found incapable of withering. The new opinions were gradually adopted by men of learning as well as of rank. Between the years 1530 and 1540, a considerable number of victims was doomed to a cruel death, while others escaped the fangs of their persecutors, and sought refuge in England and on the continent. Several of these exiles, and among the rest George Buchanan and Alexander Aless, were men distinguished by their talents and learning, who obtained preferment in foreign universities, and there reflected credit on their native country.

During those times of persecution, Knox was engaged in teaching philosophy in the university of St Andrews, though it does not clearly appear that he held the office of a regent or professor. Several individuals of his acquaintance had embraced the reformed doctrines: the force of truth gradually affected his own mind, and he arrived at complete conviction in the year 1542, having then attained the age of thirty-seven. As he began to recommend to his pupils a more rational and edifying method of study, he excited some suspicions of heretical pravity; but when he proceeded so far as to expose ce» tain corruptions of the church, he speedily found it necessary to change his place of residence. Having retired to the south of Scotland, and there avowed his adherence to the cause of reformation, he was declared a heretic, and was degraded from his orders. Nor was Cardinal Beaton satisfied with this more canonical form of procedure: he employed assassins to co-operate in the same design of supporting the church, but his intended victim found shelter and protection in his native county, under the roof of Hugh Douglas of Longniddry, a gentleman who had adopted the same opinions. Here he was retained in the capacity of a domestic tutor; and the son of another protestant, John Cockburn of Ormiston, was likewise committed to his charge. He communicated religious instruction, not only to his pupils, but also to the other members of the family, and to the people of the immediate neighbourhood. He was accustomed to catechise them in a chapel at Longniddry, and there at stated times to read and explain a portion of the Scriptures. When religious instruction was so scanty, and access to the fountain of sacred knowledge so difficult, the services of so faithful a labourer must have been of no small value. About this period, he received a new impulse from the public and private instructions of George Wishart, who returned to his native country in the year 1544. He had been driven into exile by the bishop of Brechin, for the crime of reading lectures on the Greek Testament at Montrose, and during several years had resided in the university of Cambridge. “Excelling all his countrymen at that period in learning, of the most persuasive eloquence, irreproachable in life, courteous and affable in manners, his fervent piety, zeal, and courage in the cause of truth, were tempered with uncommon meekness, modesty, patience, prudence, and charity. In his tour of preaching through Scotland, he was usually accompanied by some of the principal gentry; and the people, who flocked to hear him, were ravished with his discourses. To this teacher Knox attached himself, and profited greatly by his sermons and private instructions. During the last visit which Wishart paid to Lothian, Knox waited constantly on his person, and bore the sword, which was carried before him from the time that an attempt was made to assassinate him in Dundee. Wishart was highly pleased with the zeal of his faithful attendant, and seems to have presaged his future usefulness, at the same time that he laboured under a strong presentiment of his own approaching martyrdom.”^[1. M‘Crie’s Life of Knox, vol. í. p. 41, 5th edit. Edinb. 1831, 2 vols. 8vo. ]

Wishart was brought to the stake at St Andrews on the 1st of March 1546, and his persecutor, the blood-stained cardinal, was not long permitted to survive. On the 29th of the ensuing May, he was surprised in his castle by a small and resolute band of conspirators, whom his misdeeds had roused to acts of desperation. Having put him to death, they kept possession of his strong-hold, and procuring assistance from England, they sustained a regular siege from an army collected by the regent Arran. Many protestants, who had no participation in the conspiracy, sought refuge in the castle; and among these were Sir David Lindsay and Henry Balnaves, whose names arc familiarly known to all who are acquainted with the literary history[7:12:748] of that age. Knox, being among the number of the proscribed, was persuaded by Douglas and Cockburn to follow the example. He was accompanied by his pupils, and continued his religious as well as his literary instructions. In the chapel of the castle, he read lectures on portions of the Scriptures; and so favourable an opinion was formed of his talents and attainments, that he was earnestly solicited to officiate as the colleague of John Rough, chaplain to the garrison. It was not without much reluctance that he obeyed the call; but having undertaken this office, he acquitted himself with equal ability and zeal. He occasionally preached in the parish church, as well as in the chapel of the castle, and the popish clergy were at length roused to some degree of counter-exertion: it was arranged that the most learned men of the abbey and university should every Sunday preach in their turn, partly with the view of excluding the protestant ministers from the pulpit, and partly with that of conciliating the affections of the people, whose edification they had too long disregarded. Knox and his colleague were summoned to a public disputation, held in the presence of Winram the sub-prior, who was vicar-general during the vacancy of the see, and who was secretly inclined to the reformed doctrines. He did not himself enter into much discussion, and he was very feebly supported by a Franciscan friar, named Arbuckle, who was finally driven to the desperate averment “that the apostles had not received the Holy Ghost when they wrote the epistles, but they afterwards received it, and ordained ceremonies.” It was more easy for this father to abandon the inspiration of the holy Scriptures, than to relinquish the vain ceremonies of the church: so customary has it generally been for mankind to adore the bungling work of their own hands.

During the short period of his ministrations at St Andrews, many of the citizens renounced the errors of popery, and publicly testified the change of their religious opinions, by partaking of the communion according to the rite of the reformed church. But the protestants could not long retain possession of the castle. At the end of June 1547, a considerable reinforcement arrived from France, and enabled the regent to invest the place by sea and land: the garrison made a brave resistance, but after an interval of a month was reduced to the necessity of accepting terms of capitulation from Leo Strozzi, the commander of the foreign auxiliaries. It was stipulated that their lives should be spared, that they should be removed to France, and that such of them as declined entering into the French service should be conveyed to any other country except Scotland. Rough had previously emigrated to England, and there he suffered martyrdom in the year 1557. Knox, sharing the fate of his companions, was conveyed on board one of the French ships, which cast anchor before Rouen; but the terms of the capitulation were grossly violated, and, at the instigation of the pope and the Scotish clergy, they were treated as prisoners of war. The principal gentlemen were com mitted to close custody in Rouen, Cherbourg, Brest, and Mont St Michael; while Knox and some others were sent on board the galleys, and after being loaded with chains, were compelled to labour at the oar. Here they were subjected to many other indignities; but in spite of every hardship and every threat, not one of their number could be impelled to renounce his faith. During the ensuing winter, the galley in which he was confined lay in the river Loire; and, in the summer of 1548, it sailed for Scotland, and during a considerable period lingered on the eastern coast, for the purpose of intercepting English vessels. The hardships to which he was now subjected produced a very serious effect upon his health: he was seized with a violent fever, and no hope was entertained of his recovery. He however regained his strength, and during his captivity had sufficient energy of mind to compose more than one religious treatise. His treatise on prayer, written during this season of affliction, was afterwards published. Having endured a captivity of nineteen months, he was restored to liberty in February 1549∙ Of the circumstances which led to this event, various accounts have been given; but according to Dr M‘Crie, “it is more than probable that he owed his deliverance to the comparative indifference with which he and his brethren were now regarded by the French court, who, having procured the consent of the parliament of Scotland to the marriage of Queen Mary to the dauphin, and obtained possession of her person, felt no longer any inclination to revenge the quarrels of the Scottish clergy.”

Knox immediately directed his course to England, where his merits and his sufferings were neither unknown nor unregarded. Soon after he made his appearance in London, he received an appointment to officiate at Berwick, where he began to preach with his characteristic fervour and zeal. He exposed the errors of popery with an unsparing hand, and his labours seem to have been attended with no inconsiderable success. The tendency of his zeal was not however calculated to recommend him to the bishop of the diocese, Dr Tonstall, who, although a man of elegant learning, was deeply infected with the ancient superstition. Having been accused of asserting that the sacrifice of the mass is idolatrous, the preacher was cited to appear at Newcastle on the 4th of April 1550, before the bishop of Durham, and to give an account of his doctrine. This prelate was attended by several of his clergy, as well as by various laymen, and a large number of spectators was attracted by the peculiar circumstances of the investigation. Knox entered into a copious defence of his opinions, and with the utmost boldness proceeded to demonstrate that the mass is a superstitious and idolatrous substitute for the genuine sacrament of the Lord’s supper. The bishop, though he probably listened with surprize and indignation, did not venture to inflict any ecclesiastical censure; and the fame of the obnoxious preacher was extended by this attempt to restrain the boldness of his attacks on the errors of the falling church. Having remained at Berwick till the close of the year, he was afterwards removed to Newcastle. In December 1551, he was appointed one of King Edward’s chaplains in ordinary, with an annual salary of forty pounds, which at that period was no mean provision. The chaplains were six in number; two of whom were to be in constant residence at court, while the other four were employed in preaching in different parts of the kingdom. In the course of this year, the Book of Common Prayer was subjected to a révisai, of which it stood in considerable need; and Knox having been consulted among other divines, was chiefly instrumental in procuring a material alteration in the communion service, which at first was too favourable to the doctrine of the real presence. One deep vestige of this doctrine is still preserved in the kneeling posture of the communicants, which manifestly derives its origin from the popish adoration of the host.

The freedom of his discourses in the pulpit gave offence to various individuals, and among others to the duke of Northumberland, warden general of the northern marches; and having been accused of high misdemeanours, he was cited to appear before the privy council, which at that period possessed an extensive and ill-defined jurisdiction. But the malice of his enemies was altogether ineffectual, and this call to the metropolis was followed by consequences very different from those which they anticipated. He was fully cleared from every imputation of blame; and having been employed to preach at court, he made so favourable an impression on the young king that he expressed his anxiety to promote him in the church. It was resolved by the council that during the following year he should preach in London and the southern counties. Having returned for a short time to Newcastle, he accordingly repaired to the [7:12:749] metropolis in the beginning of April 1553. Archbishop Cranmer had previously been directed by the council to present him to the rectory of All-Hallows; but Knox declared that in the existing state of the church he could not conscientiously accept of any preferment. He was again summoned before the council, where he gave an unreserved explanation of his sentiments on that subject. Nor could the promise of much higher promotion induce him to disregard the admonitions of a scrupulous conscience: the king, with the advice of his council, made him an offer of a bishopric; but instead of availing himself of so favourable an avenue to worldly honours, he declared the office of a bishop, as exercised in the English church, to be destitute of divine authority. It is sufficiently evident that he considered that establishment as but imperfectly reformed from the errors of popery; and that, in his estimation, the new prelacy, retaining all the proud trappings, as well as the political character of the old, was very widely removed from the simplicity of an evangelical church. The premature death of the king, on the 6th of July 1553, was fatal to the further progress of reformation, and a cloud of spiritual darkness again overshadowed the land.

During his residence at Berwick, Knox had formed a lasting attachment to Marjory Bowes. Her father was Richard, the youngest son of Sir Ralph Bowes of Streat-lam; her mother was Elizabeth, a daughter and coheiress of Sir Roger Aske of Aske. The match was cordially approved by the mother of the young lady, but having been opposed by her father, it was not concluded till after a considerable interval. After the king’s death, he had some intention of settling at Berwick, or in the immediate neighbourhood; but he speedily discovered that he could not safely reside in a kingdom ruled by so bigoted and cruel a sovereign. He therefore sailed for France, and landed at Dieppe on the 20th of January 1554. Having lingered there till the last day of February, he pursued his solitary way through France, and arrived in Switzerland; but in the beginning of the ensuing month of May, he retraced his steps to Dieppe with the view of obtaining intelligence from his friends in England. At that period, the intercourse between different countries was slow and precarious; nor was this the only occasion on which he returned to the same place for the same purpose. While he continued to reside on the continent, he received remittances from his friends in Scotland as well as in England, but his provision was neither certain nor ample. Geneva became for some time the chief place of his abode, and here his exile was cheered by the friendship of one of the most illustrious men of the age. Calvin had now attained to the summit of his reputation. They embraced the same opinions with respect to the leading doctrines of the Christian faith, and in their personal character they exhibited several conspicuous points of resemblance. In their notions of ecclesiastical polity they preserved the same agreement; and the authority of Knox, supported by that of Calvin, has contributed to establish in this country a simple mode of discipline and worship, to which our ancestors adhered with unconquerable resolution, and in support of which many of them were found ready and willing to shed their blood.

The leisure which he enjoyed at Geneva was profitably spent in study, to which he devoted himself “with all the ardour of youth, although his age now bordered upon fifty. It seems to have been at this time that he made himself master of the Hebrew language, which he had no opportunity of acquiring in early life.” Many pious and learned men had now been driven from England by the unrelenting cruelty of Queen Mary, and most of them sought refuge in the protestant states of Germany and Switzerland. Those who resorted to the imperial city of Frankfort, were allowed the joint occupancy of a place of worship; and it was unanimously resolved to discontinue the use of the surplice, the litany, the audible responses, and some other superfluities which might rather excite the surprize than the approbation of their foreign brethren. Having determined to elect three pastors, they sent a letter of invitation to Knox, subscribed by twenty-one of their number, at the the head of whom stands John Bale, the exiled bishop of Ossory. It was not without some degree of reluctance that he consented to leave his retreat at Geneva; he however repaired to Frankfort in the month of November 1554, and entered upon the duties of his new charge, but his connexion with this congregation proved a source of great uneasiness and mortification. Various dissensions which arose among its members, were chiefly occasioned by a difference of opinion as to the propriety of adhering to the English service; and those dissensions were greatly fomented by Dr Cox, who had been preceptor to King Edward, and who afterwards became bishop of Ely. In the progress of the controversy, Knox appears to have acted with dignity and moderation, but the ardent votaries of the liturgy were not easily diverted from their purpose; for when all other expedients failed, two of their number, with the approbation of others, sought a private interview with the magistrates, and accused him of treason against the emperor Charles, his son Philip, and his aunt the queen of England. This extraordinary charge was founded upon certain passages in his tract published in 1554, under the title of “A Faythfull Admonition unto the Professours of Gods Truthe in England.” Of the futility of such an accusation the magistrates were sufficiently aware; but they nevertheless deemed it advisable for him to withdraw from Frankfort, and he availed himself of the suggestion which they conveyed to him. On the evening of the 25th of March 1555, he delivered a farewell discourse to about fifty members of the congregation; and on the following day they accompanied him several miles on his journey. He immediately returned to Geneva, and he experienced a cordial welcome from Calvin. There he continued till the month of August, when he again proceeded to Dieppe; and having embarked in a vessel bound for Britain, he landed near the eastern border of the two kingdoms about the end of autumn. On reaching Berwick, he found his wife and mother living in comfortable circumstances. With them he remained for some time, and afterwards pursued his journey to Edinburgh, where he took up his abode with a citizen named John Syme, to whose house the friends of reformation repaired as soon as they were aware of Knox’s arrival. Z

Notwithstanding the rigour of the penal laws, the votaries of the protestant cause were not entirely extirpated or dispersed. The queen dowager, Mary of Loraine, having succeeded in her attempt to supplant the earl of Arran, had been appointed regent on the 10th of April 1554. She was sufficiently disposed to continue the corruptions of the church, but several prudential considerations restrained her from pursuing more violent measures. Some of the protestants who were driven from England by the atrocities of Mary, a worthy daughter of Henry the Eighth, were permitted to live in Scotland without molestation, and even to meet, though with some degree of privacy, for the purpose of worshipping God according to the dictates of their own conscience. William Harlow, who afterwards became minister of St Cuthbert’s, is mentioned as the first preacher who returned from the south at this critical period; and, in different parts of the country, he continued his ministrations till the final establishment of the reformation. His endeavours were ably seconded by John Willock, whom Knox found residing at Edinburgh as an envoy from Anne duchess of Friesland; for he had been entrusted with a commission for arranging the commercial relations between the two countries. He was born in Ayrshire, and had originally been a Franciscan friar; but speedily quitting his [7:12:750]monastery and renouncing the mass-book, he sought refuge in England, where he was appointed chaplain to the duke of Suffolk. After the death of the young king, he was again compelled to change his place of residence, and he then settled in the town of Embden, and followed the practice of physic. He thus, became known to the duchess, who was favourably inclined to the reformation of religion; and his mission to his native country afforded him peculiar opportunities of promoting that cause in which he felt so deep an interest. He became known to the leaders of the protestant party, who privately resorted to him from the desire of religious edification. At this period, few individuals had openly renounced the Romish creed; and of those who were most inclined to the protestant doctrines, very few had ventured to discontinue their attendance at mass. Knox was deservedly scandalized at this want of firmness and consistency: a meeting, attended by William Maitland of Lethington and other leaders of the party, was held for the avowed purpose of discussing the lawfulness of such compliances; and Knox succeeded in his attempt to convince them that all participation in the worship of the Romish church was to be avoided by those who were convinced of her gross errors. Nor were his exertions confined to the metropolis. He accompanied John Erskine of Dun to his seat in the neighbourhood of Montrose; and during a visit of a month he preached every day, being attended by the principal persons of the adjacent district. On his return to the south, we find him residing at Calder-house, the seat of Sir James Sandilands, afterwards Lord Torphichen, an early, zealous, and consistent friend of the reformation. In the hall of this baron, who was preceptor in Scotland of the knights of St John of Jerusalem, he preached and administered the communion. Here his ministrations were attended by several persons of distinction; and among these were Archibald, Lord Lome, afterwards earl of Argyle, John, Lord Erskine, afterwards ’ earl of Mar, and James Stewart, prior of St Andrew's, afterwards earl of Moray; all of whom received religious impressions which influenced the future course of their lives. Early in the subsequent year, 1556, he was accompanied to the district of Kyle by Lockhart of Bar and Campbell of Kinc-ancleuch. This division of Ayrshire had been the principal seat of the Lollards in Scotland, and it then contained many friends of the purer religion. They were not therefore unprepared for his reception: he preached not only in the town of Ayr, but likewise in the houses of Bar, Kinean clench, Carn ell, Ochiltree, and Gadgirth, and in several of these places the holy communion was now dispensed. Before Easter, he paid a visit to Finlayston, the residence of Alexander carl of Glencairn, one of the most strenuous friends of the reformation. In this baronial castle he also preached and administered the sacrament. Returning to Calder-house, he next determined to visit his friends in the north; and during his second residence at Dun, he was emboldened to preach in a more public manner. Many gentlemen of that vicinity made an open profession of the reformed faith; and, in order to strengthen their cause, they entered into a solemn engagement to renounce the communion of the popish church, and, to the utmost of their ability, to. promote the pure preaching of the gospel. “This,” says Dr M‘Crie, “seems to have been the first of those religious bonds or covenants, by which the confederation of the protestants in Scotland was so frequently ratified.”

As he now begun to preach more openly, the ecclesiastics felt a natural alarm for the safety of a tottering church; and the friars testified their zeal by urging the bishops to proceed with rigour against such an offender. He was accordingly cited to appear before an assembly of the clergy, to be held at Edinburgh in Blackfriars church, on the 15th of May; but when they found that he did not shrink from this discussion, and that he was supported by some persons of influence, they sought a pretext for superseding the citation, on the ground of its informality. On the very day which had been appointed for his appearance, he preached in the bishop of Dunkeld’s house to a much larger auditory than had previously attended him in Edinburgh; and during the ensuing ten days, he regularly preached twice a-day in the same place, without being exposed to any molestation. About this period the Earl Marischal attended one of his evening discourses; and it may be regarded as a proof of his favourable impression that he united with the earl of Glencairn in an earnest request, that Knox would address to the queen regent such a letter as might induce her to extend her protection to the protestant preachers. A letter was accordingly addressed to her, and it was delivered by the earl of Glencairn, but it does not appear to have produced any change in her sentiments. This letter he afterwards published, with some additions. In the mean time he received from the English congregation at Geneva an invitation to become one of their pastors. He readily listened to their call, and made arrangements for removing thither, accompanied by his wife, as well as by her mother, who had now lost her husband. He embarked them on board a vessel bound for Dieppe, and paid another visit to the several places where he had disseminated the truth of the gospel. He visited the earl of Argyle at Castle Campbell, and there he repeatedly preached to such an auditory as could be assembled. Having thus made no inconsiderable progress in preparing his countrymen for a more general reception of the reformed doctrines, he took his leave in the month of July 1556, and joining his family at Dieppe, he again directed his course to Geneva. His colleague in his new office was Christopher Goodman, B.D., an Englishman, who afterwards became a clergyman of the church of Scotland.^[2. Brook’s Lives of the Puritans, vol. ii. p. 123. ] Their congregation chiefly consisted of the exiles who had withdrawn from Frankfort in consequence of the dissensions already mentioned. The two pastors lived together on terms of the greatest cordiality. Knox likewise enjoyed the friendship of Calvin and Beza; and the two years which he spent in this vocation are described as the most tranquil of his public life. At this period was published a directory for worship and discipline, frequently described as the Order of Geneva; but it had been composed at Frankfort by Knox, Whittingham, Fox, Gilby, and T. Cole. The same directory was afterwards adopted by the reformed church of Scotland.^[3. The Forme of Prayers and Ministration of the Sacraments, &c. used in the Englishe Congregation at Geneua, and approued by the famous and godly learned man, Iohn Caluyn. Imprinted at Geneva by Iohn Crespin, 1556, 8vo. This part of the volume consists of 93 pages; which are followed by “One and fiftie Psalmes of David in Englishe metre, wherof 37 were made by Thomas Sternehold, and the rest by others. Conferred with the hebrewe, and in certeyn places corrected as the text and sens of the Prophète required.” Next follows “The Catéchisme, or manner to teache children the Christian religion, whorin the Minister demandeth the question, and the childe maketh answere. Made by the excellent Doctor and Pastor in Christes Churche, Iohn Caluin.” The first Scotish edition, which contains some modifications and considerable additions, bears the subsequent title: “The Forme of Prayers and Ministration of the Sacraments, &c. used in the English Church at Geneua, approued and receiued by the Churche of Scotland: whereunto besydes that was in the former bokes, are also added sondrie other prayers, with the whole Psalmes of Dauid in English meter.” Printed at Edinbvrgh by Robert Lekprevik, 1565, 8vo. The Catéchisme has a separate title, bearing the date of 1564. Of this work there are many other editions, several of which were printed in Holland. One edition is entitled “The CL. Psalmes of David in prose and inceter: with their whole vsuall Tunes, newly corrected and amended. Herevnto is added the whole Church Discipline, with many godly Prayers, and an exact Kalendar for xxv yeeres: and also the Song of Moses in meeter, neuer before this time in print.” Edinburgh, printed by Andro Hart, anno 1GI5, 8vo. Instead of Calvin’s Catechism, this edition includes “A Catéchisme of Christian Religion. Appointed to be printed for the use of the Kirke of Edinbvrgh.” A more recent edition bears the title of “The Psalmes of David in prose and meeter: with their whole Tunes in foure or mo parts, and some Psalmes in Reports. Whereunto is added many godly Prayers and an exact Kalendar for xxv. yeeres to come.” Printed at Edinburgh by the Heires of Andrew Hart, anno Dorn. IG35, 8vo. ]

When the Scotish clergy were apprized of his having [7:12:751]quitted the kingdom, they renewed the citation for his appearance; and those who had no inclination to encounter such a disputant, now found themselves at liberty to proceed against him as a contumacious heretic. He was accordingly condemned to suffer death by fire; and as the sentence could not be executed on his person, it was executed on his effigy, which was in due form committed to the flames at the cross of Edinburgh. From this sentence he prepared an appeal, which was afterwards printed under the title of “The Appellation of John Knoxe from the cruell and most unjust sentence pronounced against him by the false Bishoppes and Clergie of Scotland.” In the course of the year which followed his return to Geneva, two citizens of Edinburgh, James Syme, and James Baron, were the bearers of an invitation for him to resume his evangelical labours in his native country. They were furnished with credentials from the earl of Glencairn, and the lords Erskine, Lome, and James Stewart. After consulting Calvin and the other ministers of Geneva, he determined to devote himself to this honourable and dangerous service; and he again pursued his way to Dieppe, where he arrived in October 1557. He had however the mortification of receiving letters which entirely disconcerted his plan; for he was informed that some of the protestants already repented of the invitation which had been sent to him, and that the great body of them seemed to waver in their purpose. He lost no time in addressing a letter to the noblemen who had subscribed the credentials; and it may easily be supposed that he did not fail to upbraid them for their want of firmness and consistency. In a similar strain, he likewise wrote to Erskine of Dun, Wishart of Pittarow, and to some other individuals of the protestant party. He lingered in France to await the course of events; and as he was familiarly acquainted with the French tongue, his talents as a preacher were not in the mean time unemployed. About this period, he paid a visit to Lyon, and he is known to have preached at Rochelle. A protestant congregation had recently been formed at Dieppe; and he was now elected one of its pastors, being associated with Delaporte. So successful were their exertions, that some of the principal persons of the town were induced to renounce popery, and a general improvement began to be produced in the morals of the inhabitants. Discouraged by the aspect of affairs in Scotland, he at length determined to revisit Geneva, where he again made his appearance in the beginning of the year 1558. It was at this period that some of the most learned members of his congregation were engaged in preparing an English version of the Bible, and he is said to have had some share in so laudable an undertaking.^[4. See Archbishop Newcome’s Historical View of the English Biblical Translations, p. G8. Dublin, 1732, 8vo. ] The New Testament was printed at Geneva in 1557, and the entire Bible in 15β0. This version, commonly called the Geneva Bible, is allowed by competent judges to possess great merit; and, in the opinion of Dr Geddes, it is generally superior to the version executed under the authority of King James. Of the former version, says Dr M‘Crie, it is evident that his translators made great use; “and if they had followed it still more, the version which they have given us would, upon the whole, have been improved.”

In the course of the year 1558, Knox published three different works. One of these was the Appellation. Another, which has also been mentioned in a former page, was “The copic of a Lettre delivered to the Ladie Marie, Regent of Scotland.” The third and most remarkable of these tracts bears the title of “The first Blast of the Trumpet against the monstruous Regiment of Wemen.” This anonymous work, directed against the political government of females, attracted a very considerable degree of attention. It was speedily answered by John Aylmer, who in due time became bishop of London. The doctrine of Knox as to the inexpediency of female rule was afterwards controverted by David Chalmers of Ormond, and by John Lesley, bishop of Ross. Whatever opinion may be formed of his theory, it must at least be admitted that, either in England or Scotland, he had seen nothing to reconcile him to the practice; and, in one of those countries, the regimen of a woman might with too much justice be termed monstrous. His literary labours were interrupted by the renewal of an invitation from the Scotish protestants; and at the beginning of the year 1559, he bade a final adieu to Geneva, having previously been presented with the freedom of the city. Leaving his family behind, he once more proceeded to Dieppe, where he arrived in the month of March; and having ascertained that he would not be permitted to pass through England, he embarked for Leith on the 22d of April, and was safely landed on the 2d of the following month.

The popish church of Scotland was now approaching its crisis, which the presence of Knox had no small tendency to hasten. The queen regent, who for some time thought it necessary to dissemble her real sentiments, had lately evinced a fixed resolution to oppose the reformation with all the weight of her authority; and the fires of persecution had been rekindled by Hamilton, the profligate archbishop of St Andrews. Walter Mill, a venerable priest, who had attained the age of eighty-two, was brought to the stake on the 28th of August 1558. This atrocious execution had such an effect in rousing the popular indignation, that the dread of the civil or ecclesiastical authority could no longer restrain the people from making an open avowal of their adherence to the reformed doctrines; while their spiritual guides, Harlow, Douglas, Methven, and a few others, began, with less fear of detection, to preach and to administer the sacraments. In the month of October, Willock again returned from Embden, and brought a new accession of talent and zeal. The death of the English queen, which took place on the 17th of November 1558, was another event that produced considerable influence on the affairs of the neighbouring states. The queen regent was however prepared to adopt the most violent measures. Several of the preachers, Willock, Harlow, Methven, and Christison, were cited to appear at Stirling before the high court of justiciary on the 10th of May, that is, eight days after Knox’s return; and very soon after his arrival had been announced to Mary, he was proclaimed a rebel and an outlaw. The four preachers -were outlawed for non-appearance, and a fine was levied on their sureties. After remaining a single day in the metropolis, he hastened to Dundee, where the chief protestants of Angus and Mearns were then assembled. They proceeded to Perth, and there he preached a sermon against the idolatry of the mass and of image-worship. After the conclusion of the service, a riot was casually excited among the common people; and, before it was terminated, the monasteries of the Dominican and Franciscan friars, with that of the Carthusian monks, [7:12:752]were totally demolished. The queen, who was probably glad of such a pretext, collected a considerable army, and advanced upon Perth; but she found the protestants so well prepared for resistance, that she did not hazard an attack. She proposed and ratified terms of accommodation, which she speedily shewed a strong disposition to disregard. In order to ascertain the strength of their party, and to consolidate its union, they formed a religious bond or covenant, which received many signatures in different parts of the kingdom. From this period, they began to be distinguished by the name of the Congregation, and their noble leaders were commonly described as the Lords of the Congregation.

Òn his return from Perth, he preached at Anstruther and Craill. Disregarding the admonitions of his friends, and the threats of the archbishop, he next preached in the cathedral of St Andrews, having selected the appropriate subject of our Saviour’s driving the profane traders from the holy temple. On the three ensuing days he lifted up his warning voice in the same place; and so signal was the success which attended his efforts, that the magistrates and the inhabitants resolved to establish the reformed worship in that city; the pictures and images were removed from the churches, and, on the 14th of June, the monasteries were defaced. He reached the capital in the end of the same month: on the day of his arrival he preached in St Giles’s, and on the following day in the Abbey church. On the 7th of July, the body of the protestant inhabitants of Edinburgh elected him as their minister, nor did he decline the invitation. His wife followed him from Geneva; and her mother, after visiting her relations in England, likewise came to end her days in Scotland. But he was soon disturbed in his new functions, in consequence of the military occupation of the city by the troops of the queen regent. He now made an extensive circuit in the southern and eastern districts of the kingdom, visiting Kelso, Jedburgh, Dumfries, Ayr, Stirling, Perth, Brechin, Montrose, Dundee, and St Andrews; nor can we doubt that the impressions produced by such a missionary were great and beneficial. After this period he was deeply engaged in the political as well as the ecclesiastical transactions of the Congregation; and the vigour of his talents, with the decision of his character, was conspicuously displayed in the steps which led to the establishment of the reformed religion. Knox, as well as Willock, concurred in advising the suspension of Mary from the office of regent. For the space of twelve months, the kingdom was infested with a civil war, in which French and English troops supported their respective allies. The contest, which had not been marked by many of the usual atrocities of intestine warfare, terminated in the month of July 1560. Parliament soon afterwards assembled; and in the course of a few days the reformed religion was established by the authority of the legislature.

Knox, after officiating for several months at St Andrews, had returned to Edinburgh at the end of April, and continued to exercise his functions during the siege of Leith. Before the close of the year, he was visited with a severe domestic affliction in the loss of his wife, who left two children of tender years. The young queen returned from France on the 21st of August 1561. Not many days after her arrival, she sent for the reformer, of whose powerful influence she must have been fully aware; but neither this nor any of their subsequent interviews produced the effects which she seems to have anticipated. Such topics as Mary introduced he discussed with undaunted freedom, though it cannot with justice be affirmed that he treated her with incivility. She certainly did not overawe him with her royal presence, or render him less disposed to use his utmost endeavour in destroying the fabric of ancient superstition. The Scotish reformation differed in many respects from that of the neighbouring kingdom. In the one case, the most essential trappings of a proud popish prelacy were left uncurtailed, nor was the church sufficiently purified from popish devices and observances.^[5. The genuine high-churchmen seem to feel some lingering regret for the discontinuance of the popish prayers for the dead. “In truth,” says Mr Waddington, “to pray for the souls of our departed friends is the most natural and pardonable error of piety; and although it be dangerous and improper to inculcate as a church doctrine the efficacy of such prayers, it would neither be right to discourage their private and individual effusion, nor easy to disprove the possibility of their acceptance.” (Present Condition and Prospect» of the Greek or Oriental Church, p. 37∙ Lond. 1829, 8vo.) “Some persons,” remarks Mr Palmer, “will perhaps say that this sort of prayer is unscriptural; that it infers either the Romish doctrine of purgatory, or something else which is contrary to the revealed will of God, or the nature of things. But when we reflect that the great divines of the English church have not taken this ground, and that the church of England herself has never formally condemned prayers for the dead, but only omitted them in her liturgy, we may perhaps think that there are some other reasons to justify that omission.” {Origines Liturgicae, or Antiquities of the English Ritual, vol. ii. p. 94. Oxford, 1832, 2 vols. 8vo.) This work, which is learned and curious in its way, might with a considerable degree of propriety have been entitled “The Conformity of the Church of England with the Church of Rome.” Among other important facts, he is pleased to state that “the bishops who rule the churches of these realms were validly ordained by others, who by means of an unbroken spiritual descent of ordinations derived their mission from the apostles, and from our Lord. This continual descent is evident to any one who chooses to investigate it. Let him read the catalogues of our bishops ascending up to the most remote period. Our ordinations descend in a direct unbroken line from Peter and Paul, the apostles of the circumcision and the Gentiles. These great apostles successively ordained Linus, Cletus, and Clement, bishops of Rome; and the apostolical line of succession was regularly continued from them to Celestine, Gregory, and Vitalianus, who ordained Patrick bishop for the Irish, and Augustine and Theodore for the English. And from those times an uninterrupted series of valid ordinations have carried down the apostolical succession in our churches, even to the present day. There is not a bishop, priest, or deacon amongst us, who cannot, if he pleases, trace his own spiritual descent from Saint Peter and Saint Paul.” (Vol. ii. p. 249.) To this last assertion it is only necessary to oppose another; namely, that there is not a single bishop, priest, or deacon, who can trace his own spiritual origin for one half of the requisite period. But what advantage could possibly result from their tracing it with the utmost certainty? Till they make an unequivocal display of their miraculous powers, we must totally disregard their extraordinary pretensions. By arguments equally logical and cogent, the bishop of Rome undertakes to prove that he inherits all the spiritual gifts and graces of St. Peter, and to these is fully entitled to add all the temporal power and possessions to which he can extend his impious hand. This delirious dream of apostolical succession is disgraceful to the protestant name; and all those whom it bewilders would best maintain their consistency by returning to the bosom of their mother chruch. ] The sign of the cross in baptism, with the entire apparatus of godfathers and godmothers, some part of the funeral service, kneeling at the communion, the power of the priest to remit or to retain sins, and the power of the bishop to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost, ought to have been left in the sole and undisputed possession of those who still adhere to the mass and transubstantiation. Queen Elizabeth, the head of the church, was deeply tinctured with popery; insomuch that she was dissatisfied with the twenty-ninth article, as implying a denial of the doctrine of the real presence. She reluctantly permitted the crucifix and tapers to be removed from the altar in her chapel. It seems to have been by her private authority that a clause, unsanctioned by the convocation, was added to the twentieth article;^[6. See Archdeacon Blackburne’s Confessional, p. 368, and Dr Lamb’s Historical Account of the thirty-nine Articles, p. 33. Cambridge, 1829, 4 to. ] a clause which makes the averment that “the church hath power to decree rites [7:12:753] or ceremonies, and authority m controversies of faith.” The king or queen superseded the pope as head of the church; and thus a protestant body might have, and in more instances than one has actually had, a popish head. Pluralities and non-residence, two manifest remnants of popery, have been closely interwoven with an establishment, in which the idle splendour of one class of ecclesiastics is placed in so indecent a contrast with the laborious poverty of another.^[7. Bishop Lowth has stated that “there were some in England who, by the pope’s authority, possessed at once twenty ecclesiastical benefices and dignities, with dispensation moreover for holding as many more as they could lawfully procure, without limitation of number.” (Life of William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, p. 28, 3d edit. Oxford, 1777, 8vo.) In what protestant country, except England and Ireland, is the system of pluralities and non-residence maintained to any extent? They are an intolerable nuisance, which even there must very speedily be abated. Even the regius professor of divinity at Oxford is convinced that there is a great and general “demand for church reform and as Dr Burton is a man of sense as well as learning, he must likewise be aware that, when there is a great and general demand for any commodity, it can in most cases be supplied. His notions of reform, as the reader may easily conjecture, are not extravagant; and some of his suggestions are not deficient in worldly wisdom. It is notorious, as he avers, that many clergymen enjoy the income of their benefices, because the presentations have been bought and sold; and “if any legislative enactment should reduce their incomes, the patrons must in all fairness refund part of the purchase money·” (Thoughts upon the Demand for Church Reform, p. 38. Oxford, 1831, 8vo.) All the lay-dealers in such articles must therefore perceive the dangerous tendency of a reform in the church. ]

At this period, the metropolis of Scotland contained only one parish church. Knox was at first assisted by a reader, named John Cairns. It was then his regular practice to preach twice every Sunday, and thrice on other days of the week; but in the year 1563, John Craig, minister of Canongate, was appointed his colleague. In 1562, he had for three successive days been engaged at Maybole in a public disputation with Quintin Kennedy, abbot of Crossragwell; and in the course of the following year, an account of it was printed at Edinburgh, under this title: “Heir followeth the coppie of the Ressoning which was betuix the Abbote of Crosragucll and John Knox.” Another learned catholic, Ninian Winzet, addressed to him a “Buke of fourscoir thre Questionis,” to which it was his intention to publish an answer, though he seems to have been prevented by his other avocations, which were sufficiently numerous. After this period he incurred the hot indignation of the queen for having, in one of his public discourses, animadverted with great freedom on her intended marriage. During one of their interviews, she wept bitter tears of anger; and some modern historians have been not a little scandalized at his want of gallantry. In the month of December 1563, he was summoned before the privy council on a charge of high treason, for having written a circular letter to the protestant gentlemen, in reference to the trial of two persons who had been indicted for a riot in the chapel royal. Of this charge he was fully acquitted, to the great disappointment of Mary and the popish party.

After having continued a widower for more than three years, he married Margaret Stewart, daughter of the good Lord Ochiltree. This marriage took place in March 1564, when he had attained the age of fifty-nine. The noble family with which he thus became connected was descended from Robert duke of Albany, second son of King Robert the Second. Knox was again brought before the privy council, for having, in a sermon preached in St Giles’s on the 19th of August 1565, used certain expressions, or rather quoted certain texts, which gave great offence to the king, who was present, and applied them to himself. He was for a short time prohibited from preaching. Early in the following year, Mary subscribed the catholic league for the extirpation of the protestants; and if she had not been controlled by several prudential considerations, she seemed sufficiently prepared to adopt extreme measures. When she returned from Dunbar, soon after the death of Rizzio, he retired from Edinburgh, and sought refuge in Kyle; nor does he appear to have resumed his pastoral care till after the final overthrow of her authority. Towards the close of the year he prepared to visit England, where his two ⅛ons were residing with some of their mother’s relations for the purpose of receiving their education.

He appears to have returned home soon after the queen had plunged herself into ruin by her marriage with Bothwell. He was a member of the general assembly convened at Edinburgh on the 25th of June 1567; and he preached a sermon at the coronation of the young king, which took place at Stirling on the 29th of the ensuing month. The assassination of the regent Moray, and the civil troubles which ensued, depressed his mind and affected his health: in October 1570 he felt a stroke of apoplexy, which however was of so mitigated a kind that he was able to appear in the pulpit; but his strength was greatly impaired by his unceasing exertions, and he never recovered any considerable degree of vigour. Before the end of that year, the freedom of his animadversions in the pulpit gave such deep offence to Kirealdy, governor of the castle, that at length he found it expedient to change his habitation. He quitted the metropolis on the 5th of May 1571, and retired to St Andrews, the scene of his early labours. Here in the following year he published “An Answer to a Letter of a Jesuit named Tyric.” In a state of great debility he returned to Edinburgh towards the end of August 1572; and on the 24th of November he closed his most laborious and most honourable career, after having attained the age of sixty-seven. He left two sons by the first, and three daughters by the second marriage. Both his sons studied at St John’s College, Cambridge, and both of them became fellows. Nathaniel, the cider of the two, took the degree of A. Μ., and died in the year 1580. Eleazer, the younger son, proceeded B. D., and was one of the preachers of the university. Having been collated to the vicarage of Clacton-Magna, he died in 1591, and was buried in the college chapel. The three daughters, named Martha, Margaret, and Elizabeth, were married to three clergymen, James Fleming, Zachary Pont, and John Welsh. The widow of Knox became the wife of Sir Andrew Ker of Fadounside, who is described as a strenuous supporter of the reformation.

The vigorous and ardent mind of Knox was lodged in a diminutive and feeble body, which had been wasted by various hardships, and by intense mental exertion. His natural talents were improved by no mean attainments of learning, and he was eminently distinguished by an impetuous and impressive eloquence, which gave him a great ascendency among his countrymen. That he was a man of fervent and habitual piety, will not be disputed by any one whose prejudices do not prevent him from forming a correct estimate of his character. From an early period of his life, he devoted his entire energies to the best of all causes; and, in the hand of Providence, he was the great instrument which rescued his countrymen from the fangs of papal tyranny and superstition; nor is any other name entitled to be mentioned with equal honour in the annals of Scotish history. Of civil as well as ecclesiastical tyranny he was a decided enemy; and his writings contain some bold speculations on the subject of government. No man was more upright in his intentions, or more disinterested in his motives. That the impetuosity of his character occasionally impelled him beyond the bounds of moderation may be fully admitted without any diminution of the respect[7:12:754] due to his name: he was placed in a situation which required great energy and decision; and a person chiefly distinguished by the gentler virtues, would have been very indifferently prepared to encounter the boisterous elements with which he was destined to contend. It is not to be concealed that he was not exempted from that spirit of intolerance which, in a greater or less degree, belonged at that period to every sect and denomination of Christians. He was as little disposed to tolerate the mass as the mass priests were to tolerate those whom they termed heretics. The principles of mutual toleration were little understood or relished; and almost every one who possessed the power betrayed the inclination of imposing, by very ungentle means, his own creed upon his neighbours.

Beside the works which have already been mentioned, he composed various others, which are accurately enumerated by his biographer, “His practical treatises,” says Dr M‘Crie, “ are among the least known, but most valuable, of his writings. In depth of religious feeling, and in power of utterance, they are superior to any works of the same kind which appeared in that age. The thoughts are often original, and always expressed in a style of originality, possessing great dignity and strength, without affectation or extravagance.” The work by which he is best known as an author is “The Historie of the Reformatioun of Rcligioun within the Realm of Scotland.” So early as the year 1586, an octavo edition of it, to the extent of twelve hundred copies, was undertaken in England by Vautrollier, a well-known printer; but when ready, or nearly ready for publication, it was seized by the command of Archbishop Ŵhitgiñ. Some imperfect copies, all of them wanting the beginning and the end, have however survived this visitation of the protestant inquisitor. An edition was afterwards published by David Buchanan, who has taken very unwarrantable liberties with the text. Lond. 1644, fol. Edinb. 1644, 4to. He has suppressed various passages, and interpolated others; and the fifth book, which has not been found in any manuscript, is perhaps his sole composition. A genuine edition, “taken from the original manuscript in the university library of Glasgow,” was at length published by Matthew Crawford, professor of ecclesiastical history in the university of Edinburgh. Edinb. 1732, fol. A collective edition of his works, executed with fidelity and elegance, might be preferable to any monument of bronze or marble that could be erected to the memory of this great benefactor of his native country. (x.)