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EVENTS were now
hastening; on, and the way was being rapidly paved for Knox's
appearance in Scotland. He did not know that within a year Queen
Mary of England would be dead and his native country ready to
receive him. Still he must have been glad to get back to Geneva, for
his wife and family were there; his congregation, too, and his many
friends would cordially welcome him. There is little record of his
work during this period, but one or two events of a domestic nature
happened which must have been of considerable interest. During his
residence in Geneva two sons were born to him, Nathaniel and Eleazer.
Whittingham stood as god-father for the first, and Miles Coverdale
for the second. Only on two occasions afterwards do we find any
reference to these sons, one in an account which he gives in his
History of an interview with Queen Mary, and another in his last
will and testament.
It would also seem
that during this year his friend
Mrs. Anne Locke, with her son and
daughter, accompanied by a maid-servant, joined the Church of the
exiles. Of all his women friends she was the one with whom he
corresponded on a footing almost of equality, and his letters to her
reveal, as we have seen, not a little of his mind and policy.
It is not generally believed that Knox
took any part in the translation of the Bible, which was being done
at that time by the English Reformers in Geneva. Among his
fellow-exiles there were a number of eminent scholars who would be
better able for the task. He was essentially a preacher and a man of
action, but one work he must have begun during his last stay in
Geneva, and that was his pamphlet on Predestination. It is supposed
that he was interrupted in the task by the death of Queen Mary on
the 17th of November 1558. This broke up the English congregation in
Geneva. Everyone was eager to return to England, where, under the
rule of Elizabeth, freedom to worship after the Reformed fashion
would be granted.
It is possible that many of them would
experience not a little disappointment in the forms of service and
the Articles of Belief of the English Church, for these remained
pretty much what they were in the time of Edward vi. The purity of
doctrine and ritual which they enjoyed in Geneva was not to be
permitted them in England, but they did not renounce their
convictions all the same. These convictions spread, and, a few
generations later, found full expression in the religious and
political revolution which sent Charles I. to the scaffold.
Knox also left Geneva, intending to go
first to England and then to Scotland. His declared object in
visiting England was to come face to face with his old congregations
at Newcastle, Berwick, and "other parties in the North." It is not
unlikely that he had a deeper object. It was a part of his policy to
come to an understanding with England, and gain its support on
behalf of the Reformation in Scotland. His residence in the former
country, and the important posts which he held, enabled him to form
acquaintances with its leading men. They knew his value and the
weight of his character, and were prepared, should the coast be
clear, to exchange opinions with him on the political and religious
outlook. He
accordingly journeyed to Dieppe, intending to cross to England at
the earliest opportunity, but he found his farther progress stopped,
not, as on the previous occasion, by letters from Scotland, but by
the lack of a letter from England. He wrote to Cecil asking for a
passport, but both his request and his letter were ignored. He was
now beginning to reap in a very real fashion the fruits of his First
Blast. It had indeed, as he himself was forced to admit, "blown all
his friends from him." It besides turned against him, among others,
Queen Elizabeth, who ever afterwards regarded Knox as the
incarnation of all that was detestable in religion. She would have
none of him in England, and for three months he had to cool his
heels in Dieppe, writing meanwhile letters to Cecil of the strongest
possible character.
But Knox could not be idle, he filled in
his time by preaching to the Protestant congregation which he
himself practically formed, and which in a very short time became
one of the largest in any town in France. It was there at this time,
also, that he probably finished his pamphlet on Predestination, the
one theological treatise of any size and importance ever written by
him. The subject was not of Knox's own choosing, nor was the task
undertaken at his own desire. A request had come from England to the
Reformers in Geneva asking them to prepare a reply to a certain
Englishman who had written against the subject. The work was the
production of an Anabaptist. We do not know its title nor its
author. Knox calls it "The Careless by Necessity." The Anabaptists
were, as we have seen, the freethinkers of the period, and, like all
free-thinkers, objected to dogma. They glorified the freedom of the
will, and, true to their doctrine, the lives of many were as loose
as their views. In these days of a more liberal theology we are apt
to agree with the Anabaptists in their revolt against the
hard-and-fast system of the early Reformers. It is quite true that
we can do so with an impunity which they could not. Luther and
Zwingli, Calvin and Knox, had broken away from the Roman Catholic
Church, from its creed, its worship, and itself as an institution
and organisation, and the practical question faced them, "What are
we going to put in place of all these?"
Had they followed the course adopted by
the Anabaptists, and simply left their adherents to the freedom of
their own will with regard to doctrine and worship, the Reformation
would have collapsed. What they had to do was to form a strong
theological phalanx which would act as a defence against all attacks
from the outside; to prepare forms of belief upon which the people
could take their stand. It was impossible for them to organise in a
few months, or years, a great Church like the Roman Catholic, which
of itself gave a strength to its members which the Reformers were
not completely able to break down. Hence the absolute necessity
which devolved upon the leaders of the new movement to discover a
substitute for that Church, and they found it in the theology of
their Confessions and Creeds, and particularly in the system of
Calvin, which is as difficult to break down as was the Romish Church
itself. It is
easy for us in these days to find fault with what we are pleased to
term the narrowness and intolerance of the theological views of the
leaders of the Reformed Church. But they could not afford to be
broad and tolerant, although we can. It was what we term the
"harshness" of their theology. that made the Reformed Church itself
possible, and has preserved it for us to this hour. Now the head and
front of that system is the doctrine of Predestination, and it shows
the confidence which his fellow Reformers had in Knox that they
asked him to prepare the reply desired by their co-religionists in
England. The book was published in Geneva with the full authority of
Calvin and his friends, to whom it gave entire satisfaction.
Predestination was a late arrival among
the doctrines of the Reformed Church. Although presupposed in most
of the early Lutheran and Reformed Confessions it did not appear
prominently in them, but by the time Calvin wrote his Institutes it
was advancing to a leading position. In the earlier editions of his
famous work he deals with the subject somewhat briefly, but in the
later editions he stated it at length, and wrote elaborate replies
to attacks that were made upon it. During the time that Knox was in
Geneva it formed the chief subject of controversy, and all the
resources of the Reformed Theology were strained to vindicate it. It
would be beyond our present purpose to discuss this doctrine at
length. It finds a modified place in the Scots Confession of 1560,
from which its most repellent features are absent, thus showing that
though Knox could write a vigorous controversial pamphlet of some
four hundred pages on the subject, he did not think it necessary or
advisable to include its most doubtful and objectional features in
the Confession which he prepared for his own Church. In the
Westminster Confession these features appear in full elaboration,
and they are responsible for the strong desire on the part of many
at the present moment to have that Confession recast or its terms of
subscription relaxed.
But viewing the subject of
Predestination in its broadest aspect there are few who will not be
ready to admit that it is the only theological and philosophical
explanation of the universe that can recommend itself to the mind of
man. It places all under the sovereign rule and grace of God, it
claims that nothing happens by chance, that the world and human life
are ordered by design, that religion and history are subject to the
law of development, that there is an end towards which the whole
creation is moving, that there is a unity amidst all the differences
that exist around us, and that "the whole round earth is every way
bound by gold chains about the feet of God." This, indeed, is the
most modern theory of the universe, it is the final word of the
scientist, the historian, the moralist, and the philosopher, as well
as the theologian. Determinism, as it is called, or in other words
Predestination, is accepted by the profoundest thinkers of the day.
Calvin and Darwin, Zwingli and Hegel, are at one on this point, and
where they agree who will dare to differ? What has brought the
Reformed view of the subject into disrepute is the doctrine of
Reprobation, or the dualism which differentiates between the saved
and the lost in the future world.
But the latest word of the Reformed
Theology has not yet, we are told, been spoken. The view of the
world which prevailed at that time has changed, and with it has also
changed the Reformed eschatology, whose ideal, says Dr. Hastie, "is
an endless progression in the future life under conditions modified
by the result of the present development, and carrying that
development forward under new conditions of divine determination.
The Reformed Theology has not yet fully solved this profoundest
problem of all, but it is passing in this connection through a new
period of vital development, and the issue shall be a deepened
belief in the endless development of all created souls, till the
absolute purpose of God shall be realised in an infinitely
diversified spirit world, reconciled, perfected, and unified in
eternal harmony through spiritual communion with Christ around the
throne of God."
We should not blame Knox for his
defective eschatology, it is enough for us to know that he held with
a firm grasp a doctrine which has so much to commend it, and which
is now, in one form or another, almost universally accepted by
thinking men. He showed thorough familiarity with it in his reply to
his Anabaptist adversary. We have travelled far from the points that
were so bitterly discussed between them, and we should be satisfied
that in the controversy he proved himself a champion of whom neither
his country nor his colleagues had any reason to be ashamed.
Events had been proceeding at . a rapid
pace in Scotland from July 1556, when Knox left it, to the 2nd of
May 1559, when he landed at Leith to be the head and front of the
movement which was soon to be carried to a successful issue. The
whole nation had, in the interval, become involved in the revolution
that was agitating the country, and every force—political,
religious, and social—was engaged in it.
The policy of the Queen Regent, which
had all along been in favour of France, was strained to the point of
breaking. Henry Jr. was anxious to involve Scotland in the war
which, along with Paul iv., he was waging against Philip of Spain.
It was necessary for success that England should be kept in check,
and he looked to Scotland to effect this for him. He reminded the
Scottish nobles of their engagement, ratified at Haddington, to aid
him in the case of such an emergency, but when the Queen Regent
solicited their support on his behalf they coldly refused. They had
become suspicious of France, resented the promotion to the chief
offices in the State of Frenchmen, and were in no mood to enter into
a conflict with England. Mary of Guise, seeing their temper, abetted
Henry in hastening on the marriage of the young Queen of Scots to
the Dauphin, in the hope of making Scotland an appanage of France.
Eight Commissioners were appointed to represent Scotland at the
ceremony, which took place on the 4th of April 1558, and of these
only four returned. It was supposed that the rest had been poisoned.
Henry, too, to make the French rights to the Scottish crown
thoroughly secure, entered into a private treaty with the young
Queen; and not content with all the advantages that he had already
gained, he asked for the crown to be sent over to France in order to
be placed on the head of the Dauphin. But an event took place on the
17th of November of this year which diverted the course of European
politics, and in the end freed Scotland from the dominance of
France; for on that date Mary Tudor (lied, and was succeeded by the
Protestant Elizabeth. This gave hope to the friends of the
Reformation, who looked to England for support, that the cause which
they had at heart would now triumph.
It will be recollected that Knox, before
he left the country in 1556, wrote a letter of "Wholesome Counsel"
to his friends and adherents, directing and encouraging them to hold
fast to their convictions, and to conduct worship in their own
households, at least, should a more public place be denied them. In
a letter which was sent to him by the leading Protestants in the
country, a year later, to Geneva, it is pointed out that the good
work begun was progressing. The Protestant religion was spreading,
and the face of a Church was gradually appearing in the land. In his
reply from Dieppe he lays before them their duty as the leaders of
the people, and, partly owing to his advice and to the favourable
conditions which then prevailed, those whom he addressed formed
themselves into a body, and signed a Covenant—the first of many of
its kind in Scotland —binding themselves, at the risk of life and
limb, to adhere to, and assist by every means in their power, the
religious Reformation. They at the same time drew up resolutions
laying bare the evils that were in the Church, and approving of the
use of Common Prayers on Sundays and Holy Days.
The Lords of the Congregation, as they
now for the first time called themselves, pressed on the advantages
which they had already gained. They, through Sir James Sandilands,
presented a petition to the Regent claiming the right of public and
private prayer in the common tongue. Some of them also kept
preachers in their household, for the twofold object of defending
the ministers against the tyranny of the Romish Church and of
instructing both themselves and their families in the truths of the
new religion. It is a cause of no surprise, accordingly, to learn
that Archbishop Hamilton and his clergy became alarmed at the
progress which the new views were making, and that they had
recourse, fortunately for the last time in the history of Scotland,
to the only method for suppressing heresy known to the Romish
Church. The victim on this occasion was Walter Mill, who was burned
at St. Andrews on or about the 80th of April 1558. Pitscottie says
that Mill "was warming him in a poor woman's house in Dysart, and
teaching the commandments of God to her and her bairns, and learning
her how she should instruct her house to bring up her bairns in the
fear of God" when arrested. It was while performing this sacred duty
that the poor old man was seized. The sympathies of the people were
so strong in his favour that "neither a cord to bind him to the
stake nor a tar barrel to burn him could be got for the buying." On
being consigned to the flames, and while expiring, lie uttered these
pathetic and prophetic words: "As for me, I am fourscore and two
years old, and cannot live long by the course of nature, but a
hundred better shall arise out of the ashes of my bones. I trust in
God I shall be the last to suffer death in Scotland in this cause."
Immediately after his death a cairn of stones was erected on the
spot to his memory.
The feelings of the people on this
occasion show in what direction their opinions were tending. No one
could remain any longer blind to the fact that the revolutionary
party was backed up by strong popular sympathy and force. The Queen
Regent, accordingly, felt that the time had at last come for making
a determined effort to suppress Protestantism. She had for a
considerable time tried to conciliate those who were favourable to
the new views for the purpose of gaining their support in the
prosecution of her policy, but the chief aim of that policy having
now been attained by the marriage of her daughter to the Dauphin,
she felt that there was no need for temporising any longer. She must
also have perceived that if she was to maintain her authority the
new movement must be suppressed, for those who were heading it
clearly aimed at the overthrow of her government.
She accordingly summoned to her presence
the Protestant preachers. They, knowing the strength of their
backing, were quite prepared to obey her, and supported by a great
many friends and followers they appeared in Edinburgh. She was
alarmed at their numbers and was anxious to have them dispersed, but
before this could be done several made their way into the chamber
where the Regent and the leading clergy were assembled, and one of
them, James Chalmers of Gadgirth, addressed her as follows: "Madam,
we vow to God we shall make ane day of it. They oppress us and our
tenants for feeding of their idle bellies; they trouble our
preachers, and would murder them and us: shall we suffer this any
longer? No, Madam, it shall not be," and therewith every man put on
his steel bonnet. There was heard nothing on the Queen's part but
"My joys, my heart, what ails you? Me means no evil to you nor to
your preachers." With these and suchlike fair words, as Knox, who
gives a very graphic account of the interview, remarks, "she kept
the peace at that time."
But perhaps the incident which shows the
extent and character of the religious revolt more than any other, is
the treatment accorded to St. Giles, the patron saint of Edinburgh.
In the previous year his image had been stolen from the church and
cast into the Nor' Loch, and this year the clergy, in order to
celebrate his day with due honour, had to borrow money to buy a new
one. The Queen herself honoured the occasion and took part in its
festivities, but she retired to dine at the house of Sandie
Carpetyne "betwixt the Bowes," in time to escape a great tumult, for
the populace attacked the procession, made short work of the idol,
and chased the priests as hard as they could run to sanctuary. It
may be true that the lower classes are always ready to take part in
a riot, but the treatment meted out on this occasion to young St.
Giles clearly shows the way the wind was blowing, for when the
religious observances of a Church can be treated in this fashion it
is a clear sign that that Church is doomed.
The Protestants, in order to bring
matters to a point, petitioned Parliament through the Queen Regent,
claiming absolute freedom of worship, and on her declining to accept
their petition they determined to approach Parliament themselves.
But the social discontent which characterised the movement has still
to be mentioned. 'There is a popular belief that the Reformation in
Scotland was entirely carried through by those who called themselves
the Lords of the Congregation. Undoubtedly they took a leading part
in its inception, but unless the movement had been national it would
never have reached its dimensions nor attained its results. The
common people, and even the lower classes, had their share in its
accomplishment. Nor was the revolution entirely religious, as some
think, or partly religious and partly political only, as others
imagine; it was social as well, and in this we see its not least
hopeful sign. Indeed, that element in it which then, for the first
time, found articulate expression is the one that has had least
justice done to it, and, at the same time, it is the one which
perhaps was the deepest of all. The condition of the working classes
and of the poor was miserable in the extreme, and that condition was
due in no small measure to the Church, which ought to have made
every effort to improve it.
This is brought out in what a recent
historian has declared to have been the most remarkable document
produced by the Reformation, "The Beggars' Summonds," which on the
1st of January 1559 was stuck on the gates of all the Religious
Houses in Scotland. In was a striking and significant paper,
purporting to be from "the blind, crooked, beggars, widows, and all
other poor," accusing the clergy of having "falsely stolen the
wealth given by the pious for the service of the poor," and
concluding with the threat, "We have thought good, therefore, to
warn you that you remove forth of our said hospitals betwixt this
and the feast of Whitsunday next, certifying you if ye fail we will
at the said term in whole number, with the help of God and
assistance of His saints on earth, of whose ready support we doubt
not, enter and take possession of our said patrimony and eject you
utterly forth of the same. Let him, therefore, that before hath
stolen, steal no more, but rather let him work with his hands that
he may be helpful to the poor." It is not known who wrote this
document. It is written with a strong hand, and breathes the spirit
of revolution. It must have been the production of someone who was
in the secret counsels of the leaders of the movement, for it in a
sense reveals their plan. The menace with which it ends was
fulfilled almost to the letter.
A Provincial Council of the clergy was
held about this time. The ecclesiastical authorities evidently saw
that unless something were done speedily, in the way of drastic
reform, the Church would be overthrown. The recommendations which it
made were, for the Romish Church, searching and far-reaching, and if
they had been carried out a generation or two earlier the religious
revolution might never have been attempted; but it was now too late,
and the Queen Regent, seeing that it was quite impossible to regain
the sympathies of the Protestants for the Church, turned once more
to her policy of suppression, and shortly before Easter issued an
order for the observance of that festival after the Roman manner,
strictly forbidding the preaching of unauthorised persons. The
Protestants, in alarm, made a representation to her through the Earl
of Glencairn and Sir Hew Campbell, Sheriff of Ayr, to whom she
replied in memorable words: "In despite of you and of your ministers
both, they shall be banished out of Scotland albeit they preached as
truly as ever did St. Paul." On having her previous promises
recalled she replied in words that have become historical, "it
became not subjects to burden their princes with promises further
than it pleased them to keep the same." At last the die was cast,
and the preachers were summoned to appear at Stirling on the 10th of
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