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SEVERAL events now
happened in quick succession which must have confirmed Knox in his
fears that the Protestant Lords, even the Lord James himself, would
yield to the influence of the Queen, and possibly endanger beyond
recall the prospects of the Reformed religion. On the 21st of
September the Magistrates of Edinburgh commanded the statutes of the
town to be publicly read. These included the banishment from the
city of all Papists. On hearing this Mary committed the Provost and
Bailies to the Tolbooth, and commanded the election of other men in
their place. Again on the 1st of November, "All Saints Day," there
were great Popish ongoings at Holyrood, and a conference took place
at the Clerk Register's house between the Protestant Lords and the
leading ministers regarding Mary's right to hold such celebrations.
It was agreed to appeal to Calvin; but this was only to gain time,
and in the meantime Mary, through her Council, carried her point.
In December, at the
third Meeting of the General Assembly, further attempts were made by
those whom Knox called the " Rulers of the Court" to subject the
Church and the new religion to the authority of the Queen. It had
been the custom of all who were members of the Assembly to meet
together, but on this occasion the Lords refused on the ground that
the ministers had secret conferences with the other members of the
Assembly. This was denied. But the real purpose of the Lords was to
destroy the freedom of the Church, for through Lethington, who acted
as their spokesman, they denied that the Church had any right to
hold Assemblies without the sanction of the Queen. This was aiming a
blow at the liberty of the Church which would be fatal, and Knox
resisted it with all his power. "If the liberty of the Church," he
contended, "should stand upon the Queen's allowance or disallowance,
we are assured not only to lack Assemblies, but also to lack the
public preaching of the Evangel." It was agreed to permit a
representative of the Queen to be present at their deliberations if
she so desired.
The attitude of the
Rulers of the Court to the Book of Discipline, which then came up
for discussion, was a fresh indication that the "holy water of the
Court" was doing its work. Those who, little more than a year ago,
had willingly signed it, declaring that they "would set the same
forward to the uttermost of their powers," now publicly disowned it.
"Some even began to deny that ever they knew such a thing as the
Book of Discipline." The fact is the nobles were beginning to enjoy
the fruits of their robbery of the ancient Church, the lands which
they had grabbed they found to be very pleasant, and they were
eagerly looking forward to fresh seizures. That explains the change
in their attitude. Some provision must, however, be made for the
Protestant clergy, who up to this time had received nothing, or had
been supported by the "benevolence of men." The Lords were nothing
loth to come to some arrangement, for they saw the chance of gifting
a portion of the Church's patrimony to the Queen. The Crown had no
claim on the Church lands, but still the opportunity was too good to
miss; so two-thirds of the patrimony of the Church was to remain in
the hands of the Catholic clergy, or, in other words, of the greedy
aristocracy who had appropriated it, and the remaining third was to
be divided between the Queen and the ministers.
Knox made this unholy
division the subject of his Sunday's sermon, in the course of which
he said, "Well, if the end of this order pretended to be taken for
sustentation of the ministers, be happy, my judgment faileth me, for
I am assured that the Spirit of God is not the author of it, for
first I see two parts freely given to the Devil, and a third must be
divided betwixt God and the Devil. Well, bear witness to me that
this day I say it, or it be long the Devil shall have three parts of
the third, and judge you then what part God's portion shall be."
Knox made no secret
of his belief that the Protestant Lords, particularly Maitland of
Lethington and the Lord James, were largely responsible for the
Queen's policy at this time. He was practically deserted by his
former friends who had worked with him in establishing the new
Religion; but he lost no jot of hope or heart, and by every means in
his power, chiefly by his sermons in St. Giles' and his influence in
the country, he tried to counteract their efforts. An opportunity
occurred at this time, of which he readily took advantage, for
strengthening his own party and weakening, as a consequence, those
who were now working against him.
The Earl of Bothwell,
who had a long-standing feud against the Earl of Arraii, sought
Knox's counsel for the purpose of bringing about a reconciliation.
The Earl visited Knox in the latter's study in his house at the
Netherbow, and it was during the conversation that then took place
that the Reformer mentions the old feudal relation that existed
between his family and the House of Bothwell. Knox's efforts were
crowned with success, and Arran and Bothwell, ostensibly at least,
became friends. In the union of these two men, Protestants both, and
of their families and partisans, Knox perceived an influence that
might hold in check the policy of the Protestant Lords and Queen
Mary. A short time afterwards he endeavoured to make that influence
all the stronger by arranging an interview at a supper-party in his
own house on a Sunday between Arran's father and Randolph,
Elizabeth's representative at the Scottish Court. The aim of Knox's
diplomacy was to bind together the leading Protestants in the
country, or as many of them as were not affected by the "holy water
of the Court," and to join them in turn in a friendly union with
England. This diplomacy was of course based upon the Protestant
religion. It was a single-minded and strong policy, for it was
founded upon the abiding element in man's nature. Knox's hopes, so
far as Arran was concerned, were doomed to disappointment, for that
young man speedily quarrelled with Bothwell, accusing him at the
same time of treason. It soon became clear that Arran's mind was
deranged, and from that moment he became a negligible quantity in
Scottish politics.
Knox had a more
formidable weapon in his armoury which he now used. The General
Assembly was not, at that time, the strong body which it afterwards
became, but it represented the best minds and the purest spirit in
the country. It also had law on its side in its contendings, and the
Rulers of the Court knew that in resisting its demands, which had
been sanctioned by the Parliament of 1560, they were acting
illegally. This Assembly met on the 29th of June 1562, and it
prepared an address to the Queen in which we clearly see the hand of
Knox. Its chief demand Was that the Book of Discipline should be
made law. To yield this point would be for the Court and its
advisers to give up everything that the Church was contending for.
It would mean the final abolition of the Romish Church, and the
establishing of the Reformed Church on such a basis as would enable
Knox and his party to resist with success the policy of the Court,
and the ambition of Mary to reinstate the Romish religion in its old
position in the land. Lethington objected to the wording of this
address. He did not think it respectful in tone nor commendable in
expression, and he suggested that it should be revised before being
presented to Queen Mary. He had his way, and toned it down by his
"painted oratory," as Knox terms it, to such a degree as raised the
suspicions of the Queen. "Here," she exclaimed, "are many fair
words, I cannot tell what the hearts are." Lethington now, as
always, was sitting on the fence and riding for a fall. He tried to
please both parties, and he satisfied neither. Distrusted by Knox,
he was suspected by Mary.
Shortly after this,
on the 11th of August, the Queen left Edinburgh for the north. Knox,
ever on the outlook, suspected that some scheme iiiimical to his
cause underlay the journey. She intended to go as far north as
Aberdeenshire, and there was the seat of the Earl of Huntly, whom
Knox regarded as the strongest peer in the country. "Under a
prince," he says, "there was not such a one these three hundred
years in the realm produced." He was a pronounced Roman Catholic,
and Knox was afraid lest Mary intended to join forces with him and
attempt a Catholic rising.
The signs were not
unfavourable for such a movement. The Huguenots in France were
suffering at the hands of the Catholics. The Guises were again in
the ascendant, and steps were being taken for that great union of
the Catholic princes and kingdoms which was to realise the dream of
Mary's heart—sovereignty over England. Knox accordingly left
Edinburgh soon after the departure of the Queen, and journeyed to
Kyle and Galloway, where the Protestant cause was the strongest. His
efforts were very successful, for he rallied together the leading
supporters of the new religion, and induced them to sign a bond for
the defence of their faith. He had also an interview with the Master
of Maxwell, the Keeper of the West Marches, who in turn communicated
with the Earl of Bothwell, all for the purpose of keeping a watchful
eye on the Queen's movements and for the preservation of the peace.
Knox's object was to
prevent at this stage any conflict between the two parties, and he
was determined not to be tempted by any movement which might be made
by his opponents. His labours in the west and south were: relieved
by a lively dispute with the Abbot of Crossraguel. The discussion
took place in the Provost's house at Maybole. It lasted for three
days, from eight in the morning till the evening. The debate was
entered on with every formality. There were present the Earl of
Casillis and forty others, twenty being friends of either disputant,
notaries who reported the proceedings, and as many others as the
house could hold. Knox afterwards published the discussion, which
does not throw much fresh light on the subjects under dispute. The
one result of it was the Abbot's giving himself away by grounding
the Mass on the sacrifice and oblation of Melchizedek. Knox had no
difficulty in proving that to base the Lord's Supper on so weak a
foundation, or to see any real relation between the two, was a
reductio ad absurdum.
Knox must have been
agreeably surprised by the course of events in the north. Huntly, in
place of joining forces, joined issues with the Queen and was
defeated. It is suggested that this result, instead of pleasing,
displeased the Queen, for the great Earl's defeat took place at the
hands of the Lord James, who now became the Earl of Moray. It is
hinted that Mary would have been more gratified if the other side
had proved victorious, and that as events turned out her policy
miscarried. There may be something in this, for she only tolerated,
but never trusted, Moray, Lethington, and the other Protestant
Lords. She used them because she could not do without them. The time
was not yet ripe for dispensing with their counsels, but she was
evidently just waiting her opportunity for their dismissal.
Matters before very
long were brought to a crisis between Knox and the two men who were
the leaders of the Court policy. These were Moray and Lethington.
Knox and the former had continued since their first acquaintance to
be on good terms with each other, and latterly when the Lord James
threw in his lot with the Reforming party they became fast friends.
There was no Scotsman of the time for whom Knox had a greater
regard, and he looked upon him as the political hope of the cause
which he had so close at heart. He viewed with distrust and
disappointment the course which his young friend was following, but
he had not by any means lost hope that he would fulfil his early
promise. Even so late as February of 1562, at the marriage of Moray
to the Earl Marischal's daughter in St. Giles', Knox, who performed
the ceremony, when addressing the newly married pair hinted that if
the bridegroom fell away it would be his wife's fault. "Unto this
day," said the preacher, "the Church hath received comfort of you,
iii the which if hereafter you shall be found fainter it will be
said that your wife hath changed your nature." It was about a year
afterwards, in May of 1563, that the rupture which lasted for a year
and a half took place between the friends.
Mary, since her
arrival, had never summoned a meeting of Parliament. She was afraid
lest the demand of the Protestants might be conceded, or that, if
she resisted, a civil war would ensue. The Protestant Lords, again,
were well aware that Knox and his followers would insist for one
thing on the ratification of the Book of Discipline, and other
matters which they knew the Queen would never agree to. But a
meeting of Parliament could not very well be delayed much longer,
and the question was, How to have it and at the same time avoid
granting the demands that would be put forward on behalf of the
Reformed Church? The zeal of the Protestants had cooled considerably
since the arrival of the Queen, still, should the attendance be at
all equal to that of the Parliament of 1560, when so many of the
smaller barons, lairds, and representatives of burghs were present,
a majority might be found against the Court and its policy.
How to prevent the
attendance of these men was the problem that now occupied the
attention of the Rulers of the Court; nor was it absent from the
mind of Mary. She accordingly played a card which indicated an
intention so strongly in favour of the Protestant religion that the
fears of its strongest advocates were allayed; and thinking that all
would go well with their claims at the approaching meeting of
Parliament, many of them absented themselves.
The law that had been
passed against Catholics had about this time been put in force by
the Protestants themselves, and Mary made herself its champion.
Forty-eight persons who had defied the law against the celebration
of the Mass, among whom was Hamilton, the Archbishop of St. Andrews,
himself, were tried before the Court of Justiciary on the 19th of
May, and the majority of them were committed to ward. This surely
was a certain sign that the Queen was conciliating the Protestants,
and that in the Parliament which was about to meet she would
sanction the whole policy of the Church. Knox, however, was not
deceived. He saw clearly the intention of the Queen and Court, and
lie was both disappointed with, and indignant at, the lukewarmness
of his friends in not attending and supporting by their voice and
vote the just demands of the Church.
Parliament was opened
by the Queen on the 26th of May with great ceremony. She was at this
time at the very height of her popularity. She had so far committed
no fatal blunder, and hardly any indiscretion. She had, at any rate,
done nothing to raise the suspicion and distrust of the bulk of the
people. She was received by the populace with cheers and with cries,
"God bless her sweet face!" and when she addressed her Parliament
one said to another, "This is the voice of a goddess and not of a
woman." All this was very displeasing to Knox. His mind was bent on
other and more serious things, and he flung out at the weakness and
vanity of the sex, their light-headedness as well as
lightheartedness. He could not foresee that other day, only three
years hence, when poor Mary would be seen riding down the same
street in tattered garments amid the jeers and derision of the
citizens.
The great question
for Knox was, Would the Book of Discipline be accepted or not? He
was told to be patient, that this was not the time to bring it
forward. "Wait till the Queen's marriage, which cannot be very far
distant, when she will be asking favours at our hands; that will be
the time to press your cause. In order to have her own petitions
granted she will be ready to accede to yours."
Parliament
accordingly would have nothing to do with the Book of Discipline,
and Knox turned at once upon the man whom he trusted to see the
thing carried through. That man was the Earl of Moray. Knox felt his
disappointment bitterly. "The matter fell so hot," he says, "betwixt
the Earl of Moray and some others of the Court and John Knox, that
familiarly after that time they spoke not together more than a year
and a half, for the said John by his letter gave a discharge to the
said Earl of all further intromission or care with his affairs."
Thus it was Knox who formally broke with Moray. "Seeing that I
perceive myself frustrate of my expectation, which was that you
should ever have preferred God to your own affection, and the
advancement of His truth to your singular commodity, I commit you to
your own wit and to the conducting of those who better can please
you. If after this ye shall decay (as I fear ye shall), call to mind
by what means God exalted you."
Moray, next to Knox,
had the sanest mind of any Scottish politician of the time. He no
doubt sincerely believed that the path which he was following would
lead to a mutual understanding and agreement between the Queen and
the Congregation. He wished to be loyal to both, but his outlook was
not so large as Knox's; he did not know so well the trend of
European politics or fully appreciate the policy of the great
Catholic States and party. Knox was convinced that it was only by
making a firm stand that Protestantism would flourish, and that no
concession or conciliation would gain the Queen to their side. As
events turned out he was found to be right, and Moray for a time
suffered dearly for refusing to follow the guidance of his older and
wiser friend. Had the Protestant Lords followed the advice of Knox,
and insisted, when the Queen set foot in Scotland, on making her
conform to the new religion or abdicate, it would have been much
better both for Mary herself and for the country. But the weak
policy of insincere compromise could have only one end.
It was not long after
this that Knox and Lethington, the second of the two men who ruled
the Court, came to close quarters. These two had frequently engaged
in intellectual bouts, from the time when in Erskine of Dun's house
in Edinburgh, at that famous supper-party when the question as to
whether the Mass might be said in private was debated, until June of
1564, when the same two discussed at very great length certain other
questions which went to the root of religious belief and civil
government. Lethington was a child of the Renaissance. He may have
been an anti-Romanist by conviction, but he had no enthusiasm for
religion. He probably believed that the Reformed Church was better
than the Romish, but he had no fancy for Creeds and Confessions, and
was not at all inclined to put himself into the bonds of theological
dogmas and formulas. He was a man of the world, and was quite
prepared to use any Church or man as a pawn in the game of politics.
Knox was, of course, a man of a very different build. He belonged to
the prophetical order, was governed by strong convictions, and, in
obedience to what he accepted as divine commands, he was prepared at
all times to do and dare iii the cause of righteousness and truth.
His patriotism, too, was equal to Lethington's own, which was
perhaps the most redeeming feature in the latter's character, and in
fighting for his convictions he believed that he was contending for
the best interests of his country.
The distrust of the
Lords and Congregation in each other was steadily growing, and a
final breach could not be long delayed. This happened at the
Assembly of 1564, when the courtiers refused to attend. Nor would
they consent to be present until a conference had taken place
between them and certain of the leading ministers regarding matters
that required clearing up. This was agreed to on condition that
nothing final should be arranged until the matters under dispute
were voted on by the Assembly. At the Conference the discussion, as
usual, ranged itself into a contest between Lethington and Knox. The
first point raised referred to a clause in Knox's prayer for the
Queen, which was to the effect, "Illuminate her heart if Thy good
pleasure be." "In so doing," said Lethington to Knox, "ye put a
doubt in the people's head of her conversion." "Not I, my lord,"
replied Knox, "but her own obstinate rebellion causes more than me
to doubt of her conversion." "Whereunto rebels she against God?"
asked the Secretary. "In all the actions of her life," was the
reply. Two particular instances are singled out. She will not give
up that idol the Mass, nor will she attend the preaching of the
Gospel. "When," asked Knox, "will she be seen to give her presence
to the public preaching?" "I think never," answers Lethington, "as
long as she is thus entreated." Lethington, of course, believed, in
a way, in the possibility of Mary's conversion, and we have no doubt
he was trying to find some via media between Romanism and
Protestantism which the Queen might follow. But Knox knew of no such
"way," and said so.
Among the other
questions discussed was the obedience due by subjects to rulers.
Knox's views on this question we know full well. In the course of
the argument Lethington thought that he had confuted Knox when he
said, "Then will ye make subjects to control their princes and
rulers?" to which came the reply, "And what harm should the
Commonwealth receive, if that the corrupt affections of ignorant
rulers were moderated and so bridled by the wisdom and discretion of
godly subjects that they should do wrong nor violence to no man?"
The Rulers of the Court were anxious that the Reformed Theology
might be stretched so as to admit the celebration of the Mass,
especially on the part of a princess, to be no sacrilege. If this
compromise could be agreed to Mary might still follow her Romish
ways and be a Protestant Queen. Knox, of course, could not see this,
and when Lethington admitted that the "idolater was commanded to die
the death" he practically gave up the argument. The Mass was
idolatry, and how then could the idolater, even though she were a
Queen, hope to escape?
The discussion ended,
as it usually did, in favour of Knox, for Lethington, being
professedly a Protestant, was bound to accept his premises. How then
could he escape the inevitable conclusions? |
