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KNOX'S arrival in
Edinburgh (2nd of May 1559) was the signal for renewed activity on
both sides. The Queen Regent was in Glasgow, and on the third day
after his arrival she ordered him to be "blown loud to the horn." It
will be remembered that after his departure in 1556 he was
excommunicated and burned in effigy, and outlawry was involved in
the sentence then passed. He remained only two nights in Edinburgh,
for hearing that the brethren had assembled in force in Dundee he
hastened to join them. "I am come," he writes to his friend Mrs.
Locke, "I am come, I praise God even in the brunt of the battle, if
God impede not I shall present myself" before the Queen and Council,
"there by life, by death, or else by both, to glorify His godly name
who thus mercifully hath heard my long cries."
The Protestants who
had assembled at Dundee were incensed by the preachers being
summoned to appear before the Queen Regent at Stirling on the 10th
of May, and they determined to march in a body on Perth, Knox
accompanying them. It being their object to avoid every sign of
rebellion, they sent Erskine of Dun to lay their demands before the
Regent. She promised to delay the summons, but almost immediately
afterwards she broke her promise and proclaimed the preachers as
outlaws. "The multitude," says Knox, "on learning this was so
inflamed that neither could the exhortation of the preacher nor the
commandment of the magistrate stay them from destroying of the
places of idolatry."
We here touch on a
question that has been much and even hotly debated: Whether the
Protestant preachers, and notably Knox, were responsible for the
destruction of the numerous rich and beautiful Religious Houses that
then adorned Scotland? One fact at least is clear, that the
beginning of the iconoclastic work was due to the perfidy of the
Queen Regent, whose breach of faith in the case of the preachers
incited the populace to their task of destruction. Still there can
be no denying the fact that Knox, and those who thought with him,
preached against image worship of every kind, and he himself states
that immediately before the first considerable attack on the
Religious Houses of Scotland was made, he had from the pulpit been
stirring up the people against idolatry of all sorts. Indeed, it
would seem that the very next day after the preachers were outlawed
he himself delivered a vehement discourse against idolatry. At its
close a priest, in contempt, attempted to celebrate the Mass. Among
the audience was a young boy who rebuked the priest for thus
violating the Word of God. The latter 44 struck the child a great
blow, who in anger took up a stone, and casting at the priest did
hit the tabernacle and broke down an image, and immediately the
whole multitude that was about cast stones and put hands to the same
tabernacle and to all other monuments of idolatry." That was the
beginning of a general attack on the Religious Houses of Perth, and
the "rascal multitude," as Knox calls them, rejoicing in the
opportunity for riot which the occasion gave them, very soon
demolished the three most notable ecclesiastical buildings in the
city, including the Charter House, an edifice of "wondrous cost and
greatness"; so thorough was the work of destruction that only the
walls remained of these glorious buildings. This was the beginning
of trouble, and all over the country sacred edifices that had been
erected at great labour and much expense shared the same fate as
those of Perth.
It should not be
forgotten that years before this Hertford and his English army laid
waste the Abbeys of the South of Scotland, and even previous to the
arrival of Knox we learn of tumults in which the ecclesiastical
buildings of the country suffered. Kirkcaldy of Grange, whose
testimony on all matters is that of a plain, blunt soldier, states,
in writing to Percy, what would seem to have been the policy of the
Reformers with regard to this matter. "The manner of their
proceedings," he says, "is this: They pull down all manner of
Priories and Abbeys which willingly receive not their Reformation;
as to Parish Churches, they cleanse them of images and all other
monuments of idolatry." This policy, severe enough, is not so
drastic as many would have us to believe. Parish Churches were to be
left intact, their vain adornments being swept away; and all the
great Religious Houses were to remain untouched, except where the
holders of them defied the rising authority.
Now, considering
Knox's conception of the new movement, which was Church Reform, we
cannot see very well how he could have done otherwise. His protest,
as we have seen, was against the worship of the Romish Church, that
worship being contrary to the purity of Scriptural teaching, and
consequently, in his eyes, idolatry. If the work to which he had put
his hand, and for which he had suffered greatly, risking fearlessly
for its sake life and limb, was to be accomplished, it could only be
by ridding the Parish Churches and great Religious Houses of all
that in his eye defiled or made a lie. We are aware that on more
than one occasion he did his very best to restrain the mob from
ruthlessly tearing down edifices that he would have spared, but, as
everyone knows, when the passion for destruction seizes the lower
orders there is no withholding them, and the excesses which they
indulged in were but a repetition of the acts of destruction which
characterised the movement in France, Switzerland, and Holland.
There are few who do not regret the vandalism of the period. There
was then destroyed what can never be replaced; but it may be better
after all that these great edifices, with all their aesthetic
beauty, should be but desolate ruins, than that the purity of
worship which we now enjoy should, for their sakes, have been
sacrificed.
The Queen was so
enraged at the conduct of the Protestants in Perth that she vowed
"utterly to destroy Saint Johnstone, man, woman, and child, and to
consume the same by fire, and thereafter to salt it in sign of a
perpetual desolation." It was the aim of the Protestant party to
avoid every appearance of rebellion; they were anxious to carry
through their reforms by constitutional means if possible, and have
recourse to arms only as a last resort. They accordingly at this
juncture issued four Manifestoes, in which we clearly see the hand
of Knox. The Reformer on this occasion, as indeed at every critical
moment in the history of the Reformation, stood out as the one man
of light and leading. He saw the significance of the hour, and
directed the fortunes of his party. In these Manifestoes he stated
the case of the Congregation, and disabused the minds of his
countrymen of misrepresentations regarding their intentions; for the
Queen Regent had been busy poisoning all whom it might concern,
hinting that it was Rebellion, and not Reformation, that they were
contemplating.
The first of these
Manifestoes is addressed to the "Queen's Grace Regent," and it
roundly states that "unless this cruelty be stayed by your wisdom we
will be condemned to take the sword of just defence against all that
shall pursue us for the matter of religion, and for our conscience'
sake," and hints that in her present course of conduct she was not
acting in conformity with the wishes of the young Queen of Scots and
her husband the Dauphin. The second, which was addressed to "D'Oysel
and the Frenchmen in her Service," indicates that unless they cease
taking part in the present • persecution a feud would be created
between France and Scotland that would "last as long as Scotchmen
should have power to revenge such cruelty." In the third of these
addresses, the one to the "Nobility of Scotland," Knox calls upon
them to rise to the height of their great responsibilities, and
threatens them with excommunication if they fail to obey his
summons. " Unless ye join yourselves with us," he says, "as of God
ye are reputed traitors, so shall ye be excommunicated from our
society; the glory of the victory which God shall give to His
Church, yea, even in the eyes of Men, shall not appertain to you."
The last was addressed to the "Generation of Anti-Christ, the
Pestilent Prelates and their Shavelings within Scotland," and he
warns them that unless they "cease betimes from their blind rage
they shall be entreated as murderers and open enemies to God."
These letters found
their way, as was intended, all over Scotland. The one addressed to
the Nobility fell into the hands of the Earl of Glencairn, among
others, and he was so stirred by it that he declared: "Let every man
serve his conscience, I will by God's grace see my brethren in St.
Johnstone, yea, albeit never a man should accompany me I will go,
and if it were but with a pike upon my shoulder, for I would rather
die with that company than live afterwards." The Earl's boast was no
vain one, for he immediately rallied round him the sturdy
Protestants of Ayrshire and the West, and to the number of two
thousand they made a rapid march through "desert and mountain" to
the relief of their brethren at Perth. This quickened the
conciliatory mood of the Queen Regent, for she sent Representatives
to the Lords of the Congregation to learn their demands. Knox and
his friends declared that they were not aiming at rebellion, but
simply desiring freedom to worship God according to their
consciences. The following were the terms which the Protestants were
prepared to accept: They would leave the town on condition that all
who were of their party should be allowed perfect freedom of
worship, and that no French garrison should be quartered on the
citizens. These terms being accepted, the Protestants were allowed
to leave Perth with a free pardon. Of the three Commissioners who
represented the Queen on this occasion, two were Argyle and the Lord
James. Knox rebuked them sharply for their defection, and they
solemnly promised that if the Regent broke her pledges they would
instantly desert her and throw in their lot with the Protestant
party.
It was not long
before the opportunity presented itself for fulfilling this promise.
On the 29th of May, the date fixed for the occupation of Perth by
the Queen Regent, the Protestants entered into another bond, the
chief note of which was that they pledged themselves to put down all
idolatry. Thereafter the majority of them journeyed to St. Andrews,
and on the march they carried out, too literally perhaps, the
agreement which they had come to; for different churches on the
route bore witness afterwards to their zeal for purity, among them
being those of Crail and Anstruther, in which Knox preached.
The Queen Regent,
almost on the very day on which she entered Perth, broke her pledges
by quartering Scottish soldiers in the pay of France on the
citizens, by restoring the old religion, and by her cruel treatment
of the Protestants. Many of the Nobility and others, among whom were
Argyle and the Lord James, immediately left her and joined Knox and
the body of Protestants who had already arrived at St. Andrews.
In St. Andrews, as in
Perth, Knox acted the leading part. It was his intention, he says,
to preach in the famous Cathedral City on Sunday the 4th of June. On
coming to this understanding with himself he could not be aware of
the determined effort that was to be made to prevent him. That
effort, as we shall see, proved futile; and Knox's purpose was
carried out. We can
imagine his feelings on visiting St. Andrews, for the first time,
since his forced embarkation as a prisoner in the French galleys. He
had undergone much suffering since then, had seen many lands, and
taken a leading part wherever he went in advocating by word and pen
the doctrines of the Reformed religion. But he never during all his
wanderings forgot his native country, and he must have felt exultant
at the mere hope of fulfilling the vow which he had made to his
friend James Balfour, when, as a prisoner, he came within sight, in
the French fleet, of the steeple of the parish church in which God
publicly opened his mouth as a preacher—that he would in that same
church witness again before he died to the grace and glory of God.
Archbishop Hamilton,
who was at Falkland, hastened to St. Andrews with three hundred
armed men to prevent Knox from discharging this vow, for he well
knew the Reformer's power, and was afraid that if he were allowed to
preach to the citizens of St. Andrews it would go hard with the old
Church. Indeed the Archbishop threatened that in case "John Knox
presented himself to the preaching place, in his town and principal
Church, he should make him be saluted with a dozen of culverins
whereof the most part would light upon his nose." The Reformer's
friends were intimidated by this threat, for they were not in great
force in the city; but Knox would listen to no half-hearted
counsels, and, brushing aside their scruples and fears, he kept his
word and preached a sermon on "the ejection of the buyers and
sellers from the Temple." The result of this discourse was similar
to that of those preached in other churches, for "the Magistrates,
the Provost and Bailies, as the commonalty, for the most part within
the town, did agree to remove all monuments of idolatry, which also
they did with expedition." St. Andrews, when Knox entered it, was
not altogether whole-hearted for the Reformation, but before he left
the majority of its citizens sided with him; and some years later,
when he had to leave Edinburgh, his life being in danger, he found
friendly shelter within its walls. Argyle and the Lord James, who
now joined the Protestants in St. Andrews, were accompanied by a
considerable following; others joined them, and their numbers became
so great that Knox is forced to exclaim that it appeared "as men had
rained from the clouds."
The Regent, with her
forces led by the Duke of Chatelherault and D'Oysel, marched on St.
Andrews. The Lords of the Congregation went out to meet them.
Neither side was eager for battle. Indeed, one of the remarkable
features of the whole Revolution was the disinclination of both
parties to shed blood. The forces that opposed each other were
pretty equally matched, so far as numbers were concerned, and what
those of the Protestants lacked in discipline was more than made up
in enthusiasm and loyalty. The Regent could not depend upon her
army, for many of her soldiers favoured the new religion. Both sides
accordingly courted delay, and a truce of eight days was agreed upon
in the hope that terms might in the interval be arranged.
It wap. at this
juncture that Knox made a proposal for soliciting the aid of
England. He himself tells us that the matter was first discussed in
a private conversation between him and Kirkcaldy of Grange. These
two had been early brought together, and although their paths had
diverged, and would diverge again, they ever continued to have a
sincere regard for each other. They, probably, of all who took part
in the rising had least to gain from its success, and the
unselfishness of their motives could not fail to be perceived by all
their associates. They had nothing of that local patriotism which
distorted the vision of most Scottish politicians. They were not
possessed by an irrational suspicion or dread of England; they both
saw that only by an understanding with that country could success be
attained; for Kirkcaldy, as a soldier and general, must have been
impressed by the military weakness of the Protestant party, and Knox
looked forward to the union of the two countries as his chief hope
of their salvation from the tyranny and superstition of the Romish
Church, and the progress and establishment of the true religion.
Knox, besides, from his long residence in England, the important
posts he held there, his intimate knowledge of its political
tendencies and acquaintance with its chief men, was especially
fitted to pave the way for such a union.
In this conversation
Knox "after many words burst forth, "If England would foresee their
own commodity they would not suffer us to perish in this quarrel."
He was also convinced that "if the hearts of the Borderers of both
parts can be united together in God's fear our victory shall then be
easy." Indeed it was to unite the hearts of these same Borderers
that he craved permission when at Dieppe to pass through England on
his way to Scotland. He subsequently wrote to Cecil: "My eye hath
long looked to a perpetual concord betwixt these two realms." At a
later date this same policy is seen in his desire to see Queen
Elizabeth married to the Earl of Arran, the next heir to the
Scottish throne. Knox's visions were those of a true patriot and
farseeing statesman as well as of a Religious Reformer. He did not
live to see the fulfilment of his dream, which was reserved for a
later day; but he paved the way for, and took the first step in,
that union of the two Nations which is now the joy and strength of
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