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NO time was lost in
putting the main clauses of the Treaty into force. On the15th of
July the French sailed from Leith, and almost immediately thereafter
the English left for their own country. The occasion was one not
only of national but of deep religious importance, and Knox seized
it in order to commemorate in a worthy fashion the great deliverance
that had been vouchsafed to his country. Four days after the
departure of their allies the "whole nobility," he tells us, "and
the greatest part of the Congregation, assembled in St. Giles'
Church in Edinburgh, where after the sermon made for that purpose
public thanks were given unto God for His merciful deliverance."
Knox does not say who the preacher was, but there is every
likelihood that it was himself. No report is given of the sermon,
but the prayer is found in his History. In the petitions which he
offered up, Old Testament incidents are freely referred to in
illustration of the position of the Protestant Church in Scotland at
that time.
Ordering of the
Church. The first thing to be done was to distribute such ministers
as there were over the country. The chief cities and towns were of
course first supplied. Knox himself was appointed to Edinburgh; and
St. Andrews, Aberdeen, Perth, Jedburgh, Dundee, Dunfermline, and
Leith had preachers assigned to them. Five superintendents were also
nominated. The Parliament which met on the 10th of July, and which
was again prorogued to the 1st of August, was soon to reassemble,
and for the purpose of leading up to the important work which it had
to do Knox preached a series of discourses in St. Giles' on the
prophecy of Haggai. "The doctrine," he says, "was proper for the
time." That may have been so, but the effect of it was to give the
first indication of the blow that was to dash one of his dearest
hopes. "In application whereof," he continues, "he was so special
and so vehement that some having greater respect to the world than
to God's glory, feeling themselves pricked, said in mocking, 'We
must now forget ourselves and bear the barrow to build the house of
God.' God be merciful to the speaker," who, we are told, was
Lethington.
A petition at the
same time was drawn up, to be presented to Parliament by the barons,
gentlemen, burgesses and others, calling upon the legislature to
abolish the old religion and to establish the new. Of the many
exposures which, up to this date, had been made of the corruptions
and abuses of the Romish Church, this assuredly is the strongest. It
attacks the lives of the clergy, their doctrinal errors, the
idolatry of the Mass, and the supremacy of the Pope, whom it roundly
declares to be "that Man of Sin." The reading of this petition
produced divers opinions. The nobility had no objections to the
Reformed doctrine, but from worldly reasons, as Knox mentions, they
abhored "a perfect Reformation, for how many within Scotland that
have the name of nobility are not unjust possessors of the patrimony
of the Church." They had no desire to disgorge the Church lands
which they had already, under various pretexts, seized, and having
an eye on what still remained they were determined to put off as
long as possible a settlement of that part of the Church question.
Instructions, however, were given to the ministers to draw up "in
plain and several heads the sum of that doctrine which they would
maintain," and which they desired the present Parliament to
establish. This task was willingly undertaken, and within four days
they presented a Confession of Faith which was accepted "without
alteration of any one sentence."
The Parliament to
which this Confession was presented was by far the largest and most
important that had assembled for years. Many who had a right to vote
were present for the first time. They were the smaller barons and
lairds and representatives of the burghs. Some objection was taken
to their presence, but it was brushed aside. They were there because
of their single-minded interests in the Reformation. The great
nobles were there because of their interest in the patrimony of the
Church. The composition of the House shows the progress which the
new religion had made in the country, and how it was quickening the
life of the commons and people of Scotland. Men of small degree, but
with the right to vote, were there for the first time within seventy
years, and their presence was an indication of the larger
representation of the Scottish people that would, in the coming
years, through the new birth in which they had participated by the
revival of religion, be found in the national Parliament. |
