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Discovering Diverse Content Through
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poignant satires; being protected by James V. who retained a strong
attachment to the companion of his early sports, and the poet who
had often amused his leisure hours. After the death of that monarch,
he entered zealously into the measures pursued by the earl of Arran
at the commencement of his government; and when the regent
dismissed his reforming counsellors, Sir David was left exposed to
the vengeance of the clergy, who could never forgive the injuries
which they had received from his pen.74

Henry Balnaves of Halhill had raised himself, by his talents and

probity, from an obscure situation to the highest honours of the
state, and was justly regarded as one of the principal ornaments of
the reformed cause in Scotland. Descended from poor parents in the
town of Kirkcaldy, he travelled, when only a boy, to the continent,
and, hearing of a free school in Cologne, he gained admission to it,
and received a liberal education, together with instruction in the
principles of the protestant religion. Returning to his native country,
he applied himself to the study of law, and practised for some time
before the consistorial court of St Andrews.75 Notwithstanding the
jealousy of the clergy, his reputation daily increased, and he at
length obtained a seat in parliament and in the court of Session.76
James V. employed him in managing public affairs of great
importance; and at the beginning of Arran’s regency, he was made
secretary of State. The active part which he at that time took in the
measures for promoting the Reformation, rendered him peculiarly
obnoxious to the administration which succeeded, and obliged him
to seek shelter within the walls of the castle.77

John Rough, having conceived a disgust at being deprived of

some property to which he thought himself entitled, had left his
parents, and entered a monastery in Stirling, when he was only
seventeen years of age.78 During the time that the light of divine
truth was spreading through the nation, and penetrating even the
recesses of cloisters, he had felt its influence, and became a convert
to the reformed sentiments. The reputation which he had gained as
a preacher was such, that, in the year 1543, the earl of Arran
procured a dispensation for his leaving the monastery, and
appointed him one of his chaplains. Upon the apostacy of Arran from
the reformed religion, he retired first into Kyle, and afterwards into
the castle of St Andrews, where he was chosen preacher to the
garrison.79

These persons were so much pleased with Knox’s talents, and

his manner of teaching his pupils, that they urged him strongly to
preach in public, and to become colleague to Rough. But he resisted
all their solicitations, assigning as his reason, that he did not
consider himself as having a call to this employment, and would not
be guilty of intrusion. They did not, however, desist from their
purpose; but having consulted with their brethren, came to a
resolution, without his knowledge, that a call should be publicly
given him, in the name of the whole, to become one of their
ministers.

Accordingly, on a day fixed for the purpose, Rough preached a

sermon on the election of ministers, in which he declared the power
which a congregation, however small, had over any one in whom
they perceived gifts suited to the office, and how dangerous it was
for such a person to reject the call of those who desired instruction.
Sermon being concluded, the preacher turned to Knox, who was
present, and addressed him in these words: “Brother, you shall not
be offended, although I speak unto you that which I have in charge,
even from all those that are here present, which is this: In the name
of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ, and in the name of all that
presently call you by my mouth, I charge you that you refuse not
this holy vocation, but as you tender the glory of God, the increase
of Christ’s kingdom, the edification of your brethren, and the comfort
of me, whom you understand well enough to be oppressed by the
multitude of labours, that you take the public office and charge of
preaching, even as you look to avoid God’s heavy displeasure, and
desire that he shall multiply his graces unto you.” Then, addressing
himself to the congregation, he said, “Was not this your charge unto
me? and do ye not approve this vocation?” They all answered, “It
was; and we approve it.” Overwhelmed by this unexpected and
solemn charge, Knox, after an ineffectual attempt to address the
audience, burst into tears, rushed out of the assembly, and shut
himself up in his chamber. “His countenance and behaviour, from
that day till the day that he was compelled to present himself in the
public place of preaching, did sufficiently declare the grief and
trouble of his heart; for no man saw any sign of mirth from him,
neither had he pleasure to accompany any man for many days
together.”80

This proof of the sensibility of his temper, and the reluctance

which he felt at undertaking a public office, may surprise those who
have carelessly adopted the common notions respecting our
Reformer’s character; but we shall meet with many examples of the
same kind in the course of his life. The scene, too, will be extremely
interesting to such as are impressed with the weight of the
ministerial function, and will naturally awaken a train of feelings in
the breasts of those who have been intrusted with the gospel. It
revives the memory of those early days of the church, when persons
did not rush forward to the altar, nor beg to “be put into one of the
priest’s offices, to eat a piece of bread;” when men of piety and
talents, deeply affected with the awful responsibility of the office,
and with their own insufficiency, were with great difficulty induced to
take on them those orders which they had long desired, and for
which they had laboured to qualify themselves. What a contrast did
this exhibit to the conduct of the herd, which at that time filled the
stalls of the popish church! The behaviour of Knox serves also to
reprove those who become preachers of their own accord; and who,
from vague and enthusiastic desires of doing good, or a fond conceit
of their own gifts, trample upon good order, and thrust themselves
into public employment without any regular call.

We must not, however, imagine, that his distress of mind, and

the reluctance which he discovered to comply with the call which he
had received, proceeded from consciousness of its invalidity, through
the defect of certain external formalities which had been usual in the
church, or which, in ordinary cases, may be observed with propriety
in the installation of persons into sacred offices. These, as far as
warranted by scripture, or conducive to the preservation of order, he
did not contemn; and his judgment respecting them may be learned
from the early practice of the Scottish reformed church, in the
organization of which he had so active a share. In common with all
the original reformers, he rejected the necessity of episcopal
ordination, as totally unauthorized by the laws of Christ; nor did he
even regard the imposition of the hands of presbyters as a rite
essential to the validity of orders, or of necessary observance in all
circumstances of the church. The papists, indeed, did not fail to
declaim on this topic, representing Knox, and other reformed
ministers, as destitute of all lawful vocation. In the same strain did
many hierarchical writers of the English church afterwards learn to
talk, not scrupling, by their extravagant doctrine of the absolute
necessity of ordination by the hands of a bishop who derived his
powers by uninterrupted succession from the apostles, to invalidate
and nullify the orders of all the reformed churches, except their own;
a doctrine which has been revived in the present enlightened age,
and unblushingly avowed and defended, with the greater part of its
absurd, illiberal, and horrid consequences. The fathers of the English
reformation, however, were very far from entertaining such
contracted and unchristian sentiments. When Knox afterwards went
to England, they accepted his services without the smallest
hesitation. They maintained a constant correspondence with the
reformed divines on the continent, and cheerfully owned them as
brethren and fellow‑labourers in the ministry. And they were not so
ignorant of their principles, nor so forgetful of their character, as to
prefer ordination by popish prelates to that which was conferred by
protestant presbyters.81 I will not say that our Reformer utterly
disregarded his early ordination in the popish church, although, if we
may credit the testimony of his adversaries, this was his
sentiment;82 but I have little doubt that he looked upon the charge
which he received at St Andrews as principally constituting his call to
the ministry.

His distress of mind on the present occasion proceeded from a

higher source than the deficiency of some external formalities in his
call. He had now very different thoughts as to the importance of the
ministerial office, from what he had entertained when ceremoniously
invested with orders. The care of immortal souls, of whom he must
give an account to the chief bishop; the charge of declaring “the
whole counsel of God, keeping nothing back,” however ungrateful it
might be to his hearers; the manner of life, afflictions, persecutions,
imprisonment, exile, and violent death, to which the preachers of
the protestant doctrine were exposed; the hazard of his sinking
under these hardships, and “making shipwreck of faith and a good
conscience;”—these, with similar considerations, rushed into his
mind, and filled it with anxiety and fear. Satisfied, at length, that he
had the call of God to engage in this work, he composed his mind to
a reliance on him who had engaged to make his “strength perfect in
the weakness” of his servants, and resolved, with the apostle, “not
to count his life dear, that he might finish with joy the ministry which
he received of the Lord, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”
Often did he afterwards reflect with lively emotion upon this very
interesting step of his life, and never, in the midst of his greatest
sufferings, did he see reason to repent of the choice which he had
so deliberately made.

An occurrence which took place about this time contributed to

fix his wavering resolution, and induced an earlier compliance with
the call of the congregation than he might otherwise have been
disposed to yield. Though sound in doctrine, Rough’s literary
acquirements were moderate. Of this circumstance the patrons of
the established religion in the university and abbey took advantage;
and among others, dean John Annand83 had long proved vexatious
to him, by stating objections to the doctrine which he preached, and
entangling him with sophisms, or garbled quotations from the
fathers. Knox had assisted the preacher with his pen, and by his
superior skill in logic and the writings of the fathers, had exposed
Annand’s fallacies, and confuted the popish errors. This polemic,
being, one day, at a public disputation in the parish church, driven
from all his usual defences, fled, as his last refuge, to the infallible
authority of the church, which, he alleged, had rendered all further
debate on these points unnecessary, in consequence of its having
condemned the tenets of the Lutherans as heretical. To this Knox
replied, that, before they could submit to such a summary
determination of the matters in controversy, it was requisite to
ascertain the true church by the marks given in scripture, lest they
should blindly receive, as their spiritual mother, “a harlot instead of
the immaculate spouse of Jesus Christ.” “For,” continued he, “as for
your Roman church, as it is now corrupted, wherein stands the hope
of your victory, I no more doubt that it is the synagogue of Satan,
and the head thereof, called the pope, to be that man of sin of
whom the apostle speaks, than I doubt that Jesus Christ suffered by
the procurement of the visible church of Jerusalem. Yea, I offer
myself, by word or writing, to prove the Roman church this day
farther degenerate from the purity which was in the days of the
apostles, than were the church of the Jews from the ordinances
given by Moses, when they consented to the innocent death of Jesus
Christ.” This was a bold charge; but the minds of the people were
prepared to listen to the proof. They exclaimed, that, if this was true,
they had been miserably deceived, and insisted that, as they could
not all read his writings, he should ascend the pulpit, and give them
an opportunity of hearing the probation of what he had so
confidently affirmed. The request was reasonable, and the challenge
was not to be retracted. The following Sabbath was accordingly fixed
for making good his promise.

On the day appointed, he appeared in the pulpit of the parish

church, and gave out the twenty‑fourth and twenty‑fifth verses of
the seventh chapter of Daniel, as his text. After an introduction, in
which he explained the vision, and showed that the four animals
hieroglyphically represented four empires—the Babylonian, Persian,
Grecian, and Roman, out of the ruins of the last of which rose the
empire described in his text, he proceeded to show that this was
applicable to no power but the papal. He compared the parallel
passages in the New Testament, and showed that the king
mentioned in his text was the same elsewhere called the Man of Sin,
the Antichrist, the Babylonian harlot; and that, in prophetical style,
these expressions did not describe a single person, but a body or
multitude of people under a wicked head, including a succession of
persons occupying the same place. In support of his assertion, that
the papal power was antichristian, he described it under the three
heads of life, doctrine, and laws. He depicted the scandalous lives of
the popes from records published by Roman catholic writers, and
contrasted their doctrine and laws with those of the New Testament,
particularly on the heads of justification, holidays, and abstinence
from meats and from marriage. He quoted from the canon law the
blasphemous titles and prerogatives ascribed to the pope, as an
additional proof that he was described in his text.84 In conclusion, he
signified that, if any of his hearers thought that he had misquoted or
misinterpreted the testimonies which he had produced from the
scriptures, ecclesiastical history, or the writings of the fathers, he
was ready, upon their coming to him, in the presence of witnesses,
to give them satisfaction. Among the audience were his former
preceptor, Major, and the other members of the university, the
sub‑prior of the abbey, and a great number of canons and friars of
different orders.

This sermon, delivered with a considerable portion of that

popular eloquence for which Knox was afterwards so celebrated,
made a great noise, and excited much speculation among all
classes.85 The preachers who had preceded him, not even excepting
Wishart, had contented themselves with refuting some of the
grosser errors of the established religion; Knox struck at the root of
popery, by boldly pronouncing the pope to be antichrist, and the
whole system erroneous and antiscriptural. The report of this
sermon, and of the effects produced by it, having reached Hamilton,
the bishop‑elect of St Andrews, he wrote to Winram, who was
vicar‑general during the vacancy of the see, expressing his surprise
that such heretical and schismatical tenets were allowed to be
taught without opposition. Winram was at bottom friendly to the
reformed doctrine; but he durst not altogether disregard this
admonition, and therefore appointed a convention of the learned
men of the abbey and university to be held in St Leonard’s Yards, to
which he summoned Knox and Rough.

The two preachers appeared before that assembly. Nine articles,

drawn from their sermons, were exhibited, “the strangeness of
which,” the sub‑prior said, “had moved him to call for them to hear
their answers.” Knox conducted the defence, for himself and his
colleague, with much acuteness and moderation. He expressed high
satisfaction at appearing before an auditory so honourable, modest,
and grave. As he was not a stranger to the report concerning the
private sentiments of Winram, and nothing was more abhorrent to
his own mind than dissimulation, he, before commencing his
defence, obtested him to deal uprightly in a matter of such
magnitude. “The people,” he said, “ought not to be deceived or left
in the dark; if his colleague and he had advanced any thing
unscriptural, he wished the sub‑prior by all means to expose it; but
if, on the other hand, the doctrine taught by them was true, it was
his duty to give it the sanction of his authority.” Winram cautiously
replied, that he did not come there as a judge, and would neither
approve nor condemn; he wished a free conference, and, if Knox
pleased, he would reason with him a little. Accordingly, he
proceeded to state some objections to one of the propositions
maintained by Knox, “That, in the worship of God, and especially in
the administration of the sacraments, the rule prescribed in the
scriptures is to be observed without addition or diminution; and that
the church has no right to devise religious ceremonies, and impose
significations upon them.” After maintaining the argument for a short
time, the sub‑prior devolved it on a grey‑friar, named Arbugkill, who
took it up with great confidence, but was soon forced to yield with
disgrace. He rashly engaged to prove the divine institution of
ceremonies; and, being pushed by his antagonist from the gospels
and acts to the epistles, and from one epistle to another, he was
driven at last to affirm, “that the apostles had not received the Holy
Ghost when they wrote the epistles, but they afterwards received
him, and ordained ceremonies.” Knox smiled at the extravagant
assertion. “Father!” exclaimed the sub‑prior, “what say ye? God
forbid that ye say that! for then farewell the ground of our faith.”
Alarmed and abashed, the friar attempted to correct his error, but in
vain. He could not afterwards be brought to argument upon any of
the articles, but resolved all into the authority of the church. His
opponent urging that the church could have no authority to act in
opposition to the express directions of scripture, which enjoined an
exact conformity to the divine laws respecting worship: “If so,” said
Arbugkill, “you will leave us no church.” “Yes,” rejoined Knox,
sarcastically, “in David I read of the church of malignants. Odi
ecclesiam malignantium; this church you may have without the
word, and fighting against it. Of this church if you will be, I cannot
hinder you; but as for me, I will be of no other church but that
which has Jesus Christ for pastor, hears his voice, and will not hear
the voice of a stranger.” For purgatory, the friar had no better
authority than that of Virgil in the sixth Æneid; and the pains of it,
according to him, were—a bad wife.86

Solventur risu tabulæ; tu missus abibis.

Instructed by the issue of this convention, the papists avoided

for the future all disputation, which tended only to injure their cause.
Had the castle of St Andrews been in their power, they would soon
have silenced these troublesome preachers; but as matters stood,
more moderate and crafty measures were necessary. The plan
adopted for counteracting the popular preaching of Knox and Rough
was artfully laid. Orders were issued, that all the learned men of the
abbey and university should preach by turns every Sunday in the
parish church. By this means the reformed preachers were excluded
on those days, when the greatest audiences attended; and it was
expected that the diligence of the established clergy would conciliate
the affections of the people. To avoid offence or occasion of
speculation, they were also instructed not to touch in their sermons
upon any of the controverted points. Knox easily saw through this
artifice; but he contented himself with expressing a wish, in the
sermons which he still delivered on week days, that the clergy would
show themselves equally diligent in places where their labours were
more necessary. He, at the same time, expressed his satisfaction
that Christ was preached, and that nothing was spoken publicly
against the truth; if any thing of this kind should be attempted, he
requested the people to suspend their judgment, until they should
have an opportunity of hearing him in reply.87

His labours were so successful, during the few months that he

preached at St Andrews, that, besides the garrison in the castle, a
great number of the inhabitants of the town renounced popery, and
made profession of the protestant faith, by participating of the Lord’s
supper. This was the first time that the sacrament of the supper was
dispensed after the reformed mode in Scotland; if we except the
administration of it by Wishart in the same place, which was
performed with great privacy, immediately before his martyrdom.88
Those who preceded Knox appear to have contented themselves
with preaching; and such as embraced their doctrine had most
probably continued to receive the sacraments from the popish
clergy, at least from such of them as were most friendly to the
reformation of the church. The gratification which he felt in these
first fruits of his ministry, was considerably abated by instances of
vicious conduct in the persons under his charge, some of whom
were guilty of those acts of licentiousness which are too common
among soldiery when placed in similar circumstances. From the time
that he was chosen to be their preacher, he had openly rebuked
these disorders; and when he perceived that his admonitions failed
in putting a stop to them, he did not conceal his apprehensions of
the unsuccessful issue of the enterprise in which they were
engaged.89

In the end of June 1547, a French fleet, with a considerable

body of land forces, under the command of Leo Strozzi, appeared
before St Andrews, to assist the governor in the reduction of the
castle. It was invested both by sea and land; and being disappointed
of the expected aid from England, the besieged, after a brave and
vigorous resistance, were under the necessity of capitulating to the
French commander on the last day of July. The terms which they
obtained were honourable; the lives of all in the castle were to be
spared, they were to be transported to France, and if they did not
choose to enter into the service of the French king, were to be
conveyed to any country which they might prefer, except Scotland.
John Rough had left them previous to the commencement of the
siege, and retired to England.90 Knox, although he did not expect
that the garrison would be able to hold out, could not prevail upon
himself to desert his charge, and resolved to share with his brethren
in the hazard of the siege. He was conveyed along with them on
board the fleet, which, in a few days, set sail for France, arrived at
Fecamp, and, going up the Seine, anchored before Rouen. The
capitulation was violated, and they were all detained prisoners of
war, at the solicitation of the pope and Scottish clergy. The principal
gentlemen were incarcerated in Rouen, Cherburg, Brest and Mont
St Michel. Knox, with a few others, was confined on board the
galleys, and in addition to the rigours of ordinary captivity, was
loaded with chains, and exposed to all the indignities with which
papists were accustomed to treat those whom they regarded as
heretics.91

From Rouen they sailed to Nantes, and lay upon the Loire
during the following winter. Solicitations, threatenings, and violence,
were all employed to induce the prisoners to change their religion, or
at least to countenance the popish worship. But so great was their
abhorrence of that system, that not a single individual of the whole
company, on land or water, could be induced to symbolize in the
smallest degree with idolaters. While the prison‑ships lay on the
Loire, mass was frequently said, and salve regina sung, on board, or
on the shore within their hearing. On these occasions they were
brought out and threatened with the torture, if they did not give the
usual signs of reverence; but instead of complying, they covered
their heads as soon as the service began. Knox has preserved, in his
history, a humorous incident which took place on one of these
occasions; and although he has not said so, it is highly probable that
he himself was the person concerned in the affair. One day a fine
painted image of the Virgin was brought into one of the galleys, and
a Scottish prisoner was desired to give it the kiss of adoration. He
refused, saying that such idols were accursed, and he would not
touch it. “But you shall,” replied one of the officers roughly, at the
same time forcing it towards his mouth. Upon this the prisoner
seized the image, and throwing it into the river, said, “Lat our Ladie
now save hirself; sche is lycht enoughe, lat hir leirne to swyme.” The
officers with difficulty saved their goddess from the waves; and the
prisoners were relieved for the future from such troublesome
importunities.92

In summer 1548, as nearly as I can collect, the galleys in which

they were confined returned to Scotland, and continued for a
considerable time on the east coast, watching for English vessels.
Knox’s health was now greatly impaired by the severity of his
confinement, and he was seized with a fever, during which his life
was despaired of by all in the ship.93 But even in this state, his
fortitude of mind remained unsubdued,94 and he comforted his
fellow‑prisoners with hopes of release. To their anxious desponding
inquiries (natural to men in their situation), “if he thought they
would ever obtain their liberty,” his uniform answer was, “God will
deliver us to his glory, even in this life.” While they lay on the coast
between Dundee and St Andrews, Mr (afterwards Sir) James Balfour,
who was confined in the same ship with him, pointed to the spires of
St Andrews, and asked him if he knew the place. “Yes,” replied the
sickly and emaciated captive, “I know it well; for I see the steeple of
that place where God first opened my mouth in public to his glory;
and I am fully persuaded, how weak soever I now appear, that
I shall not depart this life, till that my tongue shall glorify his godly
name in the same place.” This striking reply Sir James repeated, in
the presence of a number of witnesses, many years before Knox
returned to Scotland, and when there was very little prospect of his
words being verified.95

We must not, however, think that he possessed this tranquillity

and elevation of mind, during the whole period of his imprisonment.
When first thrown into fetters, insulted by his enemies, and deprived
of all prospect of release, he was not a stranger to the anguish of
despondency, so pathetically described by the royal psalmist of
Israel.96 He felt that conflict in his spirit, with which all good men are
acquainted, and which becomes peculiarly sharp when aggravated
by corporal affliction. But, having had recourse to prayer, the
never‑failing refuge of the oppressed, he was relieved from all his
fears, and, reposing upon the promise and the providence of the
God whom he served, he attained to “the confidence and rejoicing of
hope.” Those who wish for a more particular account of the state of
his mind at this time, will find it in the notes, extracted from a rare
work which he composed on prayer, and the chief materials of which
were suggested by his own experience.97

When free from fever, he relieved the tedious hours of captivity,

by committing to writing a confession of his faith, containing the
substance of what he had taught at St Andrews, with a particular
account of the disputation which he had maintained in St Leonard’s
Yards. This he found means to convey to his religious acquaintances
in Scotland, accompanied with an earnest exhortation to persevere
in the faith which they had professed, whatever persecutions they
might suffer for its sake.98 To this confession I find him referring, in
the defence which he afterwards made before the bishop of
Durham. “Let no man think, that because I am in the realm of
England, therefore so boldly I speak. No: God hath taken that
suspicion from me. For the body lying in most painful bands, in the
midst of cruel tyrants, his mercy and goodness provided that the
hand should write and bear witness to the confession of the heart,
more abundantly than ever yet the tongue spake.”99
 Notwithstanding the rigour of their confinement, the prisoners
who were separated found opportunities of occasionally
corresponding with one another. Henry Balnaves of Hallhill had
composed, in his prison, a treatise on Justification and the Works
and Conversation of a Justified Man. This having been conveyed to
Knox, probably after his return from the coast of Scotland, he was so
much pleased with the work, that he divided it into chapters, and
added some marginal notes, and a concise epitome of its contents;
to the whole he prefixed a recommendatory dedication, intending
that it should be published for the use of his brethren in Scotland, as
soon as an opportunity offered.100 The reader will not, I am
persuaded, be displeased to have some extracts from this
dedication, which represent, more forcibly than any description of
mine can do, the pious and heroic spirit which animated the
Reformer, when “his feet lay in irons;” and I shall quote more freely,
as the book is rare.

It is thus inscribed:101 “John Knox, the bound servant of Jesus

Christ, unto his best beloved brethren of the congregation of the
castle of St Andrews, and to all professors of Christ’s true evangel,
desireth grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, with
perpetual consolation of the Holy Spirit.” After mentioning a number
of instances in which the name of God had been magnified, and the
interests of religion advanced, by the exile of those who were driven
from their native countries by tyranny, as in the examples of Joseph,
Moses, Daniel, and the primitive Christians, he goes on thus: “Which
thing shall openly declare this godly work subsequent. The counsel
of Satan in the persecution102 of us, first, was to stop the
wholesome wind of Christ’s evangel to blow upon the parts where
we converse and dwell; and, secondly, so to oppress ourselves by
corporal affliction and worldly calamities, that no place should we
find to godly study. But by the great mercy and infinite goodness of
God our Father, shall these his counsels be frustrate and vain. For, in
despite of him and all his wicked members, shall yet that same word
(O Lord! this I speak, confiding in thy holy promise) openly be
proclaimed in that same country. And how that our merciful Father,
amongst these tempestuous storms, by103 all men’s expectation,
hath provided some rest for us, this present work shall testify, which
was sent to me in Roane, lying in irons, and sore troubled by
corporal infirmity, in a galley named Nostre Dame, by an honourable
brother, Mr Henry Balnaves of Hallhill, for the present holden as
prisoner, (though unjustly) in the old palace of Roane.104 Which
work after I had once again read, to the great comfort and
consolation of my spirit, by counsel and advice of the foresaid noble
and faithful man, author of the said work, I thought expedient it
should be digested in chapters, &c. Which thing I have done as
imbecility of ingine105 and incommodity of place would permit; not
so much to illustrate the work (which in the self is godly and perfect)
as, together with the foresaid nobleman and faithful brother, to give
my confession of the article of justification therein contained.106 And
I beseech you, beloved brethren, earnestly to consider, if we deny
any thing presently, (or yet conceal and hide,) which any time before
we professed in that article. And now we have not the castle of
St Andrews to be our defence, as some of our enemies falsely
accused us, saying, If we wanted our walls, we would not speak so
boldly. But blessed be that Lord whose infinite goodness and wisdom
hath taken from us the occasion of that slander, and hath shown
unto us, that the serpent hath power only to sting the heel, that is,
to molest and trouble the flesh, but not to move the spirit from
constant adhering to Christ Jesus, nor public professing of his true
word. O blessed be thou, Eternal Father! which, by thy only mercy,
hast preserved us to this day, and provided that the confession of
our faith (which ever we desired all men to have known) should, by
this treatise, come plainly to light. Continue, O Lord! and grant unto
us, that, as now with pen and ink, so shortly we may confess with
voice and tongue the same before thy congregation; upon whom
look, O Lord God! with the eyes of thy mercy, and suffer no more
darkness to prevail. I pray you pardon me, beloved brethren, that on
this manner I digress: vehemency of spirit (the Lord knoweth I lie
not) compelleth me thereto.”
 The prisoners in Mont St Michel consulted Knox, as to the
lawfulness of attempting to escape by breaking their prison, which
was opposed by some of them, lest their escape should subject their
brethren who remained in confinement to more severe treatment.
He returned for answer, that such fears were not a sufficient reason
for relinquishing the design, and that they might, with a safe
conscience, effect their escape, provided it could be done “without
the blood of any shed or spilt; but to shed any man’s blood for their
freedom, he would never consent.”107 The attempt was accordingly
made by them, and successfully executed, “without harm done to
the person of any, and without touching any thing that appertained
to the king, the captain, or the house.”108

At length, after enduring a tedious and severe imprisonment of

nineteen months, Knox obtained his liberty. This happened in the
month of February, 1549, according to the modern computation.109
By what means his liberation was procured I cannot certainly
determine. One account says, that the galley in which he was
confined was taken in the Channel by the English.110 According to
another account, he was liberated by order of the king of France,
because it appeared, on examination, that he was not concerned in
the murder of cardinal Beatoun, nor accessory to other crimes
committed by those who held the castle of St Andrews.111 In the
opinion of others, his liberty was purchased by his acquaintances,
who fondly cherished the hope that he was destined to accomplish
some great achievements, and were anxious, by their interposition in
his behalf, to be instrumental in promoting the designs of
providence.112 It is more probable, however, 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.
 PERIOD III.

FROM THE YEAR 1549, WHEN HE WAS RELEASED

FROM THE FRENCH GALLEYS, TO THE YEAR 1554,

WHEN HE FLED FROM ENGLAND.

Upon regaining his liberty, Knox immediately repaired to

England. The objections which he had formerly entertained against a
residence in that kingdom were now in a great measure removed.
Henry VIII. had died in the year 1547; and archbishop Cranmer,
released from the severe restraint under which he had been held by
his tyrannical and capricious master, now exerted himself with much
zeal in advancing the Reformation. In this he was cordially supported
by those who governed the kingdom during the minority of
Edward VI. But the undertaking was extensive and difficult; and, in
carrying it on, he found a great deficiency of ecclesiastical
coadjutors. Although the most of the bishops had externally
complied with the alterations introduced by authority, they remained
attached to the old religion, and secretly thwarted, instead of
seconding, the measures of the primate. The inferior clergy were, in
general, as unable as they were unwilling to undertake the
instruction of the people,113 whose ignorance of religion was in
many parts of the country extreme, and whose superstitious habits
had become quite inveterate. This evil, which prevailed universally
throughout the popish church, instead of being corrected, was
considerably aggravated by a ruinous measure adopted at the
commencement of the English reformation. When Henry suppressed
the monasteries, and seized their revenues, he allotted pensions to
the monks during life; but to relieve the royal treasury of this
burden, small benefices in the gift of the crown were afterwards
substituted in the place of pensions. The example of the monarch
was imitated by the nobles who had procured monastic lands. By
this means a great part of the inferior livings were held by ignorant
and superstitious monks, who were a dead weight upon the English
church, and a principal cause of the nation’s sudden relapse to
popery, at the subsequent accession of queen Mary.114

Cranmer had already adopted measures for remedying this

alarming evil. With the concurrence of the protector and privy
council, he had invited a number of learned protestants from
Germany into England, and had placed Peter Martyr, Martin Bucer,
Paul Fagius, and Emanuel Tremellius, as professors in the
universities of Oxford and Cambridge. This was a wise measure,
which secured a future supply of useful preachers, trained up by
these able masters; but the necessity was urgent, and demanded
immediate provision. For this purpose, instead of fixing a number of
orthodox and popular preachers in particular charges, it was judged
most expedient to employ them in itinerating through different parts
of the kingdom, where the clergy were most illiterate or disaffected
to the Reformation, and where the inhabitants were most addicted
to superstition.

In these circumstances, our zealous countryman did not remain

long unemployed. The reputation which he had gained by his
preaching at St Andrews,115 and his late sufferings, recommended
him to the English council; and soon after his arrival in England, he
was sent down from London to preach in Berwick.116

The council had every reason to be pleased with the choice

which they had made of a northern preacher. He had long thirsted
for the opportunity which he now enjoyed. His love for the truth, and
his zeal against popery, had been inflamed during his captivity, and
he spared neither time nor labour in the instruction of those to
whom he was sent. Regarding the worship of the Romish church as
idolatrous, and its doctrines as damnable, he attacked both with the
utmost fervour, and exerted himself in drawing his hearers from the
belief of the one, and from the observance of the other, with as
much eagerness as if he had been saving their lives from a
devouring flame or flood. Nor were his efforts fruitless. During the
two years that he continued in Berwick, numbers were converted by
his ministry from ignorance and the errors of popery; and a visible
reformation of manners was produced upon the soldiers of the
garrison, who had formerly been noted for licentiousness and
turbulence.117

The popularity and success of a protestant preacher were very

galling to the clergy in that quarter, who were, almost to a man,
bigoted papists, and enjoyed the patronage of the bishop of the
diocese. Tonstal, bishop of Durham, like his friend Sir Thomas More,
was one of those men of whom it is extremely difficult to give a
correct idea, qualities of an opposite kind being mixed and blended
in his character. Surpassing all his brethren in polite learning, he was
the patron of bigotry and superstition. Displaying, in private life, that
moderation and suavity of manners which liberal studies usually
inspire,118 he was accessory to the public measures of a reign
disgraced throughout by the most shocking barbarities. Claiming our
praise for honesty by opposing in parliament innovations which his
judgment condemned, he forfeited it by the most tame acquiescence
and ample conformity; thereby maintaining his station amidst all the
revolutions of religion during three successive reigns. He had paid
little attention to the science immediately connected with his
profession, and most probably was indifferent to the controversies
then agitated; but, living in an age in which it was necessary for
every man to choose his side, he adhered to those opinions which
had been long established, and which were friendly to the power
and splendour of the ecclesiastical order. As if anxious to atone for
his fault, in having been instrumental in producing a breach between
England and the Roman see, he opposed in parliament all the
subsequent changes. Opposition awakened his zeal; he became at
last a strenuous advocate for the popish tenets; and wrote a book in
defence of transubstantiation, of which, says bishop Burnet, “the
Latin style is better than the divinity.”

The labours of one who exerted himself to overthrow what the

bishop wished to support, could not fail to be very disagreeable to
Tonstal. As Knox acted under the authority of the protector and
council, he durst not inhibit him; but he was disposed to listen to the
informations which were lodged against him by the clergy. Although
the town of Berwick was Knox’s principal station during the years
1549 and 1550, it is probable that he was appointed to preach
occasionally in the adjacent country. Whether, in the course of his
itinerancy, he had preached in Newcastle, or whether he was called
up to it in consequence of complaints against the sermons which he
had delivered at Berwick, it is difficult to ascertain. It is, however,
certain, that a charge was exhibited against him before the bishop,
for teaching that the sacrifice of the mass was idolatrous, and that a
day was appointed for him publicly to assign his reasons for this
opinion.

Accordingly, on the 4th of April, 1550, a large assembly being

convened in Newcastle, among whom were the members of the
council,119 the bishop of Durham, and the learned men of his
cathedral, Knox delivered in their presence an ample defence of his
doctrine. After an appropriate exordium, in which he stated to the
audience the occasion and design of his appearance, and cautioned
them against the powerful prejudices of education and custom in
favour of erroneous opinions and corrupt practices in religion, he
proceeded to establish the doctrine which he had taught. The
manner in which he treated the subject was well adapted to his
auditory, which was composed both of the learned and the illiterate.
He proposed his arguments in the syllogistic form, according to the
practice of the schools, but illustrated them with a plainness level to
the meanest capacity among his hearers. The propositions on which
he rested his defence are very descriptive of his characteristic
boldness of thinking and acting. A more cautious and timid disputant
would have satisfied himself with attacking the grosser notions
which were generally entertained by the people on this subject, and
exposing the glaring abuses of which the priests were guilty in the
lucrative sale of masses. Knox scorned to occupy himself in
demolishing these feeble and falling outworks, and proceeded
directly to establish a principle which overthrew the whole fabric of
superstition. He engaged to prove that the mass, “even in her most
high degree,” and when stripped of the meretricious dress in which
she now appeared, was an idol struck from the inventive brain of
superstition, which had supplanted the sacrament of the supper, and
engrossed the honour due to the person and sacrifice of Jesus
Christ. “Spare no arrows,” was Knox’s motto; the authority of
scripture, and the force of reasoning, grave reproof, and pointed
irony, were weapons which he alternately employed. In the course of
this defence, he did not restrain those sallies of raillery, which the
fooleries of the popish superstition irresistibly provoke, even from
such as are deeply impressed with its pernicious tendency. Before
concluding his discourse, he adverted to certain doctrines which he
had heard in that place on the preceding sabbath, the falsehood of
which he engaged to demonstrate; but, in the first place, he said, he
would submit the notes of the sermon, which he had taken down, to
the preacher, that he might correct them as he saw proper; for his
object was not to misrepresent, or captiously entrap a speaker, by
catching at words unadvisedly uttered, but to defend the truth, and
warn his hearers against errors destructive to their souls. The
defence, as drawn up by Knox himself, is now before me in
manuscript, and the reader who wishes a more particular account of
its contents, will find it in the notes.120

This defence had the effect of extending Knox’s fame through

the north of England, while it completely silenced the bishop and his
learned assistants.121 He continued to preach at Berwick during the
remaining part of this year, and in the following was removed to
Newcastle, and placed in a sphere of greater usefulness. In
December 1551, the privy council conferred on him a mark of their
approbation, by appointing him one of king Edward’s chaplains in
ordinary. “It was appointed,” says his majesty, in a journal of
important transactions which he wrote with his own hand, “that
I should have six chaplains ordinary, of which two ever to be
present, and four absent in preaching; one year, two in Wales, two
in Lancashire and Derby; next year, two in the marches of Scotland,
and two in Yorkshire; the third year, two in Norfolk and Essex, and
two in Kent and Sussex. These six to be Bill, Harle,122 Perne, Grindal,
Bradford, and ――.”123 The name of the sixth has been dashed out
of the journal, but the industrious Strype has shown that it was
Knox.124 “These, it seems, were the most zealous and readiest
preachers, who were sent about as itinerants, to supply the defects
of the greatest part of the clergy, who were generally very faulty.”125
An annual salary of forty pounds was allotted to each of the
chaplains.126

In the course of this year, Knox was consulted about the Book
of Common Prayer, which was undergoing a revisal. On that
occasion, it is probable that he was called up for a short time to
London. Although the persons who had the chief direction of
ecclesiastical affairs were not disposed, or did not deem it as yet
expedient, to introduce that thorough reform which he judged
necessary, in order to reduce the worship of the English church to
the scripture‑model, his representations on this head were not
altogether disregarded. He had influence to procure an important
change in the communion‑office, completely excluding the notion of
the corporal presence of Christ in the sacrament, and guarding
against the adoration of the elements, which was too much
countenanced by the practice still continued, of kneeling at their
reception.127 In his Admonition to the Professors of the Truth in
England, Knox speaks of these amendments with great satisfaction.
“Also God gave boldness and knowledge to the court of parliament
to take away the round clipped god, wherein standeth all the
holiness of the papists, and to command common bread to be used
at the Lord’s table, and also to take away the most part of
superstitions (kneeling at the Lord’s table excepted) which before
profaned Christ’s true religion.” These alterations gave great offence
to the papists. In a disputation with Latimer, after the accession of
queen Mary, the prolocutor, Dr Weston, complained of our
countryman’s influence in procuring them. “A runnagate Scot did
take away the adoration or worshipping of Christ in the sacrament,
by whose procurement that heresy was put into the last
communion‑book; so much prevailed that one man’s authority at
that time.”128 In the following year, he was employed in revising the
Articles of Religion, previous to their ratification by parliament.129

During his residence at Berwick, he had formed an acquaintance

with Marjory Bowes, a young lady who afterwards became his wife.
Her father, Richard Bowes, was the youngest son of Sir Ralph Bowes
of Streatlam; her mother was Elizabeth, the daughter and one of the
co‑heirs of Sir Roger Aske of Aske.130 Before he left Berwick, Knox
had paid his addresses to this young lady, and met with a favourable
reception. Her mother also was friendly to the match; but, owing to
some reason, most probably the presumed aversion of her father, it
was deemed prudent to delay solemnizing the union. But having
come under a formal promise to her, he considered himself, from
that time, as sacredly bound, and in his letters to Mrs Bowes always
addressed that lady by the name of mother.131

Without derogating from the praise justly due to those worthy

men who were at this time employed in disseminating religious truth
through England, I may say, that our countryman was not behind
the first of them, in the unwearied assiduity with which he laboured
in the stations assigned to him. From an early period his mind seems
to have presaged, that the golden opportunity now enjoyed would
not be of long duration. He was eager to “redeem the time,” and
indefatigable both in his studies and in teaching. In addition to his
ordinary services on sabbath, he preached regularly on week‑days,
frequently on every day of the week.132 Besides the portion of time
which he allotted to study, he was often employed in conversing with
persons who applied to him for advice on religious subjects.133 The
council were not insensible to the value of his services, and
conferred on him several marks of their approbation. They wrote
different letters to the governors and principal inhabitants of the
places where he preached, recommending him to their notice and
protection.134 They secured him in the regular payment of his salary
until he should be provided with a benefice.135 And out of respect to
him, they, in September 1552, granted a patent to his brother,
William Knox, a merchant, giving him liberty, for a limited time, to
trade to any port of England, in a vessel of a hundred tons
burden.136

But the things which recommended Knox to the council, drew

upon him the hatred of a numerous and powerful party in the
northern counties, who remained addicted to popery. Irritated by his
boldness and success in attacking their superstition, and sensible
that it would be vain, and even dangerous, to prefer an accusation
against him on that ground, they watched for an opportunity of
catching at something in his discourses or behaviour, which they
might improve to his disadvantage. He had long observed, with
great anxiety, the impatience with which the papists submitted to
the present government, and their eager desires for any change
which might lead to the overthrow of the protestant religion,—
desires which were expressed by them in the north, without that
reserve which prudence dictated in places adjacent to the seat of
authority. He had witnessed the joy with which they received the
news of the protector’s fall, and was no stranger to the satisfaction
with which they circulated prognostications as to the speedy demise
of the king. In a sermon preached by him about Christmas 1552, he
gave vent to his feelings on this subject; and, lamenting the
obstinacy of the papists, asserted, that such as were enemies to the
gospel then preached in England, were secret traitors to the crown
and commonwealth, thirsted for nothing more than his majesty’s
death, and cared not who should reign over them, provided they got
their idolatry again erected. The freedom of this speech was
immediately laid hold of by his enemies, and transmitted, with many
aggravations, to some great men about court, secretly in their
interest, who thereupon accused him of high misdemeanours before
the privy council.137

In taking this step, they were not a little encouraged by their

knowledge of the sentiments of the duke of Northumberland, who
had lately come down to his charge as warden‑general of the
northern marches.138 This ambitious and unprincipled nobleman had
affected much zeal for the reformed religion, that he might the more
easily attain the highest preferment in the state, which he had
recently secured by the ruin of the duke of Somerset, the protector
of the kingdom. Knox had offended him by publicly lamenting the fall
of Somerset as dangerous to the reformation, of which this
nobleman had always shown himself a zealous friend, however
blameable his conduct might have been in other respects.139 Nor
could the freedom which the preacher used in reproving from the
pulpit the vices of great as well as small, fail to be displeasing to a
man of Northumberland’s character. On these accounts, the duke
was desirous to have Knox removed from that quarter, and had
actually applied for this, by a letter to the council, previous to the
occurrence just mentioned, alleging, as a pretext for this, that great
numbers of Scotsmen resorted to him; as if any real danger was to
be apprehended from this intercourse with a man, of whose fidelity
the existing government had so many strong pledges, and who
uniformly employed all his influence to remove the prejudices of his
countrymen against England.140

In consequence of the charge exhibited against him to the

council, he was summoned to repair immediately to London, and
answer for his conduct. The following extract of a letter, written by
him to Miss Bowes,141 will show the state of his mind on receiving
this citation. “Urgent necessity will not suffer that I testify my mind
unto you. My lord of Westmoreland142 has written unto me this
Wednesday, at six of the clock at night, immediately thereafter to
repair unto him, as I will answer at my peril. I could not obtain
license to remain the time of the sermon upon the morrow. Blessed
be God who does ratify and confirm the truth of his word from time
to time, as our weakness shall require! Your adversary, sister, doth
labour that you should doubt whether this be the word of God or
not. If there had never been testimonial of the undoubted truth
thereof before these our ages, may not such things as we see daily
come to pass prove the verity thereof? Doth it not affirm, that it
shall be preached, and yet contemned and lightly regarded by many;
that the true professors thereof shall be hated by father, mother, and
others of the contrary religion; that the most faithful shall be
persecuted? And cometh not all these things to pass in ourselves?
Rejoice, sister, for the same word that forspeaketh trouble doth
certify us of the glory consequent. As for myself, albeit the extremity
should now apprehend me, it is not come unlooked for. But, alas!
I fear that yet I be not ripe nor able to glorify Christ by my death;
but what lacketh now, God shall perform in his own time.—Be sure
I will not forget you and your company, so long as mortal man may
remember any earthly creature.”143

Upon reaching London, he found that his enemies had been

uncommonly industrious in their endeavours to excite prejudices
against him. But the council, after hearing his defence, were
convinced of the malice of his accusers, and gave him an honourable
acquittal. He was employed to preach before the court, and his
sermons gave great satisfaction to his majesty, who contracted a
favour for him, and was anxious to have him promoted in the
church.144 The council resolved that he should preach in London and
the southern counties during the following year; but they allowed
him to return for a short time to Newcastle, either that he might
settle his affairs in the north, or that a public testimony might be
borne to his innocence in the place where it had been attacked. In a
letter to his sister, dated Newcastle, 23d March, 1553, we find him
writing as follows. “Look farther of this matter in the other letter,145
written unto you at such time as many thought I should never write
after to man. Heinous were the delations laid against me, and many
are the lies that are made to the council. But God one day shall
destroy all lying tongues, and shall deliver his servants from
calamity. I look but one day or other to fall in their hands; for more
and more rageth the members of the devil against me. This assault
of Satan has been to his confusion, and to the glory of God. And
therefore, sister, cease not to praise God, and to call for my comfort;
for great is the multitude of enemies, whom every one the Lord shall
confound. I intend not to depart from Newcastle before Easter.”

His confinement in the French galleys, together with his labours

in England, had considerably impaired the vigour of his constitution,
and brought on the gravel. In the course of the year 1553, he
endured several violent attacks of this acute disorder, accompanied
with severe pain in his head and stomach. “My daily labours must
now increase,” says he, in the letter last quoted, “and therefore
spare me as much as you may. My old malady troubles me sore, and
nothing is more contrarious to my health than writing. Think not that
I weary to visit you; but unless my pain shall cease, I will altogether
become unprofitable. Work, O Lord, even as pleaseth thy infinite
goodness, and relax the troubles, at thy own pleasure, of such as
seeketh thy glory to shine. Amen!”146 In another letter to the same
correspondent, he writes: “The pain of my head and stomach
troubles me greatly. Daily I find my body decay; but the providence
of my God shall not be frustrate. I am charged to be at Widdrington
upon Sunday, where I think I shall also remain Monday. The spirit of
the Lord Jesus rest with you. Desire such faithful with whom ye
communicate your mind, to pray that, at the pleasure of our good
God, my dolour both of body and spirit may be relieved somewhat;
for presently it is very bitter. Never found I the spirit, I praise my
God, so abundant, where God’s glory ought to be declared; and
therefore I am sure there abides something that yet we see not.”147
“Your messenger,” says he in another letter, “found me in bed, after
a sore trouble and most dolorous night; and so dolour may complain
to dolour when we two meet. But the infinite goodness of God, who
never despiseth the petitions of a sore troubled heart, shall, at his
good pleasure, put end to these pains that we presently suffer, and,
in place thereof, shall crown us with glory and immortality for ever.
But, dear sister, I am even of mind with faithful Job, yet most sore
tormented, that my pain shall have no end in this life. The power of
God may, against the purpose of my heart, alter such things as
appear not to be altered, as he did unto Job; but dolour and pain,
with sore anguish, cries the contrary. And this is more plain than
ever I spake, to let you know ye have a fellow and companion in
trouble. And thus rest in Christ; for the head of the serpent is
already broken down, and he is stinging us upon the heel.”148

About the beginning of April 1553, he returned to London. In

the month of February preceding, archbishop Cranmer had been
directed by the council to present him to the vacant living of
All‑Hallows, in the city.149 This proposal, which originated in the
personal favour of the young king, was very disagreeable to
Northumberland, who exerted himself privately to hinder the
appointment. But the interference of this nobleman was
unnecessary; for Knox declined the living when it was offered to
him, and, being questioned as to his reasons, readily acknowledged
that he had not freedom in his mind to accept of a fixed charge in
the present state of the English church. His refusal, with the reasons
which he had assigned for it, gave offence, and, on the 14th of April,
he was called before the privy council. There were present the
archbishop of Canterbury, Goodrick, bishop of Ely and lord
chancellor, the earls of Bedford, Northampton, and Shrewsbury, the
lords treasurer and chamberlain, and the two secretaries of state.
They asked him, why he had refused the benefice provided for him
in London. He answered, that he was fully satisfied that he could be
more useful to the church in another situation. Being interrogated, if
it was his opinion, that no person could lawfully serve in
ecclesiastical ministrations according to the present laws of that
realm, he frankly replied, that there were many things in the English
church which needed reformation, and that unless they were
reformed, ministers could not, in his opinion, discharge their office
conscientiously in the sight of God: for no minister had authority,
according to the existing laws, to prevent the unworthy from
participating of the sacraments, which was “a chief point of his
office.” Being asked, if kneeling at the Lord’s table was not a matter
of indifference, he replied, that Christ’s action at the communion was
most perfect, and in it no such posture was used; that it was most
safe to follow his example; and that kneeling was an addition and
invention of men. On this article, there was a smart dispute between
him and some of the members of the council. After long reasoning,
he was told that they had not sent for him with any bad design, but
were sorry to understand that he was of a judgment contrary to the
common order. He said he was sorry that the common order was
contrary to Christ’s institution. The council dismissed him with soft
words, advising him to use all means for removing the dislike which
he had conceived to some of the forms of their church, and to
reconcile his mind, if possible, to the idea of communicating
according to the established rites.150

Scruples which had resisted the force of authority and

argument, have often been found to yield to the more powerful
influence of lucrative and honourable situations. But whether, with
some, we shall consider Knox’s conduct on this occasion as
indicating the poverty of his spirit,151 or shall regard it as a proof of
true independence of mind, the prospect of elevation to the
episcopal bench could not overcome the repugnance which he felt to
a closer connexion with the church of England. Edward VI., with the
concurrence of his privy council, offered him a bishopric. But he
rejected it; and in the reasons which he gave for his refusal,
declared the episcopal office to be destitute of divine authority in
itself, and its exercise in the English church to be inconsistent with
the ecclesiastical canons. This is attested by Beza, a contemporary
author.152 Knox himself, in one of his treatises, speaks of the “high
promotions” offered him by Edward;153 and we shall find him, at a
later period of his life, expressly asserting that he had refused a
bishopric. Tonstal having been sequestered upon a charge of
misprision of treason, the council came to a resolution, about this
time, to divide his extensive diocese into two bishoprics, the seat of
one of which was to be at Durham, and of the other at Newcastle.
Ridley, bishop of London, was to be translated to the former, and it
is highly probable that Knox was intended for the latter. “He was
offered a bishopric,” says Brand, “probably the new founded one at
Newcastle, which he refused—revera noluit episcopari.”154

It may be proper, in this place, to give a more particular account

of Knox’s sentiments respecting the English church. The reformation
of religion, it is well known, was conducted on very different
principles in England and in Scotland, both as to worship and
ecclesiastical polity. In England, the papal supremacy was
transferred to the prince, the hierarchy, being subjected to the civil
power, was suffered to remain, and, the grosser superstitions having
been removed, the principal forms of the ancient worship were
retained; whereas, in Scotland, all of these were discarded, as
destitute of divine authority, unprofitable, burdensome, or savouring
of popery, and the worship and government of the church were
reduced to the primitive standard of scriptural simplicity. The
influence of Knox in recommending this establishment to his
countrymen, is universally allowed; but, as he officiated for a
considerable time in the church of England, and on this account was
supposed to have been pleased with its constitution, it has been
usually said, that he afterwards contracted a dislike to it during his
exile on the continent, and having imbibed the sentiments of Calvin,
brought them along with him to his native country, and organized
the Scottish church after the Genevan model. This statement is
inaccurate. His objections to the English liturgy were increased and
strengthened during his residence on the continent, but they existed
before that time. His judgment respecting ecclesiastical government
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