[1] Lorimer, p. 73.
[2] Ibid., p. 74.
[3] Dr. Lorimer has said (p. 31) that "in both the formularies recently set forth," the Order of Communion in 1548 and the "Book of Common Prayer" in 1549, the practice of kneeling in the Lord's Supper had been retained; and on a subsequent page (112) that "in the Second Prayer-Book of King Edward VI. a rubric had for the first time been inserted appointing the Lord's Supper to be administered to the communicants in a kneeling posture." But these statements are not made with that author's usual accuracy. For the "Order of Communion" reads thus: "Then shall the priest rise, the people still reverently kneeling, and the priest shall deliver the communion, first to the ministers, if any be there present, that they may help the chief minister, and after to the others." But in the "Book" of 1549, the rubric is as we give it in the text. What the motive was for the omission of kneeling in the Book of 1549 it is not easy to say, but the fact of its omission is undoubted. (See "The Two Liturgies," by Rev. Joseph Kelley, p. 92.)
[4] Lorimer, p. 98.
[5] Lorimer, p. 109.
[6] For the full discussion of this subject we refer to Dr. Lorimer's monograph, "John Knox and the Church of England," a most valuable and original contribution to English Ecclesiastical history, though the absence of an index makes it less serviceable to the student than such a work should be.
[7] Lorimer, pp. 149-150.
[8] Lorimer, p. 151.
[9] See Laing: "Knox's Works," vol. iii. pp. 86-7.
CHAPTER V.
LAST DAYS IN ENGLAND, 1553.
During the last illness of the young King Edward, Knox, as we have seen, received a commission to go upon a preaching tour in the county of Buckingham, where, like an old Hebrew prophet, he warned his hearers of the coming crisis. He was back in London, however, as we learn from the date of the first of his published letters, on the 23rd of June (1553); but before the death of his majesty, which happened on the 6th of July, he had returned to Buckinghamshire, and there, at Amersham, on the 16th of that month, he preached a sermon suited to the times in the very thick of the turmoil caused by the dispute as to the succession to the crown. The Duke of Northumberland had presumed to set the Lady Jane Dudley on the throne, but Mary Tudor's adherents could not brook such disloyalty to their mistress, and had already entered on that struggle which ended in the collapse of the reign of "the twelfth-day Queen." The county of Bucks, as Froude tells us, "both Catholic and Protestant," was "arming to the teeth." Sir Edward Hastings had called out its musters, in Mary's name, and had been joined by Peckham, the cofferer of the royal household, who had gone off with the treasure under his charge, so that the Reformer was speaking "at the peril of his life among the troopers of Hastings." Nevertheless, nothing daunted, he thus apostrophised the land:[1] "O England! now is God's wrath kindled against thee. Now hath He begun to punish as He hath threatened a long while by His true prophets and messengers. He hath taken from thee the crown of thy glory, and hath left thee without honour as a body without a head. And this appeareth to be only the beginning of sorrows, which appeareth to increase. For I perceive that the heart, the tongue, and the hand of one Englishman is bent against another, and division to be in the whole realm, which is an assured sign of desolation to come. O England! England! dost thou not consider that thy commonwealth is like a ship sailing on the sea; if thy mariners and governors shall one consume another, shalt thou not suffer shipwreck in short process of time? O England! England! alas these plagues are poured upon thee, for that thou wouldest not know the most happy time of thy gentle visitation. But wilt thou yet obey the voice of thy God and submit thyself to His holy words? Truly if thou wilt, thou shalt find mercy in His sight, and the estate of thy commonwealth shall be preserved. But if thou obstinately wilt return into Egypt, that is, if thou contract marriage, confederacy, and league with such princes as do maintain and advance idolatry (such as the Emperor, which is no less enemy unto Christ than ever was Nero); if for the pleasure and friendship (I say) of such princes them return to thine old abominations, before used under the papistry, then assuredly, O England, thou shall be plagued and brought to desolation by the means of those whose favour thou seekest, and by whom thou art procured to fall from Christ and to serve Antichrist." These were bold words. Some of them, indeed, might be called rash, and, as we shall see, furnished a weapon for his adversaries at a future day; but there was no quailing in the heart of him who uttered them, and the sting of them after all was in their truth.
From Amersham he went up to London, where on the 19th of July he was a witness of the great outburst of popular enthusiasm with which Mary was welcomed to the throne; but he could not share in the wild delight of the multitude, for as he tells us himself, "in London, in more places than one, when fires of joy and riotous banqueting were at the proclamation of Mary," his tongue was vehement in declaring his forebodings of the storm which was so soon to break. On the 26th of July he wrote to Mrs. Bowes from Carlisle, and again on the 25th of September we find him writing to her on his return to London from Kent, where he seems to have been labouring for some weeks. The dates indicate that he was both "in labours abundant" and "in journeyings often," and show that he had little reason to upbraid himself, as in one of his writings referring to this time he does, for "allowing the love of friends and carnal affection for some men more than others to allure him to make more residence in one place than another, thus having more respect to the pleasure of a few than to the necessity of many, and not sufficiently considering how many hungry souls were in other places to whom none took pains to break and distribute the bread of life." But he was ere long to be "in peril" as well as labour. From the first he had augured nothing but evil from the accession of Mary, and it is to his honour that with such misgivings in his heart, he was at this very time in the habit of using in the pulpit a prayer of singular beauty and comprehensiveness, in which we find this petition: "Illuminate the heart of our Sovereign Lady Queen Mary with pregnant gifts of the Holy Ghost, and influence the hearts of her council with Thy true fear and love." As the months rolled round, however, it became only too apparent that England would no longer be a safe place for him. The door of opportunity which Edward had opened was speedily closed by Mary. In August, indeed, she issued a proclamation giving toleration to all meanwhile, forbidding her Protestant and Catholic subjects to interrupt each other's services, yet prohibiting all preaching on either side without licence from herself. But in November, under the influence of the violent reaction which had set in, and in obedience to the opinion of the people, three-fourths of whom were still attached to the old religion, the Commons, by a vote of 350 to 80, enacted that from the 20th December following there should be no other form of service in the churches but what had been used in the last year of Henry the Eighth, and leaving it free to all up till that date to use either of the books appointed by Edward or the old one at their pleasure. Up till the day thus specified, therefore, Knox was comparatively safe, and during that time he was probably in London a guest in the families of the Lockes and the Hickmans, with whose members he afterwards corresponded. It was in this interval also, as seems most probable, that he began to prepare his exposition of the sixth Psalm, and his "godly letter to the faithful in London, Newcastle, Berwick, and all others within the realm of England that love the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," both of which were afterwards finished in France.
From London he went to Newcastle, whence on the 22nd of December he wrote to Mrs. Bowes a letter which contains a postscript to this effect: "I may not answer the places of Scripture, nor yet write the exposition of the sixth Psalm, for every day of this week must I preach, if this wicked carcase will permit." But dangers began to thicken around him; for in the end of December or beginning of January, his servant was seized as he carried letters from him to Mrs. Bowes and her daughter, in the expectation of finding something in them that might furnish matter of accusation against him. They contained nothing but religious advices and such things as he was prepared to avow before any tribunal in the country, but fearing that the report of the matter might cause uneasiness to his friends at Berwick, he set out to visit them in person. On the way, however, he was met by some of the relatives of his betrothed, who prevailed on him to relinquish his intention, and to retire to a place of safety on the coast, from which, if necessary, he might escape out of the country by sea. From this retreat he wrote to his friends, saying that "his brethren had, partly by tears and partly by admonition, compelled him to obey, somewhat contrary to his own mind, for never could he die in a more honest quarrel than by suffering as a witness for that truth of which God had made him a messenger," yet promising if Providence prepared the way to do as his counsellors advised, and "give place to the fury and rage of Satan for a time." So when he became satisfied that the apprehensions of his friends were, well founded, he procured a vessel which landed him safely at Dieppe on the 20th of January, 1554. What his pecuniary circumstances at this time were may be inferred from these words in a letter to his future mother-in-law: "I will not make you privy how rich I am, but off (i.e. from) London I departed with less money than ten groats; but God has since provided, and will provide I doubt not hereafter abundantly for this life. Either the Queen's Majesty or some treasurer will be forty pounds richer by me, for so much lack I of duty of my patents (that is, salary as Royal Chaplain), but that little troubles me." And more interesting even than that glimpse into his poverty is the recital of his feelings toward England in a letter to the same correspondent written just before his embarkation: "My daily prayer is for the sore afflicted in those quarters. Some time I have thought that it had been impossible so to have removed my affection from Scotland that any realm or nation could have been equally dear unto me; but I take God to record in my conscience that the troubles present and appearing to be in the realm of England are doubly more dolorous unto my heart than ever were the troubles of Scotland."
Thus Knox parted from the realm of England. Had he remained much longer in it, he would most probably have shared the fate of Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, and the "noble army," whom Mary's intolerance "chased up to heaven." But God had other work for him to do, and it was well for Scotland that he listened to the entreaty of those who counselled him when he was "persecuted in one country" to "flee to another"; so it came about that for a brief season he found refuge in that land wherein only a few years before he had been a galley-slave.
[1] "Works," vol. iii. pp. 308-9.
CHAPTER VI.
FIRST DAYS OF EXILE, 1554.
From England Knox went to Dieppe, where he sojourned at this time for a month, and finished his exposition of the sixth Psalm, the first instalment of which he had sent to Mrs. Bowes just before leaving the shores of Britain. This production was primarily designed for the consolation and encouragement of that lady, who, as we have already hinted, seems to have been afflicted with religious melancholy. Apparently she was one of those, of whom every pastor has had some experience, who believe that God has cast them off, and who while "fearing the Lord," yet "walk in darkness and have no light." Her life was one constant wrestle with spiritual depression, by which her intimate friends were afflicted almost as much as she was herself. Knox dealt with her most tenderly, and under the influence of his wise words she regained her comfort for a time, but after a little she was in the depths again, and the whole process had to be gone over with her anew. Had she lived in modern days, a prudent friend would have counselled her to consult a skilful physician, and would have sought to combine medical treatment with religious advice. We cannot wonder, however, that we have nothing in this tractate bearing on that aspect of the matter. The writer deals throughout with the malady as spiritual, but he treats it most wisely, and the great well of tenderness in his heart reveals itself to the reader in such a passage as the following:[1] "These things put I you in mind of, beloved mother, that albeit your pains sometimes be so horrible that no release nor comfort ye find neither in spirit nor yet in body, yet if the heart can only sob unto God, despair not, you shall obtain your heart's desire, and destitute you are not of faith. For at such time as the flesh, natural reason, the law of God, the present torment, and the devil at once do cry God is angry, and therefore is there neither help nor remedy to be hoped for at His hands; at such time, I say, to sob unto God is the demonstration of the secret seed of God which is hid in God's elect children, and that only sob is unto God a more acceptable sacrifice than, without this cross, to give our bodies to be burned even for the truth's sake." Very comprehensive also is this expansion of the second petition of the Lord's Prayer in the same treatise.[2] "We are commanded daily to pray, 'Thy kingdom come,' which petition asketh that sin may cease, that death may be devoured, that transitory troubles may have an end, that Satan may be trodden under our feet, that the whole body of Christ may be restored to life, liberty, and joy, that the powers and kingdoms of this earth may be dissolved and destroyed, and that God the Father may be all in all things, after that His Son Christ Jesus, the Saviour, hath rendered up the kingdom for ever." And in these days when so much is written, both wise and otherwise, on the subject of eschatology, some interest may be felt in the following "bit" of exposition. "'For there is no remembrance of Thee in death; who laudeth Thee in the pit?' As (if) David would say, 'O Lord, how shall I pray and declare Thy goodness when I am dead, and gone into the grave? It is not the ordinary course to have Thy miracles and wondrous works preached unto men by those that are buried and gone down into the pit. Those that are dead make no mention of Thee in the earth, and therefore, O Lord, spare Thy servant, that yet for a time I may show and witness Thy wondrous works unto mankind.' These most godly affections in David did engender in him a vehement horror and fear of death, besides that which is natural and common to all men, because he perfectly understood that by death he shall be lettit (hindered) any further to advance the glory of God. Of the same he complaineth most vehemently in the 88th Psalm, where apparently he taketh from them that are dead, sense, remembrance, feeling, and understanding, alleging that God worketh no miracles by the dead, that the goodness of God cannot be preached in the grave, nor His faith in perdition, and that His marvellous works are not known in darkness. By which speeches we may not understand that David taketh all sense and feeling from the dead, neither yet that they who are dead in Christ are in such estate that by God they have not consolation and life. No; Christ Himself doth witness the contrary. But David so vehemently depresses their estate and condition, because that after death they are deprived from (of) all ordinary ministration in the Kirk of God. None of those that are departed are appointed to be preachers of God's glory unto mankind. But after death they cease any more to advance God's holy name here among the living on earth, and so shall even they in that behalf be unprofitable to the congregation as touching anything that they can do, either in body or soul after death. And therefore most earnestly desired David to live in Israel for the further manifestation of God's glory."[3]
Appended to this tract there is the date "upon the very point of my journey, the last of February, 1553(4), so that Knox left Dieppe about the beginning of March, but before his departure he finished and transmitted the first of that series of admonitions and consolatory epistles which during his exile on the continent he addressed to his friends in England, and from which we have already quoted so many passages throwing light upon his labours among them. This earliest of the series is entitled "A Godly Letter of Warning or Admonition to the Faithful in London, Newcastle, and Berwick," and is written in a strain of burning and impassioned expostulation. It is mainly founded on the sermon preached by Jeremiah to the princes and all the people of Judah in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, as recorded in the 26th chapter of his prophecies. Knox runs a skilful parallel between the circumstances of the Jews before the destruction of their capital by Nebuchadnezzar, and those of the people of England under Mary, and with the presage of coming judgment darkening his spirit, he exhorts the "remnant" to fidelity and earnestness. One extract will give the reader some slight idea of its style and purport. [4]"Hitherto have I recited the estate of Judah before the destruction of Jerusalem and subversion of that commonwealth. Now I appeal to the conscience of any indifferent (i.e. impartial) man in what one point differ the manners, estate and regiment (i.e. government) of England this day from the abuse and estate rehearsed of Judah in these days, except that they had a king, a man of his own nature (as appeared), more facile than cruel, who sometimes was entreated in the prophet's favour, and also in some cases heard his counsel; and ye have a queen, a woman of a stout stomach (i.e. of a haughty spirit), more stiff in opinion than flexible to the truth, who no wise may abide the presence of God's prophets. In this one thing you disagree; in all other things as like as one bean or nut is like to another, (1) Their king was led by pestilent priests; who guides your queen, it is not unknown. (2) Under Zedekiah and his council the idolatry which by Josiah was suppressed, came to light again; but more abominable idolatry was never in the earth than is that which of late is now set up again by your pestilent papists among you. (3) In Jerusalem was Jeremiah persecuted and cast into prison for speaking the truth and rebuking their idolatry; what prison in London tormenteth not some true prophet of God for the same causes? And O thou dungeon of darkness, where that abominable idol of late days was first erected (thou Tower of London, I mean), in thee are tormented more Jeremiahs than one, whom God shall comfort according to His promise, and shall reward their persecutors even as they have deserved; in which day also shalt thou tremble for fear, and such as pretend to defend thee shall perish with thee, because thou wast first defiled with that abominable idol."
The letter concludes with the following touching sentences:—"The peace of God rest with you all. From one sore troubled heart upon my departure from Dieppe—1553(4)—whither God knoweth. In God is my trust, through Jesus Christ His Son; and therefore I fear not the tyranny of man, neither yet what the devil can invent against me. Rejoice, ye faithful, for in joy shall we meet where death may not dissever us."
At the time when he wrote these words he seems to have had no definite purpose as to his immediate destination, but we have now no difficulty in tracing his movements, for in a letter addressed to his afflicted brethren in England, and dated Dieppe, 10th May, 1554, we find the following words:—"My own estate is this: since the 28th of January I have travelled through all the congregations of Helvetia (Switzerland), and have reasoned with all the pastors and many other excellent learned men upon such matters as now I cannot commit to writing; gladly I would by tongue or by pen utter the same to God's glory." What these things were may perhaps be inferred from the words of Bullinger to Calvin in a letter dated 26th March, 1554, to this effect: "I have enclosed in this letter the answer I made to the Scotsman whom you commended to me; you will return it to me when you have opportunity."[5] Now as Knox visited Geneva in that month of March, and obtained from Calvin a letter of introduction to Bullinger, there can be no doubt, as Dr. Laing has shown, that the reference is to him. The questions which he submitted to Bullinger were the following, and we give them entire, with a brief summary of the answer to each, that we may make plain the gravity and importance of the matters which were at this time engrossing his attention:—(1) "Whether the son of a king, upon his father's death, though unable by reason of his tender age to conduct the government of the kingdom, is nevertheless by right of inheritance to be regarded as a lawful magistrate, and as such to be obeyed as of Divine right?" This, illustrating his statement by a reference to King Edward the Sixth of England, Bullinger answers in the affirmative. (2) "Whether a female can preside over and rule a kingdom by Divine right, and so transfer the right of sovereignty to her husband?" To this Bullinger replies, that, though the law of God ordains the woman to be in subjection, yet as it is a hazardous thing for godly persons to set themselves up in opposition to political regulations, and in the gospel does not seem to unsettle hereditary rights, the people of God may rejoice in a female sovereign if she be like Deborah; and if she be of a different character, they may have an example and consolation in the case of Athaliah; but with respect to the right of transferring the government to her husband, only those persons who are acquainted with the laws and customs of the realm can give a proper answer. (3) "Whether obedience is to be rendered to a magistrate who enforces idolatry and condemns true religion; and whether those authorities who are still in military occupations of towns and fortresses are permitted to repel this ungodly violence from themselves and their friends?" No definite or categorical answer is given to this inquiry, on the ground that it is difficult to pronounce on every particular case; but while there is need of wisdom, lest by rashness and corruption much mischief may be occasioned to many worthy persons, it is unequivocally asserted that death itself is far preferable to the admission of idolatry. (4) "To which party must godly persons attach themselves in the case of a religious nobility resisting an idolatrous sovereign?" This is left by the Swiss Reformer to the judgment of the individual conscience. Between the lines of these questions we can easily read that Knox was pondering questions which lie near the foundation of civil and religious liberty; and that, foreseeing the occasion which he might soon have for dealing practically with them, he availed himself of the opportunity furnished by his exile for consulting the most eminent Swiss Protestant divines regarding them.
He returned to Dieppe in May, 1554, and remained there until the end of July in order that he might gain accurate information concerning his brethren in England, and might learn whether he could do anything in their behalf. To these weeks must be assigned the preparation and transmission of his "Faithful Admonition unto the Professors of God's Truth in England," which caused him so much trouble in the Frankfort episode of his history. For that reason, therefore, it may be well to give a brief account of this trenchant production. It is evidently the expansion of a discourse formerly preached by him on the experience of the disciples in the storm, when they "toiled in rowing" because "the wind was contrary unto them," with a pungent and sometimes not very prudent, application of its lessons to the circumstances which then existed in England. It was his habit to preach his sermons before he wrote them, and indeed, so far as appears, he did not often write them out, even after they had been delivered, but usually contented himself with speaking from a few notes, which were made in the margin of his Bible, and which remained the sole memoranda of the discourse. In the present case the note was to the effect "Videat Anglia"—"Let England beware!" and the matter written in his book in Latin was this: "Seldom it is that God worketh any notable work to the comfort of His Church but that trouble, fear, and labour cometh upon such as God hath used for His servants and His workmen; and also tribulation most commonly followeth that Church where Christ Jesus is most truly preached." In his exposition he goes on to explain why, after the miracle of the feeding of the multitude, Christ sent both the people at large and His disciples away; and dwells on the danger to which the apostles were exposed, the manner of their deliverance through the coming and the word of Christ, the zeal of Peter in seeking to meet the Lord on the waves, and his fear in sinking in the waters, and the mercy of the Master in permitting neither Peter nor the rest of the disciples to perish, but gloriously delivering them all. Into his treatment of these several things he introduces plentiful allusions to the state of affairs in England, and the object which he has before him as a whole is two-fold—first, to encourage those who had made a profession of the Reformed Faith to maintain the beginning of their confidence steadfast unto the end; and second, to give warning of the dangers which were to be apprehended if the kingdom should come under the dominion of strangers, as it would infallibly do when Mary became the wife of Philip of Spain. The admonition bears the imprint "20th day of July, 1554." Now the marriage of Mary to Philip was celebrated on the 25th day of that same month, and it was provided by the treaty for that alliance, and confirmed by Act of Parliament, that Philip, as the husband of Mary, "should have and enjoy, jointly with the Queen his wife, the style, honour, and kingly name of the realm and dominions unto the said Queen appertaining, and shall aid her Highness, being his wife, in the happy administration of her realm and dominions." This helps us to understand one of the questions which Knox had proposed to Bullinger, and explains at least, if it cannot justify, the vehemence of his feelings and the violence of his words in the "admonition." He speaks of "Stephen Gardiner and his black brood;" calls the wafer of the host "the round clipped God;" declares that "the devil rageth in his obedient servants, wily Winchester, dreaming Durham, and bloody Bonner, with the rest of their bloody, butcherly brood;" avers that Jezebel "never erected half so many gallows in all Israel as mischievous Mary hath done within London alone;" denounces Mary as a "breaker of promises;" calls her that most unhappy and wicked woman;" and foretells evil for England if she—i.e. England—contract marriage, confederacy, or league with such princes as do maintain and advance idolatry (such as the Emperor, which is no less an enemy here to Christ than ever was Nero)." All this is dreadful enough. But let us bear in mind that Mary, on her accession, had publicly declared that she "meant graciously not to compel or strain other men's consciences otherwise than God should, as she trusted, put in their hearts a persuasion of the truth, through the opening of His word unto them," and that, by her subsequent conduct she had utterly falsified that word; let it be remembered that at the very time of Knox's writing, Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer had been prisoners for seven or eight months in the Tower, first under the charge of treason, and latterly under that of heresy; let it be considered that reports were continually coming to Knox's ears of the daily increasing sufferings of the Protestants in England, and then some allowance will be made for the outburst of his indignation in these passionate utterances. Still, when we have made all such allowance, we must admit that a more cautious man would have foreseen that a probable effect of such a bitter onslaught would be the increase of the persecutor's fury, and would not have gone out of his way to irritate the German Emperor by comparing him with Nero. But caution never was one of Knox's distinctive excellences. If it had, he would not have become a Reformer, for your merely cautious men are of very little service either to their generation or to the world. Boldness is necessary for progress, and where the boldness is, we must reconcile ourselves as best we may to its attendant shadow. In the present instance Knox paid dearly enough for his imprudence, as we shall shortly see, and we may therefore content ourselves with this simple reference to it.
[1] "Works," vol. iii. p. 137.
[2] Ibid., p. 128.
[3] "Works," vol. iii. pp. 151-2.
[4] "Works," vol. iii. pp. 187-8.
[5] "Works," vol. iii. pp. 219, 226.
CHAPTER VII.
THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT, 1554-1555.
From Dieppe, after having launched across the channel the thunderbolt of the "Faithful Admonition," Knox retired to Geneva, where he enjoyed the friendship of John Calvin and other Swiss divines, and where, though he was now bordering on fifty years of age, he applied himself to the study of Hebrew with all the ardour of youth. But such a man could not long be permitted to enjoy learned leisure. Accordingly we find that in the end of September, 1554, he was called to be one of the pastors of a congregation of English exiles who had found an asylum in Frankfort-on-the-Maine, a city whose inhabitants had early embraced the principles of the Reformation, and befriended refugees from all countries so far as that could be done by them without coming to an open breach with the Emperor. Already a church of French Protestants was in existence there, and on application to the authorities the English exiles obtained the joint use of the place of worship allotted to that congregation, on condition that they should in their service conform as nearly as possible to the forms observed by the French. This was thankfully accepted by the English, who agreed among themselves, be it observed before Knox appeared among them, to give up the audible responses, the Litany, the surplice, and other things which "in these reformed churches would seem more than strange." It is added in the "Brief Discourse of the Troubles begun at Frankfort" which lies before us as we write, that "as touching the ministration of the sacraments, sundry things were also by common consent omitted as superstitious and superfluous;" and that "after that the congregation had thus concluded and agreed, and had chosen their minister and deacons to serve for a time, they entered their church on the 29th of July."
Having thus secured for themselves religious privileges, the Frankfort exiles by a circular letter invited their brethren in other continental cities to come and share the blessing with them. To this the English residents at Strasburg replied recommending certain persons as well qualified to fill the offices of superintendent or bishop, and pastors, but before receiving that communication the brethren at Frankfort had already chosen three persons, one of whom was Knox, to be their pastors, and to be invested with co-ordinate authority. The invitation was not specially attractive to Knox, both because he was loth to sacrifice the advantages for study which he was enjoying at Geneva, and because he feared the outbreak of such a controversy as ultimately arose. But moved by what McCrie has styled "the powerful intercession of Calvin," he accepted the call and went to Frankfort about the end of October or the beginning of November. Before his arrival there, however, the harmony of the congregation had been disturbed by the reception of a letter from the English residents at Zurich, who declined to come to Frankfort unless they obtained security that the Church would use the Prayer-Book of King Edward VI., on the ground that the rejection or alteration of that form of service would give occasion for the charge against them of fickleness in their religion, and would be a virtual condemnation of those who at that very time were suffering persecution on its account. To this the members of the church at Frankfort replied that they had obtained permission to use their place of worship on the condition of their conforming as closely as possible to the French ritual; that there were some things in the English book which would give offence to the Protestants of the place whose hospitality they were enjoying; that certain ceremonies in that book had been occasion of scruple to conscientious persons at home; that they were very far indeed from pronouncing condemnation of those who had drawn up that book, since they themselves had altered many things; and that the sufferers in England were testifying for more important matters than rites of mere human appointment. This answer, while it somewhat abated the confidence of the friends at Zurich, did not drive them from their purpose, for they instigated their brethren at Strasburg to make the same request both by letter and by deputation, and thus widened the area of the controversy.
This was the state of things when Knox appeared upon the scene, and although his convictions were strongly on the side of those who opposed the adoption of the Book of Common Prayer, he strove to act the part of a peacemaker, as far as he consistently could. For when the congregation agreed to adopt the order of worship followed in Calvin's Church at Geneva, he declined to carry out that determination until their learned brethren in other places should be consulted. He confessed that he could not conscientiously administer the sacraments according to the English book, but he offered to restrict himself solely to the preaching of the word, and let some one else administer the sacraments; and if that freedom could not be granted to him, he desired that he might be altogether released from the pastorate to which he had been chosen. But the congregation would not consent to give him up, and in the hope of preventing future controversy, Knox, who was joined by Whittingham, afterwards Dean of Durham, and others, drew up a fair summary and description of the English Prayer-Book, which they sent to Calvin for his inspection and advice. In his reply the Genevese Reformer bewailed the existence of unseemly contentions among them; claimed that he had always counselled moderation respecting external ceremonies, yet condemned the obstinacy of those who would consent to no change of old customs; declared that in the English liturgy he had found many "tolerabiles ineptias,"—tolerable fooleries,—which might be borne with in the beginning of the Reformation, but ought to be removed as soon as possible; gave it as his opinion that the circumstances of the exiles in Frankfort warranted them to attempt the removal of such blemishes; and rather caustically remarked that "he could not tell what they meant who so greatly delighted in the leavings of popish dregs."
This letter produced considerable effect, and a committee, of which Knox was one, was appointed to draw up a form which might harmonize all parties. When this committee met, Knox acknowledging that there was no hope of peace unless "one party something relented," indicated how far he was willing to go in the direction of compromise; and the result was the drawing up of a form of which "some part was taken from the English Prayer-Book, and other things put to, as the state of the Church required." By the consent of the congregation this order was to continue until the month of April; and if any contention should meanwhile arise, the matter was to be referred for decision to these five learned men, namely, Calvin, Musculus, Martyr, Bullinger, and Vyret. This agreement was put in writing, and subscribed by the members of the congregation amid the joy of all. "Thanks were given to God, brotherly reconciliation followed, great familiarity (was) used, and the former grudges forgotten; yea, the Holy Communion was upon this happy agreement also ministered."
But this peace was not of long continuance, for on the 13th of March Dr. Richard Cox, who had been the preceptor of Edward VI., and who was afterwards a bishop under Queen Elizabeth, arrived in Frankfort with a company like-minded with himself; and on the very first day on which they attended public worship, they broke the concordat by indulging in audible responses. When they were expostulated with by some of the seniors, or elders, of the congregation for their disorderly conduct, they replied that "they would do as they had done in England, and that they would have the face of an English Church;" and on the following Sunday one of their number, without the knowledge or consent of the congregation, entered the pulpit and read the Litany, while the rest answered aloud. This was a still more flagrant breach of the agreement, for Knox and his friends specially objected to the Litany; and therefore on the afternoon, it being his turn to preach, Knox made a public protest against such procedure. He showed how after long trouble and contention among them, a godly agreement had been made, and how it had been ungodly broken, "which thing it became not the proudest of them all to have attempted." He further alleged that as we must seek our warrant for the establishing of religion from the word of God, and without that nothing should be thrust into any Christian congregation; and as in the English Prayer Book there were, as he was prepared to prove, things both superstitious, impure, and imperfect, he would not consent that it should be received in that Church; and he declared that if the attempt should be made, he would not fail to speak against it from that place, as his text might furnish occasion. He also affirmed that, among other things which provoked God's anger against England, slackness to reform religion when time and opportunity were granted was one; and as an instance of that slackness he specified, to the sore wounding of some then present, the allowing of one man to have three, four, or five benefices, to the slander of the gospel, and the defrauding of the people.
This remonstrance brought things to a crisis, and on the following Tuesday the congregation met to take the whole matter into consideration. Cox and his company claimed the right of sitting and voting with the rest, but it was contended that they should not be admitted until they had subscribed the discipline of the Church. This objection would have prevailed, but on the intercession of Knox they were received, and they rewarded his magnanimity by outvoting him, and, at the instigation of Cox, discharging him from preaching and from all interference in the affairs of the congregation. This, however, only made matters worse; and to prevent a disgraceful tumult, the whole case was referred to the senate of the city, from whom they had obtained permission to use the place of worship in which they assembled. That body, after in vain recommending a private accommodation, issued an order requiring the congregation to conform exactly to the French ritual, and threatening if that were disobeyed to shut up the church. With this injunction Cox and his party outwardly complied for the time; but seeing the influence which Knox possessed, and having no hope of carrying their point so long as he should remain among them, they took means of the basest sort to get him out of the way. For two of them went privately to the magistrates of the city and accused Knox of high treason against the emperor, and against Mary, Queen of England, putting forth as the ground of their charge those passages from the Faithful Admonition which we have already quoted. On receipt of this charge the magistrates sent for Whittingham, and asked him concerning the character of Knox, whom he described in his reply as "a learned, grave, and godly man." They then informed him of the charge which had been preferred against him, and requested that he would furnish them with an exact Latin translation of the sentences of his tract, nine in number, which had been brought to their particular attention. They gave orders also that meanwhile Knox should desist from preaching until their pleasure should be known. With this command Knox loyally complied; but when he appeared next day in the church as an ordinary hearer, not thinking that any would be offended at his presence, "some departed from the sermon, protesting with great vehemence that they would not tarry where he was."
The action of the informers was most embarrassing to the magistrates, who abhorred the malice by which they were evidently actuated, but at the same time feared that the matter might come to the ears of the emperor's council then sitting at Augsburg, and that they might be compelled to give Knox up to them or to the Queen of England; and as the best means of extricating themselves from the difficulty, they suggested that he should privately withdraw from the city. Accordingly on the evening of the 25th of March, 1555, he delivered a most consolatory address to about fifty of the members of the Church in his own lodgings; and "the next day," to borrow the words of the author of the Brief Discourse, "he was brought three or four miles on his way by some of these unto whom the night before he had made that exhortation, who, with great heaviness of heart and plenty of tears, committed him to the Lord."
The sequel is soon told. Cox, by falsely representing that the congregation was now unanimous, obtained an order from the senate for the unrestricted use of the English Prayer-Book, and then procured in the Church the abrogation of the code of discipline, and the appointment of a superintendent or bishop over the other pastors. The result was that a considerable number of the members left the city, and the remainder continued a prey to strife, which Cox and his friends did not stay to compose, for they also soon took their departure to other places. The Church was thus virtually broken up; and it is not without significance that, in seeking afterwards to be excused from performing service before a crucifix in the chapel of Queen Elizabeth, Cox employed the very argument which Knox had urged without effect upon himself, for he said, "I ought to do nothing touching religion which may appear doubtful, whether it pleaseth God or not; for our religion ought to be certain, and grounded upon God's word and will."
We have gone thus fully into the "Frankfort troubles," not so much because, as McCrie says, they present in miniature a striking picture of that contentious scene which was afterwards exhibited on a larger scale in England, or because it would not be difficult to find similar divisions on precisely similar points in the days in which we live, but because of the insight which the history gives us into the character of Knox himself. The controversy was keen and bitter; but throughout it all our Reformer shows to great advantage,—evincing what Carlyle has called "a great and unexpected patience," by which we suppose he means a patience which those who know nothing more about him than the usual caricature of his character, which too many have accepted, would hardly have expected. But the readers of his letter to his Berwick friends, on which we have already commented, could have looked for nothing else at his hands; and we commend the study of this episode in his history to all those who have been accustomed to regard him as a dogmatic, domineering, impracticable man, who was determined always to have his way in the scorn of every consequence. The offer to restrict himself solely to preaching, or, if that should not be granted, to go quietly away, stands out to his lasting honour, and shows how eager he was to prevent all strife; while the simple mention by the chronicler of the "plenty of tears" shed by those who accompanied him out of the city, witnesses to the tenderness of his friendship; and by both alike we are reminded of the great apostle whose words were so constantly upon his lips. In reviewing the whole case, he cannot help recalling that his opponents had brought against him the old cry, "He is not Caesar's friend;" but he prays for them thus, "O Lord God, open their hearts that they may see their wickedness, and forgive them for Thy manifold mercies; and I forgive them, O Lord, from the bottom of my heart. But that Thy message sent by my mouth should not be slandered, I am compelled to declare the cause of my departing, and so to utter their folly, to their amendment I trust, and the example of others who, in the same banishment, can have so cruel hearts to persecute their brethren." His opponents tried to excuse themselves, and in a letter to Calvin put the best possible construction on their case; but nothing said by them altered the opinion of the great Reformer, in which we are persuaded all fair-minded men, whatever may be their ecclesiastical opinions will agree, to this effect:—"But certainly this one thing I cannot keep secret, that Mr. Knox was, in my judgment, neither godly nor brotherly dealt withal." It was a hard and bitter experience, and no doubt it had its influence in determining him, when he came to deal with the Reformation of Scotland, to make more thorough work of it than they had done in England.