John Knox

“ Lethington. All this reasoning is not to the purpose; for we reason as if the Queen should become such an enemy to our religion, that she should persecute it, and put innocent men to death. This, I am assured, she never intended, and never will do. If I should see her again of that purpose, yea, if I should suspect any such thing in her, I should be as far forward in that argument as ye or any other within this realm. But there is not such a thing. Our question is, whether we may and ought to suppress the Queen's Mass? Or whether her idolatry shall be laid to our charge? ”

“ Yea, Madam, it appertains to me to forewarn of such things as may hurt that commonwealth, if I foresee them, no less than it does to any of the Nobility. Both my vocation and conscience crave plainness of me. Therefore, Madam, to yourself I say that which I speak in public place. Whensoever the Nobility of this realm shall [283] consent that ye be subject to an unfaithful husband, they do as much as in them lieth to renounce Christ, to banish His truth from them, to betray the freedom of this realm, and perchance they shall in the end do small comfort to yourself. ”

“ Idolatry is never alone; ever does it corrupt religion, and bring with it a filthy and corrupt life. How the Prophets could rightly interpret the law, and show the causes of God's judgments, which they ever threatened should follow idolatry, and the rest of abominations that accompany it—how they could reprove the vices, and not show the people their duty, I understand not. Therefore, I constantly believe that the doctrine of the Prophets was so sensible that the kings understood their own abominations, and the people understood what they ought to have done in punishing and repressing them. ”

“ Idolatry was never in greater rest: virtue and virtuous men were never in more contempt: vice was never more bold, never did it less fear punishment. And yet, who guides the Queen and Court? Who but the Protestants? O horrible slanderers of God, and of His holy Evangel. Better it were for you plainly to renounce Christ Jesus, than thus to expose His blessed Evangel to mockage. If God do not punish you, so that this same age shall see and behold your punishment, the Spirit of righteous judgment guides me not."... ”

“ O immortal God! how long shalt Thou suffer the wodness and great credulity of the ungodly to exercise their fury upon Thy servants, who do further Thy Word in this world. They desire to do the contrary, to choke and destroy the true doctrine and truth, whereby Thou hast showed Thee unto the world, which was all drowned in blindness and misknowledge of Thy name. O Lord, we know surely that Thy true servants must needs suffer, for Thy name's sake, persecution, affliction, and troubles in this present life, which is but a shadow, as Thou hast showed to us by Thy prophets and apostles. ”

“ Should any minister be taken in any notable crime, such as whoredom, adultery, murder, manslaughter, perjury, teaching of heresy, or any that deserveth death or that may be a note of perpetual infamy, he ought to be deposed for ever. By heresy we mean pernicious doctrine, plainly taught and obstinately [403] defended, against the foundation and principles of our faith. And such a crime we judge to deserve perpetual deposition from the ministry; for we know it to be most dangerous to commit the flock to a man infected with the pestilence of heresy. ”

“ Lest Satan shall take occasion of our long silence to blaspheme, and to slander us the Protestants of the realm of Scotland by suggesting that our actions tended rather to sedition and rebellion than to reformation of manners and abuses in religion; we have thought it expedient, as truly and briefly as we can, to commit to writing the causes moving us, a great part of the nobility and barons of the realm, to take the sword of just defence against those that most unjustly have sought our destruction. ”

“ Yea, what wisdom or worldly policy was in us, to have brought to a good end so great an enterprise? Our very enemies can bear witness. And yet in how great purity God did establish amongst us His true religion, as well in doctrine as in ceremonies! To what confusion and fear were idolaters, adulterers, and all public transgressors of God's commandments brought within short time? ”

“ No man was at that time more frack against us than was the Duke, led on by that cruel beast, the Archbishop of St. Andrews, and by those that yet abuse him, the Abbot of Kilwinning and Matthew Hamilton of Millburn, two chief enemies to Christ Jesus; yea, enemies to the Duke himself and to his whole house, in so far as at least they may procure their own particular profit. These and such other pestilent papists ceased not to cast faggots on the fire, continually crying, "Forward upon these heretics; we shall for once and all rid this realm of them." ”

“ For whether it was by an Italian posset, or by French figs, or by the potage of their potinger, who was a Frenchman, there departed from this life the Earl of Cassillis, the Earl of Rothes, Lord Fleming, and the Bishop of Orkney, whose end was even according to his life.... When word of the departing of so many patrons of the papistry, and of the manner of their departing, came to the Queen Regent, she said, after astonishment and musing, "What shall I say of such men? They lived as beasts, and as beasts they die: God is not with them, neither with that which they enterprise." ”

“ Suddenly then, with a high voice, cried the accuser, the fed sow, "Thou heretic, runagate, traitor, and thief, it was not lawful for thee to preach. Thou hast taken the power at thine own hand, without any authority of the Church. We forethink [85] that thou hast been a preacher so long." Then said the whole congregation of the prelates, with their accomplices, "If we give him licence to preach, he is so crafty and in Holy Scripture so exercised that he will persuade the people to his opinion, and raise them against us." ”

“ There is in Knox throughout the spirit of an old Hebrew Prophet, such as may have been in Moses in the Desert at sight of the Burning Bush; spirit almost altogether unique among modern men; and along with all this, in singular neighbourhood to it, a sympathy, a veiled tenderness of heart, veiled, but deep and of piercing vehemence, and withal even an inward gaiety of soul, alive to the ridicule that dwells in whatever is ridiculous, in fact a fine vein of humour, which is wanting in Dante.... ”

“ He set us at freedom, and purged this realm, for the most part, of open idolatry; to the end that we, ever mindful of so wondrous a deliverance, should have kept this realm clean from such vile filthiness, and damnable idolatry. But we, alas! preferring the pleasure of flesh and blood to the pleasure and commandment of our God, have suffered that idol, the Mass, to be erected again; and therefore justly does He now suffer us to fall into such danger that to look at an idolater going to his idolatry shall be reputed a crime little inferior to treason. God grant that we fall not further. ”

“ Therefore, knowing no other order placed in this realm, but your Grace, in your grave Council, set to amend, as well the disorder ecclesiastical, as the defaults in the temporal regiment, we most humbly prostrate ourselves before your feet, asking your justice, and your gracious help, against them that falsely traduce and accuse us, as if we were heretics and schismatics. Under that colour they seek our destruction; because we seek the amendment of their corrupted lives, and that Christ's religion be restored to its original purity. ”

“ Long have we thirsted, dear brethren, to have notified unto the world the sum of that doctrine which we profess, and for the which we have sustained infamy and danger. But such has been the rage of Satan against us, and against the eternal verity of Christ Jesus lately born amongst us, that to this day no time has been granted unto us to clear our consciences, as most gladly we would have done; for how we have been tossed for a whole year past, the most part of Europe, as we suppose, does understand. ”

“ The cross-fire of the ordnance of the galleys affrighted the Scots army wondrously. While every man laboured to draw from the north, whence the danger appeared, they began to reel, and at that point the English footmen were marching forward, albeit some of their horsemen were in flight. The Earl of Angus's army stood still, expecting that either Huntly or the Duke would rencounter the next battle; but it had been decreed that the favourers of England, and the heretics, as the priests called them, and the Englishmen should have the struggle to themselves for the day. ”

“ That your Grace and Council may understand what be the things we desire to be reformed, we will begin at that which we assuredly know to be the fountain and spring of all other evils that now abound in this realm, to wit, that idol and bastard service of God, the Mass; the fountain, we call it, of all impiety, not only because many take boldness to sin by reason of the opinion which they have conceived of that idol, to wit, that by the virtue of it, they get remission of their sins ”

“ And because we have heard the malicious tongues of wicked men make false report of our action, we have faithfully and truly inserted in this our history the said Contract, that the memory thereof may bide to our posterity. They may judge with indifference whether we have done anything prejudicial to our commonwealth, or yet contrary to that dutiful obedience which true subjects owe to their superiors—superiors whose authority ought to defend and maintain the liberty and freedom of the realms committed to their charge ”

“ I heard Béthencourt brag in his credit, after he had delivered his menacing letters to Lord James Stewart, that the King and his Council would spend the Crown of France, unless they had our full obedience. But most assuredly I know that unless by us they thought to make an entrance to you, they would not buy our poverty at that price. They labour to corrupt some of our great men by money, and some of our number are poor, as before I wrote, and cannot serve without support; some they threaten; and against others they have raised up a party in their own country. ”

“ But if men, under the name of a Council, pretend to forge unto us new articles of our faith, or to make constitutions repugning to the Word of God, then utterly we must refuse the same, as the doctrine of devils which draws our souls from the voice of our only God, to follow the doctrines and constitutions of men. ”

“ We take God to record in our consciences, that from our hearts we abhor all sects of heresy, and all teachers of erroneous doctrine; and that with all humility we embrace the purity of Christ's Evangel, which is the only food of our souls; and therefore so precious unto us, that we are determined to suffer the extremity of worldly danger, rather than that we will suffer ourselves to be defrauded of the same. For we are most certainly persuaded that whosoever denies Christ Jesus, or is ashamed of Him, in presence of men, shall be denied before the Father, and before His holy angels. ”

“ This our faith, and the assurance of the same, proceeds not from flesh and blood, that is to say, from no natural powers within us, but is the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Him we confess God, equal with the Father and with the Son; who sanctifieth us, and bringeth us into all truth by His own operation; without Him we should remain for ever enemies to God, and ignorant of His Son, Christ Jesus. For of nature we are so dead, so blind, and so perverse, that neither can we feel when we are pricked, see the light when it shines, nor assent to the will of God when it is revealed ”

“ Thou, false heretic, saidst that a man hath no free will, but is like to the Stoics, who say that it is not in man's will to do anything, but that concupiscence and desire cometh of God, of whatsoever kind it be.—My Lords, I said not so, truly: I say that unto as many as believe in Christ firmly is given liberty, conformable to the saying of St. John, "If the Son make you free, then shall ye verily be free." Of the contrary, as many as believe not in Christ Jesus, they are bound servants of sin: "He that sinneth is bound to sin." ”

“ The Earl of Moray sent word of the marvellous victory to the Queen, and humbly prayed her to show obedience to God and publicly to convene with them, to give thanks to God for His notable deliverance. She gloomed at the messenger and at the request, and scarcely would give a good word or blithe countenance to any that she knew to be earnest favourers of the Earl Moray, whose prosperity was, and yet is, to her boldened heart, a very venom against him for his godliness and upright plainness. For many days she bare no better countenance ”

“ Lethington. Well let us come to the second head. Where find ye that the Scripture calls any the bond slaves to Satan? or that the Prophets of God speak so irreverently of kings and princes?
Knox. The Scripture says, that "by nature we are all the sons of wrath." Our Master, Christ Jesus, affirms, that "such as do sin are servants to sin," and that it is the only Son of God that sets men at freedom. Now, what difference there is betwixt the sons of wrath, and the servants of sin, and the slaves to the Devil, I understand not, except I be taught. ”

“ To have one God; to worship and honour Him; to call upon Him in all our troubles; to reverence His holy name; to hear His Word; to believe the same; to communicate with His holy Sacraments: these are the works of the First Table. To honour father, mother, princes, rulers, and superior powers; to love them; to support them, yea, to obey their charges, unless repugnant to the commandment of God; to save the lives of innocents; to repress tyranny; to defend the oppressed; to keep our bodies clean and holy; to live in sobriety and temperance; to deal justly with all men, both in word and in deed ”