KNOX RETURNS TO SCOTLAND by Stephen Nelson Haskell

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 9, 1881

KNOX RETURNS TO SCOTLAND.

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

BY ELD. S. N. HASKELL.

ON the arrival of John Knox in Scotland, he found matters in a most critical condition. During his absence the interests of the reform cause had continued to widen and deepen; order and discipline had been established under his direction to the extent that elders and deacons had been appointed in the various congregations. The popish clergy were not indifferent to these proceedings, neither were they wanting in an inclination to put a stop to them. The Queen-Regent, of whose sincerity Knox had always entertained suspicions, began to throw off the mask of friendship which she had found it for her interest to assume, and to unite with the clergy in laying plans for the suppression of the Reformation in Scotland. On the 28th of August, 1558, the Archbishop of St. Andrews committed Walter Milne, a man of most inoffensive manners, and eighty-two years of age, to the flame.

This, and other acts of injustice and cruelty, roused the people. Casting aside all fear and the restraints which had formerly held them, many of them openly joined the reform worship, and avowed their determination to adhere to it at all hazards. The double dealing of the Regent, who made fair promises to the Reformers but failed to keep them, hastened the impending crisis. After a sermon preached by Knox, at Perth, at this time, in which he exposed the idolatry of the mass and idol worship, a priest stepped forward, uncovered a rich altar-piece, decorated with images, and prepared to say mass. A boy, expressing some disapprobation, was struck by the priest, and immediately retaliated by throwing a stone at him, which, falling on the altar, broke one of the images. This operated as a signal upon a few idle persons who had loitered in the church, and in a short time the altar, images, and all the ornaments of the church, were torn down and trampled under foot. The noise occasioned by this soon collected a mob which by a sudden and irresistible impulse, flew upon the monasteries. Neither the authority of the magistrates nor the persuasion of the preacher could restrain its fury until the houses of the Gray and Black Friars, with the costly edifices of the Carthusian monks, were laid in ruins. This destruction, not only of property, but of the Catholics' sacred buildings, was attributed to the teachings of Knox, and the Regent seized upon the opportunity thus presented, to shield herself from public indignation, which she had incurred, and richly deserved, by turning it against the Protestants.

Refusing to listen to any explanations or protestations of innocence on their part, she advanced against the city of Perth with an army, threatening to lay waste the town with fire and sword, and to inflict the most exemplary vengeance on all those who, as she asserted, had been instrumental in producing the riot. The Protestants, meanwhile failing in their efforts to appease her wrath, resolved not to suffer themselves to be massacred, and prepared to defend the town. So prompt and vigorous were their measures that the Regent deemed it prudent to make peace with them.

Of the struggle which ensued, it is not our object to give a description. A great part of the nation loudly demanded the correction of the various abuses upheld and practiced by the popish clergy, and the leaders in the reform movement, or lords of the congregation, as they were called, resolved to introduce a reformation by abolishing the popish superstition, and setting up the Protestant worship in those places to which their authority or influence extended, and where a greater part of the inhabitants were friendly to the cause. The feudal ideas respecting the jurisdiction of the nobility which at that time prevailed in Scotland, in part justified this step, but the urgent and extreme necessity of the case formed its best vindication.

St. Andrews was the first place fixed on for the beginning of these operations. With this view, by the consent of the Prior of the abbey and other prominent persons. Knox was appointed to preach in the cathedral. The arch-bishop learning of his design, assembled an armed force, and sent him word that if he appeared in the pulpit, orders should be given to the soldiers to fire upon him. The noblemen were of the opinion that Knox should desist from preaching at that time; "for" said they, "our retinue is very slender, we have not yet ascertained the disposition of the town, and the Regent remains at a short distance with an army, ready to come to the bishop's assistance. The appearance of Knox in the pulpit might lead to the sacrifice of his own life and the lives of those who are determined to protect him;" but to this reasoning Knox would not listen.

"There are times," says the historian, "when to disregard the ordinary dictates of prudence, is a proof of superior wisdom; when to face danger is to shun it, and when to flee from it is to incur it," and here we have an illustration of this fact. Had the Reformers been intimidated by this threat, their cause would have received a blow from which it would not soon have recovered, but the firmness and intrepidity of Knox averted it. Fired with a love for the cause and the recollection of his early experience at St. Andrews, and the near prospect of realizing the sanguine hopes which he had for many years cherished, he replied to his brethren that he could not, in conscience, delay to preach the next day, unless forcibly hindered. In that town and in that church, God had first raised him to the dignity of a preacher, and from it he had been reft by French tyranny at the instigation of Scot's bishops. In the hearing of many yet alive he had expressed his confident hope of again preaching in St. Andrews; and, now that providence had brought him to the place, he besought them not to hinder him.

"As for the fear of danger that may come to me," continued he, "let no man be solicitous, for my life is in the custody of Him whose glory I seek. I desire the hand or weapon of no man to defend me. I only crave audience."

(To be Continued.)