PREFACE.

The author of the History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century died at Geneva, 21 October, 1872, when only a few chapters remained to be written to complete his great work. Feeling, as he often said, that time was short for him now (he was not far from his eightieth year), and stimulated by the near prospect of the end towards which he had been incessantly straining for fifty years, he worked on with redoubled ardor. ‘I count the minutes,’ he used to say; and he allowed himself no rest. Unhappily the last minutes were refused him, and the work was not finished. But only a small portion is wanting; and the manuscripts of which the publication is continued in the present volume will bring the narration almost to its close.

Ten volumes have appeared. It was the author’s intention to comprise the remainder of his history in two additional volumes. He had sketched his programme on a sheet of paper as follows:—

‘WITH GOD’S HELP.

‘Order of subjects, saving diminution or enlargement, according to the extent of each.

‘Vol. XI. to the death of Luther.

‘Vol. XII. to the death of Calvin.

The numerous manuscripts left by M. Merle d’Aubigné include all the articles set out in the programme as intended to form Vol. XI. (VI. of the second series), and three of the articles destined for Vol. XII., the first two and the fifth.

The work will undoubtedly present important gaps. Nevertheless, the great period, the period of origination, will have been described almost completely. But there is one chapter which it is very much to be regretted that he has not written. That is the last, relating to the work and the influence of Calvin in Christendom. The man who for fifty years had lived in close intercourse with Calvin, who had made his writings, his works, and his person the objects of his continual study, and had become impregnated with his spirit more, perhaps, than any one in our age; the man who was the first to hold in his hand, to read without intermission, and to analyze almost all the innumerable pieces that proceeded from the pen of the reformer, would have been able to trace for us with unrivalled authority the grand figure of his hero, and to describe the immense influence which he had on the sixteenth century, in distant regions as well as in his immediate circle. The absence of this concluding chapter, which the author had projected and which he long meditated but still delayed to write, remains an irreparable loss.

The editors (M. le pasteur Adolphe Duchemin, son-in-law of the eminent historian, and M. E. Binder, Professor of Exegesis at the Theological College of Geneva, colleague and friend of M. Merle d’Aubigné) have confined themselves to verifying the numerous quotations scattered through the text, to testing the accuracy of the references given in the notes, and to curtailing here and there developments which the author would assuredly have removed if he had edited the work himself. As the matters proposed to form Vol. XI. are sufficient to form two volumes and even to commence a third, it has been necessary to alter the arrangement indicated above.

The division of the narrative into chapters, and the titles given to the chapters, are for the most part the work of the editors.

Two other volumes are to follow the one now presented to the public.

Geneva April, 1875.

CONTENTS
OF
THE SIXTH VOLUME.

PAGE
Introduction[v]
BOOK X.
THE REFORMATION IN SCOTLAND.
CHAPTER I.
PREPARATION OF REFORM.
(From the Second Century to the Year 1522.)
Religion the Key to History—The same Life everywhere producedby the Divine Spirit—Three successive Impulses:the Culdees, Wickliffe, John Huss—Struggle between Royaltyand the Nobility—John Campbell, Laird of Cessnock—Chargedwith Heresy—Acquitted by the King—Battle ofFlodden—Death of James IV.—Episcopal Election in Scotland—Alesius—PatrickHamilton—John Knox—Troublesduring the Minority of the King—Young Hamilton at theUniversity of Paris—Becomes acquainted with the LutheranReformation [1]
CHAPTER II.
BEGINNING OF THE MOVEMENT OF REFORM.
(1522 to April 1527.)
John Mayor Professor at Glasgow—Patrick Hamilton at Universityof St. Andrews—Luther’s Writings introduced intoScotland—Prohibited by the Parliament—Character of theyoung King—James V. declared of Age—Sides with thePriests—The Clerical Party overcome—Tyndale’s New Testamentcirculated—Evangelical Doctrines preached by PatrickHamilton—Renewed Influence of Archbishop Beatoun—Hamiltondeclared a Heretic—Cited before the Archbishop—Escapesto the Continent[18]
CHAPTER III.
DEDICATION OF HAMILTON IN GERMANY TO THE REFORMATIONOF SCOTLAND.
(Spring, Summer, and Autumn, 1527.)
Hamilton at Marburg—His Introduction to Lambert d’Avignon—Universityof Marburg—Science and Faith—Hamilton’sStudy of the Scriptures—Reason for his not visiting Wittenberg—Luther’sIllness—The Plague at Wittenberg—Hamilton’sDisputation at Marburg—His Theses—TheAttack and the Defence—Hamilton’s new Theses—Thepith of Theology in them—Hamilton’s Return to Scotland[30]
CHAPTER IV.
EVANGELIZATION, TRIBULATIONS AND SUCCESS OF HAMILTON INSCOTLAND.
(End of 1527 to End of February 1528.)
The New Testament proscribed—Hamilton’s Zeal—Receptionof the Gospel by his Kinsfolk—His Preaching near Kincavil—Eagernessof Crowds to hear him—His Marriage—Plotof the Priests against his Life—Summoned to St.Andrews by the Archbishop—His increased Zeal—Snareslaid for him by the Priests—His Disputation with Alesius—Conversionof Alesius to the Truth—Hamilton betrayedby Alexander Campbell—Hamilton’s Death determined on—TheKing removed out of the Way—Attempt of SirJames Hamilton to save his Brother—Armed Resistance ofthe Archbishop[42]
CHAPTER V.
APPEARANCE, CONDEMNATION, MARTYRDOM OF HAMILTON.
(End of February–March 1, 1528.)
Hamilton’s Appearance before the Episcopal Council—HisHeresies—His Answer—Attempt of Andrew Duncan torescue him—Hamilton confined in the Castle—The InquisitorialCourt—Hamilton in the Presence of his Judges—Debates—Insults—HisSentence—Preparation of Execution—Hamiltonat the Stake—Vexed and insulted by Campbell—Hamilton’sFamily and Native Land—Duration of hisSufferings—The two Hamiltons[56]
CHAPTER VI.
ALESIUS.
(February 1528 to End of 1531.)
The ‘Crowns of the Martyrs’—Various Feelings excited aboutthe Martyr—Escape of the King from his Keepers—TheReins of Government seized by James V.—Victory of thePriests—Alesius confirmed by death of Hamilton—His discoursebefore Provincial Synod—His imprisonment in aDungeon—Order of the King to liberate him—Stratagemof Prior Hepburn—Removal of Alesius to a fouler Dungeon—Plotof the Prior against his Life—Scheme of the Canonsfor his Escape—His Flight by Night—Pursuit by the Prior—HisFlight to Germany[70]
CHAPTER VII.
CONFESSORS OF THE GOSPEL AND MARTYRS MULTIPLIED INSCOTLAND.
(End of 1531 to 1534.)
Conspiracy of the Nobles against the Priests—Their Compactwith Henry VIII.—Intrigues of the Romish Party—AlexanderSeaton, Confessor to the King—His boldness—HisFlight to England—Letter of Alesius to the King—Replyof Cochlæus—Henry Forrest—His Degradation—His Execution—DavidStraiton, of Lauriston—His Conversion—HisTrial—And Martyrdom—Trial of Catherine Hamilton—Flightof Evangelicals from Scotland[84]
CHAPTER VIII.
BREACH OF THE KING OF SCOTLAND WITH ENGLAND—ALLIANCEWITH FRANCE AND THE GUISES.
(1534 to 1539.)
Alliance of James V. sought by Henry VIII.—Failure—Newattempts of Henry VIII.—Thomas Forrest—His fidelity—HisInterview with the Bishop of Dunkeld—Discontent ofthe People—Negotiations at Rome—Marriage of James V.with Madeleine of Valois—Death of the young Queen—SecondMarriage of the King with Mary of Lorraine[99]
CHAPTER IX.
INFLUENCE OF DAVID BEATOUN PREDOMINANT—REVIVAL OFPERSECUTION.
(1539.)
Cardinal David Beatoun—His complete Control of the King—Waron the Rich—The Ransom of Balkerley—NumerousImprisonments—Scotland watched by Henry VIII.—Killon’saudacious Drama—Trial of Killon and Thomas Forrest—TheirExecution—Buchanan in Prison—His Escape—Kennedyand Jerome Russel—Their Imprisonment—Trial—Courage—AndMartyrdom[110]
CHAPTER X.
TERGIVERSATIONS OF JAMES V.—NEGOTIATIONS WITH HENRYVIII.—THEIR FAILURE.
(1540 to 1542.)
Changed Inclination of the King of Scotland—His Censure ofthe Bishops—Cleverness of the Cardinal—Colloquies ofBishops at St. Andrews—Return of the King to the sideof Rome—Birth of his Son—Birth of a second Son—HisRemorse—A Dream—Death of his two Sons—Fresh Attemptsof Henry VIII.—Project of an Interview at York—Journeyof the King of England to York—Efforts of theBishops to prevent the Interview—Absence of James V.from the Rendezvous[124]
CHAPTER XI.
WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.—DEATH OF JAMES V.
(1542.)
Anger of Henry VIII.—Skirmishes—Fears of James V.—Aimof Henry VIII.—The Crown of Scotland—Invasion of Scotlandby Duke of Norfolk—Refusal of the Scottish Army tomarch—Proscription List drawn up by the Bishops—TheirAlliance with the King—Levy of a new Army by Bishops—OliverSinclair named Commander-in-Chief—DisgracefulRout—Anxiety of James V.—His Dejection—His Despair—Birthof Mary Stuart—Death of the King[136]
CHAPTER XII.
REGENCY OF EARL OF ARRAN.—IMPRISONMENT OF BEATOUN.—TREATYOF PEACE WITH ENGLAND.
(1542 to March 1543.)
Ambition of Beatoun—Pretended Will of the King—Assemblyof the Nobles—Earl of Arran proclaimed Regent—Evangelicalsassociated with him—The two Chaplains—Projectsof Henry VIII.—Negotiations—Arrest of the Cardinal—Resultsof this Act—Scotland laid under Interdict—Parliamentof Edinburgh—The Scriptures in the VulgarTongue—Debates on the Subject—Freedom of the Scriptures—GeneralRejoicing—Treaty with England—Confirmationof the Treaty[151]
CHAPTER XIII.
LIBERATION OF BEATOUN—HIS SEIZURE OF POWER—BREACH OFTHE TREATY—FRESH PERSECUTIONS.
(March 1543 to Summer 1544.)
The Ultramontane Party—The Abbot of Paisley—Liberationof the Cardinal—His Intrigues—Insults offered to the EnglishAmbassador—Refusal of the Regent to deliver theHostages—Armed Gatherings—Weakness of the Regent—HisAbjuration before the Cardinal—Coronation of MaryStuart—Declaration of War in Scotland by Henry VIII.—Earlof Lennox—Triumph of the Cardinal—William Anderson,Hellen Stirke, James Raveleson, and Robert Lamb—Sentenceof death passed on them—Fruitless Intercession—AffectingDeath of Hellen Stirke—The English Fleet atLeith—Landing of the English Army—Capture and Pillageof Edinburgh—Plans of Henry VIII. postponed[166]
CHAPTER XIV.
WISHART—HIS MINISTRY AND HIS MARTYRDOM.
(Summer of 1544 to March 1546.)
Preaching of Wishart at Dundee—The Churches closed againsthim—Open-air Preaching—The Plague of Dundee—Wishart’sReturn thither—Attempt of a Priest to Assassinatehim—Snares laid for him—His Announcement of his approachingDeath—Wishart joined by Knox—Approach ofWishart to Edinburgh—His redoubled Zeal—Desertion ofhis Friends—His last Preaching—His Arrest—Given up tothe Cardinal—His Trial opposed by the Regent—Persistenceof the Cardinal—The Ecclesiastical Court—The AccuserLauder—Insults—Calumnies—Condemnation—Refusal ofthe Sacrament—A true Supper—Wishart’s Address to thePeople—His Martyrdom[185]
CHAPTER XV.
CONSPIRACY AGAINST BEATOUN—HIS DEATH.
(March to May 1546.)
Triumph of the Cardinal—Conspiracy of his Enemies—Meetingof the Conspirators at St. Andrews—Seizure of theCastle—The Cardinal’s Servants driven away—Murder ofBeatoun—Wishart’s Sentence—Siege of the Castle—Capitulationof the Conspirators—Grounds of the Triumph ofthe Reformation in Scotland—Two Kings and Two Kingdoms—Priestand Pastor[207]
BOOK XI.
CALVIN AND THE PRINCIPLES OF HIS REFORM.
CHAPTER I.
CALVIN AT GENEVA AND IN THE PAYS DE VAUD.
(1536.)
Geneva prepared for its Part—Calvin—His Desire for Retirement—Readerin Holy Scripture—Calvin’s Teaching—Authorshipof Discipline—Application of Discipline beforeCalvin—Doctrine of Jesus Christ the Soul of the Church—Calvinand the Huguenots—His Engagement with theCouncil of Geneva—His Name not mentioned—The Gospelin the Pays de Vaud—Viret at Lausanne—Images—TwoMasses a Week—Notice of a great Disputation—Prohibitedby the Emperor—Convoked by Council of Berne—Indecisionof the Townsmen of Lausanne[219]
CHAPTER II.
THE DISPUTATION OF LAUSANNE.
(October 1536.)
The Champions of the two Parties—Preparations of the twoParties—Ten Theses of Farel—His Discourse—Opening ofthe Disputation—Protest of the Canons—Farel’s Reply—DoctorBlancherose—The Vicar Drogy—Justification byFaith—The Church and the Scriptures—Caroli—The RealPresence—Testimony of the Fathers—Calvin—His Statementof the Doctrine of the Fathers—Christ’s Mortal Bodyand his Glorified Body—The Body and the Blood—TheSpiritual Presence of Christ—Conversion of Jean Tandy—HisMonastic Dress put off—The last Theses—The Trinityof Doctor Blancherose—Lent—Ignorance of the Priests—Calvinand Hildebrand—Closing Discourse by Farel—JesusChrist and not the Pope—Salvation not in Outward Things—Appealto the Priests—Address to the Lords of Berne[235]
CHAPTER III.
EXTENSION OF THE REFORM IN THE PAYS DE VAUD.
(End of 1536.)
Moral Reform at Lausanne—Images—Alarm of the Canons—Removalof Images ordered by Berne—Success of the Disputationat Lausanne—Reformation decreed at Lausanne—Carolifirst Pastor—Reformation at Vevey—At Lutry—Farel’sSearch for Evangelical Ministers—Ministers of thePays de Vaud—Formula of the Lords of Berne—UnworthyMinisters—Edict of Reformation—Departure of Priests andMonks—Conference at Geneva[260]
CHAPTER IV.
THE REFORMATION AT GENEVA.—FORMULARY OF FAITH ANDDISCIPLINE.
(End of 1536 to 1537.)
Liberty and Authority—Calvin Pastor at Geneva—The ChristianIndividual and the Christian Community—Analysisand Synthesis—Division among the Huguenots—Catechismand Confession of Faith—Calvin’s real Mind—Diversity ofReligious Opinions—Need of Unity—Presentation of theConfession to the Council—Characteristics of the Confession—ItsAuthorship assigned to Calvin—Frequent Communion—Disciplineof Excommunication—The true Beginningof a Church—Lay Intervention—Various Regulations—Disciplineapproved by the Council—The Syndic Porral—Distribution of the Confession—Its Acceptance required ofeach Citizen—Assembly of the People at St. Peter’s Church—Swearingof the Confession—Refusal of many to Swearit—The three Pastors of Geneva—The Schools—Activityof the Reformers—Discipline—Description of Geneva[274]
CHAPTER V.
CALVIN’S CONTEST WITH FOREIGN DOCTORS—CHARGE OF ARIANISMBROUGHT AGAINST HIM.
(January to June 1537.)
Arrived of the Spirituals at Geneva—Their System—PublicDisputation—Expulsion of the Spirituals—Caroli—His Ambitionand his Morals—Prayers for the Dead—Scholasticism—Consistoryof Lausanne—Charge of Arianism againstCalvin—His Vindication necessary—Calvin’s Reply—Hisview on the Trinity—Accusation of Farel and Viret byCaroli—Convocation of a Synod resolved on—Farel’s Anxiety—Synodat Lausanne—Another Debate on the Trinity—Unmaskingof Caroli by Calvin—The Divinity of Christ—TheTyranny of Creeds rejected by Calvin—The so-calledAthanasian Creed—Condemnation of Caroli by the Synod—Appealto Berne—Agitation of Men’s Minds—Accusation ofCaroli—His Condemnation—His Flight to France[299]
CHAPTER VI.
CALVIN AT THE SYNOD OF BERNE.
(September 1537.)
Disputation on the Lord’s Supper—The Doctrine of Zwingliat Berne—Acceptance of the Doctrine of Luther there—Apatched-up Peace—Synod of September—Opinions of Bucer—Attacksof Megander—Growing Dissension—Interventionof Calvin—His Project of a Formula of Concord—The Tumultallayed[323]
CHAPTER VII.
THE CONFESSION OF FAITH SWORN TO AT ST. PETER’S.
(End of 1537.)
Various Acts of Discipline—Parties at Geneva—Divisionamongst the Huguenots—Coercion in matter of Faith—Requirementof Oath to the Confession—Numerous Opponents—Decreeof Banishment—Power of the Malcontents—Imprudenceof the Bernese Deputies—The General Council—Discourseof the Syndics—The Leaders of Oppositionsilenced—Violent Attack on the Syndics—TumultuousDebate—Confused Complaints—Growing Opposition—Vindicationof the Reformers—Accusation against them byBerne—Their Vindication at Berne—Complete Justice donethem[333]
CHAPTER VIII.
TROUBLES AT GENEVA.
(Beginning of 1538.)
Agitation—The Lord’s Supper—Nature of the Church—Communicantsand Hearers—The Supper open to all—Disorders—Louisdu Tillet—His Return to the Church of Rome—Partiesface to face with each other—Menaces—No Freedomwithout Religion—Election of new Syndics—Their Hostilityto Calvin—Moderation of their first Measures—MisleadingEffects of Party Spirit—Exclusion of Evangelicals from theCouncils—Censure of the Ministers by the Councils—Resistanceof the Reformers—‘I can do no otherwise’[350]
CHAPTER IX.
STRUGGLES AT BERNE.—SYNOD OF LAUSANNE.
(January 1538.)
Expulsion of Megander from Berne—Remonstrance of CountryPastors—Pacification—Calvin’s Regret for the Banishmentof Megander—Hostility of Kunz to Calvin—Relationsbetween Church and State—Variety of Usages at Genevaand at Berne—Synod at Lausanne—A strange Condition—Absenceof Calvin and Farel from the Synod—Adoption bythe Synod of the usages of Berne—Fruitless Conference—Lettersfrom the Lords of Berne to Calvin and Farel and tothe Council of Geneva[366]
CHAPTER X.
SUCCESS OF THE COUNTER-REFORMATION—REFUSAL OF CALVINAND FAREL TO ADMINISTER THE LORD’S SUPPER—PROHIBITIONOF THEIR PREACHING.
(March and April 1538.)
The Pulpit interdicted to Courault—Adoption by the Councilof the Usages of Berne—Resistance of Calvin—Disordersin the Streets—Indignation of Courault—His Sermon at St.Peter’s—His Imprisonment—His Liberation demanded bythe Reformers—Refusal of the Council—Loud Complaints—ThePulpit interdicted to Calvin and Farel—What to do?—GeneralConfusion—Perplexity of the Reformers—Indifferenceof Forms—The Supper a Feast of Peace—Divisionsand Violence of Parties—Administration of the Suppergiven up—Determination of the Reformers to preach—Heroism[376]
CHAPTER XI.
PREACHING OF CALVIN AND FAREL IN DEFIANCE OF THEPROHIBITION BY THE COUNCIL—THEIR BANISHMENT FROMGENEVA.
(April 1538.)
Great Distress of mind—Easter Sunday—Farel’s Preachingat St. Gervais—Disorders in the Church—Calvin’s preachingat St. Peter’s—Statement of his Motives—The Church aHoly Body—A quiet Hearing given him—His Sermon atRive—Great Disorder—Swords drawn—Deliberation of theCouncils—Proposal to expel the Ministers—Denial of Justice—Expulsionvoted by the General Council—Calvin’s Reply—Farel’sReply—Departure of the Ministers from Geneva—AProphecy of Bonivard—Journey of Farel and Calvin toBerne—Joy and Sorrow[393]
CHAPTER XII.
GREAT CONFUSION AT GENEVA—USELESS INTERVENTION OFTHE COUNCIL OF BERNE.
(End of April 1538.)
Ridicule and Sarcasm—The New Ministers—Their Incompetency—Arrivalof the Reformers at Berne—Their appearancebefore the Council—Their Grievances—Excitement inthe Council of Berne—Letter of the Council to Geneva—Replyof the Council of Geneva[412]
CHAPTER XIII.
SYNOD OF ZURICH—CALVIN RECONDUCTED TO GENEVA BYBERNESE AMBASSADORS—REFUSAL TO ADMIT HIM TO THETOWN.
(End of April to End of May 1538.)
Farel and Calvin at Zurich—Their Claims—Their Moderation—TheirHumility—The Justice of their Cause—Their approvalby Synod of Zurich—Letter of the Synod to Geneva—Hostilityof Kunz—His Wrath—His Accusations—Hesitationof Berne to intervene—Justice prevails—Embassy fromBerne—Excitement at Geneva—Stoppage of Calvin andFarel at Genthod—The General Council—Favorable Appearances—Treacheryof Kunz—Pierre Vandel—PassionateExcitement—Vote of the General Council—The Opponents—TheMinority[420]
CHAPTER XIV.
BANISHMENT OF THE MINISTERS—THEIR SUCCESSORS ATGENEVA.
(End of 1538.)
Licentiousness—Journey of Calvin and Farel to Berne—Journeyto Basel—Their Reception there—Their Vindication—Hesitationas to Choice of a Post—Rivalry between Baseland Strasburg in seeking for Calvin—Farel called to Neuchâtel—Settlementof Calvin at Strasburg—Death ofCourault—Calvin’s Grief—The new Ministers of Geneva—Calvin’sOpinion of them—Discontent—Accusations—TheComplaints not unfounded—Calvin’s Letter to Christiansof Geneva—His Advice—Farel’s Letter—His deep Sadness[439]
CHAPTER XV.
STRASBURG AND GENEVA.
(End of 1538 to 1539.)
Calvin at Strasburg—Widening of his Horizon—Calvin aPastor—His spiritual Joy—Calvin a Doctor—Treatise on theLord’s Supper—Theological Debates—Calvin’s Poverty—Deathof Olivétan—Calvin’s Courage—Despotism at Geneva—Purification—TheRegents of the College—Their Banishment—Difficultyof finding Substitutes—The Friends of theReformers—Prosecutions—New Syndics—Suppression ofDisorders—Conference at Frankfort—Calvin at Frankfort—Hisintercourse with Melanchthon—On the Supper andon Discipline—On Ceremonies of Worship—Melanchthoncalled to Henry VIII.—Calvin’s opinion of Henry VIII.—Calvin’sReturn to Strasburg[456]
CHAPTER XVI.
CALVIN’S CORRESPONDENCE WITH SADOLETO.
(1539.)
Colloquy of Bishops at Lyons—Cardinal Sadoleto—His Letterto the Genevese—Its Portraiture of the Reformers—ItsConclusion—Delivery of his Letter to the Council—ImmediateConsequences—An important Step towards Rome—TwoMartyrs in Savoy—Calvin’s Reply to Sadoleto—Reasonfor his replying—Separation of the Church—Christian Antiquity—Justificationby Faith—The Judgment Seat of God—Defenceof Calvin—His first Faith—His Resistance—HisConversion—Who tears to Pieces the Spouse of Christ—Towhom Dissensions are to be imputed—Luther’s Joy—Copyreceived at Geneva—Caroli—His End[478]
CHAPTER XVII.
CATHOLICISM AT GENEVA—MARRIAGE OF CALVIN AT STRASBURG.
(End of 1539–1540.)
Citation of Priests before the Council—Their Attitude—Theformer Syndic Balard—His Courage—His Abjuration—Calvin’sThoughts on Geneva—His household Cares—His Desireto Marry—Various Projects—Hesitation—Idelette deBure—Marriage—Catherine von Bora and Idelette de Bure—SecondAssembly at Hagenau—Nothing done[499]
CHAPTER XVIII.
GENEVA—DISSENSIONS AND SEVERITIES.
(1540.)
Conflict between Berne and Geneva—Treaty with Berne—TheArticulants—Refusal of Geneva to ratify the Treaty—Judgmentgiven at Lausanne—Indignation at Geneva—Prosecutionof the Articulants—Their Condemnation—JeanPhilippe Captain-General—His Irritation—Riot excited byhim—His Defeat—His Arrest—His Condemnation to Death—Deathof Richardet—A Prediction of Calvin—The Ways ofGod[512]

HISTORY

OF THE

REFORMATION IN EUROPE

IN THE TIME OF CALVIN.

BOOK X.

THE REFORMATION IN SCOTLAND.

CHAPTER I.
PREPARATION OF REFORM.
(From the 2nd Century to the Year 1522.)

History is of various kinds. It may be literary, philosophical, political, or religious; the last entering most deeply into the inmost facts of our being. The political historian will sometimes disclose the hidden mysteries of the cabinets of princes, will fathom their counsels, unveil their intrigues, and snatch their secrets from a Cæsar, a Charles V., a Napoleon, while human nature in its loftiest aspects remains inaccessible to them. The inward power of conscience, which not seldom impels a man to act in a way opposed to the rules of policy and to the requirements of self-interest, the great spiritual evolutions of humanity, the sacrifices of missionaries and of martyrs, are for them covered with a veil. It is the Gospel alone which gives us the key of these mysteries, so that there remain in history, even for the most able investigators, enigmas which appear insoluble. How is it that schemes conceived with indisputable cleverness fail? How is it that enterprises which seem insane succeed? They cannot tell. No matter, they keep on their way, they pass into other regions and leave behind them territories which have not been explored.

This is to be regretted, for the historian ought to embrace in his survey the whole field of human affairs. He must, of course, take into consideration the earthly powers which bear sway in the world, ambition, despotism, liberty; but he ought to mark also the heavenly powers which religion reveals. The living God must not be excluded from the world which He created. Man must not stop in his contemplations at elementary molecules, nor even at political influences, but must raise himself to this first principle, as Clement of Alexandria named it,—this existence, the idea of which is immediate, original, springs from no other, but is necessarily presupposed in all thought.

God, who renews the greenness of our pastures, who makes the corn come forth out of the bosom of the earth, and covers the trees with blossoms and with fruit, does not abandon the souls of men. The God of the whole visible creation is much more the light and the strength of souls, for one of these is more precious in his sight than all the universe. The Creator, who every spring brings forth out of the winter’s ice and cold a nature full of life, smiling with light and adorned with flowers, can assuredly produce, when it pleases Him, a spiritual springtide in the heart of a torpid and frozen humanity. The Divine Spirit is the sap which infuses into barren souls the vivifying juices of heaven. The world has not seldom been like a desert in which all life seemed to be extinct; and yet, in those periods apparently so arid, subterranean currents were yielding sustenance here and there to solitary plants; and at the hour fixed by Divine providence the living water has gushed forth abundantly to reanimate perishing humanity. Such was the case in the two greatest ages of history, that of the Gospel and that of the Reformation.

THE SPIRITUAL SPRINGTIDE.

Such epochs, the most important in human history, are for that reason the worthiest to be studied. The new life which sprang up in the 16th century was everywhere the same, but nevertheless it bore a certain special character in each of the countries in which it appeared; in Germany, in Switzerland, in England, in Scotland, in France, in Italy, in the Netherlands, in Spain, and in other lands. At Wittenberg it was to man that Christian thought especially attached itself, to man fallen, but regenerated and justified by faith. At Geneva it was to God, to His sovereignty and His grace. In Scotland it was to Christ—Christ as expiatory victim, but above all Christ as king, who governs and keeps his people independently of human power.

Scotland is peopled by a vigorous race, vigorous in their virtues and vigorous, we may add, in their faults. Vigor is also one of the distinguishing features of Scottish Christianity, and it is this quality perhaps which led Scotland to attach itself particularly to Christ as to the king of the Church, the idea of power being always involved in the idea of king.

This country is now to be the subject of our narrative. It deserves to be so; for although of small extent and situated on the confines of the West, it has by nature and by faith a motive force which makes itself felt to the ends of the earth.

Two periods are to be noted in the Scottish Reformation, that of Hamilton and that of Knox. It is of the first of these only that we are now to treat. The study of the beginnings of things attracts and interests the mind in the highest degree. Faithful to our plan, we shall ascend to the generative epoch of Caledonian reform, an epoch which Scotland herself has perhaps too much slighted, and we shall exhibit its simple beauty.

Before the days of the Reformation, Scotland received three great impulses in succession from the Christian countries of the south.

The persecutions which at the close of the second century, during the course of the third, and at the beginning of the fourth, fell on the disciples of the Gospel who dwelt in the southern part of Great Britain, drove a great number of them to take refuge in the country of the Scots. These pious men built for themselves humble and solitary hermitages, in green meadows or on steep mountains, and in narrow valleys of the glens; and there, devoting themselves to the service of God, they shed a soft gleam of light in the midst of the fogs of every kind which encompassed them, teaching the ignorant and strengthening the weak. They were called in the Gaelic tongue gille De, servants of God, in Latin cultores Dei; and in these phrases we find the origin of the name by which they are still known—Culdees. Such was the respect which they inspired that, after their death, their cells were often transformed into churches.[1] From them came the first impulse.

THE CULDEES.

Several centuries passed away; the feudal system was established in Scotland. The mountainous nature of the country, which made of every domain a sort of fortress, the fewness of the large towns, the absence of any influential body of citizens, the institution of clans, the limited number of the nobles,—all these circumstances combined to make the power of the feudal lords greater than in any other European country; and this power at a later period protected the Reformation from the despotism of the kings. But the influence of the Culdees, though really perceptible in the Middle Ages, was very feeble. It may be said of the things of grace in Scotland as of the works of Creation, that the sun did not come to scatter the mists which brooded over a nature melancholy and monotonous, and that the influence of the winds which, rushing forth from the neighboring seas, roared and raged over the barren heaths or over the fertile plains of Caledonia, was not softened by the breath divine which comes from heaven.

But in the days of the revival a sweet and subtile sound was heard, and the surface of the lochs seemed to become animated. Wickliffe, having given to England the Word of God, some of his followers, and particularly John Resby, came into Scotland. ‘The pope is nothing,’ said Resby in 1407,[2] and he taught at the same time that Christ is everything. He was burnt at Perth.... Thus it was from the disciples of Wickliffe, the Lollards, that the second impulse came.

The reveillé of Wickliffe was echoed in Eastern Europe by that of John Huss. In 1421, a Bohemian, one Paul Crawar, arriving from Prague, expounded at St. Andrews the Word of God, which he cited with a readiness and accuracy that astonished his hearers.[3] When led away to execution and bound to the stake, the bold Bohemian said to the priests who stood round him, ‘Generation of Satan, you, like your fathers, are enemies of the truth.’ The priests, not relishing such speeches in the presence of the crowd, had a ball of brass put into his mouth,[4] and the martyr thus silenced was burnt alive without any further protest on his part.

However, Patrick Graham, archbishop of St. Andrews and primate of Scotland, nephew of James I., and a man distinguished for his abilities and his virtues, had heard Crawar. If the heart of the priest had been hard as a stone the heart of the archbishop was like a fertile field. The Word of the Lord took deep root in him. He formed the project of reformation of the Church; but the clergy were indignant; the primate was deprived, was condemned to imprisonment for life, and died in prison.

Then began that struggle between royalty and the nobility which was afterwards to become one of the characteristic features of the time of reform. Kings, instigated by ambitious priests, sought to humble the nobles; the latter were thus predisposed to promote the Reformation. James II. (1437–1460) fought against the nobles both with the sword and by severe laws. James III. (1460–1488) removed them with contempt from his Court and gave himself up to unworthy favorites. James IV. (1488–1503), a man of a nobler spirit, esteemed the aristocracy the ornament of his Court and the strength of his kingdom. During the reign of this prince appeared the first glimmerings of the Reformation. Some pious men, dwellers most of them in the districts of Hill and Cunningham, were enlightened by the Gospel, and, confronting the Roman papacy, boldly declared that all true Christians receive every day spiritually the body of Jesus Christ by faith; that the bread remains bread after consecration, and that the natural body of Christ is not present; that there is a universal priesthood, of which every man and woman who believes in the Saviour is a member; that the pope, who exalts himself above God, is against God; that it is not permissible to take up arms for the things of faith; and that priests may marry.

JOHN CAMPBELL, LAIRD OF CESSNOCK.

Among the protectors of these brave folk was John Campbell, laird of Cessnock, a man well grounded in the evangelical doctrine, modest even to timidity, but abounding in works of mercy, and who received with goodwill not only the Lollards but those even whose opinions were opposed to his own. His partner, with a character of greater decision than his own, was a woman well versed in the Bible, and being thoroughly acquainted with the Scriptures was safe against intimidation. Every morning the family and the servants assembled in a room of the mansion, and a priest, the chaplain, opened in the midst of them a New Testament, a very rare book at that period, and read and explained it.[5] When this family worship and the first meal were over, the Campbells would visit the poor and the sick. At the dinner hour they called together some of their neighbors: monks as well as gentlefolk would come and sit at their table. One day the conversation turning on the conventual life and the habits of the priests, Campbell spoke on the subject with moderation but also with freedom. The monks, exasperated, put crafty questions to him, provoked him, and succeeded in drawing from him words which in their eyes were heretical. Forgetting the claims of hospitality they hastened to the house of the bishop and denounced their host and the lady of the house. Inquiry was set on foot; the crime of heresy was proved. Campbell saw the danger which threatened him and appealed to the king.

James IV., who had married Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII., was then reigning in Scotland. His life had not been spotless: he was often tormented with remorse, and in his fits of melancholy he resolved to make up for his sins by applying himself to the administration of justice. He had the two parties appear before him; the monks cited decisions of the Church sufficient to condemn the prisoner. The weak and simple-minded Campbell was somewhat embarrassed;[6] his answers were timid and inadequate. He could talk with widows and orphans, but he could not cope with these monks. But his wife was full of decision and courage. When requested by the king to speak, she took up one by one the accusations of the monks, and setting them face to face with the Holy Scriptures, showed their falsehood. Her speech was clear, serious, and weighty with conviction. The king, persuaded by her eloquence, declared to the monks that if they should again persecute honest people in that way, they should be severely punished. And then, touched by the piety of this eminent woman and wishing to give her a token of his respect, he rose from his seat, went up to her and embraced her.[7] Turning to her husband, ‘As for you,’ said he, ‘I give you in fee such and such villages, and I intend them to be testimonies for ever of my good will towards you.’ The husband and wife withdrew full of joy, and the monks full of vexation and shame. Thirty other evangelicals, professing the same doctrines as the laird of Cessnock, were cited, but they were dismissed with the request to be satisfied with the faith of the Church. This took place about the year 1512, the year in which Zwingle began to search the Scriptures and in which Luther on Pilate’s Staircase at Rome heard that word which went on resounding in his heart, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ The brave Scotchwoman had fought a battle at an outpost and sounded the prelude to the Reformation.

ELECTION OF A BISHOP IN SCOTLAND.

Unhappily the accession of Henry VIII. to the throne of England turned the thoughts of the King of Scotland in another direction. Henry VII., as long as he lived, had striven to keep on good terms with his son-in-law; but Henry VIII., a monarch haughty, sensitive, and impatient, and who in mere wilfulness would quarrel with his neighbors, was far less friendly with his sister’s husband. He even delayed for a long time the payment of the legacy which her father had left her. The frequent attacks of the English, and the necessity thereby imposed on the Scots of constantly keeping watch on the borders, had given rise to distrust and hatred between the two nations. At the same time the ancient rivalry of France and England had thrown Scotland on the side of the French. When the English eagle pounced on unguarded France, ‘the weasel Scot’ came sliding into its nest and devoured the royal brood.[8] Henry VIII. revived those ancient traditions; and France took advantage of them to enfeoff Scotland still further to herself at the very moment when the Medici and the Guises were on the point of seizing at Paris the reins of government. Insulted by Henry VIII., James IV. resolved, in spite of the wise remonstrance of the old earl of Angus, to attack England. Scotland gave him the élite of her people. He fought at Flodden with intrepid courage, but hit by two arrows and struck by a battle-axe he fell on the field, while round him lay the corpses of twelve earls, thirteen lords, two bishops, two mitred abbots, a great number of gentlemen, and more than ten thousand soldiers. Several students, and among them one named Andrew Duncan, son of the laird of Airdrie, whom we shall meet again, were either killed or made prisoners on that fatal day.

The king’s son, James V. (afterwards father of Mary Stuart), was scarcely two years old at the time of his father’s death. His mother, sister of Henry VIII., assumed the regency, and during his minority the nobles exercised an influence which was to be one day favorable to liberty, and thereby to the Gospel. The king and the priests, both driving at absolute power, the former in the State, the latter in the Church, now made common cause against the nobles. Strange conflicts then took place between the various powers of Scotland. One of these conflicts had just disturbed the first city of the kingdom, St. Andrews, and had mingled with the noise of the stormy sea, which roared at the foot of the rocks, the voices of priests struggling around the Cathedral, the cries of soldiers and the reverberations of cannon. Alexander Stuart, archbishop of St. Andrews, primate of Scotland, having fallen on the field of Flodden, three competitors appeared for the possession of his primatial see. These were John Hepburn, prior of St. Andrews, the candidate of the canons; Gavin Douglas, brother of the earl of Angus, candidate of the nobles; and Andrew Forman, bishop of Murray, candidate of the pope. Douglas had already been put by the queen in possession of the castle of St. Andrews; but Hepburn, an ambitious man of high spirit, with the aid of the canons, took it by assault, fortified himself in it,[9] and then set out for Rome to secure the pontifical investiture. Forman, the pope’s candidate, taking advantage of his rival’s absence, seized the castle and the monastery, and placed there a strong garrison. Hepburn was pacified by the gift of a pension of 3,000 crowns; while Douglas, candidate of the nobles, finding that there was neither money nor mitre for him, cannonaded and captured the cathedral of Dunkeld.[10] In such fashion was the election of a bishop made in Scotland before the Reformation.

The elections of priests were conducted after somewhat different methods. The lesser benefices were put up to auction and sold by wandering bards, diceplayers, or minions of the Court. The bishops, who gave their illegitimate daughters to the nobles, kept the best places in the Church for their bastards. These young worldlings, hurrying off to their pleasures, abandoned their flocks to monks, who retailed in the pulpit absurd legends of their saint, of his combats with the devil and of his flagellations, or amused the people with low jesting. This system, which passing for a representation of Christianity was merely its parody, destroyed not only Christian piety and morality, but the peace of families, the freedom of the people, and the prosperity of the kingdom.[11]

While ambition, idleness and licentiousness thus prevailed among the clergy, God was preparing ‘new vessels’ into which to pour the new wine which the old vessels could no longer hold. Some simple-minded men were on the point of achieving by their Christian faith and life a victory over the rich, powerful, and worldly pontiffs. Three young men, born almost with the century, were just beginning a career, the struggles and trials of which were as yet unknown to them. These men were to become the reformers of the Church of Scotland.

BIRTH OF ALESIUS.

On April 23, 1500, the wife of an honest citizen of Edinburgh gave birth to a son who was afterwards called by some Alane, and by others Ales, but who signed his own name Alesius, the form which we shall adopt. Alexander—that was his baptismal name—was a child remarkable for liveliness, and the anxiety of his devoted parents lest any accident should befall him led them to hang round his neck, as a safeguard against every danger, a paper on which a priest had written some verses of St. John. Alesius was fond of going, with other boys of his own age, to the heights which environ Edinburgh. The great rock on the summit of which the castle stands, the beautiful Calton Hill, and the picturesque hill called Arthur’s Seat, in turn attracted them. One day—it was in 1512—Alexander and some friends, having betaken themselves to the last-named hill, amused themselves by rolling over and over down a slope which terminated in a precipice. Suddenly the lad found himself on the brink: terror deprived him of his senses: some hand grasped him and placed him in safety, but he never knew by whom or by what he had been saved. The priests gave the credit of this escape to the paper with which they had provided him, but Alexander himself attributed it to God and his father’s prayers. ‘Ah!’ said he, many years afterwards, ‘I never recall that event without a great shudder through my whole body.’[12] Some time after he was sent to the University of St. Andrews to complete his education.

Another young boy, of more illustrious birth, gave promise of an eminent manhood; he belonged to the Hamilton family which, under James III., had taken the highest position in Scotland. Born in the county of Linlithgow, westward of Edinburgh, and somewhat younger than Alesius, he was to inaugurate the Reformation. Linlithgow was at that time the Versailles of the kingdom, and could boast of a more ancient origin than the palace of Louis XIV. Its projecting porticoes, its carvings in wood, its wainscot panelings, its massive balustrades, its roofs over-hanging the street, produced the most picturesque effect. The castle was at once palace, fortress, and prison; it was the pleasure-house to which the Court used to retire for relaxation, and within its walls Mary Stuart was born.

PATRICK HAMILTON.

Near Linlithgow was the barony of Kincavil, which had been given by James IV., in 1498, to Sir Patrick Hamilton. Catherine Stuart, the wife of the latter, was daughter of the duke of Albany, son of King James II. Sir Patrick, on his side, was second son of Lord Hamilton, and, according to trustworthy charters, of the princess Mary, countess of Arran, also a daughter of James II.[13] Sir Patrick had two sons and one daughter, James, Patrick, and Catherine.

Patrick, the young man of whom we speak, was therefore of the blood royal, both by the father’s and the mother’s side. He was born probably at the manor of Kincavil, and was there brought up. He grew up surrounded with all the sweetnesses of a mother’s love, and from his childhood the image of his mother was deeply engraven on his heart. This tender mother, who afterwards engaged his latest thoughts on the scaffold, observed with delight in her son a craving for superior culture, a passion for science, a taste for the literature of Greece and Rome, and above all, lively aspirations after all that is elevated, and movements of the soul towards God.

As for his father, Sir Patrick, he had the reputation of being the first knight of Scotland, and as cousin-german of King James IV. he had frequent occasions for displaying his courage. One day a German knight arriving in Scotland to challenge her lords and barons, Sir Patrick encountered and overthrew him. At the marriage of Margaret of England with the King of Scotland, it was once more Sir Patrick who most distinguished himself at the tournament. And at a later time, when sent ambassador to Paris with an elder brother, the earl of Arran, he won fresh honors in London on his way.[14] People were fond of recounting these exploits to his two boys, James and Patrick, and nothing appeared to them more magnificent than the glittering armor of their father hung upon the walls of the banqueting hall. Ambition awoke in the heart of the younger of the sons; but he was destined to seek after another glory, holier and more enduring.

The Hamiltons having many relations at Paris, Sir Patrick determined to send thither his second son, and at the age of fourteen the lad set out for that celebrated capital.[15] His father, who destined him for the great offices of the Church, had already procured for him the title and the revenues of abbot of Ferne, in the county of Ross, and from that source the expenses of the young man’s journey and course of studies were to be defrayed. It was the moment at which the fire of the Reformation, which was just kindled on the Continent, began to throw out sparks on all sides. One of these sparks was to light on the soul of Patrick. But if Hamilton were destined to bring from Paris to Scotland the first stone of the building, another Scotchman, one year younger than he, was destined to bring the top-stone from Geneva.

BIRTH OF JOHN KNOX.

In one of the suburbs of Haddington, near Edinburgh, called Gifford-gate, dwelt an honorable citizen, member of an ancient family of Renfrewshire, named Knox, who had borne arms, like his father and his grandfather, under the earl of Bothwell. Some members of this family had died under the colors.[16] In 1505 Knox had a son who was named John. The blood of warriors ran in the veins of the man who was to become one of the most intrepid champions of Christ’s army. John, after studying first at Haddington school, was sent at the age of sixteen to Glasgow University.[17] He was active, bold, thoroughly upright and perfectly honest, diligent in his duties, and full of heartiness for his comrades. But he had in him also a firmness which came near to obstinacy, an independence which was very much like pride, a melancholy which bordered on prostration, a sternness which some took for insensibility, and a passionate force sometimes mistakenly attributed to a vindictive temper. An important place was reserved for him in the history of his country and of Christendom.

While God was thus preparing these young contemporaries, Alesius, Hamilton, and Knox, and others besides, to diffuse in Scotland the light of the Gospel, ambitious nobles were engaged in conflict around the throne of the king. The old earl of Angus, who had lost his two sons at the battle of Flodden, and had not long survived them, had left a grandson, a handsome young man, not very wise nor experienced, but with plenty of ambition, cleverness, liveliness, and courage. The widow of James IV., regent of the kingdom, married this youth, and by this rash step displeased the nobles. In the fierce encounters which took place between the Angus and Douglas parties on one side, and the Hamiltons on the other, pillage, murder, and arson were not seldom perpetrated. Another regency became necessary. John Stuart, duke of Albany, who was born in France of a French mother, and was residing at the court of Saint-Germain, but was the nearest relation of the King of Scotland, was summoned. He banished Angus, who withdrew with the queen to England. But Albany had soon to return to France, and Queen Margaret and her husband went back to Edinburgh.

The old rivalries were not slow to reappear. When the parliament assembled at Edinburgh in April 1520, the Hamiltons gathered in great numbers in the palace of the primate Beatoun. The primate ran hither and thither, armed from head to foot, brandishing the torch of discord.[18] The bishop of Dunkeld entreated him to prevent a collision. When the primate, laying his hand on his heart, said: ‘On my conscience I am not able to prevent it,’ the sound of his coat mail was heard. ‘Ah, my lord,’ exclaimed Dunkeld, ‘that noise tells me that your conscience is not good.’ Sir Patrick Hamilton, the father of the reformer, counselled peace; but Sir James Hamilton, a natural son of the earl of Arran, a violent and cruel young man, cried out to him: ‘You are afraid to fight for your friend.’ ‘Thou liest, impudent bastard;’ retorted the haughty baron; ‘I will fight to-day in a place in which thou wilt not dare to set thy foot.’ The speaker immediately quitted the palace, and all the Hamiltons followed him.

The earl of Angus then occupied the High Street, and his men, drawn up behind barricades, vigorously repulsed their adversaries with their pikes. Sir Patrick, with the most intrepid of his followers, cleared the entrenchments, threw himself into the High Street, and striking out vigorously all round him with his sword, fell mortally wounded, while the rash young man who had insulted him fled at full speed.

PATRICK HAMILTON IN FRANCE.

His son Patrick was no longer present in the manor-house of Kincavil, to mingle his tears with those of his mother. Escaping from the gloomy atmosphere of Caledonia, he had gone to enjoy in Paris the splendid light of civilization, almost at the same time at which the famous George Buchanan arrived there. ‘All hail!’ exclaimed these young Scotchmen, as they landed in France; ‘all hail! oh, happy Gaul! kind nurse of letters! Thou whose atmosphere is so healthful, whose soil is so fertile, whose bountiful hospitality welcomes all the universe, and who givest to the world in return the riches of thy spirit; thou whose language is so elegant, thou who art the common country of all peoples, who worshippest God in truth and without debasing thyself in outward observances! Oh! shall I not love thee as a son? shall I not honor thee all my life? All hail, oh, happy Gaul!’[19]

It is probable that Hamilton entered the Collège de Montaigu, the same to which Calvin was admitted four or five years later. At the time of Hamilton’s arrival Mayor (Major), who soon after removed to St. Andrews, was teacher of philosophy there.

To a strong dislike of the writings of the sophists Hamilton joined a great love for those of the true philosophers. But presently a light more pure than that of Plato and Aristotle shone in his eyes. As early as 1520 the writings of Luther were read with eager interest by the students of the schools of Paris; some of whom took part with, others against the Reformation. Hamilton was listening to these disputations and reading the books which came from Germany, when suddenly he learnt the tragical death of Sir Patrick. He was profoundly affected by the tidings, and began to seek God with yet more ardor than before. He was one more example of the well-known fact, that at the very moment when all the sorrows of the earthly life overwhelm the soul, God gives to it the heavenly life. Two great events—the death of Sir Patrick, and the beginning of the Reformation in Paris—occurring simultaneously—occasioned in the soul of the young Scotchman a collision by which a divine spark was struck out. The fire once kindled in his heart, nothing could thenceforth extinguish it.

Hamilton took the degree of Master of Arts about the close of 1520, as still appears in the registers of the University. He may possibly have visited Louvain, where Erasmus then dwelt; he returned to Scotland probably in 1522.

CHAPTER II.
THE MOVEMENT OF REFORM BEGINS.
(1522 to April 1527.)

The Reformation seems to have begun in Scotland with the profession of those principles, Catholic but antipapal, which had been maintained a century earlier at the Council of Constance. There were doctors present there who set out from the thought that from the age of the Apostles there always had been, and that there always will be, a church one and universal, capable of remedying by its own action all abuses in its forms of worship, dissensions among its members, the hypocrisy of its priests, and the despotic assumptions of the first of its pontiffs. John Mayor had been recently called to Glasgow University. Among his audience there John Knox distinguished himself by his passion for study; and not far from him was another young Scotchman, of a less serious turn, Buchanan. ‘The church universal,’—so were they taught by the disciple of d’Ailly and of Gerson—‘when assembled in council, is above the pope, and may rebuke, judge, and even depose him. The Roman excommunications have no force at all if they are not conformed to justice. The ambition, the avarice, the worldly luxury of the Roman court and of the bishops are to be sharply censured.’ On another occasion, the professor, passing from theology to politics, avowed doctrines far in advance of his age. He taught that a people, in its entirety, is above the monarch; that the power of the king is derived from the people, and that if a prince acts in opposition to the interests of his subjects, the latter have the right to dethrone him. Mayor went further still, even to the blameworthy extreme of asserting that in certain cases the king might be put to death.[20] These political principles, professed by one who occupied a Roman Catholic chair, thoroughly scholastic and superstitious, must have influenced the convictions of Buchanan, who afterwards, in his dialogue De Jure Regni apud Scotos, professed opinions which were energetically controverted, even by Protestants. ‘In the beginning,’ said he, ‘we created legitimate kings, and we established laws binding equally on them and on ourselves.’[21] These political heresies of the sixteenth century are the truths of our days. The principles of Mayor were certainly not received without exception by Knox, but they had probably something to do with the firmness with which he maintained the rights of the Word of God in the presence of Mary Stuart. For the moment, Knox, disgusted with the barren theology of his master—a stanch scholastic on many points—forsook the wilderness of the schools and applied himself to the quest of the living fountains of the Word of God. In 1523 Mayor removed from Glasgow to St. Andrews.

PATRICK HAMILTON AT ST. ANDREWS.

It was to St. Andrews that Patrick Hamilton betook himself on his return from the Continent, after a visit to the bereaved family of Kincavil. He was admitted on June 9 of the same year into the University of the metropolitan city, and on October 3 of the following year he was received member of the faculty of letters. St. Andrews had powerful attractions for him. No other university in the kingdom had on its staff so many enlightened men; and the college of St. Leonard’s, which he entered, was the one whose teaching had the most liberal tendencies. The studies which he had pursued, the knowledge which he had acquired, and the rank which he held, gave him distinction among his fellow-disciples. Buchanan, a severe judge, looked on him as a ‘young man of great intellect and of astonishing learning.’[22] Hamilton held the hypocrisy of the monks in such abomination that he never would adopt either their dress or their way of life; and although he was abbot of Ferne he never took up his residence in his monastery. Skilled in the musical art, he composed a chant in parts, which was performed in the cathedral, and delighted the hearers. He did more: he dreamed, as all reformers do at the outset of their career, of the transformation of the Catholic Church; he resolved to seek the imposition of hands, ‘in order,’ says Fryth, ‘that he might preach the pure Word of God.’ Hamilton did not, to be sure, preach at that time with the boldness and the power of a Luther or a Farel. He loved the weak; he felt himself weak; and being full of lowly-mindedness, he was content to impart faithfully the truth which he had received.

About a year after the combat in which Sir Patrick was killed, the duke of Albany returned, with the intention of bringing about an intimate alliance between Scotland and France. Margaret Tudor, who wished for an alliance with England, and who found herself deprived of power by the arrival of Albany, wrote on September 13, 1523, to her brother Henry VIII.: ‘The person and the kingdom of my son are exposed to very great danger; come to our aid, come in all haste, or it is all over with my son!’[23] It might perhaps have been all over with the Reformation too—a far more important matter. But Albany, although he was at the head of a fine army, fled on two occasions before the English, and being despised by everybody, quitted Scotland forever at the close of May 1524.[24]

WRITINGS OF LUTHER PROSCRIBED.

He had only just set sail when the cause of the Reformation, threatened by his presence, received a powerful reinforcement. In 1524, and at the beginning of 1525, some books of Luther and of other Reformers were brought into Scotland by merchant-ships, and getting dispersed over the country, produced there the same effect as they had in France and in Italy. Gawin Dunbar, the old bishop of Aberdeen, was the first to become aware of this. He discovered one day a volume of Luther in his own town. He was in consternation when he saw that the fiery darts hurled by the hand of the heretic were crossing the sea. As like discoveries were made in Linlithgow, St. Andrews, and other places, the affair was brought before Parliament. ‘Damnable heresies are spread abroad in various countries,’ said the partisans of Rome. ‘This kingdom of Scotland, its sovereigns and their subjects, have always stood fast in the holy faith since they received it in the primitive age; attempts are being made at this moment to turn them away from it. Let us take all needful steps to repulse the attack.’ Consequently, on July 17, 1525, parliament enacted that no person arriving in any part of the kingdom should introduce any book of Luther or of his disciples, or should publish the opinions of that German except for the purpose of refuting them, ‘Scotland having always bene clene of all filth and vice.’[25]

This act was immediately published throughout the country, and particularly at all ports, in order that no one might be able to pretend ignorance of it. About four days after the closing of parliament the sheriffs received orders from the king’s council to set on foot without delay the necessary inquiries for the discovery of persons who might possess any books of Luther, or who should profess his errors. ‘You will confiscate their books,’ the order ran, ‘and transmit them to us.’ The Reformation, which till that time had been almost unknown in those regions, became suddenly a public fact, proclaimed by the highest body in the realm, and was on the point of preoccupying all minds. The enemies of the truth were preparing its triumph.

However, the question was whether the young king would lean towards the side of Rome or the side of the Gospel. James V., in whose name the decree against the Reformation had been issued, had in reality nothing at all to do with it. Amiable and generous, but a weakling and lover of pleasure, he was so backward in his learning that for want of knowing English he could not read the letters of his uncle Henry VIII.[26] He was a child under tutelage; he spoke to no one except in the presence of some member of the council, and Angus took care to foster in him the taste for pleasure in order to turn away his attention from public affairs. That taste was moreover quite natural to the young prince. His life was devoted to games, to arms, to the chase; he made request to Henry VIII. to send him swords and bucklers, the armor made in London being far more beautiful than that of Edinburgh. He sacrificed business to pleasure all the more readily because those who were about him were living in a state of entire disunion. The three chief personages of the realm, archbishop Beatoun, head of the priests, Angus, leader of the nobles, and the queen-mother who intrigued with both parties, were at open war.[27] Margaret desired both to get a divorce from Angus and to avenge herself on the archbishop who thwarted her in her projects.[28] In the midst of all these ambitious ones the young king was like a prey over which the vultures fight.

In May 1525, James having reached his fourteenth year, had been declared of age, in conformity with the law of Scotland. It had been a mere matter of form. Angus, supported by the most powerful of the nobles and by the parliament, verified the fears of the queen; he gave all places to the Douglases, and taking the Great Seal from archbishop Beatoun, kept it himself. The queen-mother indignantly entreated her very dear brother to secure the intervention of the pope on behalf of her son.[29] All was useless: the authority of the bold and ambitious Angus remained unimpaired.

JAMES V. AND THE PRIESTS.

The young prince, then, wearied with the yoke, threw himself, after the tradition of his fathers, into the arms of the priests, and in order to escape the aristocracy submitted himself to the clergy. This was a grievous prognostic for Reform. At the end of the summer of 1526, the queen, archbishop Beatoun, and other members of the priestly and royal party, assembled at Stirling Castle, and a plan was there considered and determined on which was to take away the chief power from the nobles and give it to the bishops. John Stuart, earl of Lennox, a friend of James V., set out from that fortress on September 4, at the head of from ten to twelve thousand men, and marched on Edinburgh. But Angus was already informed of what was in preparation, and Arran, who had made his peace with him, was ready. The same day, in the morning, the trumpet sounded in the capital, and the chief of the Douglases set forth at the head of his army, dragging after him the young monarch. The latter was in hope that the hour of his deliverance was come: he advanced slowly in the rear of the army, in spite of the brutal threats of Sir G. Douglas, his guardian. Presently the report of cannons was heard: the king stopped. George Douglas, fancying that he would attempt to escape, cried out, ‘Don’t think of running away, for if our enemies had hold of you on one side and we on the other, we would pull you in two rather than let you go.’ The King never forgot that word. Angus won the day. Lennox had been killed by the savage James Hamilton, and the father of the latter, when he heard it, had thrown his scarlet cloak over the body of Lennox, exclaiming: ‘Here lies a man, the boldest, the mightiest, and the wisest that Scotland ever possessed!’ At the tidings of this great disaster all was confusion in Stirling Castle. The queen fled in disguise and concealed herself: archbishop Beatoun put off his pontifical robes, took the dress of a shepherd, and went into retirement among the herdsmen of the Fifeshire hills, where for nearly three months he kept a flock, no one the while suspecting that he was the lord chancellor of the realm. Thus the anticipated triumph of the primate and the priests, which would have been fatal to the Reformation, was changed into a total rout, and greater religious freedom was given to Scotland.[30]

But this was not enough. The reform of the Church by the Church itself would not suffice; nor would reform by the writings of the reformers; there was need of a mightier principle,—the Word of God. This Word does not merely communicate a bare knowledge; it works a transformation in the will and in the life of man, and as soon as such a change is accomplished in two or three individuals in any place whatsoever, there exists a church. The increased liberty enjoyed in Scotland after the flight of the primate favored the introduction of this mighty Word, to which it was reserved to effect the complete enfranchisement of the nation.

TYNDALE’S NEW TESTAMENTS IMPORTED.

Early in the summer, merchants of Leith, Dundee, St. Andrews, Montrose, and Aberdeen, sent out their ships laden with the productions of Scotland to the ports of the Netherlands, Middelburg, Antwerp, and other towns, there to procure commodities for which there was a demand among the Scotch. At that time there was no prohibition against the introduction of the New Testament into Scotland: only the books of Luther and other reformers were proscribed. These good Scottish seamen took advantage of this; and one day Hacket, who had received orders from Henry VIII. to burn all the Testaments translated by Tyndale (and this ‘for the preservation of the Christian faith’), learnt at Berg-op-Zoom, where he then was, that the Scottish traders had put on board many copies of the Gospels as they were on the point of setting sail for Edinburgh and St. Andrews. He started with all speed for the ports which had been named to him: ‘I will seize those books,’ said he, ‘even though they be already on board the ships, and I will make a good fire of them.’[31] He got there: but alas! no more Scottish vessels; they had sailed one day before his arrival. ‘Fortune,’ said he, ‘did not allow me to get there in time; ah, well, have patience.’ And he gave good instructions on the matter to M. de Bever, admiral of Flanders, and to Mr. Moffit, conservator of the Scottish nation in that country.[32]

It was during the time that archbishop Beatoun, arch-foe of the Reformation, was feeding his sheep on the Fifeshire hills in September, October, and November 1526, that the New Testaments arrived and were distributed in the towns and neighboring districts. Scotland and England received the Holy Scriptures from the same country and almost at the same time. The citizens of Edinburgh and the canons of St. Andrews were reading that astonishing book as well as the citizens of London and the canons of Oxford. There were monks who declared that it was a bad book ‘recently invented by Martin Luther,’ but the reading of it was not forbidden. At St. Andrews especially these sacred writings soon shed the evangelical light over the souls of men.[33]

PATRICK HAMILTON’S PREACHING.

There was in that town a young man who was already acquainted with the great facts of salvation announced in this book, and who was well qualified to circulate and explain it. Patrick Hamilton, gifted with keen intelligence and a Christian heart, knew how to set forth in a concise and natural manner the truths of which he was convinced. He knew that there is in the Scriptures a wisdom superior to the human understanding, and that in order to comprehend them there is need of the illumination of the Holy Spirit. He believed that with the written it is necessary to combine oral teaching; and that as Testaments were come from the Netherlands, Scotland needed the spoken word which should call restless and degenerate souls to seek in them the living water which springs up unto life eternal. God was then preparing His witnesses in Scotland, and the first was Patrick Hamilton. He laid open the New Testament; he set forth the facts and the doctrines contained in it; he defended the evangelical principles. His father, the foremost of Scottish knights, had not broken so many lances in the tournament as Patrick now broke in his college, at the university, with the canons, and with all who set themselves against the truth.[34] At the beginning of Lent 1527, he publicly preached in the cathedral and elsewhere the doctrines (heresies, said his sentence) taught by Martin Luther.[35] We have no further particulars of his preaching; but these are sufficient to show us that at this period the people who gathered together in the ancient churches of Scotland heard this faithful minister announce that ‘it is not the law, that terrible tyrant, as Luther said, that is to reign in the conscience, but the Son of God, the king of justice and of peace, who, like a fruitful rain, descends from heaven and fertilizes the most barren soil.’[36]

Circumstances were by no means favorable to the Reformation. Archbishop Beatoun had soon thrown off his shepherd’s dress and left the flocks which he was feeding in the solitary pastures of Bogrian in Fifeshire. The simple, rude, and isolated life of the keeper of sheep was a sufficiently severe chastisement for an ambitious, intriguing, and worldly spirit: day and night, therefore, he was looking for some means of deliverance. Although he was then sleeping on the ground, he had plenty of gold and great estates: this wealth, the omnipotence of which he knew well, would suffice, said he to himself, to ransom him from the abject service to which a political reverse had reduced him. Since the victory of Linlithgow, Angus had exercised the royal power without opposition. It was needful then that Beatoun should gain over that terrible conqueror. The queen-mother, who had also fled at first, having ventured two months later to approach Edinburgh, her son had received her and conducted her to Holyrood palace. This encouraged the archbishop. His nephew, David Beatoun, abbot of Arbroath, was as clever and as ambitious as his uncle, but he hated still more passionately all who refused to submit to the Roman Church. The archbishop entreated him to negotiate his return; the party of the nobles was hard to win; but the abbot, having gained over the provost of Edinburgh, Sir Archibald Douglas, uncle of Angus, the bargain was struck. The archbishop was to pay two thousand Scottish marks to Angus, one thousand to George Douglas, the king’s gaoler, one thousand to cruel James Hamilton, the assassin of Lennox, and to make a present of the abbey of Kilwinning to the earl of Arran. Beatoun, charmed, threw away his crook, started for Edinburgh, and resumed his episcopal functions at St. Andrews.

HAMILTON DECLARED A HERETIC.

It was some time after the return of Beatoun that the king’s cousin began to preach at St. Andrews the glad tidings of free salvation through faith in Christ. Such doctrines could not be taught without giving rise to agitation. The clergy took alarm, some priests and monks went to the castle and prayed the archbishop to chastise the young preacher. Beatoun ordered an inquiry: it was carried out very precisely. The persons with whom Hamilton had engaged in discussion were heard, and some of his hearers gave evidence as to the matter of his discourses. He was declared a heretic. Beatoun was not cruel; he would perhaps have been content with seeking to bring back by fatherly exhortations the young and interesting Hamilton into the paths of the Church. But the primate had by his side some fanatical spirits, especially his nephew David, and they redoubled their urgency to such a degree that the archbishop ordered Hamilton to appear before him to give an account of his faith.[37]

The inquiry could not be made without this noble Christian hearing of it. He perceived the fate that awaited him; his friends perceived it too. If he should appear before the archbishop, it was all up with him. Everyone was moved with compassion; some of his enemies even, touched by his youth, the loveliness of his character, and his illustrious birth, wished to see him escape death. There was no time to lose, for the order of the archiepiscopal court was already signed; several conjured him to fly. What should he do? All his desire was to show to others the peace that filled his own soul; but at the same time he knew how much was still wanting to him. Who could better enlighten and strengthen him than the reformers of Germany? Who more able to put him in a position to return afterwards to preach Christ with power? He resolved to go. Two of his friends, Hamilton of Linlithgow and Gilbert Wynram of Edinburgh, determined to accompany him. Preparations for their departure were made with the greatest possible secrecy. Hamilton took with him one servant, and the three young Scotchmen, finding their way furtively to the coast, embarked on board a merchant-ship. It was in the latter half of the month of April 1527. This unlooked-for escape greatly provoked those who had set their minds on taking the life of the evangelist. ‘He, of evil mind, as may be presumed, passed forth of the realm,’[38] said the archbishop’s familiars. No: his intention was to be instructed, to increase in spiritual life from day to day. He landed at the beginning of May in one of the ports of the Netherlands.