on the very next Sunday Knox entered the pulpit, and preached (from the text Daniel vii. 24, 25) a sermon, in which, after having given the true marks of the Church, he went on to expose the corruptions of the Romish clergy in their lives, the erroneous doctrine taught by them, especially in the matter of justification, and the enslaving laws enjoined by them in regard to days, and meats, and marriage. In particular he inveighed against the blasphemies of popery. He identified the Papal Church with the Babylonian harlot in the book of the Revelation, and concluded by demanding the most thorough investigation of all the statements which he had made, and the most minute examination of the authorities whom he had cited. This discourse was listened to by a large assembly, among whom was John Major, his old Glasgow principal, and it produced a great effect upon all. Some said, "Others lopped off the branches of the papistry, but he strikes at the root to destroy the whole." Others predicted that he would meet the fate of Wishart, who had never spoken quite so plainly as Knox had done that day. The new archbishop of St. Andrews, not yet consecrated to his office, expostulated with the vicar-general of the diocese for allowing such heretical doctrines to be promulgated without opposition, and that led to the calling of a convention of the learned men of the abbey and the university, before which Rough and Knox were summoned to make answer to nine articles, involving heresies, which had been drawn from their sermons. But nothing more serious resulted from that meeting than a debate between Knox and a friar named Arbuckle, whose arguments Knox easily refuted, and that too with a considerable mixture of the grim humour which ever and anon laughs outright in the pages of his history. Clearly, therefore, it would be a perilous thing for the Church to let such a man do all the preaching to the people; and so orders were issued that each of the learned men in the abbey and university should preach in his own turn on the Sundays in the parish church. This deprived Knox of the opportunity of addressing the congregation on those days when the greatest numbers were in attendance; but he continued his ministry on the other days of the week, and that with such success that although it lasted in all at this time not more than three months, many of the inhabitants of the town renounced popery, and made confession of the Protestant faith by partaking of the Lord's Supper in the reformed manner, the first occasion on which the ordinance was publicly administered in Scotland after that fashion.

Thus the beginning of Knox's work marks a distinct stage in the history of the Scottish Reformation. At first, and under what has been called by Lorimer the Hamilton period, peculiar emphasis was laid upon the truths which were revived in the teaching of Luther; under the Wishart period the doctrine of the sacraments came into prominence, and then first the influence of Switzerland began to be felt by Scotland; but under Knox attention was directed especially to the nature and constitution of the church, and the first sermon which he preached, and of which we have given the barest outline, had already in it "the promise and the potency" of the great work which he was yet to accomplish for his native land.

[1] "The Scottish Reformation." A Historical Sketch by Peter Lorimer, D.D. London: R. Griffin & Co., 1860, p. 157.

[2] "The Works of John Knox," collected and edited by Dr. David Laing, vol. i. p. 185. Once for all let it be said that in making these quotations the spelling is modernized, but otherwise no alteration is made.

[3] By Dr. David Laing: see "Knox's Works," vol. vi. pp. xxii. xxiii.

CHAPTER II.

IN THE FRENCH GALLEYS, 1547-1549.

During the months which had elapsed since the time when the Castle of St. Andrews had become a refuge for those who had so summarily and unscrupulously murdered Beaton, changes had occurred both in England and in France which deeply affected their interests. Henry VIII. died on the 28th January, 1547, and for a short time during the minority of Edward the reins of government had been virtually given into the hands of the Duke of Somerset, under the name of Protector. This deprived the besieged of their most powerful friend, for although after Henry's decease the Privy Council fulfilled his directions and voted money to Leslie and others as individuals, together with a certain sum for the maintenance of a garrison in the castle, yet Somerset took little further care of those who remained within its shelter, and left them virtually to their own resources. The death of Francis I. of France, which took place on the 31st of March in the same year, added to their danger, for he was succeeded by Henry II., who as Dauphin had been the leader of the party most opposed to England, and who was therefore by no means indisposed to do anything that would tend to widen the breach between that country and his own. When therefore Somerset, unwisely insisting on reviving the pretensions of feudal superiority over Scotland which had been put forth by Edward I., permitted the Borders to be wasted by fire and sword, and urged the French to abstain from interference, he was met with the reply that their king "might not suffer the old friends of France to be oppressed and alienated from him." In France, therefore, the Regent Arran and the queen-mother found a willing ally, and in the beginning of June Leo Strozzi, prior of Capua, appeared with a fleet of French galleys in sight of the Castle of St. Andrews, and demanded the surrender of its inmates. According to agreement this was conditioned on the reception from Rome of absolution for the murderers of Beaton. But although Strozzi brought absolution with him, it was expressed in such an equivocal form,—"Remittimus irremissibile," we pardon that which is unpardonable,—that the persons interested refused to accept it, and the siege was renewed. Arran, hearing of the arrival of his allies, hastened from the west country to co-operate with them, and the result was such as might have been expected. For this time the defenders had to contend with skilled gunners, before whose batteries, as Knox had forewarned them would be the case, "their walls were no better than eggshells." From the steeple of St. Salvador's College and the towers of the Abbey, as well as from the galleys in the bay, the cannon of their assailants poured shot in upon them, while within the walls the plague broke out with virulence. So in the end of July Kirkcaldy of Grange went forth with a flag of truce to make the best possible terms with the victors. The conditions obtained were that the lives of all within the castle, whether English or Scotch, should be spared; that they should be safely transported to France; and that in case, upon conditions that by the king of France should be offered unto them, they could not be content to remain in service and freedom there, they should, at the expense of the king of France, be safely conveyed to what country they would require, other than Scotland. These promises, however, were shamefully