by Thomas McCrie, D.D.
Knox did not long survive the good regent,* whose untimely death he, in common with the whole country, deeply deplored. Having returned to Edinburgh, he resumed, with his usual ardour, his ministerial labours, in which he was now ably assisted by his colleague, John Craig. But a stroke of apoplexy, from the effects of which he never fully recovered, and his incessant cares, brought on him prematurely the infirmities of age, and he was soon unable to make himself be heard in the large church of St. Giles. The following description of his personal appearance at this time, given by James Melville in his Diary, is exceedingly striking: “Of all the benefits I had that year (1571), was the coming of that maist notable prophet and apostle of our nation, Mr John Knox, to St Andrews. I heard him teach there the prophecies of Daniel. I had my pen and my little book, and tuk away sic things as I could comprehend. In the opening up of his text, he was moderat, the space of an halff-hour; but when he enterit to application, he made me sa to grew and tremble, that I culd nocht hald a pen to wryt. I heard him oftimes utter those thretenings, in the hicht of their pryde, whilk the eyes of monie saw cleirlie brought to pass. Mr Knox wald sumtyme come in and repose him in our college-yard, and call us scholars to him and bless us, and exhort us to know God and his wark in our country, and stand by the guid caus. I saw him everie day of his doctrine (preaching) go hulie and fear (cautiously) with a furring of martriks about his neck, a staff in the ane hand,
*James, Earl of Murray, who succeeded to the regency after the deposition of his sister, Mary, Queen of Scots, was warmly attached to the Reformation. He was assassinated by a man whose life he had earlier spared after it had been forfeited to the laws of the country.
and guid godlie Richart Ballenden, his servand, haldin up the other oxtar, from the abbey to the paroche kirk, and by the said Richart and an other servant, lifted up to the pulpit, whar he behovit to lean at his first entrie: bot or he had done with his sermon, he was sa active and vigorous, that he was lyk to ding that pulpit in blads and flie out of it.”
But the time was fast approaching when this zealous servant of Jesus Christ was to rest from his labours. Feeling his end approaching, he desired that some one would read to him every day the 17th chapter of John’s gospel, the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, and a portion of the epistle to the Ephesians. To his colleague, elders, and deacons, assembled in his room, he said: “The day approaches for which I have long and vehemently thirsted, when I shall be released from my great labours and sorrows, and shall be with Christ. I know that many have complained of my too great severity: but God knows that my mind was always void of hatred to the persons of those against whom I thundered the severest judgments.” On Sabbath, after lying quiet for some time, he suddenly exclaimed, “If any be present, let them come and see the work of God.” He then burst out into these rapturous expressions: I have been these two last nights in meditation on the troubled state of the church of Christ, despised of the world, but precious in the sight of God. I have called to God for her, and commended her to her husband, Jesus Christ. I have fought against spiritual wickedness in heavenly things, and have prevailed.” Having seemed to fall into a slumber, interrupted with heavy moans, and being asked why he sighed so deeply, he replied, “I have during my life sustained many assaults of Satan, but at present he has assailed me most fearfully, and put forth all his strength to make an end of me at once. The cunning serpent has laboured to persuade me that I have merited heaven and eternal blessedness by the faithful discharge of my ministry. But blessed be God who has enabled me to quench this fiery dart, by suggesting to me such passage as these: ‘What hast thou that thou hast not received?’ and, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am’.” A little after, he said, “Now, for the last time,” touching three of his fingers as he spoke, “I commend my soul, spirit, and body, into thy hand, O Lord.” He then gave a deep sigh, saying, “Now it is come!” His attendants, perceiving that he had lost his speech, requested him to give a sign that he heard them, and died in peace; upon which he lifted up one of his hands and sighing twice, expired without a struggle. He died in the 67th year of his age, November, 24th, 1572. His funeral was attended by the regent Morton, all the nobility in town, and a vast concourse of people: and when his body was laid in the grave, Morton pronounced over it the short but emphatic epitaph: “There lies he who never feared the face of man!”
Such was the end of one whose name, while he lived, was a terror to the enemies of the reformation, and whose memory, since the day of his death, lay under a load of unmerited reproach, from which it has only lately been rescued. In the popular histories of the day, John Knox was held up as a fierce and gloomy bigot, equally a foe to polite learning and innocent enjoyment; and in his conduct towards the queen of Scots, to whose winning loveliness the rugged reformer afforded an inviting though most invidious contrast, he was represented as acting the part of a barbarian. We have cause to rejoice that the cloud of popular prejudice against our reformer has been dispelled, and his character placed in its proper light. It has been shown, that though sternly upright, and fearlessly courageous in the discharge of his duty, he was a tender-hearted and generous man; that his firmness as a patriot was based on the sincerest piety; and that the real design, as well as the effect of his measures, was to emancipate his country from superstition, ignorance, and barbarism, substituting in their place the blessings of education, liberty and religion. The attempts made to revive the exploded calumnies of his enemies, whether by the sentimental admirers of Queen Mary, or by the lovers of despotism and apostolic succession, have met with no credit or sympathy from the public; and, to their honour, the breasts of all true Scotsmen have once more learnt to vibrate in unison with the manly worth, the sacred patriotism, and the high-toned principle of the Scottish reformer.