The accession of Mary drove him and others to the continent. He was reluctant to flee, but " partly by advice and partly by tears" he was compelled to consult his safety. lie settled temporarily at Dieppe, whence we hear of him writing an Admonition to the Professors of God's Faith in England. He then went into Switzerland, and, returning, settled for some time at Frankfort-on-the-Main, where he is notable in connection with what are known the "Frankfort troubles," certain disputes as to the use of king Edward's service-book in the congregation of English Protestants there. Towards the end of 1555 he made a rapid visit to Scotland, where ho did much to encourage the cause of the reformation. Convinced, however, that the "time of deliverance" was not yet come for his country, he retired once more to Geneva, where he settled as pastor of a congregation for nearly three years, which were among the quietest, and probably the happiest years of his life.
Recalled to Scotland in May, 1559, he then entered upon his triumphant course as a reformer. Political necessities had driven the queen-regent to temporize with the "lords of the congregation," or the reforming nobles. Having somewhat re-established her power she wished to withdraw her concessions; but the reforming impulse had gathered a strength that could no longer be resisted. The heads of the party assembling at Dundee, under Erskine of Dun, proceeded to Perth. There the pent-up enthusiasm which had been long collecting was roused into furious action by a sermon of Knox on the idolatry of the mass and of image-worship. A riot ensued. The " rascal multi tude," as Knox himself called them, broke all bounds and destroyed the churches and monasteries. Similar disturbances followed at Stirling, Lindores, St. Andrews, and elsewhere. The flame of religious revolution was kindled throughout the country, aggravating the civil war already raging. At length the assistance of Elizabeth and the death of the queen-regent brought matters to a crisis; a truce was proclaimed, and a free parliament summoned to settle differences. The result of the parliament, which met iu Aug., 1560, was the overthrow of the old religion, and the establishment of the reformed kirk in Scotland. In all this Knox was not only an active agent, but the agent above all others. The original Confession of Faith of the reformed kirk and the _First Book of Discipline bear the impress of his mind. He was far from attaining all his wishes, especially as to the provision for the support of the church and of education throughout the country; he soon found that many of the nobles were far more zealous for destruction than for reformation; still he accomplished a great and radical work, which was only destined to be consolidated after many years.
The arrival of the youthful queen Mary, in the course of 1501, brought many fore bodings to the reformer; he apprehended great dangers to the reformed cause from her character and her well-known devotion to the Romish church. The reformer's apprehensions scarcely permitted him to be a fair, certainly not a tolerant, judge of Mary's conduct. Misunderstandings very soon sprung up between them, and he relates, with a somewhat harsh bitterness, his several interviews with her. At length lie came to an open rupture with the queen's party, including Murray and Maitland, and many of his former friends. He took up an attitude of unyielding opposition to the court, and in his sermons and prayers indulged freely in the expression of his feelings. The
result was his temporary alienation from the more moderate Protestant party, who tried to govern the country in the queen's name. For a while, from 1563 to 1565, he retired into comparative privacy.
The rapid series of events which followed Mary's marriage with Darnley—the revolt of the dissatisfied nobles, with Murray at their head, time murder of Bizzio, and then the murder of Darnley (1567), the queen's marriage with Bothwell, her defeat and imprisonment, served once more to bring Knox into the field. He was reconciled _Murray,with and strongly abetted him in all hisschemes of policy during his regency. Further reforms were effected by the parliament which convened under his sway in the close of 1567. The sovereign was taken bound to be a Protestant, and some provision, although still an imperfect one, was made for the support of the Protestant clergy. Knox seemed at length to see his great work accomplished, and is said to have entertained the idea of retiring to Geneva. But the bright prospect on which he gazed for a little was soon overcast—Murray's assassination, and the confusion and discord which sprung out of it, plunged the reformer into profound grief. He once more became an object of suspicion and hostility to the dominant nobles, and misunderstandings even sprung up between him and sonic of his brethren in the general assembly. lie retired to St. Andrews, for a while,, to escape the danger of assassination with which he had been threatened. There, although suffering from extreme debility, lie roused himself to preach once more, and in the parish church where he had begun his ministry, in:ale his voice to be heard again with something of its old power. Assisted by his servant, the "good, godly Richard Ballenden," into the pulpit, "he behoved to lean upon it at his first entry; but ere lie was (long with his sermon, lie was so active and vigorous that lie was tyke to ding time pulpit in bleeds and Jtie out of it." In the end of 1572 lie returned to Edinburgh to die; his strength was exhausted; he was " weary of the world," he said; and on Nov. 24 lie quietly fell asleep.
Knox's character is distinguished by firmness and decision. and a plain, somewhat harsh sense of reality. He was a man of strong, and even stern convictions, and he felt no scruples, and recognized no (hangers in carrying out his convictions. He was shrewd, penetrating, inevitable in his perceptions and purposes. No outward show or conven tional pretense deceived him; he went straight to the heart of everything; and consist ently with this clear and rough shrewdness of perception, his language is always plain, homely, and many will say harsh. He had learned, lie himself says. "to call wickedness by its own terms—a fig, a a spade, a spade." Above all, he was fearless; nothing daunted him; his spirit rose high in the midst of danger. The earl of Morton said of him truly as they laid him in the old churchyard of St. Giles: "He never feared the face of man." In Scotland Knox, no doubt, accomplished a great work. Whether the work would not have been better if 'it had been less violently done, if the spirit of love and moderation, as well as the spirit of power, had presided over it, is a question regarding which there may be much division. But even if we should take exception to some things lie did or encouraged, we may admire the consistent boldness, the deep earnestness, and the self-denying, unflinching zeal of the great reformer.—See Mcerie's Life of Knox.