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bread.' And after, he sayeth, 'As oft as ye shall eat of this bread and drink of this cup,' &c. By these wordes we may clearlie understand what judgment the Apostle had of the substance of that Sacrament, even in the very action of the same.

"And as touching that foolish opinion that Christ Jesus did offer his body unto God his Father under the formes of bread and wine, &c. (which the Papists make the ground of their Masse), what suffrage that ever it hath by man, of God nor his word it hath none. The Scripture doeth witness that God the Father gave his Sone unto the world that the world might be saved by Him, and that Jesus Christ did offer Himself once unto God for the destruction of sinne, and for to take away the sinnes of many; but that ever He did offer Himself under the formes of bread and wine (as the Papists allege) the Holy Ghost doeth nowhere make mention; and therefore the faithfull may not onlie reject it as the dreame and invention of man, but also are bound to abhor and detest it as a doctrine brought in by Satan to deceave such as delight not in the veritie of God, to whose mouth and voice are the faithfull onely bound. . ..

"If Mr. Quintyne will not be reputed ane false prophet, and one that teacheth lies in the name of God, and so expose himself to God's hote displeasure, he may propose no doctrine to the Church of God the assurance whereof he bringeth not from the mouth of God. If Mr. Quintyne were bawling in the scooles, or bragging of knowledge amongest the philosophers, I wold pacientlie abyde that he should affirm as many paradoxes as pleaseth him; but in the Church of God to affirme that God hath spoken or done that which he is not able to prove by his plain word that he hath done, so to do (I say) is altogether intollerable; and therefore let Mr. Quintyne searche the Scriptures for the probation of his affirmative, or els I will cry als loud as I can that he hath lost his cause, and is convicted ane manifest lear, in that he hath affirmed Jesus to have done that which no Scripture doeth witness that he hath done. Let all men, therefore, that will not follow lies, detest the Mass till that it find a ground within the Booke of God, as I am assured it never shall."

We add from Abbot Kennedy's Oration the closing paragraph, in which he gives a summary of its contents, and which will serve as a specimen of the style in which he was pleased to throw down the glove to Knox and his colleagues, from which it will

be seen that all the "rude vehemency" of speech which is so alien to the usage and taste of modern controversy, was not confined to the Reformer's side of the question:

"Now will we brevelie collect the effect and substance of our oration, contenit in thre heidis. In the first heid is abundantlie and sufficiantlie confutit Knox's disagysit syllogisme, quhilk is his fundament quharupon he gadderis and biggis [gathers and builds] all his furie, mokerie, and dispite aganis the Mess, quhilk being subvertit (as it is indeed be [by] Scripturis propirlie appliit), the rest (be rasone) biggit upon this ruinouss fundament gois to the grounde. In the secunde heid is maid manifest quhat calamite, miserie, and hurt hes the commoun wele of this realme daly sustenit and sufferit be Knox and utheris factious prechouris to the congregatioun, thrawand [wresting] the Scripture of Almycti God by [past] the godlie menyng of the samyne, to be scheilde and buklar to thair lustis and hereseis. Into the third, we testify our affectioune and grete gude will to all thaise of the congregatioune, specialy sick [such] as ar unleirnit, gevande thaim cleirlie to understande how Knox, thair mischeant minister, and the rest, plays the jugleour in ministratione of the blissit Sacrament of the altare, contrare to the ordinance and institutione of Jhesus Christ our Salviour, according to the doctrine and interpretatione of all men of gudlie leirnyng and gude lyfe; quhilk is ane of the cheif Sacramentis quharby Jhesus Christ our Salviour hes appointit, for salvatione of manne, the frutt of his deith and passione to be daly renewit and appliit. And thus we conclude, nocht deuttande [doubting] bot the congregatioune (specialie thais of leirning and sober judgment) will tak this our godlie doctrine to hart, or at the least suspend thair opinioune and jugement unto the time thair ministeris and preacheouris mak sufficient answere and confutatioun to this our oratioune. Quharfor, with all my hart, exhortis, prays, and but [without] mercie, appellis thar pestilent precheouris, puffit up with vane glore, quhilkis rackinnis thaimselfis of gretar knawlege nor [than] Christis haill Kirk, cumand but [without] authorite, subvertand, subornande, and circumvenande the simple peple, cersande [seeking] thair pray like the Devillis rachis [bloodhounds], barkand baldly like bardis, aganis the blissit Sacrament of the altare, the sacrifice of the Mess, and all uther godlie ordinance of Jhesus Christ and his Kirk, to preiss [press] thair wittes and ingines [genius], and to streik [stretch] all thair pennis in my contrar;

makande the congregatioune and all utheris to understande, gif [if] I do propirly, treuly, and godlie or nocht, invey aganis thair devillische doctrine and doyings; failyeande tharof, recant, for shame, recant (ye famouse precheouris*), and cum in obedience to the Kirk of God, quhilk ye have stubbornlie misknaun this lang tyme bipast (and that nocht without grete dangere to your aune saulis and mony utheris), thairfor recant, in tyme recant, as ye lufe your salvatioun, and cry God mercie; to quham, with the Sone and Holye Gaist, be prayse, honour, and glore, for ever ande ever. Amen.

"Progenies viperarum fugite a ventura ira; nam securis ad radicem arboris posita est; penitentiam agite" (Math. iii.).

* On the margin of the Auchinleck MS., from which the Oration was first printed by Sir Alexander Boswell in 1812, are written the names of the "famouse preacheouris" whom Kennedy had in his eye-"Knox, Willock, Winrame, Gudmane, Dowglase, Heriot, Spottiswode, and all the rest."

H

CHAPTER III.

KNOX AS ROYAL CHAPLAIN AT THE COURT OF EDWARD VI.-HIS INFLUENCE UPON THE LITURGY AND ARTICLES OF THE CHURCH.

NOTHING further is recorded of Knox's movements and work till his visit to Court, in his capacity as one of the King's chaplains, in the autumn of 1552, which would appear to have been the first occasion of his preaching in his turn before the young King and his Court and Council.

The Court had returned to Windsor from a progress through several of the western counties towards the end of September, and a remarkable sermon was delivered at that time before the young King by a preacher, who is described but not named, by the only writer who has given any account of or made the most remote allusion to the incident. In a letter of John Utenhovius, to Henry Bullinger, dated London, October 12, 1552, occurs the following piece of ecclesiastical news:

"Some disputes have arisen within these few days among the bishops in consequence of a sermon by a pious preacher, chaplain to the Duke of Northumberland, preached by him before the King and Council, in which he inveighed with great freedom against kneeling at the Lord's Supper, which is still retained here in England. This good man, however, a Scotsman by nation, has so wrought upon the minds of many, that we may hope some good to the Church will at length arise from it, which I earnestly implore the Lord to grant.*

"Original Letters relative to the English Reformation" (Parker Society), p. 591. The passage in the original letter runs thus :

"Hic nunc a paucis saltem diebus subortæ sunt turbae quaedam inter episcopos ex concione pii cujusdam viri, concionatoris ducis Northumbriae, quam habuit coram rege ac consiliariis ejus, in qua vere libere invectus est in geniculationem coenae Dominicae, quae hic etiamnum inter Anglos adhuc servatur. Ille tamen vir bonus, Scotus natione, ita affecit multorum animos ut speremus

The learned editor of the "Original Letters Relative to the English Reformation," from which the above extract is taken, Dr. Hastings Robinson, appends to the passage the following note (p. 591) "The preacher referred to was probably Knox, though it does not appear that he was chaplain to the Duke of Northumberland, but possibly this statement may have been a mistake of the writer. There is also some difficulty about the date, as, though Knox was questioned before the Council on his objections to kneeling at the Lord's Supper, this did not take place till April, 1553."

But these difficulties are of no force against Dr. Robinson's conjecture that Knox was the Scotsman referred to, which was as historically correct as it was sagacious, when first made a quarter of a century ago. The difficulty arising from his being spoken of as the chaplain of the Duke of Northumberland disappears when it is known that this nobleman had been engaged that very year in the execution of his office as Warden General of the Border counties, and had came into close contact with Knox as King's chaplain in Newcastle, and other parts of the Northern province. The difficulty, again, connected with the date of Utenhovius's letter comes to nothing as soon as we know, from ample evidence now brought to light, that Knox was undoubtedly in London in the very month of October when the letter was written.

A later writer, Mr. Perry,* commenting upon Utenhovius's letter,

aliquid boni inde tandem ad ecclesiam rediturum esse. Quod ut faxit Dominus etiam atque etiam rogo. Londini, 12 Octobris, 1552. Jo. Utenhovius."

John Utenhovius, a Flemish gentleman of rank, and a fervent Protestant, was at this time a Senior or Elder of the Protestant Church of Foreigners established in London in 1550, by John A-Lasco, the celebrated Polish Reformer, and to which was granted, by Edward VI., the church of Austin Friars, for the conduct of its worship. The more than ordinary interest which Utenhovius took in the incident at Court is accounted for by the curious fact that at this very time A-Lasco was pleading hard with Cranmer and Ridley to be allowed to introduce the practice of sitting in the Communion. In the Royal Deed of Gift of Austin Friars church it had been conceded to the Foreigners that they should have entire freedom of worship and sacramental ritual, but hitherto Cranmer, and, still more tenaciously, Ridley, now Bishop of London, had refused to sanction that innovation in the use of the Lord's Supper, as a dangerous precedent. Hence the natural aspiration of Utenhovius that some good might accrue to the Church from the discussions which had sprung up at Court upon the same subject. Some further illustrations of this point will be found in a note at the end of this chapter.

* Vide

"Some Historical Considerations relating to the Declaration on

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