The Works of John Knox Volume I Part 36

MILLE. The very scripture of G.o.d is not to be taken carnally but spiritually, and standeth in fayth onely: & as for the Ma.s.se, it is wrong, for Christ was once offered on the Crosse for mans trespa.s.se, and will neuer be offered agayne, for then he ended all sacrifice.

OLIPH. Thou denyest the office of a Byshop.

MILLE. I affirme that they whom ye call Byshops, do no Byshops workes, nor vse the offices of bishops, (as Paul byddeth writyng to Timothy,) but lyue after their owne sensuall pleasure and take no care of the flocke, nor yet regarde they the word of G.o.d, but desire to be honored and called, my Lordes.

OLIPH. Thou speakest agaynst pilgrimage, and callest it a pilgrimage to wh.o.r.edome.

MILLE. I affirm that, and say that it is not commanded in the scripture, and that there is no greater wh.o.r.edome in no places, then at your pilgrimages, except it be in common broth.e.l.ls.

OLIPH. Thou preachest quietly and priuatly in houses and openly in the fieldes.

MILLE. Yea man, and on the sea also sailyng in shyp.

OLIPH. Wilt thou not recant thyne erroneous opinions, and if thou wilt not, I will p.r.o.nounce sentence agaynst thee.

MILLE. I am accused of my lyfe: I know I must dye once, & therfore as Christ said to Judas: _Quod facis, fac citius_. Ye shall know that I wil not recant the truth, for I am corne, I am no chaffe, I wil not be blowen away with the winde nor burst with the flaile, but I will abyde both.

These thynges rehea.r.s.ed they of purpose, with other light trifles, to augment their finall accusation, and then Sir Andrew Oliphant p.r.o.nounced sentence agaynst him that he should be deliuered to the temporall judge, and punished as an hereticke, which was to be burnt. Notwithstandyng his boldnes and constauncie moued so the hartes of many, that the Byshop's Stuard of his regalitie, Prouest of the towne called Patrike Learmond, refused to be his temporall judge: to whom it appertained if the cause had been just. Also the Byshop's Chamberlaine beyng therewith charged, would in no wise take vppon hym so vnG.o.dly an office. Yea the whole Towne was so offended with his unjust condemnation, that the Byshop's seruauntes could not get for their money so much as one cord to tye him to the stake, or a tarre barrell to burne him, but were constrained to cut the cordes of their maistors owne pauillon to serue their turne.

Neuerthelesse one seruaunt of the Byshop's more ignoraunt and cruell then the rest, called Alexander Symmerwyll, enterprising the office of a temporall judge in that part, conueyed him to the fire, where agaynst all naturall reason of man, his boldnes and hardynes did more & more increase: so that the spirite of G.o.d workyng miraculously in hym, made it manifest to the people that his cause and Articles were just and he innocently put downe.

Now when all thynges were ready for his death and he conueyed with armed men to the fire, Oliphant bad hym pa.s.se to the stake: and he sayd, nay, but wilt thou put me vp with thy hand and take part of my death, thou shalt see me pa.s.se vp gladly, for by the law of G.o.d I am forbydden to put handes vpon my selfe. Then Oliphant put him vp with his hand, and he ascended gladly, saying; _Introibo ad altare Dei_, and desired that he might haue place to speake to the people, the which Oliphant and other of the burners denyed, saying that he had spoken ouer much, for the Bishops were altogether offended that the matter was so long continued.

Then some of the young men committed both the burners, & the Byshops their maisters to the deuill, saying that they beleued that they should lament that day, and desired the sayd Walter to speake what he pleased.

And so after he had made his humble supplication to G.o.d on his knees, he arose, and standyng vpon the coales sayd on this wise. Deare frendes, the cause why I suffer this day is not for any crime layed to my charge (albeit I be a miserable sinner before G.o.d) but onely for the defence of the fayth of Jesus Christ, set forth in the new and old Testament vnto vs, for which the as the faythful Martyrs haue offered them selues gladly before, beyng a.s.sured after the death of their bodyes of eternall felicitie, so this day I prayse G.o.d that he hath called me of his mercy among the rest of his seruaunts, to seale vp his truth with my life: which as I haue receaued it of hym, so willingly I offer it to his glory. Therfore as you will escape the eternall death, be no more seduced with the lyes of Priestes, Monkes, Friers, Priours, Abbots, Byshops, and the rest of the sect of Antichrist, but depend onely vpon Jesus Christ and his mercy, that ye may be deliuered from condemnation.

All that while there was great mournyng and lamentation of the mult.i.tude, for they perceiuyng his patience, stoutnes, and boldnes, constancie, and hardynes, were not onely moued and styrred vp, but their hartes also were so inflamed, that hee was the last Martyr that dyed in Scotland for the Religion.

After his prayer, he was hoysed vp on the stake, and beyng in the fire, he sayd: Lord haue mercy on me: Pray people while there is tyme, and so constauntly departed.

EPITAPHIUM.

Non nostra impietas aut actae crimina vitae Armarunt hostes in mea fata truces.

Sola fides Christi sacris signata libellis, Quae vitae causa est, est mihi causa necis.

After this, by the just judgement of G.o.d, in the same place where Walter Mille was burnt, the Images of the great Church of the Abbey, which pa.s.sed both in number and costlynes, were burnt in tyme of reformation.

_Ex fideli testimonio e Scotia misso._

And thus much concerning such matters as happened, and such Martyrs as suffered in the Realme of Scotland for the faith of Christ Jesus, and testimony of his truth."

The Epitaph, quoted in the above extracts from Foxe, was written by Patrick Adamson, who became Archbishop of St. Andrews.

No. XIV.

ON THE t.i.tLE OF SIR, APPLIED TO PRIESTS.

At this period, in England as well as in Scotland, the t.i.tle of SIR was usually applied to Priests, obviously derived from the Latin _Dominus_.

But the origin of this application, or rather the peculiar cla.s.s of the Priesthood to whom it was applicable, has not been well defined. It was to distinguish them from persons of civil or military knighthood that they were popularly called Pope's Knights, and not as some writers have supposed, because the t.i.tle was conferred on the secular clergy by the Bishop of Rome. In the account of the trial of Walter Myln, who was burnt for heresy in 1558, (see this Appendix, No. XIII.) it is related, that when his accusers addressed him as "Sir Walter Myln," he answered, "And where you call me Sir Walter, they call me Walter, and not Sir Walter: _I have been ouer long one of the Pope's Knightes._" Sir David Lyndesay says,--

"The pure Priest thinkis he gets na richt Be he nocht stylit like ane Knicht, And callit _Schir_ befoir his name, As Schir Thomas and Schir Williame."

Dr. Jamieson, in his Dictionary, (v. _Pope's Knights_,) has collected much curious information on this head, but says, he could a.s.sign no reason why this designation, "is more frequently given to one called a Chapellan than to any other; sometimes to the exclusion of a parson or parish priest, who is mentioned at the same time as Maister."

The reason for this, perhaps, may be accounted for without much difficulty, if the suggestion should be correct, (as I apprehend it is,) that it denoted the academical rank or degree which had been taken; and was not intended to designate an inferior order of the priesthood. This t.i.tle of Sir was never applied to laymen, and appears to have been given both to the regular and secular clergy, or persons in Priests orders who had taken their Bachelor's degree; but it was not an academical t.i.tle in itself. Those priests who received the appointment of chaplains, were chiefly persons who, either from want of means or influence, had not been able to prosecute their studies the full time at a University, to obtain the higher rank as Master of Arts; and therefore the t.i.tle of Sir was given them, but simply to mark the absence of that academical rank, which was long held in great respect, and led to the practice, both among the clergy and laity, until the close of the 17th century, of signing Master before their names.

Thus, in the present volume, we have _Sir_ George Clapperton, who was Sub-Dean of the Chapel Royal, (p. 45,) _Sir_ Duncan Symsoun, (p. 62,) and _Sir_ William Layng, as Chaplains, (p. 75,) and many others, besides _Sir_ John Knox, (p. xiv.); and I believe it cannot be shown that any of the persons alluded to had taken the degree of Master of Arts. On the other hand, ecclesiastics of all ranks, from Archbishops and Abbots, to Friars and Vicars, who are known to have done so, are never styled _Sir_, but have always _Master_ prefixed to their baptismal names, in addition to the t.i.tles of their respective offices. For instance, we have Maister James Beton, who became Primate, (p. 13,) Maister Patrick Hepburn, Prior of St. Andrews, (p. 38,) Maister James Beton, Archbishop of Glasgow, (p. 252,) Maister David Panter, Secretary and Bishop of Ross, (p. 262,) and a hundred others, who held different ecclesiastical appointments. In one instance, (see page 549,) we find "Sir _alias_ Mr.

John Macbrair," from an uncertainty as to his proper designation. On the inst.i.tution of the College of Justice, one half of the Judges belonged to the spiritual side; and at the first Sederunt, 27th May 1532, when their names and t.i.tles are specified, the churchmen have, with one exception, _Magister_ prefixed to their names,--the exception being _Dominus_ Joannes Dingwell, Provost of Trinity College, near Edinburgh.

It cannot be said he was so styled from holding any situation in the Church inferior to the Rectors of Eskirk, and Finevin, or the Provost of Dungla.s.s, three of his brethren who then took their seats on the bench as Judges. (See note 86.)

The Sederunt of the Provincial Council held at Edinburgh, 27th November 1549, as published by Wilkins, vol. iv. p. 46, exhibits the usual designations and the order of precedency among the dignitaries of the church. They are, after giving Archbishop Hamilton his t.i.tles, ranked under the following heads:--"Episcopi.--Vicarii Generales sedium vacantium.--Abbates, Priores, et Commendatarii.--Doctores in Theologia, Licentiati et Bacalaurei.--Ordines Praedicatorum.--Ordines Conventualium: Ordines S. Augustini: Ordines Sanctissimae Trinitatis de redemptione captivorum: Ordines Carmeletarum." In this list the higher clergy are styled simply William Bishop of, &c., Quintin Abbot of, &c., Alexander Prior of, &c., William Commendator of, &c. Among those who had taken degrees in Theology, as Doctors, Licentiates, or Bachelors, there are seven with the t.i.tle of Master, and three with F. or _Frater_ prefixed to their names. Of the Preaching Friars, there were four, all designed F. or _Frater_. The Conventual and other Orders, included Provosts of Collegiate churches, Deans, Archdeacons, Subdeacons, Rectors, Canons, and Subpriors; of whom there are fifteen with the t.i.tle of M. or _Magister_, and only six with D. or _Dominus_, so usual was it to find that a regular academical course of study was requisite for obtaining promotion in the Church, even when the weight of family interest might have been supposed sufficient otherwise to have secured it.

This opportunity may be taken to add a few explanatory words on the Academical designations which so frequently occur in the footnotes to this volume. There is likewise considerable difficulty in defining such t.i.tles; and the following explanations may require to be modified. The three Universities in Scotland founded during the course of the 15th century, were formed on the model of those of Paris and Bologna. The general name applied to students of all ranks was _Supposita_, or _Supposts_; implying that they wore subject to the Provost and Masters in the University. The _Incorporati_ were persons who upon entering the College had taken the oaths, and were matriculated in the registers; but this was not confined to students who first entered upon their studies at College, as it might include persons of advanced life, who had been educated and obtained their degrees at some other University. The usual course extended over four years, and was devoted to the study of philosophy, including rhetoric, dialectics, ethics, and physics. In the middle of the third year, students were allowed to propose themselves as candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Arts; and for this purpose, those who had completed or _determined_ their course of study, during the _trivium_ or period of three years, obtained the name of _Determinantes_; and such as acquitted themselves were confirmed _Bachelors_ by the Dean of Faculty. The _Intrantes_ or Licentiates were a cla.s.s farther advanced, and denoted that they were prepared to enter or take their _Master's_ degree. For obtaining this a more extended examination took place before they were _laureated_, or received the t.i.tle of Master of Arts, which qualified them to lecture or teach the seven liberal arts.--See article Universities, in the last edit, of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. xxi.; Statuta Universitatis Oxoniensis; M'Crie's Life of Melville, 2d edit. vol. ii. p. 336, _et seq._; and Princ.i.p.al Lee's Introduction to the Edinburgh Academic Annual for 1840.

No. XV.

ON THE TUMULT IN EDINBURGH, AT THE PROCESSION ON ST. GILES'S DAY, 1558.

It has not been ascertained in what way ST. aeGIDIUS or ST. GILES became the tutelar Saint of our Metropolis. Regarding the Saint himself, as there prevails less diversity of opinion than usual, we may a.s.sume that St. Giles flourished about the end of the Seventh Century. According to Butler, and other authorities,--"This Saint, whose name has been held in great veneration for several ages in France and England, is said to have been an Athenian by birth, and of n.o.ble extraction. His extraordinary piety and learning, (it is added,) drew the admiration of the world upon him in such a manner, that it was impossible for him to enjoy, in his own country, that obscurity and retirement which was the chief object of his desires on earth." Having sailed for France, he spent many years in the wild deserts near the mouth of the Rhone, and afterwards in a forest in the diocese of Nismes. The Bollandists have shewn that this district belonged to the French, towards the beginning of the Eighth Century when St. Giles died; and that his body remained there till the 13th Century: "when, (as we are informed by the anonymous author of 'Lives of Saints,' printed at London 1739, 4 vols. 4to.,) "the Albigenses being very troublesome in that country, it was thought proper to remove it to Toulouse, where it is still kept in St. Saturnin's Church.... His name occurs on the first of September in the Calendars of the English Church before the Reformation; that, and two antient churches in London, are a sufficient proof of his being known and honoured by our devout ancestors."--(Lives, &c. vol. iv. p. 314.)

Maitland, the historian of Edinburgh, has collected much curious matter connected with the Metropolitan Church of St. Giles; and observes, it is beyond dispute that St. Giles's was the first Parish Church in the city, although he was unable to determine at what time or by whom it was founded. Notices of _a Parish Church_, distinct from the more ancient Church of St. Cuthbert's, may be traced back to the 11th or 12th Century; and there exists a Charter of David II., under the Great Seal, 15th December 1359, granting the Lands of Upper Merchiston to the Chaplain officiating at the Altar of St. Katherine's chapel in _the Parish Church_ of St. Giles, Edinburgh. It is so designed in subsequent deeds, in the years 1380 and 1387; the latter being an Indenture for building some additional chapels and vaults in the Church. In the following Century a great many separate altarages were endowed; and in the year 1466, it was erected by James the Third, into a Collegiate Church, consisting of a provost, a curate, sixteen prebendaries, a sacristan, a minister of the choir, and four choristers. (Maitland's Hist. p. 272.)

We may easily suppose that the possession of an undoubted relic of the Patron Saint, would, in those days, be regarded as an inestimable treasure. An obligation granted by the Provost and Council of Edinburgh, to William Preston of Gortoun, on the 11th June 1454, is still preserved, and records the fact, that "the Arme bane of Saint Gele, the quhilk bane he left to our Mother Kirk of Saint Gele of Edinburgh," had been obtained, after long entreaty and considerable expense, through the a.s.sistance of the King of France.

Another historian of our city in referring to this donation, says--"The Magistrates of the City, in grat.i.tude for the donation made to their Church, granted a charter in favour of the heirs of Preston of Gortoun, (whose descendants, he adds, are to this hour proprietors of that estate in the county of Edinburgh,) ent.i.tling the nearest heir of the donor, being of the name of Preston, to carry this sacred relique in all processions. The Magistrates at the same time, obliged themselves to found in this church an altar, and to appoint a chaplain for celebrating an annual ma.s.s of requiem for the soul of the donor; and that a tablet, displaying his arms, and describing his pious donation, should be put up in the chapel. The relique, embossed in silver, was kept among the treasure of the Church till the Reformation."--(Arnot's Hist. of Edinb.

p. 268.)

It was customary on the 1st of September, the festival day of the Patron Saint, to have a solemn procession through the streets of Edinburgh. A figure of St. Giles, carved in wood, the size of life, had hitherto formed a conspicuous object in this procession. In the year 1558, notwithstanding the progress which the Reformed opinions had made, it was resolved to celebrate this festival with more than ordinary solemnity; and several persons accused of heresy, instead of being sent to the flames on the Castlehill, were reserved to form part of the procession, and to abjure their opinions, while the Queen Regent was to countenance it with her presence. On such occasions it had been customary to deck the image of the Saint. Thus in September 1554, the Dean of Guild paid 10s. "for paynting of Sanct Geill;" in 1555, the charge paid to Walter Bynning for doing this was 6s. In the accounts of 1556, 6s. was paid by the Dean of Guild "for paynting of Sanct Geill;"

and 6d. for "beiring of him to the painter, and fra;" and, at the same time, "for mending and polis.h.i.+ng Sanct Gelis arme, 12d.;" and also a sum "to Alexander Robesoun tailzeour, for mending of Sanct Gelis capis."

But previously to the day of procession in 1558, Knox states, that "the images were stollen away in all parts of the countrey; and _in Edinburgh was that great idoll called Sanct Geyle_, first drowned in the North Loch, after burnt, which raised _no small trouble_ in the Town." Sir James Balfour in his Annals, says, this image "was a grate log of wood or idoll, which the priests called Sant Geilles." The trouble referred to was no doubt the injunction of the Archbishop of St. Andrews, to have this image replaced; and various payments by the City Treasurer, in 1557-8, refer to the appellation by the Town of Edinburgh against the sentence of Archbishop Hamilton, obliging the Town to have the image of St. Giles replaced. From this we may infer that the image had been stolen in the year 1557.

Knox's account of the tumult that ensued is by far the most minute and amusing: see pages 258-261. Bishop Lesley is much more concise. After mentioning the circ.u.mstance that several persons had been accused of heresy at a Convocation or Provincial Council of the whole Prelates and Clergy a.s.sembled at Edinburgh, at the end of July, he adds--"bot nane was executed or punished in thair bodeis, bot ordanit to abjure thair errouris at the Mercatt Croce of Edinburgh, apoun Sainct Gelis day, the first of September; bot thair was so gret a tumult rased that day on the Hie Street of Edinburgh, that thay quha was appointed to do open pennance war suddantlie careid away, and the haill processioun of the Clergie disperced; the image of Sanct Geill being borne in processione, was taikin perforce fra the beraris thairof, brokin and distroyed; quhairwith the Quene Regent was heichlie offendit; and for stanchinge of the lyk trouble in tyme c.u.ming, she appointed the Lorde Setoun to be provest of the Toun of Edinburgh, quha keped the same in resonable guid ordour quhill the nixt symmer thaireftir."--(History, p. 266.)

Saint Geill, however, never recovered from his degradation on that day: and in June 1562, the Magistrates directed the portraiture of the Saint, which had served as their emblem, to be cut out of the city standard, _as an idol_, and a Thistle to be inserted, "emblematical (as a recent writer remarks) of rude reform, but leaving the Hind which accompanied St. Giles, as one of the heraldic supporters of the city arms."--(Caledonia, vol. ii. p. 773.)

The jewels, silver-work, vestments, and other articles belonging to the Church of St. Giles, were sold by authority of the Magistrates, in 1562, as will be taken notice of in a subsequent volume.