On Tuesday the 14th of February, the Regent's corpse was brought from the palace of Holyroodhouse, and interred in the south aisle of the collegiate church of St Giles. Before the funeral, Knox preached a sermon on these words, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. Three thousand persons were dissolved in tears before him, while he described the Regent's virtues, and bewailed his loss *. Buchanan paid a tribute to the memory of his deceased patron, by writing the inscription placed on his monument, with that expressive simplicity and brevity which are dictated by genuine grief t. A convention of the nobility was held after the funeral, at which it was resolved to avenge his death; but different opinions were entertained as to the mode of doing this, and the commons complained loudly of the remissness with which the resolution was prosecuted. The General Assembly, at their first meeting, testified

prediction, it cannot be doubted that Spottiswood had the best information to proceed upon as to the facts which he relates. Nor has Mackenzie any other authority for what he says about the death of Maitland than the archbishop's, who must have been satisfied that what he says in the account of Smeaton was not inconsistent with what he had written as to Knox's denunciation. *Cald. MS. ii. 157.

+ The inscription, engraved on brass, is yet preserved; a copy of which shall be inserted in Note X. But Buchanan has, in his History, reared to the Regent "amonument more durable than brass," which will preserve his memory as long as the language in which it is written shall continue to be understood, and as long as a picture taken from life shall be preferred to the representations of fancy or of prejudice. Nor has Buchanan neglected to celebrate him in his verses. Epigram. lib. ii. 29. iii. 7, 9, 18.

their detestation of the crime, by ordering the assassin to be publicly excommunicated in all the chief towns of the kingdom, and by appointing the same process to be used against all who should after wards be convicted of accession to the murder *.

During the sitting of the convention, Knox received a number of letters from his acquaintances in England, expressive of their high regard for the character of the Regent, and their sorrow at so grievous a loss t. One of his correspondents, Dr Lau

*Spottiswood, 235.

+ Among others, he received letters from Christopher Goodman, and John Willock. Cald. ut supra. It appears from this, that Willock had returned to England, after he was recalled from it by the General Assembly which met in 1568. I find no mention made of that reformer, after this period, by any of the writers of that age. A late author has very wantonly attempted to load the memory of this excellent man with a capital crime. He gives the following extract from the paper office, 22d April 1590. "Twa men, the ane namyt Johnne Gibsonne, Scottishman, preacher, and the other Johnne Willokis, now baith lying in prison at Leicester, were convicted by a jury of robbery." The last of these convicts, says he, was "the reforming co-adjutor of Knox." Chalmers's Life of Ruddiman, p. 307. What evidence has this author for saying so? Nothing but the sameness of the name! Just as if a person, on reading in the public papers of one George Chalmers who was convicted of a robbery, (no unlikely thing) should immediately take it into his head that this was, and could be, no other than the author of the Life of Ruddiman, and Caledonia! It is evident that the second convict was no preacher, else this designation would have been added to his name, as well as to that of the first. It is probable that Willock, who was a preacher as early as 1540, was not alive in 1590: it is utterly incredible that he should then have been in a condition to act as a robber.—But it is paying too much regard to such a charge, to bring exculpatory proof.

rence Humphrey *, urged him to write a memoir of the deceased. Had he done this, his intimate acquaintance with the Regent would, no doubt, have enabled him to communicate many particulars, of which we must now be content to remain ignorant. But though he had been disposed to undertake this task, the state of his health would have prevented its exection.

The grief which he indulged on account of this mournful event, and the confusions which followed it, preyed upon his spirits, and injured his health +. In the month of October, he had a stroke of apoplexy, which affected his speech to a considerable degree. On this occasion, his enemies exulted, and circulated the most exaggerated tales respecting his disorder. The report ran through Scotland and England, that John Knox would never preach nor speak more; that his face was turned into his neck; that he was become the most deformed creature ever seen; that he was actually dead. A most

* In the copy of Cald. MS. belonging to the church of Scotland, the name is written Winfrid; but in the copy in the Advocates' Library, it is Umfrede. The person meant is evidently Dr Laurence Humphrey (Umfredius), Professor of divinity, and Head of one of the colleges, in the university of Oxford. This learned man was a puritan, but enjoyed the patronage of Secretary Cecil. Strype's Annals, i. 421, 430---432.

+ Smetoni Respons. ad Hamilt. p. 116.

Bannatyne's Journal, p. 54. Cald. MS. ii. 206. Bannatyne says "the disorder was a kynd of apoplexia, called by the phisitiones resolutione ;" probably a more gentle stroke of the disorder, attended with relaxation of the system.

unequivocal expression of the high consideration in which he was held, which our Reformer received in common with some other great men of his age*.

* In 1556, Calvin was suddenly seized in the pulpit with a fever, which confined him to his bed for a considerable time, and from which it was not thought he would recover. On hearing this, the popish clergy of Noyon (his native city) met, and, rather prematurely, gave public thanks to God for his death. Melch. Adam, Vit. Exter. Theol. p. 93.-" Plusieurs grands hommes (says Senebier) ont partage cet honneur avec Calvin, et ont eu, comme lui, la satisfaction de connoitre la profonde estime qu'on avoit concue pour eux." Histoire Litteraire de Geneve, tom. i.

228.

PERIOD IX.

FROM OCTOBER 1570, WHEN HE WAS STRUCK WITH APOPLEXY, TO HIS DEATH, IN NOVEMBER 1572.

THOSE who flattered themselves that the Reformer's disorder was mortal were disappointed; for he was restored to the use of his speech, and was able, in the course of a few days, to resume preaching, at least on Sabbath days*. He never recovered, however, from the debility which was produced by the apoplectic stroke.

The confusions which he had augured from the death of the good Regent soon broke out, and again spread the flames of civil discord through the nation. The Earl of Lennox, who was the natural guardian of the young King, was advanced to the regency; but he was deficient in the talents which were requisite for so difficult a station, and the knowledge of his weakness emboldened and increased the party which was attached to the Queen. The Hamiltons openly raised her standard, and were strengthened by the influence and abilities of Maitland. Kircaldy of Grange, governor of the castle of Edinburgh, after concealing his defection for