![Holymod.] ? QUEEN MARY AND JOHN KNOX. 67
religion of the land, yet on the first Sunday
subsequent to her return she ordered mass to be
said in the chapel royaL Tidings of this caused
a dreadful excitement in the city, and the Master
of Lindsay, with other gentlemen, burst into the
palace, shouting, ?? The idolatrous priest shall die
the death!? for death was by law the penalty of
celebrating mass; and themultitude, pouring towards
the chapel, strove to lay violent hands on the priest.
Lord James-afterwards Regent-Moray succeeded
in preventing their entrance by main strength, and
thus gave great offence to the people, though he
alleged, as an excuse, he wished to prevent ? any
Scot from witnessing a service so idolatrous.?
After the function was over, the priest was committed
to the protection of Lord Robert Stuart,
Commendator of Holyrood, and Lord John of
Coldingham, who conducted him in safety to his
residence. ? But the godly departed in great grief
of heart, and that afternoon repaired to the Abbey
in great companies, and gave plain signification
that they could not abide that the land which God
had, by His power, purged from idolatry should
be polluted again.? The noise and uproar of these
companies ? must have made Mary painfully
aware that she was without a regular guard or
armed protection ; but she had been barely a week
in Holyrood when she held her first famous interview
with the great Reformer, which is too well
known to be recapitulated here, but whichaccording
to himself-he concluded by these
remarkable words :-cc I pray God, madam, that ye
may be as blessed within the commonwealth of
Scotland, if it be the pleasure of God, as ever
Deborah was in the commonwealth of Israel.?
The Queen?s Maries, so celebrated in tradition,
in history, and in song, who accompanied her to
France-namely, Mary, daughter of Lord Livingston,
Mary, daughter of Lord Flemihg, Mary, daughter of
Lord Seton, and Mary Beaton of Balfour, were all
married in succession ; but doubtless, so long as
she resided at Holyrood she had her maids ol
honour, and the name of ?Queen?s Maries?
became a general designation for her chosen attendants
; hence the old ballad :-
?Now bear a hand, my Maries a?
And busk me braw and fine.?
Her four Maries, who received precisely the same
education as herself, and were taught by the
same masters, returned with her to Scotland with
their acknowledged beauty refined by all the
graces the Court of France could impart; and in
a Latin masque, composed by Buchanan, entitled
the ?Pomp of the Gods,? acted at Holyrood in
July, 1567, before her marriage with Damley,
Diana speaks to Jupiter of her $%e Manes-the
fifth being the queen herself; and well known is
the pathetic old ballad which says :-
? Yest?reen the Queen had foyr Manes,
This night she?ll have but three ;
And Mary Carmichael and me.?
There was Marie Beaton and Mane Seaton
In a sermon delivered to the nobles previous to
the dissolution of Mary?s first Parliament, Knox
spoke with fury on the runiours then current concerning
the intended marriage of the Queen to a
Papist, which ? would banish Christ Jesus from the
realm and bring God?s vengeance on the country.?l
He tells that his own words and his manner of?
speaking them were deemed intolerable, and that
Protestants and Catholics were equally offended.
And then followed his second interview with Mary,
who summoned him to Holyrood, where he wasintroduced
into her presence by Erskine of Dun, and
where she complained of his daring answers and
ingratitude to herself, who had courted his favour;
but grown undaunted again, he stood before her
in a cloth cap, Geneva cloak, and falling bands,
and with ? iron eyes beheld her weep in vain.?
?? Knox,? says Tytler, ? affirmed that when in
the pulpit he was not master of himself, but must
obey His commands who bade him speak plain,
and flatter no flesh. As to the favours which had
been offered to him, his vocation, he said, was
neither to wait in the courts of princes nor in
the chambers of ladies, but to preach theGospel.
?I grant it so,? reiterated the queen; ?but what
have you to do with my mamage, and what are
you within the commonwealth 7 ? ? A subject
born within the same ; and albeit, madam, neitherbaron,
lord, nor belted earl, yet hath God made
me, however abject soever in your eyes, a useful
and profitable member. As such, it is my duty
to forewarn the people of danger ; and, therefore,
what I have said in public I repeat to your own
face ! Whenever the nobility of this realm so farforget
themselves that you shall be subject to an
unlawful husband, they do as much as in
them lieth to renounce Christ, to banish the
truth, betray the freedom of the realm, and perchance
be but cold friends to yourself!? This
new attack brought on a still more passionate
burst of tears, and Mary commanded Knox to quit
the apartment.?
Then it was, as he was passing forth, ? observing
a circle of the ladies of the queen?s household
sitting near in their gorgeous apparel, he
could not depart without a word of admonition.
? Ah, fair ladies,? said he, ? how pleasant were this
life of yours if it should ever abide, and then b](images/thumbs/old_new_edin_v3p079.gif "Old and New Edinburgh Vol. III Page 67")
... from witnessing a service so idolatrous.?
After the function was over, the priest was committed
to the ...
Book 3 p. 67
(Score 1.61)
Go back to Edinburgh Bookshelf
The scans of Edinburgh Bookshelf are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.