ht to a close in rather an unfortunate way by two of
Knox's opponents lodging an accusation against him before the
Magistrates, of treason against the Emperor, the English Queen, and her
Spanish husband. Frankfort was an imperial city, and Knox was thus no
longer safe there. He went to Geneva, which was then, under Calvin's
influence, an illustrious centre of the reformed faith; and was at once
called to be co-pastor there (along with Goodman) of the
English-speaking congregation. Knox's later biographer points out the
historic importance of this 'the first Puritan congregation.' It was the
source of Elizabethan Non-conformity, and 'it is in the writings of Knox
and Goodman that those doctrines were first unflinchingly expounded
which eventually became the tradition of Puritanism.'[63] The Church
Order, too, which they adopted became afterwards that of worship in
Scotland; their Psalms were the model for the English and Scotch
versions; and, above all, the Genevan Bible, prepared by the members of
Knox's congregation at the very time he was their minister, continued
for three-quarters of a century thereafter to be 'the household book of
the English-speaking nations.' It is called the happiest and most
peaceful time of Knox's life. But it was a time of incessant preparation
for still greater things, and in this short biography we must confine
ourselves to what bears either on the man himself or on his supreme work
for his native country.

For during all Knox's life on the Continent he seems to have kept in
view the problem of how the Evangel could be set free in Scotland. He
never had any doubt as to the duty of the individual to confess it in
the teeth of the Magistrate and of the law. But how could men combine
together to do so, against authority otherwise lawful? On this and
similar points he proposed questions on his first arrival in Switzerland
to the leading theologians. Bullinger, with the approval of Calvin, gave
an answer which may have suggested to Knox the idea that a people (the
Armenians are specially instanced) may revolt against 'their legitimate
magistrate' who persecutes the truth, provided they have an inferior
magistrate to lead them.[64] And next year, 1555, Knox made a memorable
visit to Scotland. There James the Fifth's widow, Mary of Lorraine, was
now Regent, and so chief 'Magistrate.' She was during all those years
not disposed to be intolerant, and the prospect was everywhere
encouraging. From Ed