one of the
great officials present, no less a person than the Lord Justice-Clerk,
took upon him to reply, Knox silenced him with a few emphatic words--"Of
you I ask nothing," he said, "but if the Kirk that is here present do
not either absolve me or else condemn me, never shall I, in public or in
private, as ane public minister, open my mouth in doctrine or in
reasoning." It is needless to say that the Kirk decided that it was his
duty to advertise the brethren of danger whenever it might appear--but
not without "long contention," probably moved by the party of the Court.
At this period all the members of the nobility had been so universally
acknowledged as having a right to be present at the Assembly sittings,
that messengers were sent to advertise them of their guilt in absenting
themselves when in the extremely strained character of the relations
between Church and State they stayed away. There ensued, some time
after, a singular conference between the leading ministers and the lords
upon various matters, chiefly touching the conduct of John Knox, whose
constant attacks upon the mass, his manner of praying for the Queen, and
the views he had advanced upon obedience to princes, had given great
offence not only at Court but among the moderate men who found Mary's
sway, so far, a gentle and just one. This conference took the form of a
sort of duel between Knox and Lethington, the only antagonist who was at
all qualified to confront the Reformer. The comparison we have already
employed returns involuntarily to our lips; the assault of Lethington is
like that of a brilliant and chivalrous knight against some immovable
tower, from the strong walls of which he is perpetually thrown back,
while they stand invulnerable, untouched by the flashing sword which
only turns and loses its edge against those stones. His satire, his wit,
his keen perception of a weak point, are all lost upon the immovable
preacher, whose determined conviction that he himself is right in every
act and word is as a triple defence around him. This conviction keeps
Knox from perceiving what he is by no means incapable by nature of
seeing, the grotesque conceit, for instance, which is in his prayer for
the Queen. During the course of the controversy he repeats the form of
prayer which he is in the habit of using--being far too courageous a
soul to veil any supposed fault. And this is the _salvam fac_ employed
by Knox:--

"Oh Lord! if Thy pleasure be,