later years his political influence was chiefly exerted through his little work "De Jure Regni," which long survived its author, exercising a marked influence on most of the statesmen who took a leading part in the great political movements of the seventeenth century. Important though "De Jure Regni” may have been as a political treatise, however, the source of its inspiration is thinly disguised. The arguments are modelled on the political sentiments of Plato's "Republic," especially his arguments as to the responsibility of rulers, and are not only elaborated with ingenuity and skill, but with the best intentions. In the earlier part of his life, Buchanan wrote two satires, the one entitled "The Somnium," the other "Franciscanus," which are a free criticism of the monks, directed against their ignorance and brutality rather than their theological beliefs; they therefore not only provoked the fury of the monks but incurred the condemnation of Cardinal Beaton, who imprisoned him in the Castle of St. Andrews. Though the writings of George Buchanan did a great deal in an indirect way to foster the Reformation principles in Scotland, the name of John Knox, 1505-1572, is usually associated with the movement, for the obvious reason that he brought to a successful issue what was beyond the capacity of Lyndsay and Buchanan. At the initial stage the influence of Lyndsay and Buchanan was no doubt indispensable, inasmuch as it appealed to the type of mind from which leaders are evolved. From the merely literary point of view Knox was far inferior to Buchanan, and was certainly far from being so accomplished a scholar; yet both were admirably adapted for the work which lay in their distinctive spheres. Buchanan was destined to exercise an influence among the logicians and schoolmen of his day, while Knox appealed to the masses, without whose co-operation and enthusiasm no great political or religious change can be effected. Both men wrote histories; Buchanan a "History of Scotland," Knox the History of the Reformation in Scotland." The former work was that of the politician and jurist, the latter that of a keen partisan who saw human life and action from a theological point of view, appealing for the most part to the religious instincts and emotions of the people. In many respects the "History of the Reformation" is a remarkable book, inasmuch as it contains the best account of

John Knox, 1505-1572.

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the labours and experiences of the early Scottish Reformers, detailing their persecutions and martyrdoms with a fervour and sympathy characteristic of the writer. The History, it is true, has few of the qualities of profound scholarship, but is rather a narration of events as they were presented to the observation of Knox, and he frequently gives vivid and realistic pictures seldom without a strong colouring of animosity and vituperation against those who were unsympathetic towards the cause he had so much at heart. As a human document, however, it is one of the most valuable contributions to the literature of the

sixteenth century. When about twenty-eight years of age Knox came in contact with John Major at Glasgow University, from whom he imbibed philosophical views of the spirit of the times, but it did not deter him from subsequently plunging into theological polemics with all the fervour of an uncompromising partisan. In 1552 he declared himself a Protestant; and being thoroughly convinced in his own mind that he had been delegated by a higher Power to carry out a mission, he made all circumstances and things subordinate to that idea. But his work exercised a political as well as a religious influence, which consisted in impressing the Court of England for the first time of the importance of giving support and protection to the Protestants of Scotland. It is evident that the principles of Knox's political system were originally derived from the small republic of Geneva, the scene of his former labours, and where every individual had a strong sense of his political importance, not hesitating to defy authority when he believed any principle of freedom was at stake. However much might be advanced in favour of the Reformation under the regimé of John Knox, the most ardent advocate would scarcely deny that it was in some respects prejudicial to such refinements as literature, art, and music. Knox was so strongly antagonistic to the æsthetic sentiments of the Catholic Church that he was instrumental in stimulating a crusade against art in every shape and form, which culminated in the spoliation of many choice specimens in the religious edifices throughout the country. In a country where there was so much need for the cultivation of beauty and art this was truly a misfortune, though it might be argued that it induced the development of another side of human character than the æsthetic equally necessary in such a country-viz., the rougher fibre which fits

the organism for that endurance and self-denial which has made the Scot so formidable a competitor in the struggle to live and succeed. The condition of things immediately preceding the Reformation period in Scotland had become such that further progress on the old lines was wellnigh impossible. Under the regime of Feudalism and Roman Catholicism the masses had become something like what the old Romans became under the dynasty of the Cæsars. They wanted to be amused and were indifferent about the more serious affairs of life so long as the mere sensuous elements of their nature were gratified; but John Knox, with the stern implacability of an old Spartan, determined from the moment he took up the cause of the Reformation that the people should be instructed, both in a religious and secular sense, so that life and duty might be more clearly mapped out to them, thus laying the fundamental principles of that educational system which has been so great an advantage to Scotland ever since. In spite of that intolerance and fanaticism with which Knox has been sometimes not incorrectly charged, there is much truth in the view expressed by Froude when he says "No grander figure can be found in the entire history of the Reformation in this island than that of Knox. Cromwell and Burleigh rank beside him for the work which they effected, but as politicians and statesmen they had to labour with instruments which soiled their hands in touching." As a theological teacher John Knox speedily became too great a factor among the people to be permitted to carry on his crusade unchallenged by the Church from which he had seceded, and several Roman Catholic clergy were thus induced to write in defence of their faith; but the only Roman Catholic controversial writings in Scotland which have been preserved are those of Quintin Kennedy, the abbot of Crossraguel; Ninian Winzet, master of the Grammar School of Linlithgow; and James Tyrie, a Scottish Jesuit. Winzet, who was a priest as well as a schoolmaster and was a great favourite at the Court of Queen Mary, was one of the most courageous as well as one of the ablest defenders of Catholicism in Scotland. His attacks against Knox and his Calvinistic brethren were made in several pamphlets written in the vernacular; also a book entitled "The Book of Four-score and Three Questions," proposed to the Calvinistic preachers in Scotland, the latter of which showed considerable research

and subtle argument which might have turned the scales in their favour with a less decided audience. Knox, with his plain and forcible eloquence however, had so thoroughly convinced his followers that they were proof against any other influence, and the Reformation movement swept on. In addition to the works already mentioned, Winzet translated into Scots a popular Latin work on dogmatics, which he prefaced with an address to Mary Queen of Scots. Quintin Kennedy was also a controversialist worthy of Knox's steel, writing against the teachings of the Reformation with much eloquence and skill. The principal of his controversial works was an Oration printed in 1561, with the object of demolishing the teaching of a famous preacher called John Knox. After a pen and paper war between the two, which lasted some time, they terminated the conflict in a three days' discussion at Maybole, in Ayrshire, on the subject of the Mass, but the one failed to convince the other, as is usually the case in such discussions. Tyrie, though perhaps not the least scholarly, appears to have been the most feeble of the three Catholic controversialists, mainly appealing to the recognised canons of the Church, and referring to the differences which existed amongst Protestant teachers themselves, such as that which existed between several of the congregations in Germany and those of Scotland. To these questions Knox lost no time in preparing an elaborate answer, which had the usual characteristics of bluntness and force. Tyrie with equal promptitude wrote a refutation, which was published at Paris in 1573,* but Knox died before it appeared. The true value of Knox's writings is not so much due to their intrinsic merit as to the mental atmosphere they diffused throughout the whole nation, which has not been dispersed after a period of more than three hundred years. Knox's ardent love of education, his "high seriousness," the desire to penetrate to the core of things, and that tendency to humour of the grimmer sort, all less or more form the weft and woof of the Scottish character of to-day. In addition to "A History of the Reformation in Scotland," already mentioned, he wrote "An Admonition to England," "An Application to the Scots Nobility, &c.," "A Treatise on Predestination," "The First and Second Blast of the Trumpet,"

* "The History of Civilisation in Scotland," by J. Macintosh, vol. ii., P. 354.

together with sundry tracts and sermons left unpublished. Both as a personality and from a literary point of view, much might still be said with profit about John Knox; but in a rapid sketch of historical personages no one character must too long occupy the canvas, however unique that personage may be; and now another poet King claims a brief notice.

James V., 1512-1542.

In reference to King James V. it might be said that though he was the junior by some years of either Buchanan or Knox, and should come after them in order of date of birth, in the matter of sentiment and intellectual bias he should precede them, ranking more properly among pre-Reformation writers. Born in 1512; he died 1542, the same year John Knox declared himself a Protestant, and before the full significance of the movement of which Knox was the dominating spirit was realised by the acknowledged religious and political authorities of the nation. For King James it might be claimed that he was the important literary figure standing amid the two counter currents of a great crisis of Scottish history, when it was soon to be decided once for all which of the two conceptions of religion and government should exercise supremacy in the near future. James, it is true, neither manifested much hostility to the principles of the Reformation which were already in the air, nor tenacity to the old order of things—a fact which was due rather to his instruction than to his natural habit of mind. When one recalls how early he was separated from the influence of a sound and capable instructor, one is inclined to question the former assumption; but impressions made during the plasticity of youth are seldom quite eradicated by the experience of later years, though that experience may be of a more practical and definite character. Thus it was with James. For instruction in all the manly and liberal accomplishments of the time he was indebted to Sir David Lyndsay the poet; and despite the fact that his mother interrupted his education when he was only thirteen years of age, the wholesome influence of his instructor was never quite effaced. He even resolutely withstood the corrupt and disreputable influence the Douglases strove to exercise over him. When James was thirteen years of age his mother, with the assistance of her brother King Henry VIII., placed him at the head of the government with the sinister motive that she and her faction might misgovern