Scotland/Scots > Life of John Knox ; and, The life of Alexander Henderson

PREFACE.
trating the history of the Scottish Reformation, I
could not but regret that no one had undertaken to
digest and exhibit the information on this subject
which lay hid in manuscripts, and in books which are
now little known or consulted. Not presuming, how¬
ever, that I had the ability or the leisure requisite for
executing a task of such difficulty and extent, I form¬
ed the design of drawing up memorials of our nation¬
al Reformer, in which his personal history might be
combined with illustrations of the progress of that
great undertaking, in the advancement of which he
acted so conspicuous a part.
A work of this kind seemed to be wanting. The
name of Knox, indeed, often occurs in the general
histories of the period, and some of our historians
have drawn, with their usual ability, the leading traits
of a character with which they could not fail to be
struck; but it was foreign to their object to detail
the events of his life, and it was not to be expected
that they would bestow that minute and critical at¬
tention on his history which is necessary to form a
complete and accurate idea of his character. Me¬
moirs of his life have been prefixed to editions of
some of his works, and inserted in biographical col¬
lections and periodical publications; but in many in¬
stances their authors were destitute of proper infor¬
mation, and in others they were precluded, by the