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

LIFE OF JOHN KNOX.
ridiculous and puerile arguments. His talents were
moderate; with the writings of the ancients he appears
to have been acquainted only through the medium of
the collectors of the middle ages; nor does he ever hazard
an.opinion, or pursue a speculation beyond what he found
marked out by some approved doctor of the church.
Add to this, that his style is, to an uncommon degree,
harsh and forbidding; uexile, aridum, conscissum, ac mi-
nutum.”
Knox and Buchanan soon became disgusted with such
studies, and began to seek entertainment more gratify¬
ing to their ardent and inquisitive minds. Having
set out in search of knowledge, they released themselves
from the trammels, and overleaped the boundaries, pre¬
scribed to them by their timid conductor. Each follow¬
ing the native bent of his genius and inclination, they
separated in the prosecution of their studies; Buchanan,
indulging in a more excursive range, explored the exten¬
sive fields of literature, and wandered in the flowery
mead of poesy; while Knox, passing through the ave¬
nues of secular learning, devoted himself to the study of
divine truth, and the labours of the sacred ministry.
Both, however, kept uniformly in view the advance¬
ment of true religion and liberty, with the love of which
they were equally smitten; and as they suffered a long
and painful exile, and were exposed to many dangers
during their lives, for adherence to this kindred cause, so
their memories have not been divided, in the profuse but
honourable obloquy with which they have been aspersed
by its enemies; or in the deserved grateful recollection
of its genuine friends.
But we must not suppose, that Knox was able at once
to divest himself of the prejudices of his education and
of the times. Barren and repulsive as the scholastic
studies appear to our minds, there was something in
the intricate and subtle sophistry then in vogue, calcu¬
lated to fascinate the youthful and ingenious mind. It
had a shew of wisdom; it exercised, although it did not