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

LIFE OF JOHN KNOX.
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The cruel death of a person of rank, and the suffer¬
ings which he bore with the most undaunted fortitude
and Christian patience, excited a general inquiry into
his opinions among the learned, as well as the vulgar, in
St. Andrews. Under the connivance of John Winram,
the sub-prior, they secretly spread among the noviciates
of the abbey. Gawin Logie, rector of St. Leonard’s col¬
lege, was so successful in instilling them into the minds
of the students, that it became proverbial to say of any
one suspected of Lutheranism, that “ he had drunk of St.
Leonard’s well.” The clergy, alarmed at the progress of
the new opinions, adopted the most rigorous measures for
their extirpation. Strict inquisition was made after
heretics; the flames of persecution were kindled in all
quarters of the country; and, from 1530 to 1540, many
innocent and excellent men suffered the most cruel
death. Several purchased their lives by recantation.
Numbers made their escape to England and the contin¬
ent; among whom were the following learned men,
Gawin Logie, Alexander Setoun, Alexander Aless, John
M'Bee, John Fife, John Macdowal, John Mackbray,
George Buchanan, James Harrison, and Robert Rich¬
ardson.
These violent proceedings could not arrest the pro¬
gress of truth. By means of merchants, especially those
of Dundee, Leith, and Montrose, who carried on trade
with England and the continent, Tindall’s translations
of the Scriptures, and many protestant books, were im¬
ported, and circulated through the nation. Poetry
lent her aid to the opposers of ignorance and super¬
stition, and contributed greatly to the advancement of
the Reformation, in this as well as other countries. Sir
David Lindsay of the Mount, a favourite of James V.
and an excellent poet, lashed the vices of the clergy, and
exposed to ridicule many of the absurdities and super¬
stitions of popery, in the most popular and poignant
satires. His satirical play, which, though professing to
con-ect the abuses of all'estates, was principally levelled