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

JOHN KNOX.
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devill. Quho wald have thocht, that quhen Joseph
reulled in Egypt, his brethren sould have travellit for
victualles; and have returned with emptie sackes unto
thair families? 0 happie servands of the devill, and
miserabill servants of Jesus Christ, if efter this lyf thair
wer not hell and heavin!”
He vented his mind more freely on this subject, as
his complaints could not be imputed to personal motives;
for his own stipend, though moderate, was liberal when
compared with those of the most of his brethren. From
the time of his last return to Scotland, until the con¬
clusion of the war, he had been indebted to the liberal¬
ity of individuals for the support of his family. After
that period, he lodged for some time in the house of
David Forrest, a burgess of Edinburgh, from which he
removed to the lodging which had belonged to Durie,
abbot of Dunfermline. As soon as he began to preach
statedly in the city, the town council assigned him an
annual stipend of two hundred pounds, to be paid quar¬
terly; besides discharging his house-rent, and re-im-
bursing some individuals the money which they had
expended in maintaining his family. Subsequent to the
settlement made by the privy council, it would seem
that he received his stipend from the common fund
allotted to the ministers of the church; but the good
town had still an opportunity of testifying their gener.
osity, by supplying the deficiencies of the legal allow¬
ance. Indeed, the uniform attention of the town council
to his external accommodation and comfort was honour¬
able to them, and deserves to be recorded to their com¬
mendation.
In the beginning of the year 1562, he went to Angus
to preside in the election and admission of John Erskine
of Dun as superintendent of Angus and Mearns. That
respectable baron was one of those whom the first Ge¬
neral Assembly declared “apt and able to minister;”
and having already contributed in different ways, to the
advancement of the Reformation, he now devoted him-