A Healer’s Geste

Knox

Here is a gentleman seemingly of eupeptic, not to say stolid and thoughtless frame of mind; much at ease in Zion, and content to take things as they come, if only they will let him digest his victuals, and sleep in a whole skin. Knox, you can well perceive, in all his writings and in all his way of life, was emphatically of Scottish build; eminently a national specimen; in fact, what we might denominate the most Scottish of Scots, and to this day typical of all the qualities which belong nationally to the very choicest of Scotsmen we have know or had a clear record of: utmost sharpness of discernment and discrimination, courage enough, and, what is still better, no particular consciousness of courage, but a readiness in all simplicity to do and dare whatsoever is commanded by the inward voice of native manhood; on the whole a beautiful and simple, but complete, incompatibility with whatever is false in word or conduct; inexorable contempt and detestation of what in modern speech is called humbug. Nothing hypocritical, foolish, or untrue can find harbor in this man; a pure, and mainly silent, tenderness of affection is in him…a most clear-cut, hardy, distinct, and effective man; fearing God and without any other fear.

–Thomas Carlyle

Like Daniel in the Old Testament, he was forthright in his condemnation of sin, unguarded in his pronouncement of truth, and single-minded in his adherence to the Word of God. Like King Josiah in ancient Israel, he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, never turning aside to the right hand or to the left. Like the great general Joshua, he dutifully obeyed the clear commands of Scripture, always steadfast and unwavering. But such character traits and such stands, however compelling, are inevitably costly. It nearly cost Knox everything during his lifetime and it has earned him the odium and ire of virtually every secular historian in the years since — Carlyle stands nearly alone in praising him. A simple compromise here or there might well have saved him from imprisonment, exile, and anathema. But he refused to compromise. He could have tried to work within the system. He could have tried conciliation, accommodation, or negotiation. But he refused to compromise, risking everything for the sake of principle.

–George Grant

“Here lies one who neither flattered nor feared any flesh.” — James Douglas, Regent Morton, in eulogy