SOURCE: "John Knox and Women," in Familiar Studies of Men & Books, Chatto and Windus, 1882, pp. 295-356.

In the following excerpt, the famous English novelist discusses the political expediency of Knox and the compromises Knox made concerning the controversial issue of female rule.

When first the idea became widely spread among men that the Word of God, instead of being truly the foundation of all existing institutions, was rather a stone which the builders had rejected, it was but natural that the consequent havoc among received opinions should be accompanied by the generation of many new and lively hopes for the future. Somewhat as in the early days of the French Revolution, men must have looked for an immediate and universal improvement in their condition. Christianity, up to that time, had been somewhat of a failure politically. The reason was now obvious, the capital flaw was detected, the sickness...