To testify gratitude for inestimable services In the cause of Religion, Education, and Civil Liberty, To awaken admiration Of that Integrity, Disinterestedness and Courage, Which stood unshaken in the midst of trials, And in the maintenance of the highest objects-- Finally, To cherish unceasing reverence for the principles and blessings of that Great Reformation, by the influence of which our country, though in the midst of difficulties, has risen to honor, prosperity, and happiness, This Monument is erected by Voluntary Subscription, To the Memory of JOHN KNOX, The chief instrument, under God, of the Reformation in Scotland, On the 22d day of Sept. 1825. He died rejoicing in the faith of the Gospel, at Edinburgh, on the 24th of Nov. 1532, in the 69th year of his age. On the other sides are the following: "The Reformation produced a revolution in the sentiments of mankind, the greatest as well as most beneficial that has happened since the publication of Christianity." "In 1547, and in the city where his friend George Wishart had suffered, John Knox, surrounded with dangers, first preached the doctrines of the Reformation. In 1559, on the 24th of August, the parliament of Scotland adopted the confession of faith, presented by the reformed ministers, and declared popery no longer to be the religion of this kingdom. "John Knox became then a minister of Edinburgh, where he continued to his death, the incorruptible guardian of our best interests. "'I can take God to witness,' he declared, 'that I never preached in contempt of any man, and wise men will consider that a true friend cannot flatter; especially in a case that involves the salvation of the bodies and the souls, not of a few persons, but of the whole realm.' When laid in the grave, the Regent said: 'There lieth he who never feared the face of man, who was often threatened with pistol and dagger, yet hath ended his days in peace and honor.' "Patrick Hamilton, a youth of high rank and distinguished attainments, was the first martyr in Scotland in the cause of the Reformation. He was condemned to the flames in St. Andrews, in 1528, and the 24th year of his age.