Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Men that have God's mark sharp upon the soul; Stout Ochiltree, and our main stay John Knox. Enter John Knox and Ochiltree. Ochiltree. Have you yet hope that for his people's God will leave off to harden her hard heart, That you will yet plead with her ? John Knox. Nay, I know not; But what I may by word or witness borne, That will I do, being bidden: yet indeed I think not to bring down her height of mind By counsel or admonishment. Her soul Is as a flame of fire, insatiable, And subtle as thin water ; with her craft Is passion mingled so inseparably That each gets strength from other, her swift wit By passion being enkindled and made hot, And by her wit her keen and passionate heart So tempered that it burn itself not out, Consuming to no end. Never, I think, Hath God brought up against the people of God To try their force or feebleness of faith A foe than this more dangerous, nor of mood More resolute against him. Ochiltree. So long since You prophesied of her when new come in : What then avails it that you counsel her To be not this bor n danger that she is, But friends with God she hates and with his folk She would root out and ruin ? John Knox. Yet this time I am not bidden of him to cast her off; I will speak once; for here even in our eyes His enemies grow great and cast off shame. We are haled up out of hell to heaven, and now They would fain pluck us backward by the skirt. And these men call me bitter-tongued and hard Who am not bitter; but their work and they Who gather garlands from the red pit-side To make foul fragrance in adulterous hair, And lift white hands to hide the fires of God, Their sweetness and their whiteness shall he turn Bitter and black. I have no hate of her, That I should spare; I will not spare to strive That the st... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.