Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/199

 1572.] THE MASSACRE OP ST BARTHOLOMEW. ift the St Andrews' students ' grue and tremble ' to listen to him. He knew that there would be no end to Scot- land's miseries till the last remnant of Mary Stuart's faction was utterly extinguished, and he knew that sooner or later England would be compelled to extin- guish it. Cutting through the mist of words and spurious patriotism, 'he spoke of the Castle of Edin- burgh, that it should rin like a sandglass, and spew out the Captain with shame ; ' and when the power of passion was upon him, the sinews of his weak body be- came strong again, ' and he was like to ding the pulpit in blads and fly out of it/ 1 Such was Knox, the greatest of living Scotchmen, in that last year of his life on earth, still lifting the voice which long before had stirred his countrymen 'like ten thousand trumpets,' still strong in his infirmity till he had finished his task upon the earth. After the armistice he returned to Edinburgh at the earnest entreaty of the people, stipulating only that he should not be required ' to temper his tongue,' or ' cease to speak against the men of the Castle/ He crossed the Forth to Leith on the 23rd of August ; on the 3ist he preached in St Giles's, but the church was too large for his strength, and for his few remaining Sundays a side aisle was curtained off where he could speak with less exertion. It was easy to see how the news of St Bartholomew would affect him. A Convention of the Estates was 1 Melville.