A PROUD MIND AND A CRAFTY WIT
Knox's Opinion of the Queen.
Ibid., p. 286.
John Knox his own judgment, being by some of his familiars demanded what he thought of the Queen, said, "If there be not in her a proud mind, a crafty wit, and an indurate heart against God and His truth, my judgment faileth me."
1561.—2nd September. The Queen's Public Entry into Edinburgh.
Thomas Randolph to Cecil. Wright's Elizabeth, vol. i. p. 63.
Upon Tuesday last she made her entry. She dined in the Castle. The first sight that she saw after she came out of the Castle was a boy of six years of age, that came as it were from heaven out of a round globe, that presented unto her a Bible and a Psalter, and the keys of the gates, and spake unto her the verses which I send you. Then, for the terrible significations of God upon idolatry, there were burnt Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, in the time of their sacrifice. They were minded to have a priest burned at the altar, at the elevation. The Earl of Huntly stayed {stopped} that pageant, but hath played many as wicked as that since he came hither. He bare that day the sword.
[The following are the lines to which Randolph referred. As only the first stanza has appeared in print before, the verses are given in their original form.]
