"And who art thou," said Mary Queen of Scots to Knox, "that presumest to school the nobles and sovereign of this realm ?"--"Madam," replied Knox, "a subject born within the same." It is said that his boldness, or roughness, more than once made Queen Mary weep.

When Regent Morton heard of this, he said, "Well, 'tis better that women should weep than bearded men." As Knox was retiring from the Queen's presence on one occasion, he overheard one of the royal attendants say to another, "He is not afraid!" Turning round upon them, he said: "And why should the pleasing face of a gentleman frighten me?
I have looked on the faces of angry men, and yet have not been afraid beyond measure." When the Reformer, worn-out by excess of labour and anxiety, was at length laid to his rest, the Regent, looking down into the open grave, exclaimed, in words which made a strong impression from their aptness and truth--"There lies he who never feared the face of man!" Luther also was thought by some to be a mere compound of violence and ruggedness.

But, as in the case of Knox, the times in which he lived were rude and violent; and the work he had to do could scarcely have been accomplished with gentleness and suavity.

To rouse Europe from its lethargy, he had to speak and to write with force, and even vehemence.
Yet Luther's vehemence was only in words.

His apparently rude exterior covered a warm heart.