word; let it be remembered that at the very time of Knox's writing, Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer had been prisoners for seven or eight months in the Tower, first under the charge of treason, and latterly under that of heresy; let it be considered that reports were continually coming to Knox's ears of the daily increasing sufferings of the Protestants in England, and then some allowance will be made for the outburst of his indignation in these passionate utterances. Still, when we have made all such allowance, we must admit that a more cautious man would have foreseen that a probable effect of such a bitter onslaught would be the increase of the persecutor's fury, and would not have gone out of his way to irritate the German Emperor by comparing him with Nero. But caution never was one of Knox's distinctive excellences. If it had, he would not have become a Reformer, for your merely cautious men are of very little service either to their generation or to the world. Boldness is necessary for progress, and where the boldness is, we must reconcile ourselves as best we may to its attendant shadow. In the present instance Knox paid dearly enough for his imprudence, as we shall shortly see, and we may therefore content ourselves with this simple reference to it. [1] "Works," vol. iii. p. 137. [2] Ibid., p. 128. [3] "Works," vol. iii. pp. 151-2. [4] "Works," vol. iii. pp. 187-8. [5] "Works," vol. iii. pp. 219, 226. {83} CHAPTER VII. THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT, 1554-1555.