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HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


THE  FALL  OF  WOLSEY 
TO  THE   DEFEAT  OF  THE  SPANISH  ARMADA. 


VOLUME  VII. 
ELIZABETH. 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

fa/\^a//'o 

I    ,-••-'  '•"        •-  ••(Mw&zt 

THE  FALL  OF  WOLSEY 

TO 

THE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  SPANISH  ARMADA. 


JAMES  ANTHONY  FROUDE,  M.A. 

REGIUS  PROl'ESSOR   OF  JIODLRN   IIIS1ORY   JN   THE   UNIVERSITY    OK  OXFORD. 


VOLUME   VII. 
ELIZABETH. 


€fcitixm. 


LONDON : 
LONGMANS,    GREEN,    AND    CO. 

1893. 


3)5 


V.7 


RICHARD  CLAY  &  SONS, 

LONDON  &  BUNGAY. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  VIL 


CHAPTER  XLT. 
THE  ENGLISH  AT  HAVRE. 

PAGE 

Reform  of  the  English  Currency    ..          :  :?  •             ••  2 

Condition  of  England      .  .             .  .             .  .             -  .  9 

Character  of  Cecil            ..           [••i;i         ••             ••  10 

Social  Disorganization      .  .             .  .             .  .             .  .  12 

Opiate  of  the  Clergy          .  .             .  .             .  .             .  .  14 

Deans  and  Chapters         .  .             .  .             .  .             .  .  14 

Ruinous  condition  of  the  Parish  Churches    .  .  .  .    '   16 

Temper  of  the  Country  Clergy       .  .             .  .             .  .  19 

Difficulties  of  the  Bishops               .  .             .  .             .  .  20 

The  English  Catholics  apply  to  the  Pope  for  permission 

to  attend  the  English  Service     .  .             .  .             .  .  22 

The  Request  is  Refused  .  .             .  .             .  .  24 

Sir  N".  Throgmorton  is  taken  Prisoner  by  the  Duke  of 

Guise             .  .             .  .             .  .             .  .  26 

The  English  Catholics  are  threatened  with  Persecution  29 

Meeting  of  Parliament     ..              ..          '''YV          ;:j*  i  30 

Debate  on  the  Succession.               .  .             .  .             .  .  33 

Penal  Laws  against  the  Catholics  .  .              .  .              .  .  35 

Petition  to  the  Queen  to  name  a  Successor  .  .              .  ,  39 

Trial  of  Bonner                 .  .             .  .             .  .  44 

Story  of  Chatelar             ..              ..          ".J  «(-'•'      r'Vi  46 

Murder  of  the  Duke  of  Guise  fi7".J>ft  .  .  .  .  48 


vi  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Proposed  Marriage  between  Mary  Stuart  and  Don  Carlos  5 1 

Elizabeth  wishes  her  to  marry  Lord  Robert  Dudley    .  .  5? 

Speech  of  the  Queen  in  Parliament               .  .             .  .  5* 

Proceedings  of  Convocation            .  .             »  .             .  .  5$ 

The  Civil  War  in  France  is  brought  to  an  end            .  .  6z 

Elizabeth  refuses  to  evacuate  Havre              .  .             .  .  63 

War  with  France             .  .             .  .             .  .  66 

Siege  of  Havre                 .  .             .  .             .  .  67 

The  Plague  attacks  the  Garrison    .  .             .  .  68 

Surrender  of  Havre          .  .             .  .             .  .  72 

The  Plague  in  London     .  .    '         .  .             .  .  74 

Philip  consents  to  the  Marriage  between  the  Queen  of 

Scots  and  Don  Carlos  .  .             .  .             .  .             •  •  7  7 

Death  of  de  Quadra         .  .             .  .             .  .             .  .  82 

The  Marriage  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  with  a  safe  person  is 

made  a  Condition  of  her  Eecognition        .  .             .  .  85 

Knox  protests  against  her  Marriage  with  a  Catholic    .  .  88 

He  sends  warning  to  Cecil              .  .             .  .  90 

Relations  between  England  and  Spain          .  .             .  .  93 

The«  Carlos  Project  cools  .  .             .  .             .  .             .  .  96 

Elizabeth  again  attempts  to  work  on  the  Queen  of  Scots  97 


CHAPTER  XLII. 
SHAN  0' NEIL. 

Ireland  under  Queen  Mary             .  .             .  .  .  .     101 

Habits  and  Character  of  the  People          ...  .  .     102 

The  especial  Wretchedness  of  the  Pale          .  .  .  .     104 

Report  of  1559                 .  .             .  .             .  .  no 

The  King  of  Spain  declines  the  Advances  of  the  Irish 

Chiefs            .  .             .  .             .  .             .  .  ..in 

The  Scotch  in  Antrim     .  .             .  .             .  .  ..in 

The  O'Neil  and  his  Children  112 


CONTENTS.  vii 

PAGE 

Election  of  Shan  O'Neil  by  Tanistry             .  .  .  .  114 

Schemes  of  Shan  for  the  Ulster  Sovereignty  .  .  1 1 6 

Philip  again  discourages  an  Irish  Eebellion  .  .  .  .  118 

Loyalty  of  the  Earl  of  Kildare       .  .             .  .  ..119 

Letter  of  Shan  O'Neil  to  Elizabeth                .  .  .  .  120 

The  English  Government  proposes  to  Invade  Ulster  .  .  122 

Shan  carries  off  the  Countess  of  Argyle        .  .  .  .  124 

Skirmish  at  Armagh        .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  125 

Defeat  of  the  Earl  of  Sussex          .  .             .  .  .  .  127 

Attempt  to  procure  the  Assassination  of  Shan  .  .  131 

Second  Invasion  of  Ulster              .  ,             .  .  .  .  133 

Shan  goes  to  London       .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  135 

Shan  at  the  Court  of  Elizabeth      .  .             .  .  .  .  136 

Murder  of  the  Baron  of  Dungannon              .  .  .  .  140 

Indentures  between  Shan  and  Elizabeth,  and  return  of 

Shan  to  Ireland            .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  142 

Fresh  Treachery  of  Sussex              .  .             .  .  143 

Shan  again  Rebels           .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  145 

The  Countess    .  .             .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  148 

Disagreements  between  the  Irish  Council  and  the  Earl 

of  Sussex      .  .             .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  149 

Campaign  in  Ulster         .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  150 

Irish  Successes                 .  .             .  .             .  .  152 

Second  attempt  to  Assassinate  Shan             .  .  .  .  156 

Triumph  of  Shan              .  .             .  .             .  .  160 

Inquiry  into  the  Disorders  of  the  Pale          .  .  .  .  161 

Sir  Nicholas  Arnold        .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  162 

Desolation  of  Munster  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  164 


CHAPTEE  XLIII. 
THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  S1LVA. 

War  with  France  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     166 

Negotiations  for  Peace     .  .  .  .  .  169 


vni  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The  Peace  of  Troyes         ..             ..  ..  ..176 

Conspiracies  to  Murder  Elizabeth  .  .  .  .  ..177 

Defences  of  England        .  .          ?  .".  .  .  .  .  178 

The  Erench  Embassy  at  Bekesbourne  .  .  .  .  179 

Improved  Relations  with  Spain      .  .  .  .  .  .  181 

r^The  Succession                ..           i:;.:-;  :l  •.-."'  ..  182 

Mary  Stuart  and  Lord  Robert  Dudley  ..  -  -.  i  183 

The  Earl  of  Bothwell      .  .             .  .  .  .  \ :-v  185 

Mary  Stuart  prefers  Darnley          .  .  .  .  ;  .  188 

Elizabeth  urges  Lord  Robert       ""?(-•-  ..  :  i'-u  188 

Book  of  John  Hales  on  the  Succession  .  .  i*J.  >.  191 

Objections  to  Darnley  in  Scotland  .  .  .  .  193 

Guzman  de  Silva  comes  to  England  .  .  .  .  195 

Reception  of  de  Silva  at  the  Court  .  .  >".:.  196 

A  Party  at  Richmond     -;•'.             .  .  .  .  .  .  199 

The  Dudley  Marriage      .  .             .  .  .  .  202 

Elizabeth  at  Cambridge  .  .              .  .  .  ,  203 

Disorders  in  the  Church                  .  .  .  .  205 

Fresh  thoughts  of  the  Archduke  Charles      .  .  .  .  207 

Sir  James  Melville           .  .             .  .  .  .  209 

Lord  Robert  Dudley  is  created  Earl  of  Leicester  .  .  213 

Delay  of  Parliament        .  .             .  .  .  .  ..215 

Mary  Stuart's  Eriends  in  England  •  .  ."'•  ""  v".  215 

Conversation  between  Eluabeth  and  de  Silva  '$*;*  217 

The  Scotch  Succession     ..             i  \  $$**  ;;»  220 

Instructions  to  Bedford  and  Randolph  Kl^^aJ  .;;  ^  22i 

State  of  Feeling  in  Scotland           ..  ..  '•' *!,"•*  224 

Conference  at  Berwick    .•  ;             .  .  .  .  226 

Final  Demands  of  the  Scots            ..  ..  ..-229 

Reply  of  Cecil  .  .             .  .             .  ,  '  .  .  .  .  231 

33avid^izzio     .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  233 

Affected  Compliance  of  Mary  Stuart  ,.  v.  234 
Proposed  Marriage  between  Elizabeth  and  the  King  of 

France           .  .             .  .             .  .  v*:*  .  .  237 

Darnley  goes  to  Scotland                .  .  'L  »  'i  .  .  244 


CONTENTS.  ix 

PAGE 

The  Settlement  of  the  Succession  is  postponed  .  .  246 

}  Discipline  of  the  Church  of  England              .  .  .  .  249 

£_Marriage  of  the  Clergy    .  .              .  .              .  .  .  .  250 

The  Queen  and  the  Bishops           .  .             .  .  .  .  251 

The  Queen  insists  on  the  Observance  of  the  Act  of  Uni- 
formity     "''••,.          .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  252 

The  Queen  at  Paul's  Cross              .  .             .  .  .  .  256 

Archbishop  Parker  remonstrates    ..             V;'  ..  257 

Ecclesiastical  Commission  at  Lambeth          .  .  .  .  259 

Riots  in  London               .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  260 

Letter  of  Parker  to  Cecil                 .  .             .  .  .  .  261 

[""Alarm  in  Scotland           .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  263 

1  Scene  at  the  Market  Cross  at  Edinburgh      .  .  264 

The  Queen  of  Scots  resolves  to  marry  Darnley  .  .  265 

Approbation  of  Philip  and  the  I)uke  of  Alva  .  .  268 

Agitation  at  the  English  Court      .  .              .  .  .  .  269 

Attitude  of  Murray          .  .              .  .              .  .  .  .  272 

Sir  Nicholas  Throgmorton  at  Stirling            .  .  .  .  276 

Character  of  Darnley       .  .              .  .              .  .  .  .  279 

I  Probable  Consequence  of  the  Darnley  Marriage  .  .  281 

\Resolutions  of  Council    .  .              .  .             '.  .          '  V'.  286 

A  Game  at  Chess          '  -•  •  ,          •  •             •  •  •  •  2&9 

The  Archduke  again       .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  291 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 
THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE. 

State  of  Parties  in  Scotland  .  .  - ",  .,'  .  .  292 

Strength  of  Mary  Stuart's  Position  .  .  294 

Lennox  and  JDarnley  are  ordered  to  return  to  England  297 
Elizabeth  invites  the  Scotch  Protestants  to  Rebel,  and 

promises  to  assist  them  .  .  r  ...  .  ..  299 

Measures  in  the  General  Assembly  .  .  .  .  301 

Renewed  Promises  of  Support  from  England  .  .  303 


x  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Randolph  expostulates  with  Mary  Stuart      ..  ..  308 

Lennox  and   Darnley  throw   off  their   Allegiance   to 

Elizabeth       .  .             .  .             .  .             .  .          ,V:,,f  309 

Marriage  of  Mary  Stuart  and  Darnley          .  .  .  .  311 

Mission  of  Tamworth      .  .              .  .             .  .  ..313 

Irresolution  of  Elizabeth                 .  .             .  .  .  .  3 1 7 

The  Lords  of  the  Congregation  in  arms         .  .  .  .  318 

Mary  Stuart  takes  the  Field           .  .             .  .  .  .  320 

Retreat  of  the  Lords         .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  320 

Elizabeth  determines  to  Break  her  Promise  .  .  .  .  323 

•The  Archduke  .  .             .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  326 

Marriage  of  Lady  Mary  Grey         .  .             .  .  .  .  327 

Debate  in  the  English  Council       .  .             .  .  .  .  331 

Resolution  .not  to  interfere  in  Scotland          .  .  .  .  334 

The  Lords  of  the  Congregation  at  Dumfries  .  .  335 

Flight  of  the  Lords  into  England  .  .             .  .  .  .  338 

Remonstrance  of  the  Earl  of  Bedford            .  .  .  .  338 

Murray  goes  to  London  .  .             .  .             .  .  •  •  343 

Reception  of  Murray  by  the  Queen               .  .  .  .  344 

Private  Protest  of  Murray               .  .             .  .  .  .  349 

Letter  of  Elizabeth  to  Mary  Stuart                .  .  .  .  350 

Questionable  Instructions  to  Randolph         .  .  .  .  351 

Anticipated  consequence  of  Elizabeth's  Conduct  .  .  353 

Resentment  of  Argyle     .  .             .  .             .  .  •  •  355 

Advice  of  Sir  N.  Throgmorton  to  Mary  Stuart  .  .  357 

Mischievous  Influence  of  Rizzio     .  .             .  .  •  •  359 

Mary  Stuart  applies  for  help  to  Philip          .  .  .  .  360 

Philip  communicates  with  the  Pope              .  .  .  .  361 

Elizabeth  begins  to  recover  herself                .  .  .  .  365 

Catholic  League  in  Europe             .  .             .  .  .  .  368 

Differences  between  Mary  Stuart  and  her  Husband     .  .  370 

The  Crown  Matrimonal  .  .             .  .             .  .  •  •  3  7 1 

Mary  Stuart  and  Rizzio  .  .             .  .            •.  ,  .  .  372 

Divisions  among  the  Scotch  Protestants       .  .  .  .  374 

Conspiracy  to  murder  Rizzio  and  restore  Murray     -  ,^..  .  377 


CONTENTS.  xi 

PAGE 

Randolph  is  expelled  from  Scotland  .  .  .  .  379 

Sketch  of  the  Plot           .  .              .  ;  .  .  .  .  382 

Intended  Attainder  of  Murray       .  .  .  .  .  .  383 

The  Queen's  Eooms  at  Holyrood    .  .  .  .  .  .  385 

Murder  of  Eizzio              .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  387 

Return  of  Murray            .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  396 

Escape  of  Mary  Stuart  to  Dunbar  .  .  .  .  .  .  40 1 

Return  in  form  to  Edinburgh         .  .  .  .  .  .  404 

Flight  of  the  Conspirators               .  .  .  .  .  .  404 

Letter  of  Morton  and  Ruthven  to  Cecil  .  .  .  .  405 


CHAPTER  XLV. 
THE  MVRDERJ)F^  DASNLE7. 

(    Popularity  of  Mary  Stuart  in  England  .  .  .  .  407 

General  Character  of  Elizabeth's  Policy  ..  ..  409 

Prospects  of  the  Queen  of  Scots     .  .  .  .  .  .  411 

Treachery  of  Darnley      .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  415 

Argyle  threatens  to  join  Shan  O'Neil  .  .  .  .  417 

A  Spy  at  Holyrood         .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  420 

Letter  of  Elizabeth  to  the  Queen  of  Scots  .  .  .  .  422 

Birth  of  James  Stuart     .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  424 

.The  Archduke  or  Leicester             .  .  .  .  .  .  425 

Increasing  strength  of  Mary  Stuart's  Party  .  .  .  .  430 

Elizabeth  visits  Oxford   .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  432 

Position  of  Darnley  in  Scotland     .  .  .  .  .  .  436 

Mary  Stuart  and  Both  well              .  .  .  .  .  .  437 

Intended  Flight  of  Darnley  to  England  ..  ..441 

\     The  Scotch  Council  at  Holyrood   .  .  .  .  .' .  442 

Meeting  of  the  English  Parliament  .  .  .  .  445 

The  Bishops' Bill         ,'\>.           '.i.'ii  ..  ..  445 

The  Succession                .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  448 

The  Queen  Promises  to  Marry       .  .  .  .  .  .  449 

The  Queen  and  de  Silva  ,  .  .  .  .  .  - .  •<.  451 


*ii  CONTENTS. 

SAGS 

Parliament  resolves  to  Address  the  Queen  on  the  Suc- 

cession          .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  454 

Presentation  of  the  Address            .  .  .  .  .  .  456 

Reply  of  Elizabeth           .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  458 

Irritation  of  the  House  of  Commons  .  .  .  .  46  1 

Question  of  Privilege       .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  463 

Remonstrance  .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  464 

Speech  of  Mr  Dalton       .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  466 

The  Queen  yields             .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  468 

Subsidy  Bill     ..         j.^'^             ..  ,.  ..  469 

The  Thirty-nine  Articles                 .  .  .  ,  .  .  473 

Silva  and  Elizabeth   ..             ..  .-•-•?-..  •».  475 

Proposed  Covenant  between  the  two  Queens  .  .  481 

Close  of  the  Session      *•*..  .           .  .  .  .  .  .  483 

Speech  of  Elizabeth     ^  v,.             ..  ..  ..  484 

The  Queen  of  Scots  at  Jedburgh    .  .  .  .  .  .  488 

Her  dangerous  Illness      .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  489 

Differences  with  Darnley                .  V  :  .  ,.  .  .  491 

Consultation  at  Craigmillar         /    .  VJ-J  ..  ..  492 

Bond  for  the  Destruction  of  Darnley  .  .  .  .  496 

Baptism  of  James,  and  recall  of  Morton  .  .  .  .  498 

Illness  of  Darnley  at  Glasgow        .  .  .  .  .  .  499 

Mary  Stuart  visits  him    .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  503 

Letter  to  Both  well           .  .            .  ;  .-  .  .  '  H  508 

Plan  of  Kirk-a  -Field        ;.             ..  ..  ..512 

Darnley  is  removed  thither  from  Glasgow    .  .  .  .  513 

The  Last  Night            ,   ;  ;  -           .  .  '';  .  518 

Murder  of  Darnley          .  .             .  .  .  .  521 

Effect  on  the  Catholics  in  England  'V,1  .  .  523 


CHAPTER   XLVI. 

DEATH  OF  a  NEIL. 


The  English  Army  in  Ireland        ,  .             .  .             .  .     525 
SirT.  Stukeley  525 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

PAGE 

Irish  Policy  of  the  Tudor  Sovereigns  .  .  ...  528 

Projects  for  Irish  Eeform                .  .  .  .  .  .  529 

The  Primacy     .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  531 

Shan  O'JSeil  defeats  the  Scots        .  .  .  .  •  •  533 

Invasion  of  Connaught    .  .             .  .  .  .  •  •  534 

Sir  Henry  Sidney  appointed  Deputy  .  .  536 

The  Presidency  of  Munster             .  .  .  .  539 

Sidney  lands  in  Ireland  .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  541 

Shan  O'Neil  at  Home      .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  544 

Sidney  demands  Men  and  Money  .  .  .  .  .  .  546 

Anger  and  Hesitation  of  Elizabeth  .  .  .  .  548 

Alliance  between  O'Neil  and  Argyle  .  .  .  .  550 

Shan  O'Neil  writes  for  Assistance  to  France  .  .  551 

Sidney  ineffectually  demands  his  Eecall  .  .  .  .  552 

Plan  for  a  Campaign       .  .             .  .  .  .  •  •  554 

The  Ormond-and  Desmond  Controversy  .  .  .  .  557 

Troops   are   sent  from   England  under  Col.    Edward 

Eandolph      .  .             .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  558 

Desmond  refuses  to  join  Shan        .  .  .  .  .  .  560 

The  Antrim  Scots            .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  560 

Sidney  Invades  Ulster     ..             ...  •   ..  ..562 

Col.  Eandolph  at  Derry  .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  564 

Success  of  Sidney            .  .             .  .  .  .  565 

Ill-humour  of  Elizabeth  and  Advice  of  Cecil  .  .  566 

Defeat  of  Shan  and  Death  of  Col.  Eandolph  .  .  570 

The  Scots  attack  Shan    .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  570 

Pestilence  at  Derry          .  .             .  .  .  .  ..571 

Final  Euin  of  the  Settlement         .  .  .  .  .  .  574 

Shan's  Last  Battle           .  .             .  .  .  .  .  .  575 

Death  of  Shan                 *                .  .  .  .  .  .  578 


CHAPTER  XL1. 

THE    ENGLISH    AT    HAVRE. 

IN  the  face  of  enormous  difficulties  Elizabeth  and  her 
ministers  had  restored  England  to  its  rank  in  Eu- 
rope. They  had  baffled  Spain,  wrested  Scotland  from 
the  Guises,  and  played  with  accomplished  dexterity  on 
the  rivalries  and  jealousies  of  the  Romanist  powers.  By 
skill  and  good  fortune  they  had  brought  the  Catholics 
at  home  to  an  almost  desperate  submission  ;  and  now, 
with  the  country  armed  to  the  teeth,  they  were  subsi- 
dizing a  Protestant  rebellion  in  France,  and  fastening 
themselves  once  more  upon  the  French  soil. 

The  expenses  of  so  aggressive  and  dangerous  a  policy 
had  been  great,  yet  Elizabeth's  talent  for  economy  had 
saved  her  from  deep  involvements ;  and  while  courtiers 
whined  over  her  parsimony,  the  burden  of  public  debt 
bequeathed  by  Mary  had  received  no  increase,  and  was 
even  somewhat  diminished.  The  wounds  were  still 
green  which  twenty  years  of  religious  and  social  con- 
fusion had  inflicted  on  the.  common  wealth  ;  but  here  too 
there  were  visible  symptoms  of  amendment :  above  all, 

VOL.    VII.  1 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  41. 

the  poisonous  gangrene  of  the  currency,  the  shame 
and  scandal  of  the  late  reigns,  had  been  completely 
healed. 

No  measure  in  Elizabeth's  reign  has  received  more 
deserved  praise  than  the  reformation  of  the  coinage. 
The  applause  indeed  has  at  times  overpassed  her  merit  -r 
for  some  historians  have  represented  it  as  accomplished 
at  the  cost  of  the  Crown  ;  whereas  the  expense,  even  to 
the  calling  in  and  recoining  the  base  money,  was  born& 
to  the  last  penny  by  the  country.  Elizabeth  and  her 
advisers  deserve  the  credit  only  of  having  looked  in  the 
face,  and  of  having  found  the  means  of  dealing  with,  a 
complicated  and  most  difficult  problem. 

When  the  ministers  of  Edward  the  Sixth  arrived  at 
last  at  the  conviction  that  the  value  of  a  shilling  de- 
pended on  the  amount  of  pure  silver  contained  in  it,  and 
that  the  base  money  therefore  with  which  the  country 
had  been  flooded  must  be  called  down  to  its  natural 
level,  the  people  it  was  roughly  calculated  had  lost  some- 
thing over  a  million  pounds.  An  accurate  computation 
however  was  impossible,  for  the  issues  of  the  Govern- 
ment, large  as  they  were,  had  been  exceeded  by  those  of 
private  coining  establishments  in  England  and  abroad, 
where  the  pure  coin  left  in  circulation  was  melted  down 
and  debased. 

The  evil  had  been  rather  increased  than  diminished 
by  the  first  efforts  at  reformation.  The  current  money 
was  called  down  to  an  approach  to  its  value  in  bullion, 
and  it  was  then  left  in  circulation  under  the  impression 
that  it  would  no  longer  be  pernicious ;  but  the  pure 


I56p.]  THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE.  3 

shillings  of  Edward's  last  years  could  not  live  beside  the 
bad,  and  still  continued  either  to  leave  the  country  or 
to  be  made  away  with  by  the  comers.  The  good  reso- 
lutions of  further  reform  with  which  Mary  commenced 
her  reign  disappeared  as  her  finances  became  strait- 
ened ;  the  doctrinal  virtues  superseded  the  moral ;  and 
relapsing  upon  her  father's  and  her  brother's  evil  pre- 
cedents, she  poured  out  a  fresh  shower  of  money  con- 
taining but  three  ounces  of  silver  with  nine  of  alloy,  and 
attempted  to  force  it  once  more  on  the  people  at  its 
nominal  value. 

The  coining  system  acquired  at  once  fresh  impetus; 
and  Elizabeth  on  coming  to  the  throne  found  prices 
everywhere  in  confusion.  Amidst  the  variety  of  stand- 
ards and  the  multitude  of  coins  recognized  by  the  law, 
the  common  business  of  life  was  almost  at  a  stand-still. 
Of  current  silver  there  was  such  as  remained  of  Edward's 
pure  shillings,  containing  eleven  ounces  and  two  penny- 
weights of  silver  in  the  pound;  the  shillings  of  the 
first  year  of  Mary  containing  ten  ounces ;  and  the 
old  shillings  of  Henry  the  Eighth  containing  eleven 
aunces. 

Of  testers  or  sixpences,  the  coin  in  common  use,  there 
were  four  sorts :  the  tester  of  eight  ounces  of  silver  in 
the  pound,  the  tester  of  six,  the  tester  of  four,  and  the 
tester  of  three  ;  with  groats,  rose  pence,  and  other  small 
coins,  of  which  the  purity  varied  in  the  same  proportion. 
The  testers  of  eight,  six,  and  four  ounces  had  been  issued 
originally  as  shillings,  and  had  been  called  do^n  to  six- 
pences. These  three  kinds  were  all  of  equo1.  value,  '  for 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[cir.  41. 


that  which  lacked  in  fineness  exceeded  in  weight/ l  and 
ihey  were  really  worth  fourpence  halfpemty.  The  fourth 
kind,  the  tester  of  three  ounces,  was  worth  only  twopence 
halfpenny ;  but  '  the  worst  passed  current  with  the  best ' 
in  the  payment  of  the  statute  wages  of  the  artisan  or 
labourer.  The  working  man  was  robbed  without  know- 
ing how  or  why,  while  the  tradesmen  and  farmers,  aware 
that  a  sixpence  was  not  a  sixpence,  defied  the  feeble 
laws  which  attempted  to  regulate  the  prices  of  produce, 
charged  for  their  goods  on  a  random  scale,  and  secured 
themselves  against  loss  by  the  breadth  of  margin  which 
they  claimed  against  the  consumer. 

The  earliest  extant  paper  on  the  subject  in  the  reign 
of  Elizabeth  is  the  composition  of  the  Queen  herself. 
With  the  rise  in  prices  the  landowners  generally  had 
doubled  their  rents,  while  the  rents  of  the  Crown  lands 
had  remained  unchanged.  The  ounc'e  of  silver  in  the 
currency  of  the  Plantagenets,  instead  of  being  coined 
into  the  five  shillings  of  later  usage,  had  been  divided 
only  into  a  quarter  of  a  mark,  or  three  shillings  and 
four  pence.  Elizabeth  proposed  to  return  to  the  earlier 
.scale,  and  retaining  the  same  nominal  rent  of  which  she 
found  herself  in  receipt,  to  allow  'the  tenants  of  im- 
proved rents  to  answer  their  lords  after  the  rate  of  the 
abatement  of  value  for  every  pound  a  mark ; ' 2  while 


1  Paper  on  Coinage :  endorsed 
in  Cecil's  hand,  Mr  Stanley's  opin- 
ion :  Domestic  MSS.,  Elizabeth,  vol. 
xiii. 

-  «  Wherein,'  she  said,  '  the  lord 
«i:uii  not  be  much  hindered,  being 


able  to  perform  almost  every  way  as 
much  with  the  mark  as  he  was  with 
the  pound.' — (Opinion  of  her  Ma- 
jesty for  reducing  the  state  of  tho 
coin,  1559) :  Domestic  MSS.  Eliza- 
beth. 


1500.]  THE  ENGLISH  A  T  II A  VRE.  j 

all  outstanding  debts  or  contracts  might  be  graduated 
in  the  same  proportion. 

The  objections  to  this  project,  it  is  easy  to  see,  would 
have  been  infinite.  It  fell  through — was  heard  of  no- 
more.  But  in  their  first  moments  of  serious  leisure, 
immediately  after  the  Scotch  war,  in  September  1560, 
the  council  determined  at  all  hazards  to  call  in  the  entire 
currency,  and  supply  its  place  with  new  coin  of  a  pure 
and  uniform  standard.  Prices  of  all  kinds  could  then 
adjust  themselves  without  further  confusion. 

The  first  necessity  was  to  ascertain  the  proportions 
of  good  and  bad  money  which  was  in  circulation.  A 
public  inquiry  could  not  be  'ventured  for  fear  of  creating 
a  panic,  and  the  following  rudely  ingenious  method 
was  suggested  as  likely  to  give  an  approximation  to  the 
truth .  '  Some  witty  person  was  to  go  among  the 
butchers  of  London,  and  to  them  rather  than  to  any 
other,  because  they  retailed  of  their  flesh  to  all  manner 
of  persons  in  effect — so  that  thereby  of  great  likelihood 
came  to  their  hands  of  all  sorts  of  money  of  base  coin : 
and  to  go  to  a  good  many  of  them — thirty- six  at  least 
— and  after  this  manner,  because  they  should  not  under- 
stand the  meaning  thereof,  nor  have  no  suspicion  in 
that  behalf — requiring  all  of  them  to  put  all  the  money 
that  they  should  receive  the  next  forenoon  by  itself,  and 
likewise  that  in  the  afternoon  by  itself,  and  they  should 
have  other  money  for  the  same ;  promising  every  one 
of  them  a  quart  of  wine  for  their  labours,  because  that 
there  was  a  good  wager  laid  whether  they  received  more 
money  in  the  afternoon — whereof  nine  score  pounds 


6  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.41. 

bijing  received  of  the  butchers,  after  the  manner  afore- 
said, being  all  put  together,  then  all  the  shillings  of 
three  ounces  fine  and  under,  but  not  above,  should  be 
tried  and  called  out — as  well  counterfeits  after  the  same 
stamp  and  standard  as  others ;  and  after  the  rest  of  the 
money  might  be  perused  and  compared  one  with  an- 
other.'1 

Either  by  this  or  some  other  plan,  the  worst  coin  in 
circulation  was  found  to  be  about  a  fourth  of  the  whole, 
while  the  entire  mass  of  base  money  of  all  standards  was 
guessed  roughly  at  i,2oo,ooo/.  How  to  deal  with  it 
was  the  next  question.  Sir  Thomas  Stanley  offered 
several  schemes  to  the  choice  of  the  Government. 

1 .  The  testers,  worse  and  better  together,  might  be 
called  down  from  sixpence  to  fourpence  ;  a  period  might 
be  fixed  within  which  they  must  be  brought   to   the 
Mint,  and  paid  for  at  that  price.     The  1,200,000^.  would 
be  bought  in  for  8oc,ooo/.  ;  the  bullion  which  it  con- 
tained, being  recoined  and  reissued  at  eleven  ounces 
fine,   would   be   worth   837,500^. ;    and  the  balance  of 
37>o°°^  *n  favour  of  the  Government,  together  with  the 
value  of  the  alloy,  would  more  than  cover  the  expenses 
of  the  process.     If  the  Queen  wished  to  make  a  better 
thing  of  it,  the  worst  money  might  be  sent  to  Ireland, 
as  the  general  dirt  heap  for  the  outcasting  of  England's 
vileness. 

2.  The  bad  coin  might  be  called  in  simply  and  paid 


1  '  A  manner  to  make  a  proof  how  many  sorts  of  standards  are  current 
commonly  within  this  realm  : '  Lansdoivne  MSS.  4. 


*  560.  ]  THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE.  7 

for  at  the  Mint  according  to  its  bullion  value,  a  percent- 
age being  allowed  for  the  refining. 

3.  If  the  Queen  would  run  the  risk  she  might  re- 
lieve her  subjects  more  completely  by  giving  the  full 
value  of  fourpencc  halfpenny  for  the  sixpence,  three 
halfpence  for  the  half  groat,  and  so  on  through  the 
whole  coinage,  allowing  three-quarters  of  the  nominal 
value,  and  taking  her  chance— still  with  the  help  of 
Ireland — of  escaping  unharmed.1 

Swiftness  of  action,  resolution,  and  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  men  of  probity  to  receive  and  pay  for  the  moneys 
all  over  the  country,  were  the  great  requisites.2  The 
people  were  expected  to  submit  to  the  further  loss  with- 
out complaint  if  they  could  purchase  with  it  a  certain 
return  to  security  and  order.  Neither  of  Stanley's 
alternatives  were  accepted  literally.  The  standard  for 
Ireland  had  always  been  something  under  that  of  Eng- 
land. But  the  Queen  would  not  consent  to  inflict  more 
suffering  on  that  country  than  she  could  conveniently 
help.  The  Irish  coin  should  share  in  the  common  re- 
storation, and  be  brought  back  to  its  normal  proportions. 

On  2 7 th  of  September  the  evils  of  an  uneven  and 
vitiated  currency  were  explained  by  proclamation.  The 
people  were  told  that  the  Queen  would  bear  the  cost  of 
refining  and  recoining  the  public  moneys  if  they  on  their 
side  would  bear  cheerfully  their  share  of  the  loss  ;  and 
they  were  invited  to  bring  in  and  pay  over  to  persons 


1  Mr  Stanley's  opinion:  Domestic  MSS.f  Elizabeth,   vol.  xiii.    1 
House. 

2  Bacon  to  Gccil,  October  14,  1560:  MS.  Ibid.  vol.  xiv. 


'8  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

appointed  to  receive  it  in  every  market  town  the  impure 
silver  in  their  hands.  For  the  three  better  sorts  of 
tester  the  Crown  would  pay  the  full  value  of  fourpence 
halfpenny,  and  for  the  half  groats  and  pence  in  propor- 
tion. For  the  fourth  and  most  debased  kind,  which 
was  easily  distinguishable,  it  would  pay  twopence 
farthing. 

To  stimulate  the  collection  a  bounty  of  threepence 
was  promised  on  every  pound's  worth  of  silver  brought 
in.  Refiners  were  sent  for  from  Germany  ;  the  Mint 
at  the  Tower  was  set  to  work  under  Stanley  and  Sir 
Thomas  Fleetwood  ;  and -in  nine  months  the  impure 
stream  was  washed  clean,  and  a  silver  coinage  of  the 
present  standard  was  circulating  once  more  throughout 
the  realm.  ,TJ 

Either  a  large  fraction  of  the  base  money  was  not 
-brought  in,  or  the  estimate  of  the  quantity  in  circulation 
had  been  exaggerated.  The  entire  weight  collected  was 
'631,950  Ibs. ;  638,0007.  (in  money)  was  paid  for  it  by 
-the  receivers  of  the  Mint,  and  it  yielded  when  melted 
down  244,416  Ibs.  of  silver,  worth  in  the  new  coinage  of 

•  eleven  ounces  fine  733, 248/.  •,   So  far  therefore  there  was 
a  balance  in  favour  of  the  Crown  of  95,13.5^.  ;  but  the 
cost  of  collection,  the  premiums,  and  other  collateral 
losses  reduced  the  margin  to  49,7767.  9-9.  3^.     Thirty- 
five  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-six  pounds,  fifteen 

-  shillings  and  sixpence  (35,686/.    15*.  6d.)  was  paid  for 
the  refining  and  re-minting  ;  and  when  the  whole  trans- 

*  action  was  completed  Elizabeth  was  left  with  a  balance 
in  her   favour  of  fourteen   thousand  and  seventv-nine 


J56o.j 


THE  ENGLISH  A  7'  HA  VRE. 


9 


pounds,  thirteen  shillings,  and  ninepence  (14,079^ 
33*.  yd.)  L 

Thus  was  this  great  matter  ended,  not  as  it  has  been 
represented  by  means  of  two  hundred  thousand  crowns 
raised  by  Gresham  in  Flanders.  The  two  hundred 
thousand  crowns  indisputably  were  raised  there,  but  it 
was  to  buy  saltpetre,  and  corselets,  and.  harquebusses ; 
and  the  reform  of  the  coin  cost  nothing  beyond  the 
thought  expended  on  it. 

But  the  country  was  sick  of  other  disorders  less  easy 
to  heal.  The  silent  change  in  the  relations  of  rich  and 
poor,  the  eviction  of  small  tenants,  the  erection  of  a 
new  race  of  men  on  the  ruins  of  the  abbeys,  whose  eyes 
were  more  on  earth  than  heaven,  the  universal  restless- 
ness of  mind,  and  the  uprooting  of  old  thought  on  all 
subjects  divine  or  human,  had  confused  the  ancient 
social  constitution  of  the  English  nation.  Customs  and 
opinions  had  vanished,  and  laws  based  upon  them  had 
become  useless  or  mischievous.  The  under-roll  of  the 
peasant  insurrection  was  still  perceptible  in  the  wealo 
ness  of  the  Government  and  the  anarchy  of  the  country 
population. 

The  petty  copyholders  dispossessed  of  their  tenures 
had  contracted  vagrant  habits  ;  the  roads  were  patrolled 
by  highwaymen  who  took  purses  in  broad  daylight  in 
the  streets  of  London  itself;  and  against  these  symp- 


1  '  Chances  of  refining  the  base 
money  received  into  the  Mint  since 
1V1  ichaolmas  1560  until  Michaelmas 
1561,  and  of  the  charges  of  the 
workmanship  on  coining  to  fine 


money  thereof  made ;  with  a  note  of 
the  provisions  and  other  charges  in- 
cident to  the  same,  the  \\raste  of 
melting  and  blemishing  being  Dome,* 
— Lanstfowhe  3I/SS.  4. 


io  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  41 

loins  was  contending  the  reactionary  old  English  spirit 
which  had  gathered  strength  under  Mary,  the  single 
good  result  of  her  reign.  Grass  lands  were  again  brown- 
ing under  tillage,  farm-houses  were  re-built,  and  the 
small  yeomen  fostered  into  life  again ;  but  a  vague  un- 
rest prevailed  everywhere.  Elizabeth's  prospects  dur- 
ing her  first  years  were  so  precarious  that  no  one  felt 
confident  for  the  future ;  and  the  energy  of  the  country 
hung  distracted,  with  no  clear  perception  what  to  do  or 
in  what  direction  to  turn.. 

The  problem  for  statesmen  was  to  discern  among 
the  new  tendencies  of  the  nation  how  much  was  sound 
and  healthy,  how  much  must  be  taken  up  into  the  con- 
stitution of  the  State  before  the  disturbed  elements  set- 
tled into  form  again. 

A  revolution  had  passed  over  England  of  which  the 
religious  change  was  only  a  single  feature.  New  avenues 
of  thought  were  opening  on  all  sides  with  the  growth  of 
knowledge  ;  and  as  the  discoveries  of  Columbus  and 
Copernicus  made  their  way  into  men's  minds,  they  found 
themselves,  not  in  any  metaphor,  but  in  plain  and  literal 
prose,  in  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth.  How  to 
send  the  fresh  blood  permeating  healthily  through  the 
veins,  how  to  prevent  it  from  wasting  itself  in  anarchy 
and  revolution — these  were  the  large  questions  which 
Elizabeth's  ministers  had  to  solve. 

In  this  as  in  all  else  Cecil  was  the  presiding  spirit. 
Everywhere  among  the  State  papers  of  these  years 
Cecil's  pen  is  ever  visible,  Cecil's  mind  predominant. 
In  the  records  of  the  daily  meetings  of  the  council 


j 56 1 . ]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE.  1 1 

Cecil's  is  the  single  name  which  is  never  missed.  In  the 
Queen's  cabinet  or  in  his  own,  sketching  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment, drawing  instructions  for  ambassadors,  or  weighing 
on  paper  the  opposing  arguments  at  every  crisis  of  poli- 
tical action ;  corresponding  with  archbishops  on  liturgies 
and  articles,  with  secret  agents  in  every  corner  of  Europe 
or  with  foreign  ministers  in  every  court,  Cecil  is  to  be 
found  ever  restlessly  busy ;  and  sheets  of  paper  densely 
covered  with  brief  memoranda  remain  among  his  manu  • 
scripts  to  show  the  vastness  of  his  daily  labour  and  the 
surface  over  which  he  extended  his  control.  From  the 
great  duel  with  Rome  to  the  terraces  and  orange  groves 
at  Burghley  nothing  was  too  large  for  his  intellect  to 
grasp,  nothing  too  small  for  his  attention  to  condescend 
,to  consider. 

In  July  1561,  under  Cecil's  direction,  letters  went 
round  the  southern  and  western  counties  desiring  the 
magistrates  to  send  in  reports  on  the  working  of  the 
laws  which  affected  the  daily  life  of  the  people,  on  the 
wages  statutes,  the  acts  of  apparel,  the  poor  laws;  the 
•tillage  and  pasture  laws,  the  act  for  '  the  maintenance 
of  archery/  and  generally  on  the  condition  of  the  popu- 
lation. A  certain  Mr  Tyldsley  was  commissioned  pri- 
vately to  follow  the  circulars  and  observe  how  far  the 
magistrates  either  reported  the  truth  or  were  doing  their 
•duty  ;  and  though  the  reports  are  lost  Tyldsley's  letters 
remain,  with  his  opinion  on  the  character  of  the  Eng- 
lish gentry. 

If  that  opinion  was  correct  the  change  of  creed  had 
not  improved  them.  The  people  were  no  longer  trained 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[en.  4-r. 


iii  tlie  use  of  arms  because  the  gentlemen  refused  to 
set  the  example.  '  For  tillage  it  were  plain  sacrilege 
to  interfere  with  it,  the  offenders  being  all  gentlemen 
of  the  richer  sort ; '  while  '  the  alehouses ' — '  the  very 
stock  and  stay  of  false  thieves  and  vagabonds/  were 
supported  by  them  for  the  worst  of  motives.  The  peers 
had  the  privilege  of  importing  wine  free  of  duty  for  the 
consumption  of  their  households.  By  their  patents 
.they  were  able  to  extend  the  right  to  others  under  shel- 
ter of  their  name ;  and  the  tavern-keepers  '  were  my 
lord's  servants,  or  my  master's  servants  ;  yea,  and  had 
such  kind  of  licenses,  and  license  out  of  license  to  them 
and  their  deputies  and  assignees,  that  it  was  some  dan- 
ger to  meddle  with  them/  l  The  very  threat  of  inter- 
ference either  with  that  or  any  other  misdemeanour  in 
high  places  caused  Cecil  to  be  generally  detested.2  Go 


1  The  intention  of  the  exemption 
had    been    the    encouragement    of 
'  hospitality  '  in  the  great  country 
houses.     Times  were  changing,  and 
the  old-fashioned  '  open  house '  was 
no  longer  the  rule.     Without  abol- 
ishing the  privilege  the  council  re- 
stricted   the    quantity   which    each 
nobleman  Avas   allowed    to   import. 
Dukes  and  archbishops  were  allowed 
ten  pipes  annually ;  marquises  nine 
pipes ;  earls,  viscounts,  barons,  and 
bishops,  six,  seven,  and  eight. — Do- 
mestic MSS.,  Elizabeth,  vol.  xx. 

2  '  This  be  you  most  sure  of,  that 
as  much  evil  as  can  be  invented  by 
the  devilish   wit  of  them    that  be 
nought  is  spoken  against  you. 

'  It  is   not  yet   four  clays  past 
since  one  of  my  men  said  unto  me, 


*  Sir,  would  to  God  ye  would  not 
meddle  so  much  as  ye  do,  nor  be  so 
earnest ; '  for,  said  he,  '  if  ye  heard 
so  much  as  I  do  hear,  ye  would 
marvel.  For  even  they  that  do- 
speak  you  most  fairest  to  your  face 
do  name  you  behind  your  back  to  be 
an  extreme  and  cruel  man,  with  a 
great  deal  more  than  shall  need  to 
rehearse;  and  they  say,'  said  lie, 
'  that  all  these  doings  is  long  of  Mr 
Secretary  Cecil.  I  do  know,'  said 
he,  '  all  this  to  be  truth,  for  I  do 
hear  it  amongst  their  servants,  and 
belike  they  have  heard  it  of  their 
masters  at  one  time  or  another* 
And  further,'  said  he,  '  when  I  was 
last  in  London,  there  Avas  a  business 
in  hand  as  touching  Avhat  wages 
watermen  should  take  going  from 


1562] 


THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE. 


where  lie  would,  Tyldsley  said,  '  lie  could  find  110  man 
earnestly  bent  to  put  laws  in  execution  ; '  '  every  man 
let  slip  and  pass  forth. : '  so  that  '  for  his  part  he  did  look 
for  nothing  less  than  the  subversion  of  the  realm,  to 
which  end  all  things  were  working/ 

Equally  unsatisfactory  were  the  reports  of  the  state  of 
religion.  The  constitution  of  the  Church  offended  the ' 
Puritans ;  the  Catholics  were  as  yet  unreconciled  to  tho 
forms  which  had  been  maintained  to  conciliate  them ; 
and  to  the  seeming  cordiality  with  which  the  Liturgy 
was  at  first  received,  a  dead  inertia  soon  succeeded  in 
which  nothing  lived  but  self-interest.  The  bishops  and 
the  higher  clergy  were  the  first  to  set  an  example  of  evil. 
The  friends  of  the  Church  of  England  must  acknowledge 
with  sorrow  that  within  two  years  of  its  establishment 
the  prelates  were  alienating  the  estates  in  which  they 
possessed  but  a  life  interest — granting  long  leases  and 
taking  fines  for  their  own  advantage.  The  council  had 
to  inflict  upon  them  the  disgrace  of  a  rebuke  for  neg- 
lecting the  duties  of  common  probity.1 

The  marriage  of  the  clergy  was  a  point  on  which  the 
people  were  peculiarly  sensitive.2     A  mistress  might  be 


ont  place  to  another,  which  thing 
was  much  cried  out  upon  ;  and  they 
say  that  Mr  Cecil  was  all  the  doer  of 
that  matter  too.  Surely,'  said  he, 
4  he  is  not  beloved  ;  and  therefore 
for  God's  sake,  sir,  he  you  ware.  I 
have  not  spoken  any  of  this  to  the 
intent  that  I  would  have  you  either 
to  leave  off  or  to  slack  any  part  of 
all  your  godly  doings,  but  rather  if 
I  could  to  sharp  you  further  against 


the  devil  and  all  his  wicked  instru- 
ments.' ' — MrTyldsley's  lleport,  Sep- 
tember 3,  1561  :  Domestic  MSS., 
Elizabeth,  vol.  xix. 

1  Articles  for  the  Bishops'  obli- 
gation?, 1560:  Domestic  MSS.  Eli- 
zabeth. 

'z  The  frequent  surnames  of  Clark, 
Parsons,  Deacon,  Archdeacon,  Derm, 
Prior,  Abbot,  Bishop,  Frcre,  ana 
Monk,  are  memorials  of  the  con- 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[<JH.  41. 


winked  at;  lawful  marriage  was  intolerable,  and  espe- 
cially intolerable  for  members  of  cathedrals  and  colle- 
giate bodies  who  occupied  the  houses  and  retained  the 
form  of  the  religious  orders.  While  therefore  canons 
and  prebends  were  entitled  to  take  wives  if  they  could  not 
do  without  them,  they  would  have  done  better  had  they 
taken  chary  advantage  of  their  liberty.  To  the.  Anglo- 
Catholic  as  well  as  the  Romanist  a  married  priest  was  a 
scandal,  and  a  married  cathedral  dignitary  an  abomin- 
ation. 

'  For  the  avoiding  of  such  offences  as  were  daily  con- 
ceived by  the  presence  of  families  of  wives  and  children 
within  colleges,  contrary  to  the  ancient  and  comely- 
order  of  the  same/  Elizabeth,  in  1560,  forbade  deans 
and  canons  to  have  their  wives  residing  with  them 
within  the  cathedral  closes  under  pain  of  forfeiting 
'  their  promotions/  Cathedrals  and  colleges,  she  said, 
had  been  founded  '  to  keep  societies  of  learned  men 
professing  study  and  prayer;'  and  the  rooms  intended 
for  students  were  not  to  be  sacrificed  to  women  and 
children.1 

The  Church  dignitaries  treated  the  Queen's  injunc- 
tion as  the  country  gentlemen  treated  the  statutes. 
"Deans  and  canons,  by  the  rules  of  their  foundations,  were 
directed  to  dine  and  keep  hospitality  in  their  common 
hall.  Those  among  them  who  had  married  broke  up 


cubinagc  which  was  generally  prac- 
tised in  England  by  the  clergy  so 
long  as  they  were  forbidden  to 
ma  ivy. 


1  Proclamation  by  the  Queen  for 
the  eviction  of  wives  out  of  colleges 
(In  Cecil's  hand)  :  Domestic  MSS.t 
Elizabeth,  vol.  xix. 


1561.]  THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE.  1 5 

into  their  separate  houses,  where,  in  spite  of  Elizabeth, 
they  maintained  their  families.  The  unmarried  ( tabled 
abroad  at  the  ale-houses/  The  singing-men  of  the  choirs 
became  the  prebends'  private  servants,  '  having  the 
Church  stipend  for  their  wages.1  The  cathedral  plate 
adorned  the  prebendal  side-boards  and  dinner-tables. 
The  organ-pipes  were  melted  into  dishes  for  their 
kitchens ;  the  organ-frames  were  carved  into  bedsteads, 
where  the  wives  reposed  beside  their  reverend  lords; 
while  the  copes  and  vestments  were  coveted  for  their 
gilded  embroidery,  and  were  slit  into  gowns  and  bodices. 
Having  children  to  provide  for,  and  only  a  life-interest 
in  their  revenues,  the  chapters  like  the  bishops  cut 
down  their  woods,  and  worked  their  fines,  their  leases, 
their  escheats  and  wardships,  for  the  benefit  of  their  own 
generation.  Sharing  their  annual  plunder,  they  ate 
and  drank  and  enjoyed  themselves  while  their  oppor- 
tunity remained  ;  for  the  times  were  dangerous,  and 
none  could  tell  what  should  be  after  them.' 

'  They  decked  their  wives  so  finely  for  the  stuff  and 
fashion  of  their  garments  as  none  were  so  fine  and  trim.' 
By  her  dress  and  '  her  gait '  in  the  street  '  the  priest's 
wife  was  known  from  a  hundred  other  women ; '  while 
in  the  congregations  and  in  the  cathedrals  they  were 
distinguished  '  by  placing  themselves  above  all  other  the 
most  ancient  and  honourable  in  their  cities ;'  'being  the 
Church — as  the  priests'  wives  termed  it — their  own 
Church ;  and  the  said  wives  did  call  and  take  all  things 
belonging  to  their  church  and  corporation  as  their  own ; ' 
as  'their  houses,'  'their  gates,'  'their  porters,'  'their 


j&  KETGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.41. 

servants/  'their  tenants/  '  their  manors/  'their  lord- 
ships/ 'their  woods/  'their  corn.'  l 

Celihacy  had  been  found  an  unwholesome  restric- 
tion ;  married  clergymen  might  have  been  expected  to 
do  their  duties  the  better  rather  than  the  worse  for 
the  companionship ;  and  such  complaints  as  these  might 
be  regarded  as  the  inevitable  but  worthless  strictures  of 
malice  and  superstition.  But  it  was  not  wholly  so. 
While  the  shepherds  were  thus  dividing  the  fleeces  the 
sheep  were  perishing.  In  many  dioceses  in  England 
a  third  of  the  parishes  were  left  without  a  clergyman, 

resident  or  non-resident.     In  1561  there  were 
1561.  J. 

in  the  Archdeaconry  of  Norwich  eighty  parishes 

where  there  was  no  resident  incumbent ;  in  the  Arch- 
deaconry of  Suffolk  a  hundred  and  thirty  parishes 
\vere  almost  or  entirely  in  the  same  condition.2  In 
some  of  these  churches  a  curate  attended  on  Sun- 
days. In  most  of  them  the  voices  of  the  priests  were 
silent  in  the  desolate  aisles.  The  children  grew  up 
unbaptized ;  the  dead  buried  their  dead.  At  St  Helen's 
in  the  Isle  of  Wight  the  parish  church  had  been  built 
upon  the  shore  for  the  convenience  of  vessels  lying  at 
the  anchorage.  The  Provost  and  Fellows  of  Eton  were 
the  patrons,  and  the  benefice  was  among  the  wealthiest 
in  their  gift ;  but  the  church  was  a  ruin  through  which 
the  wind  and  the  rain  made  free  passage.  The  parish- 


1  Complaints  against  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Worcester  : 
.,  Elizabeth,  vol.  xxviii. 

2  STRYI-E'S  Annals  of  Hie  Reformation,  vol.  i. 


1561.]  THE  EXGLISII  A  T  II A  VKE.  \  7 

ioners  'were  fain  to  bury  their  corpses  themselves/ 
And  'joining-  as  it  did  hard  to  one  of  the  chief  roads  of 
England,  where  all  sorts  of  nations  were  compelled  to 
take  succour  and  touch,  the  shameful  using  of  the  same 
church  caused  the  Queen's  council  and  the  whole  realm 
to  run  in  slander.' l 

'It  brcedeth,'  said  Elizabeth  in  a  remonstrance  which 
she  addressed  to  Archbishop  Parker,  '  no  small  offence 
and  scandal  to  sec  and  consider  upon  the  one  part  the 
curiosity  and  cost  bestowed  by  all  sorts  of  men  upon 
their  private  houses  ;  and  on  the  other  part  the  unclean 
and  negligent  order  and  spare  keeping  of  the  houses  of 
prayer,  by  permitting  open  decays  and  ruins  of  cover- 
ings of  walls  and  windows,  and  by  appointing  unmeet 
and  unseemly  tables  with  foul  cloths,  for  the  communion 
of  the  sacrament ;  and  generally  leaving  the  place  of 
prayer  desolate  of  all  cleanliness  and  of  meet  ornament 
for  such  a  place,  whereby  it  might  be  known  a  place 
provided  for  divine  service.' 2 

Nor  again  were  the  Protestant  foreigners  who  had 
taken  refuge  in  England  any  special  credit  to  the  Re- 
formation. These  exiled  saints  were  described  by  the 
Bishop  of  London  us  '  a  marvellous  colluvies  of  evil 
persons,  for  the  most  part  facinoro*'.,  cbriosi,  ct  scctarii.9 
Between  prelates  reprimanded  by  the  council  for  fraudu- 
lent administration  of  their  estates,  chapters  bent  on 


1  Presentation   of  George  Oglander  :  Domestic  JlfSS.,  Elizabeth,  Rolls 
House. 

2  The  Queen  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  1560  (Cecil's  liand) : 
Domestic  MSB.,  vol.  xv, 

VOL.   VII.  2 


iS  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

justifying  Cranmer's  opinion  of  such  bodies — that  'they 
were  good  vianders,  and  good  for  nothing  else ' — and  a 
clergy  among  whom  the  only  men  who  had  any  fear  of 
God  were  the  unmanageable  and  dangerous  Puritans, 
the  Church  of  England  was  doing  little  to  make  the 
Queen  or  the  country  enamoured  of  it.  Torn  up  as  it 
had  been  by  the  very  roots  and  but  lately  replanted,  its 
hanging  boughs  and  drooping  foliage  showed  that  as  yet 
it  had  taken  no  root  in  the  soil,  and  there  seemed  too 
strong  a  likelihood  that,  notwithstanding  its  ingenious 
framework  and  comprehensive  formulas,  it  would  wither 
utterly  away. 

'  Our  religion  is  so  abused/  wrote  Lord  Sussex  to 
Cecil  in  1562,  'that  the  Papists  rejoice;  the  neuters  do 
not  mislike  change,  and  the  few  zealous  professors  lament 
the  lack  of  purity.  The  people  without  discipline,  utterly 
devoid  cf  religion,  come  to  divine  service  as  to  a  May- 
game  ;  the  ministers  for  disability  and  greediness  be 
had  in  contempt;  and  the  wise  fear  more  the  impiety 
of  the  licentious  professors  than  the  superstition  of  the 
erroneous  Papists.  God  hold  his  hand  over  us,  that  our 
lack  of  religious  hearts  do  not  breed  in  the  mean  time 
his  wrath  and  revenge  upon  us.' L 

Covetousiiess  aurl  impiety  moreover  were  not  the 
only  dangers.  The  submission  of  the  clergy  to  the 
changes  was  no  proof  of  their  cordial  acceptance  of  them. 
The  majority  were  interested  only  in  their  benefices, 
which  they  retained  and  neglected.  A  great  many  con- 


1  Sussex  to  Cecil,  July  22,  1562  ;  from  Chester  :  Irish  M-SS.  Rolls  House. 


1 56 1 . J  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE.  1 9- 

tinned  Catholics  in  disguise :  they  remained  at  their 
post  scarcely  concealing,  if  concealing  at  all,  their  true 
creed,  and  were  supported  in  open  contumacy  by  the 
neighbouring  noblemen  and  gentlemen. 

In  a  general  visitation  in  July  1561  the  clergy  were 
required  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  The  Bishop  of 
Carlisle  reported  that  thirteen  or  fourteen  of  his  rectors 
and  vicars  refused  to  appear,  while  in  many  churches  in 
his  diocese  mass  continued  to  be  said  under  the  coun- 
tenance and  open  protection  of  Lord  Dacres :  and  the 
clergy  of  the  diocese  generally  he  described  as  wicked 
'  imps  of  Antichrist ; '  '  ignorant,  stubborn,  and  past 
measure  false  and  subtle/  Fear  only,  he  said,  would 
make  them  obedient,  and  Lord  Cumberland  and  Lord 
Dacres  would  not  allow  him  to  meddle  with  them.1 

The  Border  of  "Wales  was  as  critical  as  the  Border 
of  Scotland.  In  August  of  the  same  year  '  the  Popish 
justices '  of  Hereford  commanded  the  observance  of  St 
Lawrence's  day  as  a  holyday.  On  the  eve  no  butcher 
in  the  town  ventured  to  sell  meat ;  on  the  day  itself 
'  no  gospeller '  durst  work  in  his  occupation  or  open  his 
shop.  A  party  of  recusant  priests  from  Devonshire  were 
received  in  state  by  the  magistrates,  carried  through  the 
streets  in  procession,  and  so  '  feasted  and  magnified  as 
Christ  himself  could  not  have  been  more  reverentially 
entertained/  2 

In  September,  Bishop  Jewel  going  to  Oxford  reported 
the  fellows  of  the  college  so  malignant  that  '  if  he  had 

1  The  Bishop  of  Carlisle  to  Cecil :  Domestic  MSS.,  vol.  xviii. 
-  The  Bishop  of  Hereford  to  Cecil :  Domestic  MSS.,  vol.  six. 


20  REIGX  OF  E  LIZ  ABE  TIL  [011.41. 

proceeded  peremptorily  as  lie  might/  lie  would  not  have 
left  two  in  any  one  of  them  ;  and  here  it  was  not  a  peer 
or  a  magistrate  that  Jewel  feared,  but  one  higher  than 
both,  for  the  Colleges  appealed  to  the  Queen  against 
him ;  and  Jewel  could  but  entreat  Cecil  with  many 
anxious  misgivings  to  stand  by  him.  He  could  but  pro- 
test humbly  that  he  was  only  acting  for  God's  glory.1 

The  Bishop  of  Winchester  found  his  people  '  obsti- 
nately grovelled  in  superstition  and  Popery,  lacking  not 
priests  to  inculcate  the  same  daily  in  their  heads ; '  and 
himself  so  unable  to  provide  ministers  to  teach  them, 
that  he  petitioned  for  permission  to  unite  his  parishes 
and  throw  two  or  three  into  one.2 

The  Bishop  of  Durham,  called  a  clergyman  before 
him  to  take  the  oath.  The  clergyman  said  out  before  a 
crowd,  'who  much  rejoiced  at  his  doings,'  'that  neither 
temporal  man  nor  woman  could  have  power  in  spiritual 
matters  but  only  the  Pope  of  Rome ; '  and  the  lay 
authorities  would  not  allow  the  Bishop  to  punish  a  man 
who  had  but  expressed  their  own  feelings ;  more  than 
one  member  of  the  Council  of  York  had  refused  the  oath 
and  yet  had  remained  in  office  ;  the  rest  took  courage 
when  they  saw  those  that  refused  their  allegiance  '  not- 
only  unpunished  but  had  in  authority  and  estimation  ; ' 
and  distracted  '  with  the  poisoiiful  and  malicious  minds 
about  him,'  the  Bishop  said  that  'where  he  had  but  little 
wit  at  his  coming  he  had  now  almost  none  left  him,  and 
wished  himself  a  sizar  at  St  John's  again.' 3 


1  Jewel  to  Cecil:    Domestic  J/&S'.,  vol.  xix. 
.  ibid.,  vol.  xxi.  3  .l/.S'.  Ibid.,  vol.  xix. 


1561.]  THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE.  21 

Finally,  in  1562,  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle  once  more 
complained  that  between  Lord  Dacres  and  the  Earls  of 
Cumberland  and  Westmoreland,  '  Gfod's  glorious  gospel 
could  not  take  place  in  the  counties  under  their  rule.' 
The  few  Protestants  *  durst  not  be  known  for  fear  of  a 
shrewd  turn  ; '  and  the  lords  and  magistrates  looked 
through  their  fingers — while  the  law  was  openly  defied. 
The  country  was  full  of  '  wishings  and  wagers  for  the 
alteration  of  religion  ; '  '  rumours  and  tales  of  the 
Spaniards  and  Frenchmen  to  come  in  for  the  reform- 
ation of  the  same:'  while  the  articles  of  the  secret 
league  between  the  Guises  and  Spain  for  the  extirpation 
of  heresy  circulated  in  manuscript  in  the  houses  of  the 
northern  gentlemen.1 

The  Queen's  own  conduct  had  been  so  uncertain,  she 
had  persisted  so  long  in  her  determination  to  invite  the 
Queen  of  Scots  into  England,  svith  a  view  of  acknow- 
ledging her  in  some  form  or  other  as  her  successor,  she 
had  given  so  marked  an  evidence  of  her  retrogressive 
tendencies  in  appointing  these  very  Earls  of  Westmore- 
land and  Cumberland  to  receive  Mary  Stuart  on  the 
Border,  that  no  one  ventured  to  support  a  spiritual 
authority  which  in  a  year  or  two  might  vanish  like  a 
mist.  And  it  was  not  till  Elizabeth  had  been  driven  at 
last  into  the  French  quarrel,  had  given  up  the  inter- 
view, and  had  sent  her  troops  to  Havre  to  co-operate 
with  the  Huguenots,  that  the  reforming  party  recovered 
heart  again  ;  and  the  Romanists  discovered  that  unless 


1  Domestic  M'SS.*  vol   xxi. 


22  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

they  were  prepared  for  immediate  rebellion  they  must 
move  more  cautiously. 

itfa.  The  first  effect  of  their  disappointment  was 

August  a  curious  one>  On  the  7th  of  August  de  Qua- 
dra wrote  to  the  Spanish  minister  at  Rome  begging  him 
to  ask  the  Pope  in  the  name  of  the  English  Catholics 
whether  they  might  be  present  without  sin  at  i  the  com- 
mon prayers/  '  The  case,'  de  Quadra  said,  '  was  a  new 
and  not  an  easy  one,  for  the  Praj^er-book  contained 
neither  impiety  nor  false  doctrine.  The  prayers  them- 
selves were  those  of  the  Catholic  Church,  altered  only  so 
far  as  to  omit  the  merits  and  the  intercession  of  the 
saints ;  so  that,  except  for  the  concealment,  and  the  in- 
jury which  might  arise  from  the  example,  there  would 
be  nothing  in  the  compliance  itself  positively  unlawful. 
The  communion  could  be  evaded :  on  that  point  they 
did  not  ask  for  a  dispensation.  They  desired  simply  to 
.be  informed  whether  they  might  attend  the  ordinary 
services/  The  Bishop's  own  opinion  was  that  no 
general  rule  could  be  laid  down.  The  compulsion  to 
.which  the  Catholics  were  exposed  varied  at  different 
times  and  places  ;  the  harm  which  might  arise  to  others 
varied ;  nor  had  all  been  equally  zealous  in  attempting 
to  prevent  the  law  from  passing  or  in  afterwards  ob- 
structing the  execution  of  it.  While  therefore  he 
had  not  extenuated  the  fault  of  those  who  had  given 
way  to  the  persecution,  he  had  in  some  cases  given  them 
a  hope  that  they  had  not  sinned  mortally.  At  the  same 
time  he  had  been  cautious  of  weakening  the  resolution 
of  those  who  had  been  hitherto  constant.  If  the  Pope 


15'jj.]-  THE  ENGLISH  A  7  JTA  VRE.  23 

had  more  decided  instructions  to  give,  lie  said  he  would 
gladly  receive  them.  There  was  another  class  of  cases 
also  which  there  was  a  difficulty  in  dealing  with.  Many 
of  the  English  who  had  fallen  into  heresy  had  repented 
and  desired  to  be  absolved.  But  the  priests,  who  could 
receive  them  back,  were  scanty  and  scattered  ;  and  there 
was  extreme  danger  in  resorting  to  them.  In  some  in- 
stances they  had  been  arrested,  and  under  threat  of  tor- 
ture had  revealed  their  penitents'  names.  The  Bishop 
said  he  had  explained  to  the  Catholics  generally  that 
allowance  was  made  for  violence,  but  they  wished  for  a 
general  indulgence  in  place  of  detailed  and  special  ab- 
solution ;  and  although  he  said  that  he  did  not  himself 
consider  that  this  would  meet  the  difficulty,  he  thought 
it  right  to  mention  their  request.1 

The  question  of  attendance  on  the  English  service 
was  referred  to  the  Inquisition,  where  the  dry  truth  was 
expressed  more  formally  and  hardly  than  de  Quadra's 
leniency  would  have  preferred. 

'  Given  a  commonwealth  in  which  Catholics  were 
forbidden  under  pain  of  death  to  exercise  their  religion  ; 
where  the  law  required  the  subject  to  attend  conventi- 
cles ;  where  the  Psalms  were  sung  and  the  lessons  taken 
from  the  Bible  were  read  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  and 
where  sermons  were  preached  in  defence  of  heretical 
opinions,  might  Catholics  comply  with  that  law  without 
peril  of  damnation  to  their  souls  ?  ' 

Jesuitism  was  as  yet  but  half  developed.     The  In- 


1  DC  Quadra  to  Vargas,  August  7  •  MS.  Si»ift>icas. 


24  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.41. 

quisition  answered  immediately  with  a  distinct  negative. 

Although  the  Catholics  were  not  required  to  com- 
municate with  heretics,  yet  hy  their  presence  at  their 
services  they  would  assume  and  affect  to  believe  with 
them.  Their  object  in  wishing  to  be  present  could  only 
be  to  pass  for  heretics,  to  escape  the  penalties  of  dis- 
obedience ;  and  God  had  said,  '  Whosoever  is  ashamed 
of  me  and  of  my  words,  of  him  will  I  be  ashamed/ 
Catholics,  and  especially  Catholics  of  rank,  could  not 
appear  in  Protestant  assemblies  without  causing  scandal 
to  the  weaker  brethren. 

In  giving  this  answer  Pope  Pius  desired  to  force  the 
Catholics  to  declare  themselves,  and  precipitate  the  col- 
lision which  Philip's  timidity  had  prevented. 

On  the  other  point  he  was  more  lenient.  He  em- 
powered de  Quadra,  as  a  person  not  amenable  to  the 
English  Government,  to  accept  himself  the  abjuration  of 
heretics  willing  to  forsake  their  errors,  and  to  empower 
others  at  his  discretion  to  do  the  same  whenever  and 
wherever  he  might  think  good.1 

Before  the  order  of  Pius  had  reached  England,  the 
impatience  of  the  Catholics  had  run  over  in  the  abortive 
conspiracy  of  the  Poles.  In  itself  most  trivial,  it  served 
as  a  convenient  instrument  in  the  hands  of  Cecil  to  ir- 
ritate the  Protestants.  The  enterprise  in  Fra-nce  ap- 
pealed to  the  loyalty  of  the  people,  who  flattered  them^ 
selves  with  hopes  of  Calais,  and  the  elections  for  the 
Parliament,  which  was  to  meet  at  the  spring  of  the  new 


1  Pius  IV.  to  dc  Quadra  :  MS.  Sintfincas. 


1563.] 


THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE. 


year,  were  carried  on  under  the  stimulus  of  the  excite- 
ment. The  result  was  the  return  of  a  House  of  Com- 
mons violently  Puritan  ;  and  those  who  were  most 
anxious  to  prevent  the  recognition  of  the  Queen  of  Scots 
ibund  themselves  opportunely  strengthened  by  the  pre- 
mature eagerness  with  which  her  claims  had  been  pressed. 
MaitlaiicVs  intended  mission  to  London  had  been 
postponed  till  the  meeting  ;  but  meanwhile  Sir  William 
Cecil  had  ominously  allowed  all  correspondence  between 
them  to  cease;1  and  Randolph,  on  the  5th  of  I563. 
January,  wrote  from  Edinburgh  of  the  general  Januu:7- 
fear  and  uneasiness  that  'things  would  be  wrought  in 
the  approaching  Parliament  which  would  give  little 
pleasure  in  Scotland.'2  Diplomacy  however  still  con- 
tinued its  efforts.  Notwithstanding  the  rupture  with 
the  Guises,  the  admission  of  Mary  Stuart's  right  was 
still  played  off  before  Elizabeth  as  a  condition  on  which 
France  might  be  pacified  and  Calais  restored  :  and 
there  was  always  a  fear  that  Elizabeth  misrht  turn  back 

id 

upon  her  steps  and  listen.  To  end  the  crisis,  Sir  Thomas 
Smith  advised  her  to  throw  six  thousand  men,  some 
moonlight  night,  on  the  Calais  sands.  The  garrison  had 
been  withdrawn  after  the  battle  of  Dreux  to  reinforce 
the  Catholic  army,  and  not  twro  hundred  men  were  left 
to  defend  the  still  incomplete  fortifications.3  But  Eliza- 


1  Maitland  to  Cecil,  January  3  : 
Scotch  MSS.  Solly  House. 

•  Randolph  to  Cecil :  MS.  Ibid. 

a  Sir  T.  Smith  to  Elizabeth, 
January  2 :  FOIJDES,  vol.  ii.  The 
beneficial  effects  of  the  French  con- 
quest had  already  been  felt  in  the 


Pale.  Before  the  expulsion  of  the 
English  it  was  almost  a  desert.  Sir 
Thomas  Smith  held  out  as  an  in- 
ducement for  its  recovery,  that  it  had 
become  '  the  plentil'ullcst  country  ir 
all  France.' 


26  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH,  [cir.  41 

beth  was  as  incapable  as  Philip  of  a  sudden  movement, 
and  she  had  no  desire  to  exchange  her  quarrel  with  the 
Guises — which  after  all  might  be  peaceably  composed — 
for  a  declared  war  with  a  united  France.  She  knew 
that  she  had  not  deserved  the  confidence  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, and  she  had  already  reason  to  fear  that  they  might 
turn  against  her. 

The  day  after  the  battle  of  Dreux,  Throgmorton,  un- 
able to  rejoin  the  Admiral,  was  brought  in  as  a  prisoner 
into  the  Catholic  .camp.  The  Duke  of  Guise  sent  for 
him,  and  after  a  long  and  conciliatory  conversation  on 
the  state  of  France,  spoke  deprecatingly  of  the  injustice 
of  Elizabeth's  suspicions  of  himself  and  his  family,  and 
indicated  with  some  distinctness  that  if  she  would  with- 
draw from  Havre  Calais  should  be  given  up  to  her.1 

Elizabeth,  catching  at  an  intimation  which  fell  in 
with  her  private  wishes,  replied  with  a  promise  '  that 
nothing  should  be  done  in  Parliament  to  the  displeasure 
of  the  Queen  of  Scots.'  Mary  Stuart  had  recovered 
credit  by  her  expedition  to  the  north ;  and  her  confidence 
in  Elizabeth's  weakness  again  revived:  not  indeed  that 
Elizabeth  was  really  either  weak  or  blind,  but  in  consti- 
tutional irresolution  she  was  for  ever  casting  her  eye 
over  her  shoulder,  with  the  singular  and  happy  effect  of 


1  '  If  they  cannot  accord  among 
themselves,  then  I  perceive  they 
mind  to  treat  with  you  favourably, 
and  I  believe  to  satisfy  your  Majesty 
about  Calais,  provided  that  from 
henceforth  you  do  no  more  aid  the 
Prince  and  the  rebels.' — Throgmor- 
ton to  Elizabeth,  January  3 :  Con- 


n-ay MSS. 

'These  men  have  two  strings  to 
their  bow  —  to  accord  with  the 
Prince  and  to  accord  with  her  Ma- 
jesty also  ;  but  not  with  both  at  once 
to  both's  satisfactions.'  —  Throg- 
morton to  Cecil,  January  3  :  FOUBES, 
vol.  ii. 


.1563-1 


THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE. 


keeping  the  Catholics  perpetually  deluded  with  false  ex- 
pectations, and  of  amusing  them  with  hopes  of  a  change 
which  never  came. 

Her  resolution  about  the  Scottish  succession  promised 
a  stormy  and  uneasy  session  ;  and  Cecil  before  its  com- 
mencement, still  uncertain  how  far  he  could  depend  upon 
her,  made  another  effort  to  rid  the  Court  of  de  Quadra. 
The  Spanish  ambassador  was  suspected  without  reason 
of  having  encouraged  the  Poles.  He  was  known  to  have 
urged  Philip  to  violence,  and  to  be  the  secret  support 
and  stay  of  the  disaffected  in  England  and  Ireland. 
Confident  in  the  expected  insurrection  of  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, Cecil  was  not  unwilling  to  risk  an  open  rupture 
with  Spain,  which  would  force  Elizabeth  once  for  all  on 
the  Protestant  side. 

AYew  days  before  Parliament  was  to  meet,  an  Italian 
Calvinist,  in  the  train  of  the  Vidame  of  Chartres,  was 
passing  Durham  Place  when  a  stranger,  who  was  loung- 
ing at  the  gate,  drew  a  pistol  and  fired  at  him.  The  ball 
passed  through  the  Italian's  cap  and  wounded  an  Eng- 
lishman behind  him.  The  assassin  darted  into  the  house 
with  a  crowd  at  his  heels  ;  and  the  Bishop,  knowing  no- 
thing of  him,  but  knowing  the  Italian  to  be  a  heretic, 
bade  his  servants  open  the  water  gate.  The  fugitive 
sprung  down  the  steps,  leapt  into  a  boat,  and  was  gone. 
Being  taken  afterwards  at  Gravesend,  he  confessed 
under  torture  that  he  had  been  bribed  to  commit  the 
murder  by  the  Provost  of  Paris.  De  Quadra,  who  had 
made  himself  an  accomplice  after  the  fact,  was  required 
to  surrender  the  keys  of  his  house ;  and  his  steward  re 


28 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[en.  41. 


fusing  to  comply,  the  mayor  sent  workmen  who  changed 
the  locks. 

De  Quadra  went  to  the  palace  to  complain  ;  but  the 
Queen,  without  permitting  herself  to  be  seen,  referred 
him  to  the  council ;  and  Cecil  at  last  told  him  that  he 
could  not  be  allowed  to  remain  at  Durham  Place.  All 
the  Papists  in  London  attended  mass  there  ;  every  mal- 
content, every  traitor  and  enemy  of  the  Government, 
came  there  at  night  to  consult  him.  The  disturbance 
which  had  broken  out  in  Ireland  was  due  to  the  advice 
given  by  de  Quadra  when  O'Neil  was  in  London ;  and 
but  for  the  care  which  the  Queen  had  taken  of  him  he 
would  probably  have  long  before  been  murdered  by  the 
mob.1 

De  Quadra  was  not  a  man  to  be  discomposed  by  high 
words.  He  replied  that  whatever  he  had  done  he  had 
done  by  his  master's  orders  ;  and  complaints  against 
himself  were  complaints  against  the  King  o*f  Spain.  If 
he  had  seemed  to  act  in  an.  unfriendly  manner,  the  times 
were  to  blame ;  if  he  did  not  profess  the  English  re- 
ligion, he  professed  the  religion  of  Christendom  ;  and 
those  noble  and  honourable  men  who  came  to  his  house 
to  mass  came  where  they  had  a  right  to  come  and  did 
not  deserve  Cecil's  imputations 

Hot  words  passed  to  and  fro.  Cecil  charged  the 
Bishop  with  maintaining  traitors  and  rebels.  De  Quadra 


1  Do  Quadra  to  Philip,  January 
IO:  MS.  Simrnicas.  The  accourt 
of  the  matter  sent  by  the  English 
council  to  Sir  Thomas  Chaloner, 
agrees  closely  with  that  of  de  Quadra, 


dwelling  only  in  fuller  detail  on  the 
midnight  conferences  of  conspirators 
and  traitors  held  at  Durham  Place  : 
Spanish  MtS.,  Januiry  7:  Rolls 
Ifouse. 


1563  ]  THE  ENGLISH  A  T  II A  VKE.  29 

said  it  was  not  lie  or  his  master  who  were  most  guilty 
of  using  religion  as  a  stalking-horse  to  disturb  their 
neighbours'  peace. 

Cecil  said  the  Bishop  had  encouraged  Pole  and  For- 
tescue.  The  Bishop  answered  truly  enough  that  he  had 
had  nothing  to  do  with  them  or  their  follies. 

'The  meaning  of  it  all/  de  Quadra  wroie  to  Philip, 
'  is  this :  they  wish  to  dishearten  the  Catholics  whom 
the  Parliament  will  bring  together  from  all  parts  of  the 
realm.  I  am  not  to  remain  in  this  house  because  it  has 
secret  doors  and  entrances  which  we  may  use  for  mis- 
chief. They  are  afraid,  and  they  have  cause  to  be  afraid. 
The  heretics  are  furious  at  seeing  me  maintain  the  Ca- 
tholics here  with  some  kind  of  authority,  and  they  can- 
not endure  it ;  but  a  few  days  ago  the  Lord  Keeper  said 
that  neither  the  Crown  nor  religion  were  safe  so  long  as 
I  was  in  the  realm.  It  is  true  enough,  as  Cecil  says, 
that  I  may  any  day  be  torn  in  pieces  by  the  populace. 
Ever  since  this  war  in  France,  and  the  demonstrations 
in  Paris  against  the  heretics,  the  Protestant  preachers 
have  clamoured  from  the  pulpit  for  the  execution  of 
*  Papists/  Even  Cecil  himself  is  bent  on  cruelty  ;  and 
did  they  but  dare  they  would  not  leave  a  Catholic  alive 
in  the  land. 

'  But  the  faithful  are  too  large  a  number,  and  if  it 
comes  to  that  they  will  sell  their  lives  dear.  London 
indeed  is  bad  enough  :  it  is  the  worst  place  in  the 
realm :  and  it  is  likely — I  do  not  say  it  in  any  fear,  but 
only  because  it  is  a  thing  which  your  Majesty  should 
know — that  if  they  force  me  to  reside  within  the  walls 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  41. 


of  the  city  something  may  happen  to  me.  The  council 
themselves  tell  me  that  if  I  am  detected  in  any  con- 
spiracy my  privilege  as  ambassador  shall  not  save  me. 
They  wish  to  goad  me  on  to  violence  that  they  may 
have  matter  to  lay  before  the  Queen  against  me.' l 

Believing  or  pretending  to  believe  that  de  Quadra, 
notwithstanding  his  denial,  was  really  implicated  in  the 
affair  of  the  Poles,  Cecil  overshot  his  mark.  Chaloner 
was  instructed  to  demand  the  Bishop's  recall ;  and 
meanwhile  he  was  allowed  still  to  reside  in  Durham 
Place,  but  with  restrictions  upon  his  liberty.  The 
water  gate  was  closed,  sentinels  were  posted  at  the 
lodge,  the  house  was  watched  day  and  night,  and  every 
person  who  went  in  or  out  was  examined  and  registered.2 

While  this  fracas  was  at  its  heat,  on  the  i2th  of 
January  Parliament  opened,  and  with  it  the  first  Convo- 
cation .of  the  English  Church.  The  sermon  at  St  Paul's 
was  preached  by  Day,  the  Provost  of  Eton ;  that  at 
Westminster  by  Dr  JNowell.  The  subject  of  both  was 
the  same  :  the  propriety  of  '  killing  the  caged  wolves  ' — 
that  is  to  say,  the  Catholic  bishops  in  the  Tower — with 
the  least  possible  delay.3 

The  session  then  began.      The  Lord  Keeper  in  the 


1  De  Quadra  to  Philip,  January 
IO :  3/6'.  tiimancas. 

•  DC  Quadra  to  Philip,  January 
27:  /1/6'.  Ibid. 

3  '  El  Martes  se  abri6  el  Parla- 
mcnto,  y  lo  que  se  predico  tanto  en 
"Westminster  en  presencia  de  la 
Reyna  como  en  San  Pablo  en  el 
sinodo  ecTiCsiastieo  fue  principal- 


mente  persuadir  que  se  matascn  los 
lobos  encerrados;  enteudiendo  por 
los  obispos  presos.' — De  Quadra  to 

,  January   14:  MS.  Ibid.     It 

is  mournful  to  remember  that  No- 
well  was  the  author  of  the  English 
Church  Catechism  in  its  present 
form.  See  note  at  the  end  of  this 
chapter. 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE.  3 1 

usual  speech  from  the  throne  dwelt  oil  the  internal  dis- 
orders of  the  country,  the  irreligion  of  the  laity,  the 
disorder  and  idleness  of  the  clergy.  He  touched  briefly 
on  the  events  of  the  three  last  years ;  and  in  speaking 
by  name  of  the  House  of  Guise,  he  said  that  if  tl.ey  had 
not  been  encountered  in  Scotland  they  must  have  been 
fought  with  under  the  walls  of  York. 

Then  passing  to  France,  he  said  that  the  Queen  by 
the  same  cause  had  been  compelled  to  a  second  similar 
interference  there.  He  alluded  pointedly  to  a  disloyal 
faction  in  England,  by  whom  the  foreign  enemies  were 
encouraged.  He  spoke  shortly  of  the  late  devilish  con- 
spiracy, and  then  concluded  with  saying  that  reluctant 
as  they  knew  the  Queen  to  be  to  ask  her  subjects  for 
money,  they  would  be  called  upon  to  meet  the  expenses 
which  she  had  incurred  in  the  service  of  the  Common- 
wealth. 

Sir  Thomas  Williams,  the  Speaker  of  the  Lower 
House,  followed  next  in  the  very  noblest  spirit  of  Eng- 
lish Puritanism.  With  quaint  allegoric  and  classical 
allusions  interlaced  with  illustrations  from  the  Bible,  he 
conveyed  to  the  Queen  the  gratitude  of  the  people  for 
a  restored  religion  and  her  own  moderate  and  gentle 
Government.  He  described  the  country  however  as 
still  suffering  from  ignorance,  error,  covetousness,  and 
a  thousand  meaner  vices.  Schools  were  in  decay, 
universities  deserted,  benefices  unsupplied.  As  ho 
passed  through  the  streets,  he  heard  almost  as  many 
oaths  as  words.  Then  turning  to  the  Queen  herself  he 
went  on  thus — 


32  REIGX  OF  EL  IZAJiE  7  77.  |c H .  4 1 . 

'  We  now  assembled,  as  diligent  in.  our  calling,  have 
thought  good  to  move  your  Majesty  to  build  a  fort  for 
the  surety  of  the  realm,  to  the  repulsing  of  your  enemies 
abroad :  which  must  be  set  upon  firm  ground  and  stead- 
fast, having  two  gates — one  commonly  open,  the  other 
as  a  postern,  with  two  watchmen  at  either  of  them — one 
governor,  one  lieutenant,  and  no  good  thing  there  want- 
ing ;  the  same  to  be  named  th.e  Fear  of  God,  the 
governor  thereof  to  be  God,  your  Majesty  the  lieuten- 
ant, the  stones  the  hearts  of  your  faithful  people,  the 
two  watchmen  at  the  open  gate  to  be  called  Knowledge 
and  Virtue,  the  two  at  the  postern  gate  to  be  called 
Mercy  and  Truth. 

'  This  fort  is  invincible  if  every  man  will  fear  God ; 
for  all  governors  reign  and  govern  by  the  two  watch- 
men Knowledge  and  Virtue  ;  and  if  you,  being  the 
lieutenant,  see  Justice  and  Prudence,  her  sisters,  exe- 
cuted, then  shall  you  rightly  use  your  office  ;  and  for 
such  as  depart  out  of  this  fort  let  them  be  let  out  at 
the  postern  by  the  two  watchmen  Mercy  and  Truth, 
and  then  shall  you  be  well  at  home  and  abroad.'1 

All  that  was  most  excellent  in  English  heart  and 
feeling — the  spirit  which  carried  England  safe  at  last 
through  its  trials — spoke  in  these  words.  Those  in 
whom  that  spirit  lived  were  few  in  number :  there  was 
never  an  ago  in  this  world's  history  when  they  were 
other  than  few ;  but  few  or  many  they  arc  at  all  times 
the  world's  true  sovereign  leaders ;  and  Elizabeth, 


1  Speech  of  Sir  Thomas  Williams :    DEWES'  Journals,  pp.  64,  65 


1563.] 


THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE. 


33 


among  her  many  faults,  knew  these  men  when  she  saw 
them,  and  gave  them  their  place,  and  so  prospered  she 
and  her  country.  The  clergy  cried  out  for  the  blood  of 
the  disaffected ;  the  lay  Speaker  would  let  them  go  by 
the  postern  of  Mercy  and  Truth. 

These  introductions  over,  the  House  proceeded  to 
business.  The  special  subject,  of  which  all  minds  were 
full,  had  been  passed  over  both  by  Bacon  and  "Williams ; 
but  the  Commons  fastened  upon  it  without  a  moment's 
delay.  There  were  no  signs  of  the  Queen's  marrying, 
notwithstanding  her  half  promise  to  her  first  Parlia- 
ment. She  had  been  near  death,  and  the  frightful  un- 
certainty as  to  what  would  follow  should  she  die  indeed 
was  no  longer  tolerable. 

On  the  1 8th  the  question  was  talked  over :  the 
different  claimants  and  their  pretensions  were  briefly 
considered,  and  as  had  been  anticipated  the  tone  of 
feeling  was  as  adverse  as  possible  to  the  Queen  of  Scots. 
The  Scottish  nobles  had  not  been  forgiven  for  having 
supported  her  in  refusing  to  ratify  the  treaty.  To 
secure  their  sovereign  the  reversion  of  the  English 
crown  they  were  held  to  have  repaid  the  assistance 
which  had  saved  them  from  ruin  with  the  basest  ingra- 
titude. Sir  Ealph  Sadler  broke  out  with  a  fierce 
invective  upon  the  '  false,  beggarly,  and  perjured ' 
nation,  whom  '  the  very  stones '  in  the  English  streets 
would  rise  against.1  Another  speaker  challenged  Mary 
Stuart's  pretensions  on  the  ground  of  English  law. 


Papers,  voi.  ni   [>.  303. 


VOL.  vn. 


34 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  41. 


It  was  admitted  on  all  sides,  this  person  said,  that 
the  Queen  of  Scots'  succession  had  been  'barred'  by 
the  will  of  Henry  the  Eighth ;  but  some  people  pre- 
tended that  the  will  had  not  been  signed  with  his  hand, 
some  that  he  had  never  made  a  will  at  all ;  there  was 
no  mention  of  it  on  the  Patent  Rolls ; 1  and  if  the 
original  had  existed  why  was  it  not  produced  ?  This 
last  question  could  not  be  answered  ; 2  but  there  was 
proof  enough  of  the  reality  of  the  will ;  there  were 
abundant  entries  of  this  and  that  detail  of  it  which  had 
been  acted  upon  ;  and  of  the  executors  there  were  still 
many  who  survived.  The  dispute  however  was  not 
narrowed  to  that  single  issue.  The  Queen  of  Scots  was 
an  alien,  and  no  person  could  inherit  in  England  who 
was  not  born  of  English  parents  on  English  soil. 
Lady  Lennox  was  an  alien  also ;  for  though  she  was 
born  at  York  it  was  but  in  a  passing  visit  ;  her  father 
Angus  was  a  Scot,  and  when  he  married  her  mother  he 
had  another  wife  living.  The  only  legal  heir  was  the 
heir  appointed  by  Henry  the  Eighth — Lady  Catherine 
Grey,  the  injured  and  imprisoned  wife  of  Hertford.3 


1  This  is  true.  Neither  is  there 
any  record  of  the  will  on  the  Roll, 
nor  any  sign  of  erasure  where  the 
entry  ought  to  have  been. 

-  This  mysterious  concealment 
can  only  be  explained  as  the  deliber- 
ate act  of  Elizabeth,  who  was  deter- 
mined to  maintain  Mary  Stuart's 
rights,  and  who  felt  that  it  would 
be  impossible  if  the  will  was  pro- 
duced. 

3  Oration  spoken  in  Parliament. 


— Domestic  MSS.,  Elizabeth,  vol. 
xxvii.  Lady  Catherine  Grey's  po- 
pularity had  been  increased  by  an 
accident  which  had  redoubled  Eli- 
zabeth's displeasure.  Sir  Edmund 
Warner,  taking  pity  on  his  young 
prisoner,  had  allowed  her  husband 
to  have  access  to  her  room  ;  the  re- 
sult was  a  second  infant ;  and  fe- 
cundity was  a  virtue  especially 
valued  in  an  English  princess. 
1  Este  negocio  de  Catalina,'  wrote  De 


IS63-] 


THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE. 


35 


The  result  of  the  first  discussion  was  the  resolution  to 
prepare  an  address  to  the  Crown.  But  de  Quadra  was 
able  to  learn  that  the  question  would  not  be  settled  ;  the 
Queen  was  determined  to  keep  her  promise  to  Mary 
Stuart ;  and  Cecil,  on  the  I4th,  wrote  to  Sir  Thomas 
Smith  that  however  Parliament  might  press  her  'the 
unwillingness  of  her  Majesty  to  have  a  successor  known r 
would  prevent  a  conclusion.1  The  strength  of  Eliza- 
beth's resolution  would  soon  be  tried.  Meanwhile,  on 
the  2oth,  Cecil  explained  to  the  Commons  the  cause  of 
the  interference  in  France.2  On  the  25th  he  was  heard 
at  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  same  subject ; 
and  his  speech  was  chiefly  directed  against  Philip,  whom 
he  accused  of  having  entangled  England  in  war  while 
its  titular  king,  and  then  of  having  betrayed  it  at  Cam- 
bray  ;  of  having  taken  part  with  the  Queen's  enemies 
in  every  difliculty  in  which  she  had  been  involved ;  and 
of  having  lent  his  strength  to  make  the  Duke  of  Guise 
sovereign  of  France  and  Mary  Stuart  Queen  of  England 
— 'Queen  of  England/  'as  she  was  already  styled  by  her 
household  at  Holyrood.'3 

A  penal  Bill  against  the  Catholics  was  next  laid  be- 
fore the  Upper  House.  It  was  described  as  '  a  law 
against  those  who  would  not  receive  the  new  religion/ 
bloody  in  its  provisions  as  the  preachers  desired,  and 


Quadra  on  the  27th  of  January,  '  va 
cobrando  fuercjas  entre  estos  de  la 
nueva  religion,  y  el  parir  la  hace 
bieu  quista  del  pueblo.' — De  Quadra 
to  Philip.  MS.  Simancas. 

1  Cecil  to  Sir  T.  Smith,  January 


14:  WRIGHT'S  Elizabeth  and  her 
Times,  vol.  i. 

8  DEWES'  Journals. 

3  De  Quadra  to  Philip,  January 
27  :  ^/'S'.  Simancas. 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  41. 


contrived  rather  as  a  test  of  opinion  than  of  loyalty. 

At  once  and  without  reserve  or  fear  the  Catholic 
Lords  spoke  out :  Northumberland  said  the  heretics 
might  be  satisfied  with  holding  other  men's  bishoprics 
and  benefices  without  seeking  their  lives  ;  when  they 
had  killed  the  clergy  they  would  kill  the  temporal 
lords  next :  the  Earl  swore  that  he  would  speak  as  his 
conscience  bade  him ;  he  would  protest  against  the 
law ;  and  he  believed  that  most  of  the  Lords  who  heard 
him  were  of  the  same  opinion  with  himself.1 

Montague  followed  on  the  same  side  and  at  greater 
length : — 

*  A  law  was  proposed,'  he  said,  'to  compel  Papists, 
under  pain  of  death,  to  confess  the  Protestant  doctrine  to 
be  true.  Such  a  law  was  neither  necessary  nor  was  it 
just.  The  Catholics  were  living  peaceably,  neither 
disputing  nor  preaching  nor  troubling  the  common- 
wealth in  any  way.  The  doctrine  of  the  Protestants,  if 
they  had  a  doctrine,  had  been  established  against  the 
consent  of  the  ecclesiastical  estate  ;  and  it  was  absurd, 
so  long  as  the  world  was  full  of  disputes  and  the  opinions 
of  those  best  able  to  judge  were  divided,  for  one  set  of 
men  to  compel  another  to  accept  their  views  as  true  or 
to  pretend  that  there  was  no  longer  room  for  doubt. 


1  De  Quadra  to  Philip:  MS. 
Simancas.  The  Supremacy  Bill, 
which  ultimately  passed,  was  brought 
into  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  25th 
<7f  February.  De  Quadra's  letter, 
describing  Northumberland's  speech, 
was  written  on  the  2yth  of  January,  ; 


and  must  therefore  refer  to  some 
other  Bill — unnoticed  in  the  meagre 
journals — which  was  thrown  out. 
The  ambassador  distinctly  says  that 
there  was  a  vote — '  vinieudo  a  votard 
los  Senores.' 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE.  37 

The  Protestants  might  be  content  with  what  they  had 
got  without  forcing  other  men  to  profess  what  they  did 
not  believe  and  to  make  God  a  witness  of  the  lie.  To 
take  an  oath  against  their  consciences  or  else  to  be  put 
to  death  was  no  alternative  to  be  offered  to  reasonable 
men  ;  and  if  it  came  to  that  extremity  the  Catholics 
would  defend  themselves.  A  majority  might  be  found 
to  vote  for  the  law  if  the  bishops  were  included ;  but  the 
bishops  were  a  party  to  the  quarrel  and  had  no  right  to, 
be  judges  in  it.  The  bishops  had  no  business  with  pains 
and  penalties ;  they  should  keep  to  their  pulpits  and 
their  excommunications  and  leave  questions  of  public 
policy  to  the  lay  Lords.'1 

Had  Montague  been  despotic  in  England  the  Protest- 
ants would  have  had  as  short  a  shrift  as  the  Huguenots 
were  finding  in  France  ;  but  even  a  Catholic  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  when  in  opposition,  could  be  more  tem- 
perate than  a  Protestant  in  power.  The  Bill  was  lost 
or  withdrawn  to  reappear  in  a  new  form  :  and  the  Peers 
who  had  checked  the  zeal  of  Bonner  and  Gardiner  had 
the  credit  of  staying  in  time  the  less  pardonable  revenge 
of  their  antagonists. 

On  the  French  question  there  were  anak  ^ous  differ- 
ences of  opinion.  When  the  temper  of  Parliament  had 
been  felt  it  was  found  that,  notwithstanding  the  Puritan 
constitution  of  the  Lower  House,  the  feeling  was  in 
favour  only  of  the  recovery  of  Calais.  The  Lords  and 
Commons  ' -resolved  to  yield  their  whole  power  in  goods 


1  Annals  of  the  Reformation  :  STKYPE,  vol.  i. 


38  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  41. 

and  bodies  to  recover  Calais,  to  maintain  Newhaven  and 
any  war  which  might  arise  thereof ; '  but  they  were  not 
so  ready  to  contribute  to  the  charge  '  of  supporting  the 
army  of  the  Protestants/ x  The  disposition  of  the  people 
was  the  same  as  the  disposition  of  the  Queen  ;  and  Eliza- 
beth, warned  on  many  sides  that  she  could  not  trust 
Conde,  and  only  half  trusting  Coligny,  wrote  to  Sir 
Thomas  Smith  that  in  a  doubtful  quarrel  she  could  not 
press  her  subjects  too  far.  He  need  not  hint  to  the 
Admiral  that  there  was  '  any  slackness '  on  her  part ;  but 
'  she  would  be  glad  if  some  indirect  means  could  be 
devised'  to  compose  the  religious  difficulties — though 
'  toleration  was  not  stablished  so  universally  as  the  Ad- 
miral desired' — provided  England  could  have  '  its  right 
in  Calais  and  the  members  thereof/  and  the  money 
which  she  had  lent  Conde  partially,  if  not  wholly,  re- 
paid.2 

Both  Queen  and  country  were  falling  back  on  the 
'  hollow  dealing'  which  she  had  regretted  so  bitterly  on 
the  fall  of  Houen  ;  and  then  as  ever  it  wTas  found  dan- 
gerous to  follow  private  objects  behind  an  affected  zeal 
for  a  noble  cause.  Six  thousand  Englishmen  paid  with 
their  lives  for  this  trifling  with  Coligny,  while  the 
coveted  Calais  was  forfeited  for  ever  ;  the  Huguenots 
obtained  the  half- toleration  which  Elizabeth  desired  for 
them ;  and  they  found  the  value  of  it  on  the  day  of  St 
Bartholomew. 

But  to  return  to  the  succession. 


1  Elizabeth  to  Sir  T.  Smith,  January  25  :  FORBES,  vol.  ii. 
2  Ibid. 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HAVRE.  39 

111  the  interval  of  these  discussions  the  address  of  the 
Commons  was  drawn  ;  and  on  the  28th  the  Speaker  with 
the  whole  House  attended  to  present  it  in  the  gallery  of 
the  palace.  Commencing  with  an  elaborate  compliment 
011  the  Queen's  services  to  the  country,  Sir  Thomas 
Williams  proceeded  to  say  that  the  nation  required  for 
their  perfect  security  some  assurance  for  the  future. 
Her  Majesty  had  been  dangerously  ill,  and  the  Com^ 
rnons  had  supposed  that  in  calling  them  together  so 
soon  after  her  recovery  she  had  intended  to  use  their 
assistance  to  come  to  some  conclusion.  He  reminded  her 
of  Alexander's  generals  ;  he  reminded  her — more  to  the 
purpose — of  York  and  Lancaster;  and  the  realm,  he  said, 
was  beset  with  enemies  within  and  without.  There  was 
'a  faction  of  heretics  in  her  realm — contentious  and 
malicious  Papists — who,  most  unnaturally  against  their 
country,  most  madly  against  their  own  safety,  and  most 
treacherously  against  her  Highness,  not  only  hoped  for 
the  woful  day  of  her  death,  but  also  lay  in  wait  to  ad- 
vance some  title  under  which  they  might  revive  their 
late  unspeakable  cruelties.  The  Commons  saw  nothing 
to  withstand  their  desires  but  her  only  life ;  they  feared 
much  to  what  attempt  the  hope  of  such  opportunity — 
nothing  withstanding  them  but  her  life — might  move 
the  Catholics ;  and  they  found  how  necessary  it  was 
that  there  should  be  more  set  and  known  between  her 
Majesty's  life  and  the  unkindness  and  cruelty  they  in- 
tended to  revive.'  Ignorant  as  they  were  to  whom  the 
crown  ought  to  descend,  and  being  unable  to  judge  of  the 
limitation  of  the  succession  in  King  Henry's  will,  their 


40  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [m.  41 

first  desire  was  that  her  Majesty  would  marry,  their 
second  that  she  wouid  use  the  opportunity  of  the  session 
to  allow  some  successor  in  default  of  heirs  of  her  body 
'  to  be  determined  by  Act  of  Parliament ; '  while  they, 
on  their  part,  '  for  the  preservation  and  surety  of  her 
Majesty  and  her  issue/  would  devise  '  the  most  penal, 
sharp,  and  terrible  statutes  to  all  who  should  practise 
against  her  safety.' 

By  the  nomination  of  a  Protestant  suc- 
cessor Elizabeth  had  everything  to  gain ; 
while,  if  Mary  Stuart  was  acknowledged,  her  life  would 
not  be  safe  for  a  day.  Her  policy  in  every  way  was  to 
acquiesce  in  the  prayer  of  the  Commons ;  and  yet  she 
listened  with  ill- concealed  impatience.  She  said  briefly 
that  on  a  matter  of  such  moment  she  could  give  no 
answer  without  further  consideration,  and  she  then 
abruptly  turned  her  back  on  the  deputation  and  with- 
drew.1 

If  de  Quadra  was  rightly  informed  she  had  been 
half  prevailed  on  to  name  the  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  with 
the  condition  that  she  herself  should  have  Lord  Robert. 
But  Dudley  had  made  no  advances  in  the  favour  of  the 
Peers,  and  Huntingdon  was  a  Puritan  and  Dudley's 
brother-in-law ;  Lord  Arundel,  with  the  Howards,  still 
inclined  to  Lady  Catherine  Grey,  of  whom  the  Queen 
could  not  endure  to  hear ;  and  thus  all  parties  were  at 
issue. 

The  Upper  House  followed  the  Lower  with  an  ad- 

1   'Con  tun  to  Ifs  volviu  las  espaldas  y  se  entro  en  su  aposento.' — DC 
Quadra  to  Philip,  February  6  :  MS.  Simancas. 


1563.] 


THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE. 


dress  to  the  same  purpose.  Elizabeth  said  bitterly  that 
'  the  lines  which  they  saw  in  her  face  were  not  wrinkles 
but  small-pox  marks  ;  God  had  given  children  to  St 
Elizabeth,  and  old  as  she  was  he  might  give  children  to 
her  ;  if  she  appointed  a  successor  it  would  deluge  Eng- 
land in  blood/ l 

Both  Houses  were  profoundly  angry.  The  Protest- 
ants supposed  that  the  Queen  was  sacrificing  the  Re- 
formation and  the  country  to  her  secret  passion  for 
Lord  Robert ;  and  that  she  was  studiously  allowing  the 
Scottish  Queen's  pretensions  to  drift  into  tacit  recogni- 
tion. Day  after  day  throughout  the  session  the  subject 
continued  to  be  harped  upon.  A  Bill  was  proposed  by 
Cecil  by  which,  if  the  Queen  died,  the  privy  council 
were  to  continue  in  office  with  imperial  authority  till 
Parliament  could  decide  on  the  future  sovereign.  But 
this  too  came  to  nothing, 2  and  the  Queen  continued  to 
give  evasive  answers  till  the  prorogation  of  Parliament 
should  leave  her  free  again. 

And  yet  the  Protestant  party  were  determined  to 
carry  something  which  should  answer  their  purpose  ; 
and  at  once — though  the  first  penal  law  had  been  lost — 
enable  them  to  hold  down  the  Catholics,  and  in  case  of 
Elizabeth's  death,  to  prevent  Mary  Stuart's  succession.3 
To  check  the  exultation  of  Montague  and  his  friends  at 
their  first  success  in  Parliament,  Cecil  contrived  another 


1  De  Quadra  to  Philip,  February 
6 :  MS.  Simancas. 

2  Draft  of  an  Act  of  Parliament, 
in  Cecil's  hand  :  Domestic  MSS.  vol 


3  '  Esta  Icy  contra  los  Catolicos  no 
se  ha  hecho  con  otra  fin  mas  prin- 
cipal que  de  excluir  la  de  Escocia 
desta  sucession  por  via  indirecta.' — 
De  Quadra  to  Philip,  February  20. 


.f3  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

demonstration  against  de  Quadra.  On  the  day  of  the 
Purification  the  foreign  Catholics  in  London  came  as 
usual  in  large  numbers  to  hear  mass  at  Durham  Place. 
The  guard  at  the  gate  took  their  names  as  they  passed 
in  ;  and  before  the  service  was  over  an  officer  of  the 
palace  guard  entered  from  the  river,  arrested  every 
Spaniard,  Fleming,  and  Italian  present,  and  carried 
them  off  to  the  Fleet.  They  were  informed  on  their  re* 
lease  that  thenceforward  no  stranger,  not  even  a  casual 
visitor  to  the  realm,  should  attend  a  service  unsanctioned 
by  the  laws.1 

On  the  scth  of  February  a  Bill  was  introduced,  by 
which,  without  mention  of  doctrine,  Protestant  or  Ca- 
tholic, all  persons  who  maintained  the  Pope's  authority 
or  refused  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Queen,  for  the 
first  offence  should  incur  a  premuiiire,  for  the  second  the 
pains  of  treason.  Should  the  Bill  pass  it  was  believed 
to  be  the  death-warrant  of  the  imprisoned  bishops  ;  and 
even  in  the  Lower  House  voices  were  raised  in  opposition. 
Cecil  in  a  passionate  speech  declared  that  the  House  was 
bound  in  gratitude  not  to  reject  what  was  necessary  for 
the  Queen's  security.  Her  life  was  in  danger  because 
she  was  the  defender  of  English  liberty  ;  the  King  of 
Spain  desired  her  to  send  representatives  to  Trent ;  she 
had  refused,  and  he  was  threatening  her  with  war ;  and 
the  Pope  was  offering  millions  of  gold  to  pay  the  cost 
of  an  invasion  of  England.  The  Queen  herself  would 
die  before  she  would  yield,  but  her  subjects  must  stand 


De  Quadra  to  Philip,  February  6  and  February  20. 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HAVRE.  43 

by  her  with  laws  and  lives  and  goods.  There  was  no 
aelp  elsewhere.  The  Germans  used  fine  words,  but  they 
failed  at  the  pinch.  The  Emperor  had  been  gained 
over  by  the  Pope.  Their  reliance  must  be  on  themselves 
and  their  own  arms,  and  nowhere  else. 

After  Cecil,  rose  Sir  Francis  Knowles,  who  said  that 
there  had  been  enough  of  words :  it  was  time  to  draw 
the  sword.  The  Commons  were  generally  Puritan. 
The  opposition  of  the  Lords  had  been  neutralized  by  a 
special  provision  in  their  favour,  and  the  Bill  was  car- 
ried. The  obligation  to  take  the  oath  was  extended  to 
the  holder  of  every  office,  lay  or  spiritual,  in  the  realm. 
The  clergy  were  required  to  swear  whenever  their  or- 
dinary might  be  pleased  to  tender  them  the  oath ;  the 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons  were  required  to 
swear  when  they  took  their  seats ;  members  of  the 
Upper  House  were  alone  exempt,  the  Act  declaring,  with 
perhaps  designed  irony,  that  the  Queen  was  otherwise 
assured  of  the  loyalty  of  the  Peers.1  Without  this 
proviso  de  Quadra  was  assured  that  they  would  have 
refused  to  consent ;  and  even  with  it  he  clung  to  the  hope 
that  the  Catholic  noblemen  would  be  true  to  themselves. 
But  he  was  too  sanguine,  and  Cecil  carried  his  point. 

Heath,  Bonner,  Thirlby,  Feckenham,  and  the  other 
prisoners  at  once  prepared  to  die.     The  Protestant  ec- 
clesiastics would  as  little  spare  them  as  they  had  spared 
the  Protestants.     They  would  have  shown  no  mere} 
themselves,  and  they  looked  for  none. 


5  Elizabeth^  cap.  I. 


44 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  41. 


Nor  is  there  any  doubt  what  their  fate  would  have 
been  had  it  rested  with  the  English  bishops.  Imme- 
diately after  the  Bill  had  received  the  royal  assent,  the 
hated  Bonner  was  sent  for  to  be  the  first  victim.  Home, 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  offered  him  the  oath,  which  it  was 
thought  certain  that  he  would  refuse,  and  he  would  then 
be  at  the  mercy  of  his  enemies.  Had  it  been  so  the 
English  Church  would  have  disgraced  itself ;  but  Bon- 
ner's  fate  would  have  called  for  little  pity.  The  law 
however  stepped  in  between  the  prelates  and  their  prey 
— as  Portia  between  Shylock  and  Antonio — and  saved 
them  both.  By  the  Act  archbishops  and  bishops  might 
alone  tender  the  oath ;  and  Bonner  evaded  the  dilemma 
by  challenging  his  questioner's  title  to  the  name.  When 
Home  was  appointed  to  the  See  of  Winchester  his  pre- 
decessor was  alive ;  the  English  bishops  generally  had 
been  so  irregularly  consecrated  that  their  authority, 
until  confirmed  by  Act  of  Parliament,  was  of  doubtful 
legality  ;  and  the  judges  of  the  Court  of  Queen's  Bench 
caught  at  the  plea  to  prevent  a  needless  cruelty.  Bon- 
ner was  again  returned  to  the  Marshalsea,  and  Home 
gained  nothing  by  his  eagerness  but  a  stigma  upon  him- 
self and  his  brethren.1 

The  remaining  business  of  the  session  passed  over 
without  difficulty :  the  grant  of  money  was  profusely 
liberal ; 2  an  Act  was  passed  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
navy,  which  will  be  mentioned  more  particularly  in  a 


1  Annals    of  the  Reformation  : 
STRYPE,  vol.  i.  part  2,  pp.  2  to  8. 

2  '  Two  fifteenths  and  tenths  on 


personal  property,  and  an  income 
tax  of  ten  per  cent,  for  two  years. 


'563-1 


THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE. 


45 


future  chapter ;  a  tillage  Act  revived  the  statutes  of 
Henry  the  Seventh  and  Henry  the  Eighth  for  the  re- 
building of  farm-houses  and  breaking  up  the  large  pas- 
tures.1 The  restoration  of  the  currency  made  a  wages 
Act  again  possible,  but  the  altered  prices  of  meat  and 
corn  required  a  revision  of  the  scale.  The  magistrates 
in  the  different  counties  were  empowered  to  fix  the  rate 
according  to  the  local  prices,  their  awards  being  liable 
to  revision  by  the  Court  of  Chancery,  to  which  returns 
were  to  be  periodically  made.2  Other  remarkable  pro- 
visions were  added  to  restore  the  shaken  texture  of  Eng- 
lish life.  During  the  late  confused  time  the  labourer 
had  wandered  from  place  to  place  doing  a  day's  work 
where  he  pleased.  Masters' were  now  required  to  hire 
their  servants  by  the  year,  neither  master  to  part  with 
servant  nor  servant  with  master  till  the  contract  was 
expired,  unless  the  separation  was  sanctioned  by  two 


These  acts  all  indicated  a  recovered  or  recovering 
tone.  The  solid  English  life,  after  twenty  years  of  con- 
vulsion, was  regaining  consistency. 


1  5  Elizabeth,  cap.  2. 

2  5  Elizabeth,    cap.   4.     "Wages 
varied  with  the  time  of  year,  and  the 
rates  were  read  out  every  month  in 
the  parish  churches.     The  average 
in  1563  maybe  gathered  with  toler- 
able accuracy  from  the  scale  which 
Was  ruled  for  the  county  of  Bucks 
before  the  passing  of  the  Act.     The 
price  of  food  after  the  restoration  of 
the  currency  was  found  to  have  risen 
a  third.    The  penny,  which  in  terms 


of  bread,  meat,  and  beer,  had  been 
worth  under  Henry  the  Eighth 
twelve  pence  of  our  money,  was  now 
worth  eight  pence.  The  table  of 
wages  in  Bucks  in  1561  was  for  the 
common  labourer  sixpence  a  day 
from  Easter  to  All  Hallowc ;  five 
pence  a  day  from  All  Hallows  to 
Easter ;  and  eight  pence  a  day  in 
the  hay  and  corn  harvest.— Tyldsley's 
Report :  Domestic  MSS..  vol.  xix. 


46  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

The  well-being  of  the  people  however  turned  on  the 
success  of  Elizabeth's  policy,  and  hung  on  the  thread  of 
her  single  life ;  while  neither  Lords  nor  Commons  had 
as  yet  received  an  answer  to  their  addresses.  On  the 
i6th  of  February  she  sent  a  message  by  Cecil  that  she 
had  not  forgotten  them,  and  entreating  their  patience  : 
but  ten  days  passed  and  nothing  was  done ;  and  by  that 
time  Maitland  had  arrived  from  Scotland  with  an  offer 
from  his  mistress — of  course  as  a  condition  of  recogni- 
tion— to  make  herself  '  a  moyenneur  of  a  peace '  with 
France,  which  would  give  back  Calais  to  England. 
There  was  a  hope  that  by  such  an  offer  even  the  unwill- 
ingness of  Parliament  might  be  overcome ;  and  Mait- 
land was  prudently  feeling  his  way  when  one  of  those 
strange  adventures  occurred  which  so  often  crossed  the 
path  of  the  Queen  of  Scots,  and  gave  her  history  the  in- 
terest— not  perhaps  of  tragedy,  for  she  was  selfish  in 
her  politics  and  sensual  in  her  passions — but  of  sonic 
high-wrought  melodrama. 

In  the  galley  in  which  she  returned  to  Scotland  there 
was  present  a  young  poet  and  musician  named  Chatelar. 
Gifted,  well-born,  and  passionate,  the  handsome  youth 
had  for  some  months  sighed  at  her  feet  in  Holyrood. 
He  went  back  to  France,  but  he  could  not  remain  there. 
The  moth  was  recalled  to  the  flame  whose  warmth  was 
life  and  death  to  it.  He  was  received  on  his  return 
with  the  warmest  welcome.  Mary  Stuart  admitted  him 
to  her  labours  in  the  Cabinft,  and  he  shared  her  plea- 
sures in  the  festival  or  the  dance.  '  So  familiar  was  he 
with  the  Queen  early  and  late  that  scarcely  could  any 


15630 


THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA VRE. 


47 


of  the  nobility  have  access  to  her/  *  She  leant  upon  his 
shoulder  in  public,  she  bewitched  him  in  private  with 
her  fascinating  confidence ; 2  and  interpreting  her  be- 
haviour and  perhaps  her  words  too  favourably,  he  one 
night  concealed  himself  in  her  bedroom.  He  was  dis- 
covered by  the  ladies  of  the  bedchamber  before  the 
Queen  retired ;  and  the  next  morning  she  commanded 
him  with  a  sharp  reprimand  to  leave  the  Court.  But 
Mary  Stuart  pardoned  easily  the  faults  of  those  whom 
she  liked.  Chatelar  was  forgiven,  and  again  miscon- 
struing her  kindness,  four  nights  later  the  poor  youth 
repeated  his  rash  adventure.  He  came  out  upon  the 
Queen  while  she  was  undressing,  and  '  set  upon  her  with 
such  force  and  in  such  impudent  sort  that  she  was  fain 
to  cry  out  for  help/ 

Hearing  her  shrieks  Murray  rushed  into  the  room: 
Chatelar  was  of  course  seized  and  carried  off  and  tor- 
tured. Confessing  the  worst  intentions  with  wild  bra- 
vado, he  was  executed  a  week  after  in  the  Market  Place 
at  St  Andrew's,  chanting  a  love-song  as  he  died ;  and 
the  Queen  after  some  natural  distress  recovered  her 
spirits. 


1  KNOX. 

2  Randolph,  Avho  was  describing 
what  he  had  himself  seen,  said  in  a 
-etter  to  Cecil,  'Your  Honour  heareth 
the  beginning  of  a  lamentable  story, 
whereof  such  infamy  will  arise  as  I 
fear,  howsoever  well  the  wound  be 
healed,  the  scar  will  for  ever  remain. 
Thus    your    Honour    seeth     what 
mischief  cometh  of  the  over-great 
familiarity  that  any  such  personage 


showeth  unto  so  unworthy  a  creature 
and  abject  a  varlet,  as  her  Grace 
used  with  him.  Whatsoever  colour 
can  be  laid  upon  it,  that  it  was  done 
for  his  master's  sake  (Chatelar  had 
been  in  the  train  of  M.  d'Amville), 
I  cannot  but  say  it  had  been  too 
much  to  have  been  used  to  his 
master's  self  by  any  princess  alive 
—Scotch  MSS,  Rolls  House. 


48 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  41 


She  had  probably  nothing  worse  to  accuse  herself  of 
than  thoughtlessness ;  and  the  truth  might  have  been 
told  without  danger  of  compromising  her.  It  is  strange 
that  Maitland,  in  a  fear  that  it  might  affect  the  success 
of  his  mission,  thought  it  worth  his  while  to  cover  the 
story  with  an  incredible  lie.  Maitland  had  two  objects 
in  London — one,  to  secure  the  succession  for  his  mistress 
by  assuring  Elizabeth  that  she  had  nothing  to  fear  from 
so  true  a  friend  ;  the  other,  to  consult  the  Spanish  am- 
bassador on  the  marriage  with  the  Prince  of  Spain,  which 
of  all  things  on  earth  Elizabeth  most  dreaded  for  her. 
It  was  this  last  object  chiefly  which  he  thought  the 
Chatelar  affair  might  hinder  ;  he  therefore  told  de  Qua- 
dra that  Chatelar  before  his  death  had  declared  that  he 
had  been  employed  by  the  Huguenots  to  compromise 
Mary  Stuart's  reputation ;  he  had  concealed  himself  in 
her  room,  intending  to  be  seen  in  leaving  it,  and  then 
to  escape.1 

Two  days  after  Chatelar  was  executed  Mary  Stuart 
lost  a  far  nobler  friend.  A  pistol-ball  fired  from  behind 
a  hedge  closed  the  career  of  the  Duke  of  Guise  under 
the  walls  of  Orleans.  The  assassin  Poltrot  was  a  boy 
of  nineteen.  Suspicion  pointed  to  the  Admiral  and 
Theodore  Beza  as  the  instigators  of  the  crime  ;  and 


1  'Las  personas,'  de  Quadra 
adds,  'que  le  enviaron  a  esta  tan 
gran  traycion,  dice  Ledington  que 
ban  sido  mas  de  una  ;  pero  la  que 
principalmente  le  dio  la  instruccion 
y  elrecaudo  fue  Madame  de  Curosot.' 
— De  Quadra  to  Philip,  March  28. 


Madame  de  Curosot  was  probahly 
Charlotte  de  Laval,  the  wife  of  the 
Admiral.  This  preposterous  story 
passed  current  with  the  Spaniards, 
and  reappears  in  a  despatch  of  de 
Chantonnay  to  Philip. — TEULET, 
vol.  v.  pp.  2,  3. 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE.  49 

Chatilloii  never  wholly  convinced  the  world  of  his  inno- 
cence, for  Poltrot  himself  accused  him  while  the  horses 
were  tearing  him  in  pieces.  However  it  was,  that  single  I 
shot  shattered  the  Catholic  confederacy  and  changed  the 
politics  of  Europe.  The  Guise  family  fell  with  theii 
head  into  sudden  ruin.  The  Due  d'Aumale,  badly 
wounded  at  Dreux,  lived  but  to  hear  of  his  brother's 
murder,  and  followed  him  in  a  few  hours.  The 
Grand  Prior  died  of  a  cold  caught  in  the  same 
battle.1  Of  the  six  brothers,  who  but  a  few  months  before 
held  in  their  hands  the  fortunes  of  France,  three  were 
dead ;  of  the  three  remaining  the  Marquis  d'Elbreuf  was 
shut  up  in  Caen  Castle,  closely  besieged  by  Chatillon  ; 
the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  was  absent  at  Trent ;  and  the 
Cardinal  of  Guise  was  the  single  member  of  the  family 
who  had  no  capacity.  The  other  great  leaders  of  France 
had  disappeared  with  equal  suddenness  :  Montmorency 
was  a  prisoner  in  Orleans,  Conde  a  prisoner  in  Paris ; 
St  Andre  was  dead,  Navarre  was  dead;  Catherine  found 
herself  relieved  of  rivalry  and  able  to  govern  as  she 
pleased.  The  Queenof_Scots  had  no  longera  friend 
in  France  who  cared  to  stand  by  her ;  and  well  indeed 
after  this  blow  might  she  lament  to  Randolph  the  misery 
of  life,  and  say  with  tears  '  she  perceived  now  the  world 
was  not  that  which  men  would  make  it,  nor  they  the 
happiest  that  lived  the  longest  in  it.' 2 

Mary  Stuart's  prospects  in  England  had  been  on  the 
eve  of  arrangement,  when  Elizabeth,  relieved  of  the 

1  VABILLAS. 
2  Randolph  to  Cecil,  April  i  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 

VOL.   VII.  4 


50  REIGA?  OF  E  LIZ  ABE  777.  [en .  4 1 . 

dread  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  believed  herself  again  at 
leisure  to  trifle,  or  to  insist  on  new  conditions  before  she 
need  consent  to  the  recognition. 

The  following  letters  and  abstracts  of  letters  for  a 
moment  lift  the  veil  of  diplomacy,  and  reveal  the  in- 
ward ambitions,  aims,  and  workings  of  the  different 
parties : — 

SUMMARY     OF    A     LETTER    FROM    THE    BISHOP    OF    AQUILA 
TO    THE    KING    OF    SPAIN.1 

March  18. 

The  Bishop  of  Aquila  understanding  that  Maitland 
the  Secretary  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  desired  to  speak 
with  him,  invited  the  said  Secretary  to  dinner.  The 
conversation  turned  chiefly  on  two  points — the  succes- 
sion of  his  mistress  to  the  English  crown  and  her  mai 
riage. 

On  the  first  Maitland  said  that  with  the  Queen  of 
England's  permission  lie  had  discussed  with  Cecil  the 
terms  on  which  the  Queen  of  Scots  would  relinquish  her 
present  claim  on  the  English  crown,  provided  the  succes- 
sion was  secured  to  her  in  the  event  of  the  Queen  of 
England's  death  without  children. 

The  conditions  he  said  had  been  arranged  ;  and  the 
two  Queens  were  to  have  met  to  conclude  the  agree- 
ment ;  when  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Guise  changed 
all,  and  he  could  no  longer  hope  that  his  mistress's  right 
would  ever  be  admitted. 


1  The  original  letter  of  de  Quadra  is  not  preserved.     The  translation 
is  from  a  contemporary  abstract. 


1 563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA VRE.  5 1 

The  Bishop,  seeing  that  Maitland  was  perplexed,  and 
wishing  to  learn  whether  he  had  anything  more  on  his 
mind,  said  that  if  his  mistress  would  marry  where  the 
Queen  of  England  wished  she  might  then  no  doubt  have 
all  that  she  desired. 

Maitland  replied  that  to  this  there  were  two  objec- 
tions :  in  the  first  place  the  Queen  of  Scots  would  never 
marry  a  Protestant ;  in  the  second  place  she  would 
marry  neither  Catholic  nor  Protestant  at  the  will  of  or 
in  connection  with  the  Queen  of  England,  not  though 
the  succession  could  be  absolutely  made  sure  to  her. 
The  husband  whom  Elizabeth  would  give  her  would  be 
but  some  English  vassal ;  and  if  she  married  below  her 
rank  her  difficulties  would  remain  as  great  as  ever.  To  be 
nominated  as  successor  would  be  of  no  use  to  her  unless 
she  had  power  to  enforce  her  rights ; *  while  she  would 
forfeit  the  good  will  of  the  Catholics  by  seeming  to  give 
way.  The  Earl  of  Arran  she  abhorred ;  the  Duke  of 
Ferrara,  whom  the  Queen-mother  of  France  proposed  to 
her,  she  despised.  She  would  sooner  die  than  marry  any 
one  lower  in  rank  than  the  husband  whom  she  had 
lost 

The  Bishop  asked  what  she  would  think  of  the 
Archduke  Charles  of^  Austria. 

Tlaitland  replied  that  the  Archduke  would  satisfy 
neither  his  mistress  nor  her  subjects.  He  was  a  mere 
dependent  on  the  King  of  Spain,  and  could  not  be 
thought  of  unless  the  King  of  Spain — as  was  not  likely 

1  '  Porque  sin  fuer^as  proprias  nunca  podria  executar  la  declaration  que 
se  hiciese.' 


52  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

—would  interfere  in  England  on  a  large  scale,  emphati- 
cally and  effectually. 

The  Secretary  then  spoke  at  length  of  the  fears  of  the 
Queen  of  England  lest  the  Prince  of  Spain  should  marry 
his  mistress.  The  Queen-mother  too,  he  said,  feared  it 
equally  and  with  good  reason,  for  if  the  King  of  Spain 
would  consent  he  might  add  England,  Ireland,  and 
Scotland  to  his  dominions.  Nothing  could  be  more  easy, 
so  great  was  the  anxiety  of  the  English  Catholics  for  that 
marriage  and  for  the  union  of  the  Crowns.  When  the 
Bishop  objected  that  the  Scots  might  oppose  it  on  the 
ground  of  religion,  the  Secretary  admitted  that  the 
nobility  of  Scotland  were  generally  Protestant ;  but  they 
were  devoted  to  the  Queen,  and  would  be  content  that 
she  should  marry  a  Catholic  if  it  was  for  the  interests  of 
the  realm.  Means  could  be  found  to  work  upon  them. 
The  Catholics  at  first  might  be  allowed  mass  in  their 
private  houses — by  and  by  they  would  have  churches. 
Lord  James  was  most  favourable  to  the  marriage,  and  if 
the  Bishop  wished  he  would  come  to  London  and  speak 
with  him. 

As  to  the  feeling  in  England,  the  Bishop  confirms 
Maitland's  account  from  his  own  knowledge.  One  noble- 
man offers,  if  it  can  be  brought  about,  to  serve  the  King 
of  Spain  with  a  thousand  horse ;  others  are  almost  as 
forward ;  and  the  state  of  the  realm  is  such  that  the 
union  of  the  island  under  a  single  powerful  and  Chris- 
tian prince  is  the  sole  means  by  which  religion  can  be 
reformed.  The  whole  body  of  the  English  Catholics 
desire  the  Bishop  to  represent  this  in  their  names  to  the 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA VRE.  ^ 

King  of  Spain  as  spoken  from  their  ver}'  heart  and  soul ; 
they  assure  him  that  it  is  their  universal  wish,  and  that 
no  obstacle  can  prevent  it  from  being  carried  into  effect 
if  his  Majesty  will  only  consent. 

DE    QUADRA    TO    PHILIP    II. 

London,  March  28. 

'  Maitland  tells  me  that  four  or  five  days  ago,  speak- 
ing of  the  affairs  of  France  and  of  the  Queen  of  Scots' 
marriage,  the  Queen  of  England  said  that  if  his  mistress 
would  be  guided  by  her  she  would  give  her  a  husband 
that  should  be  all  which  she  could  desire ;  the  Queen 
of  Scots  should  have  Lord  Robert,  on  whom  God 
had  bestowed  so  many  charms  that  were  she  herself 
to  marry  she  would  prefer  him  to  all  the  princes  in  the 
world. 

*  Maitland  by  his  own  account  replied  that  her  Ma- 
jesty was  giving  a  wonderful  proof  of  her  affection  for 
the  Queen  his  mistress  in  offering  to  bestow  upon  her  an 
object  so  dear  to  herself.  If  his  mistress  came  to  love 
Lord  Robert  as  much  as  her  Majesty  loved  him,  he 
feared  even  so  she  might  not  marry  him  for  fear  of  de- 
priving her  Majesty  of  what  she  so  much  valued. 

'  After  more  of  these  courtesies  the  Queen  said, 
'  Would  to  God  the  Earl  of  Warwick  was  as  charming 
as  his  brother — we  might  then  each  have  had  our  own/ 
Maitland  would  not  understand  the  hint ;  but  she  kept 
to  the  subject  and  went  on,  'Not.  that  my  Lord 
Warwick  is  ill-looking  or  ungraceful,  but  he  is  rough, 
and  lacks  the  sweet  delieacv  of  Robert ;  he  is  brave 


54  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

enough  and  noble  enough  to  deserve  the  hand  of  a 
princess.' 

'  Maitland  did  not  like  the  ground  on  which  he  found 
himself,  so  to  end  the  conversation  he  said  that  the 
Queen  his  mistress  was  still  young  ;  her  Majesty  had 
better  first  marry  Lord  Eobert  herself ;  if  she  had  child- 
ren it  would  be  all  which  the  realm  required  of  her ; 
should  no  such  event  happen,  and  should  God  call  her 
to  his  mercy,  his  mistress  might  inherit  both  crown  and 
husband ;  and  with  one  or  the  other  of  them  there  could 
be  no  doubt  of  a  family.  The  Queen  laughed,  and  the 
subject  dropped. 

'  There  has  been  a  proposal  in  the  Upper  House  to 
limit  the  succession  to  the  heads  of  four  or  five  English 
families,  leaving  the  Queen  to  choose  among  them.  The 
plan  was  Cecil's,  and  the  object  was  of  course  to  secure 
the  crown  to  some  one  of  his  own  party ;  while  the  pride 
of  the  great  houses  named  would  be  flattered  with  the 
distinction,  whether  her  choice  rested  on  them  or  not. 
The  Queen  herself  wishes  to  be  allowed  to  bequeath  the 
crown  by  will.  They  will  perhaps  pass  a  resolution  ex- 
cluding women  to  make  sure  of  keeping  out  the  Queen 
of  Scots.' 

SUMMARY    OF    A    LETTER    FROM    DE    QUADRA    TO    THE 

KING    OF    SPAIN. 

April  3. 

'  The  Queen  is  really  anxious  for  this  marriage  be- 
tween the  Queen  of  Scots  and  Lord  Robert ;  but  she  is 


Contemporary  abstract, 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE.  55 

not  likely  to  succeed.  Maitland  demands  the  recogni- 
tion, and  threatens  great  things  if  it  is  not  conceded. 
With  the  succession  secured  to  her,  he  tells  the  Queen 
that  she  will  be  content  to  remain  on  good  terms.  If 
she  is  left  in  uncertainty,  he  says  that  she  must  seek 
other  friends  abroad. 

'  Cecil  answers  that  if  means  can  be  found  to  provide 
for  his  mistress's  safety  during  her  lifetime,  and  to  pre- 
vent a  religious  revolution  from  following  afterwards, 
the  claims  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  shall  be  admitted  forth- 
with. Maitland  rejoins  that  this  is  nothing  but  words. 
He  has  now  gone  to  France.  At  parting  he  told  me  that 
if  his  mistress  could  not  have  our  Prince  she  would  do 
what  she  could  to  obtain  the  King  of  France.  The  Arch- 
duke Charles  she  will  not  hear  of.  Her  own  subjects 
and  the  English  Catholics  alike  object  to  the  Archduke, 
and  would  prefer  Lady  Margaret's  son  Lord  Darnley. 

'  Rawlet,  the  Secretary  of  the  Queen  of  Scots,  assures 
de  Quadra  that  the  Lord  James  and  the  whole  Scotch 
nobility,  Protestant  as  well  as  Catholic,  wish  for  the 
Prince  of  Spain.  Ten  or  twelve  English  peers  and 
knights  also  have  memorialized  the  Bishop  about  it,  and 
some  of  them  are  willing  to  swear  fealty  to  the  Prince 
and  the  Queen  of  Scots  together.' l 

Unaware  of  the  pit  which  threatened  to  open  under 
her  feet,  and  warming  herself  with  the  project  of  the 
Lord  Robert  marriage,  which  would  elevate  her  favourite 


56  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.41. 

and,  as  she  supposed,  would  be  a  shelter  to  herself,  Eliza- 
beth meanwhile  felt  herself  able  to  dismiss  the  Parlia- 
ment and  to  answer  the  addresses  of  the  Houses  before 
they  separated. 

On  Saturday  the  loth  of  April  she  went  down  to  the 
Lords  to  give  her  assent  to  the  Acts  of  the  session.  Sir 
Thomas  Williams  paid  her  the  usual  compliments,  com- 
paring her  to  the  great  queens  of  fable  or  history — to 
'  Palestina,'  who  reigned  before  the  deluge,  to  Ceres  who 
followed  her,  and  other  benefactresses  of  mankind  real  or 
imaginary ;  without  entering  again  upon  painful  sub- 
jects, he  contented  himself  with  expressing  a  wish  at  the 
close  of  his  speech  to  see  her  happily  married. 

A  formal  answer  of  a  corresponding  kind  was  read 
by  Bacon — and  then  Elizabeth  rose  and  in  her  own  style 
spoke  as  follows : 

'  Since  there  can  be  no  duer  debt  than  prince's  word, 
to  keep  that  unspotted,  for  my  part,  as  one  that  would 
be  loth  that  the  self  thing  that  keeps  the  merchant's 
credit  from  craze,  should  be  the  cause  that  prince's  speech 
should  merit  blame,  and  so  their  honour  quail :  an  an- 
swer therefore  I  will  make,  and  this  it  is  : 

'  The  two  petitions  that  you  presented  me,  in  many 
words  expressed,  contained  these  two  things  in  sum  as 
of  your  cares  the  greatest — my  marriage  and  my  success- 
or— of  which  two,  the  last  I  think  is  best  to  be  touched ; 
and  of  the  other  a  silent  thought  may  serve ;  for  I  had 
thought  it  had  been  so  desired  as  none  other  tree's 
blossoms  should  have  been  minded  ere  hope  of  my  fruit 
had  been  denied  you.  But  to  the  last,  think  not  that 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE.  5 7 

you  had  needed  this  desire,  if  I  had  seen  a  time  so  fit, 
and  it  so  ripe  to  be  denounced.  The  greatness  of  the 
cause  therefore  and  need  of  your  returns  doth  make  me 
say  that  which  I  think  the  wise  may  easily  guess — that 
as  a  short  time  for  so  long  a  continuance  ought  not  to 
pass  by  rote,  as  many  telleth  tales,  even  so  as  cause  by 
conference  with  the  learned  shall  show  me  matter  worthy 
utterance  for  your  behoof,  so  shall  I  more  gladly  pursue 
your  good  after  my  days,  than  with  my  prayers  be  a 
means  to  linger  my  living  thread. 

'  And  this  much  more  will  I  add  for  your  comfort.  I 
have  good  record  in  this  place  that  other  means 1  have- 
been  thought  of  than  you  mentioned,  perchance  for  your 
good  as  much,  and  for  my  surety  no  less,  which  if  pre- 
sently could  have  been  executed  had  not  been  deferred. 
But  I  hope  I  shall  die  in  quiet  with  Nunc  Dimittis, 
which  cannot  be  without  I  see  some  glimpses  of  your 
following  after  my  graved  bones.  And  by  the  way,  if 
any  doubt  that  I  am  as  it  were  by  vow  or  determina- 
tion bent  never  to  trade  that  life  (of  marriage),  put  out 
1  hut,  heresy ;  your  belief  is  awry — for  as  I  think  it  best 
for  a  private  woman,  so  do  I  strive  with  myself  to  think 
it  not  most  meet  for  a  prince — and  if  I  can  bend  my 
will  to  your  need,  I  will  not  resist  such  a  mind/  2 


1  i.e. — The  Lord   Robert  mar- 
riage as  the  condition  of  the  recog- 
nition. 

2  A  manuscript  version  of  this 
speech,    at    Hatfield,    leaves    little 
doubt  that  the   text  as   given   by 
D'Ewes  is  substantially  correct.  The 
few  varieties  of  reading  do  not  ufi'ect 


the  more  complicated  passages,  and 
we  are  obliged  to  conclude  that 
Elizabeth  really  spoke  with  these 
intricate  and  strange  involutions.  A 
date  upon  the  MS.,  April  10,  1563, 
fixes  the  occasion  on  which  the 
speech  was  delivered. 


58  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

With  this  oration  Parliament  was  prorogued ;  and 
Elizabeth  had  kept  her  word  to  the  Queen  of  Scots. 

With  the  Parliament  ended  also  the  first  Convocation 
of  the  English  Church — of  the  doings  of  which  some- 
thing should  be  said — although  what  Convocation  might 
decide  affected  little  either  the  stability  or  the  teaching 
of  the  institution  which  it  represented. 

The  Church  of  England  had  been  reproached  with 
teaching  no  definite  doctrine.  It  was  proposed  that 
'NowelPs  Catechism,' ' Edward's  Articles/  and  'Jewel's 
Apology,'  lately  written  at  Cecil's  instigation,  should  be 
bound  together  and  receive  authoritative  sanction — 
1  whosoever  should  speak  against  the  same  to  be  ordered 
as  in  cases  of  hereby.'  An  effort  was  made  to  get  rid  of 
vestments  and  surplices,  organs  and  bells — '  the  table  to 
stand  no  more  altarwise ; '  the  sign  of  the  cross  to  be 
abolished  in  baptism ;  and  kneeling  at  the  Communion 
to  be  left  indifferent,  or  discountenanced  as  leading  to 
superstition. 

The  more  advanced  Calvinists  demanded  the  reinvi- 
goration  of  that  aged  iniquity,  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts, 
with  a  new  code  of  canon  law ;  the  clergy  meanwhile  to 
have  power  to  examine  into  the  spiritual  condition  of 
their  parishioners ;  to  admonish  them  if  their  state  was 
unsatisfactory;  to  excommunicate  them  if  admonition 
failed ;  and  excommunication  to  mean  the  loss  of  civil 
rights,  imprisonment,  fine,  and  the  secular  arm.  Adul- 
terers and  fornicators  were  to  be  put  to  open  shame, 
flogged  at  the  cart's  tail,  banished  or  imprisoned  for 
life  ;  and  moral  offences  generally  were  to  be  dealt  with 
by  similar  means. 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA VRE.  59 

It  was  no  doubt  well  that  English  people  should 
understand  the  faith  which  they  professed ;  it  was  well 
that  they  should  be  prevented  so  far  as  possible  from 
committing  sin ;  but  it  would  not  perhaps  have  contri- 
buted in  the  long  run  to  the  end  desired,  if  the  clergy 
had  been  again  empowered  to  deal  with  these  things  in 
their  own  peculiar  manner. 

This  last  ambition  was  quenched  and  did  not  reap- 
pear. Six  formulas  committing  the  Church  to  ultra- 
Protestantism  were  lost  by  the  near  majority  of  fifty-nine 
to  fifty- eight,  while  the  discussion  generally  resulted  ii? 
the  restoration  of  thirty- nine  of  the  original  forty- two 
articles  of  Edward  as  a  rule  of  faith  for  the  clergy.  The 
Bishop  of  Worcester  introduced  a  measure  to  prevent 
his  order  from  making  away  with  the  Church  property. 
Petitions  were  presented  for  a  more  strict  observance  of 
Sunday,  which  came  to  nothing.  This,  in  the  main, 
was  the  work  aimed  at  or  accomplished  by  Convocation : 
more  moderate  than  might  have  been  expected  from  the 
spirit  in  which  the  session  had  opened.  The  clergy 
were  learning  their  position,  and  as  a  body  were  willing 
to  work  heartily  on  the  narrow  platform  to  which  their 
pretensions  had  been  limited.  They^too  disappeared 
with  the  Parliament,  and  the  Queen  was  left  to  extricate 
herself  as  she  could  from  the  embroglio  in  France. 

Although  she  knew  nothing  of  the  overtures  of  the 
Scots  to  Spain,  there  was  much  in  Philip's  attitude  which 
was  seriously  menacing.  His  ambassador  in  Paris  was 
advising  the  Government  to  refuse  the  restoration  of 
Calais,  while  he  himself  professed  to  Chaloner  his  hope 
that  England  would  recover  it.  Many  thousand  Span- 


60  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.41. 

iards  were  serving  in  the  French  army,  while  more 
were  preparing  to  join  them ;  and  it  seemed  as  if  his 
chief  anxiety  was  to  stimulate  the  war. 

The  King  of  Spain  had  deeply  resented  the  treat- 
ment of  his  ambassador.  The  Bishop  of  Aquila,  he  told 
Elizabeth,  had  been  placed  in  England  to  preserve  the 
alliance  between  his  subjects  and  hers  ;  and  in  what  he 
had  done  had  but  obeyed  the  orders  which  he  had  re- 
ceived with  his  appointment.1  Gresham  reported  from 
Flanders,  as  the  belief  on  the  Bourse,  that  '  there  would 
be  much  ado  with  the  summer  for  religion,  when  King 
Philip  would  disturb  all  he  could  to  maintain  Papistry ; ' 
and  Gresham/s  own  uniform  advice  to  Elizabeth  was  to 
buy  saltpetre,  cast  cannon,  and  build  ships.2 

More  important  and  far  more  alarming  was  the  like- 
lihood of  a  peace  in  France  in  which  England,  as  the 
phrase  went,  '  was  to  be  left  out  at  the  cart's  tail/  To 
the  extent  to  which  Elizabeth  had  been  seeking  objects 
of  her  own  behind  her  affectation  of  a  desire  to  help  the 
Huguenots,  the  Huguenot  leaders  felt  themselves  en- 
titled to  desert  her  could  they  obtain  the  toleration 
which  was  of  moment  to  themselves.  Elizabeth  had 
been  ready  to  sacrifice  them  could  she  recover  Calais  by 
it.  The  Prince  of  Conde  must  have  felt  his  conscience 
easy  in  repaying  her  in  her  own  coin. 

On  the  ;th  of  March  Sir  Thomas  Smith  believed  that 
he  had  obtained  what  Elizabeth  wanted ;  and  that  he 


1  Philip    II.    to   Elizabeth,   April   2,    1563 :    Spanish    MSS.    Rolls 
House. 

•  Gresham  to  Cecil,  March  21  :   I'lanilti-s  MSS. 


1563-]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HAVRE.  61 

would  have  peace  and  Calais  in  a  month.1  The  Queen- 
mother  had  been  ingeniously  deluding  him,  that  she 
might  have  evidence  of  treachery  to  lay  before  Conde, 
whom,  on  the  8th  of  the  same  month,  she  met  with  the 
Constable  on  an  island  in  the  Loire. 

The  eclipse  of  the  Guises  enabled  the  interest  of 
France  once  more  to  be  preferred  to  the  interest  of  Rome. 
Catherine  offered  Conde  his  brother's  place  as  Lieuten- 
ant-General, with  a  moderate  toleration — something 
perhaps  in  advance  of  that  of  which  Elizabeth  had  ad- 
vised the  acceptance — for  the  Calvinists.  The  Calvinists 
should  pray  to  God  as  they  pleased  if  they  would  cease 
to  molest  the  Catholics.  The  '  strangers '  on  both  sides 
should  be  sent  home ;  the  Spaniards  should  retire  from 
the  south,  the  English  should  evacuate  Normandy.  The 
Prince  had  promised  Elizabeth  that  he  would  agree  to  no 
terms  without  giving  her  notice — and  he  kept  his  word. 
He  wrote  both  to  her  and  to  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  saying 
that  he  had  taken  arms  for  the  freedom  of  conscience 
which  was  now  conceded ;  he  assumed,  without  mention- 
ing Calais,  that  Elizabeth  had  assisted  him  for  the  same 
object ;  and  the  object  being  secured  there  was  no  longer 
occasion  for  continuing  the  war.2 

In  vain  Elizabeth  required  him  to  remember  his 
honour  and  promise ;  in  vain  she  bade  him  beware  '  how 
he  set  an  example  of  perfidy  to  the  world/  She  was 
but  receiving  the  measure  which  she  had  prepared  for 


1  Smith  to  Cecil,  March  7  :  FORBES,  vol.  ii. 

2  Conde  to  Elizabeth,  March  8 ;  Cond6  to  Sir  T.  Smith,  March  1 1 : 
FOBBES,  vol.  ii. 


62  KEIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.41. 

her  allies.  Peace  was  signed  in  France  on  the  25th  of 
March,  and  notice  was  sent  to  Warwick  that  the  purpose 
of  the  war  being  happily  accomplished,  he  was  expected 
to  withdraw  from  Havre.1 

The  Prince  however  was  unwilling  to  press 
matters  to  extremity.  On  the  8th  of  April  he 
protested  in  a  second  and  more  gracious  message,  that 
neither  by  him  nor  by  the  Admiral  had  the  town  been 
placed  in  English  hands  ;  but  he  offered,  in  the  name 
of  himself,  the  Queen-Regent,  and  the  entire  nobility  of 
France,  to  renew  solemnly  and  formally  the  clause  in 
the  Treaty  of  Cambray  for  the  restoration  of  Calais  in 
1567  ;  to  repay  Elizabeth  the  money  which  she  had  lent 
him,  and  to  admit  the  English  to  free  trade  and  inter- 
course with  all  parts  of  France. 

Could  Elizabeth  have  temperately  considered  the 
value  of  these  proposals  she  would  have  hesitated  before 
she  refused  them  ;  but  she  was  irritated  at  having  been 
outwitted  in  a  transaction  in  which  her  own  conduct 
had  not  been  pure.  The  people,  with  the  national 
blindness  to  everything  but  their  own  injuries,  were  as 
furious  as  the  Queen.  The  garrison  at  Havre  was  only 
anxious  for  an  opportunity  of  making  '  the  French  cock 
cry  cuck.'2  They  promised  Elizabeth  that  'the  least 
molehill  about  her  town  should  not  be  lost  without 
many  bloody  blows  ; '  and  when  a  few  days  later  there 
came  the  certainty  that  they  would  really  be  besieged, 
they  prayed  '  that  the  Queen  would  bend  her  brows  and 

1  "Warwick  to  the  Council,  March  31  :   FOIJHES,  vol.  ii. 
2  Pelham  to  Throgmorton,  April  5  :   Couwtiy  MSS. 


r 563. ]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VKE.  63 

wax  angry  at  the  shameful  treason ; '  ( the  Lord  War- 
wick and  all  his  people  would  spend  the  last  drop  of 
their  blood  before  the  French  should  fasten  a  foot  in 
the  town.'1 

The  French  inhabitants  of  Havre  had  almost  settled 
the  difficulty  for  themselves.  Feeling  no  pleasure,  what- 
ever they  might  affect,  in  having  '  their  antient  enemies' 
among  them,  they  opened  a  correspondence  with  the 
Khingrave.  A  peasant  passing  the  gates  with  a  basket 
of  chickens  was  observed  to  have  something  under  his 
clothes.  A  few  sheets  of  white  paper  was  all  which  the 
guard  could  discover  ;  but  these,  when  held  to  the  fire, 
revealed  a  conspiracy  to  murder  Warwick  and  admit 
the  French  army.2  The  townspeople,  men,  women,  and 
children,  were  of  course  instantly  expelled;  and  the 
English  garrison  in  solitary  possession  worked  night 
and  day  to  prepare  for  the  impending  struggle. 

It  was  with  no  pleasure  that  Conde  felt  himself 
obliged  to  turn  against  Elizabeth  the  army  which  her 
own  money  had  assisted  him  to  raise.  She  had  answered 
his  proposals  by  sending  to  Paris  a  copy  of  the 
articles  which  both  the  Prince  and  the  Admiral 
had  subscribed.  '  No  one  thing/  she  said,  *  so  much 
offended  her  as  their  unkind  dealing  after  her  friend- 
ship in  their  extremity ; '  while  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  on 
the  other  side,  described  Conde  as  a  second  King  of 
Navarre  going  the  way  of  Baal  Peor,  and  led  astray  by 
*  Midianitish  women.5  Yet,  had  Elizabeth's  own  deal- 

1  Pelham  to  Throgmorton,  April  15  :   Con  way  MSS. 
2  Henry  King  to  Chaloner  :  Spanish  MSS. 


64  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.41. 

ings  been  free  from  reproach,  it  was  impossible  for  Conde, 
had  he  been  ever  so  desirous  of  it,  to  make  the  imme- 
diate restoration  of  Calais  a  condition  of  the  peace.  Had 
the  war  been  fought  out  with  the  support  of  England 
in  the  field  till  the  Catholics  had  been  crushed,  even 
then  his  own  Huguenots  would  scarcely  have  permitted 
the  surrender.  Had  he  held  out  upon  it  when  the  two 
factions  were  left  standing  so  evenly  balanced,  he  would 
have  enlisted  the  pride  of  France  against  himself  and 
his  cause,  and  identified  religious  freedom  with  national 
degradation.  Before  moving  on  Havre  he  made  an- 
other effort.  He  sent  M.  de  Bricquemaut  to  explain 
his  position  and  to  renew  his  offers  enlarged  to  the  ut- 
most which  he  could  venture.  The  young  King  wrote 
himself  also  accepting  Elizabeth's  declaration  that  her 
interference  had  been  in  no  spirit  of  hostility  to  France, 
entreating  that  she  would  continue  her  generosity,  and 
peace  being  made,  recall  her  forces.1  The  ratification 
of  the  treaty  of  Cambray  was  promised  again,  with 
'  hostages  at  her  choice '  for  the  fulfilment  of  it,  from 
the  noblest  families  in  France. 

But  it  was  all  in  vain.  Elizabeth  at  first  would  not 
see  Bricquemaut.  She  swore  she  would  have  no  deal- 
ings with  '  the  false  Prince  of  Conde,'  and  desired,  if 
the  French  King  had  any  message  for  her,  that  it  should 
be  presented  by  the  ambassador  Paul  de  Foix.  When 
de  Foix  waited  on  her  with  Charles's  letter  she  again 
railed  at  the  Prince  as  '  a  treacherous,  inconstant,  per- 


1  Charles  IX.  to  Elizabeth,  April  30  :   FORBES,  vol.  ii. 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA VRh .  65 

jured  villain.'1  De  Foix,  evidently  instructed  to  make 
an  arrangement  if  possible,  desired  her.  if  she  did  not 
like  the  Prince's  terms  to  name  her  own  conditions,  and 
promised  that  they  should  be  carefully  considered.  At 
first  she  would  say  nothing.  Then  she  said  she  would 
send  her  answer  through  Sir  Thomas  Smith  ;  then  sud- 
denly she  sent  for  Bricquemaut,  and  told  him  that  '  her 
rights  to  Calais  being  so  notorious,  she  required  neither 
hostages  nor  satisfaction;  she  would  have  Calais  de- 
livered over ;  she  would  have  her  money  paid  down ; 
and  she  would  keep  Havre  till  both  were  in  her 
hands/ 

Bricquemaut  withdrew,  replying  briefly  that  if  this 
was  her  resolution  she  must  prepare  for  war.  Once 
more  de  Foix  was  ordered  to  make  a  final  effort.  The 
council  gave  him  the  same  answer  which  Elizabeth  had 
given  to  Bricquemaut.  He  replied  that  the  English 
had  no  right  to  demand  Calais  before  the  eight  years 
agreed  on  in  the  treaty  of  Cambray  were  expired.  The 
council  rejoined  that  the  treaty  of  Cambray  had  been 
broken  by  the  French  themselves  in  their  attempt  to 
enforce  the  claims  of  Mary  Stuart,  that  the  treaty  of 
Edinburgh  remained  unratified,  and  that  the  fortifica- 
tions at  Calais  and  the  long  leases  by  which  the  lands 
in  the  Pale  had  been  let  proved  that  there  was  and 
could  be  no  real  intention  of  restoring  it ;  '  so  that  it 
was  lawful  for  the  Queen  to  do  any  manner  of  thing 
for  the  recovery  of  Calais ;  and  being  come  to  the  quiet 


1  De  Quadra  to  Philip,  May  9  :  MS.  Simancas. 
VOL.  vu.  6 


66  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

possession  of  Havre  without  force  or  any  other  unlaw- 
ful means,  she  had  good  reason  to  keep  it.' * 

On  Bricquemaut's  return,  Catherine  de  Medici  lost 
not  a  moment.  The  troops  of  the  Rhingrave,  which 
had  watched  Havre  through  the  spring,  were  reinforced. 
The  armies  of  the  Prince  and  of  the  Cruises,  lately  in  the 
field  against  each  other,  were  united  under  the  Constable, 
and  marched  for  Normandy. 

In  England  ships  were  hurried  to  sea ;  the  western 
counties  were  allowed  to  send  out  privateers  to  pillage 
French  commerce ;  and  depots  of  provisions  were  estab- 
lished at  Portsmouth,  with  a  daily  service  of  vessels 
between  Spithead  and  the  mouth  of  the  Seine.  Recruits 
for  the  garrison  were  raised  wherever  volunteers  could  be 
found.  The  prisoners  in  Newgate  and  the  Fleet — high- 
waymen, cutpurses,  shoplifters,  burglars,  horse-stealers, 
1  tall  fellows '  fit  for  service — were  drafted  into  the  army 
in  exchange  for  the  gallows ; 2  and  the  council  deter- 
mined to  maintain  in  Havre  a  constant  force  of  six  thou- 
sand men  and  a  thousand  pioneers,  sufficient,  it  was 
hoped,  with  the  help  of  the  fleet  and  the  command  of 
the  sea,  to  defy  the  utmost  which  France  could  do. 

Every  day  there  was  now  fighting  under  the  walls 
of  the  town,  and  the  first  successes  were  with  the  English. 
Fifty  of  the  prisoners  taken  at  Caudebecque,  who  had 
since  worked  in  the  galleys,  killed  their  captain  and 
carried  their  vessel  into  Havre.  A  sharp  action  followed 


1  '  A  conference  between  the  French  King's  ambassador  and  certain  of 
her  Majesty's  Council,  June  2.' — Conway  MSS.,  Cecil's  hand. 
2  Domestic  MSS  ,  Elizabeth,  vol.  xxviii. 


1563.] 


THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA VRE. 


with  the  Rhingrave,  in  which  the  French  lost  fourteen 
hundred  men,  and  the  English  comparatively  few. 

Unfortunately  young  Tremayne  was  among  the 
killed,  a  special  favourite  of  Elizabeth,  who  had  dis- 
tinguished himself  at  Leith,  the  most  gallant  of  the 
splendid  band  of  youths  who  had  been  driven  into  exile 
in  her  sister's  time,  and  had  roved  the  seas  as  privateers. 
The  Queen  was  prepared  for  war,  but  not  for  the  cost  of 
war.  She  had  resented  the  expulsion  of  the  French  in- 
habitants of  Havre :  she  had  '  doubted '  if  they  were 
driven  from  their  homes  '  whether  God  would  be  con- 
tented with  the  rest  that  would  follow ; ' 1  she  was  more 
deeply  affected  with  the  death  of  Tremayne ;  and  War- 
wick was  obliged  to  tell  her  that  war  was  a  rough  game ; 
she  must  not  discourage  her  troops  by  finding  fault  with 
measures  indispensable  to  success ;  for  Tremayne,  he 
said,  'men  came  there  to  venture  their  lives  for  her 
Majesty  and  their  country,  and  must  stand  to  that  which 
God  had  appointed  either  to  live  or  die/2 

The  English  had  a  right  to  expect  that 
they  could  hold  the  town  against  any  force 
which  could  be  brought  against  them ;  while  the  priva- 
teers, like  a  troop  of  wolves,  were  scouring  the  Channel 
and  chasing  French  traders  from  the  seas.  One  uneasy 
symptom  alone  betrayed  itself :  on  the  yth  of  June  Lord 
Warwick  reported  that  a  strange  disease  had  appeared 
in  the  garrison,  of  which  nine  men  had  suddenly  died.3 


June. 


The  Queen  to  Warwick,  May  22 :  FORBES,  vol.  ii. 
2  Warwick  to  Cecil,  June  9  :  Domestic  MS. 
8  Warwick  to  Cecil,  June  7  :  MS.  Ibid. 


68  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

But  the  intimation  created  little  alarm.  For  three 
more  weeks  the  English  Court  remained  sanguine,  and 
talked  not  only  of  keeping  Havre,  but  of  carrying  the 
war  deeper  into  Normandy.  '  I  was  yesterday  with  the 
Queen/  wrote  de  Quadra  on  the  2nd  of  July.  '  She  said 
she  was  about  to  send  six  thousand  additional  troops 
across  the  Channel,  and  the  French  should  perhaps  find 
the  war  brought  to  their  own  doors.  Cecil  and  the 
Admiral  said  the  same  to  me.  They  have  fourteen  ships 
well  armed  and  manned  besides  their  transports,  and 
every  day  they  grow  more  eager  and  exasperated/1 

But  on  that  day  news  was  on  the  way  which  abridged 
these  large  expectations.  '  The  strange  disease '  was  the 
plague ;  and  in  the  close  and  narrow  streets  where  seven 
thousand  men  were  packed  together  amidst  foul  air  and 
filth  and  summer  heat,  it  settled  down  to  its  feast  of 
death.  On  the  yth  of  June  it  was  first  noticed  ;  on  the 
27th  the  men  were  dying  at  the  rate  of  sixty  a  day ; 
*  those  who  fell  ill  rarely  recovered ;  the  fresh  water 
was  cut  off,  and  the  tanks  had  failed  from  drought. 
There  was  nothing  to  drink  but  wine  and  cider  ;  there 
was  no  fresh  meat,  and  there  were  no  fresh  vegetables. 
The  windmills  were  outside  the  walls  and  in  the  hands 
of  the  enemy ;  and  though  there  was  corn  in  plenty  the 
garrison  could  not  grind  it.  By  the  29th  of  June  the 
deaths  had  been  five  hundred.  The  corpses  lay  unburied 
or  floated  rotting  in  the  harbour.  The  officers  had 
chiefly  escaped ;  the  common  men,  worse  fed  and  worse 


1  09  Quadra  to  the  Duchess  of  Parma.  July  2  :  MS.  Simancas. 


THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE. 


69 


lodged,  fell  in  swathes  like  grass  under  the  scythe,  and 
the  physicians  died  at  their  side/ 

The  Prince  of  Conde,  notwithstanding  the  last  answer 
to  de  Foix,  had  written  on  the  26th  of  June  a  very  noble 
letter  to  Elizabeth.  '  To  prevent  war/  he  said,  '  the 
King  and  Queen,  the  Princes  of  the  blood,  the  Lords  of 
the  Council,  the  whole  Parliament  of  Paris,  would  renew 
the  obligation  to  restore  Calais  at  the  eight  years'  end. 
It  was  an  offer  which  the  Queen  of  England  could  accept 
without  stain  upon  her  honour,  and  by  agreeing  to  it 
she  would  prove  that  she  had  engaged  in  the  quarre] 
with  a  chief  eye  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  maintenance 
of  the  truth/1 

Elizabeth  had  fiercely  refused  ;  and  when  this  ter- 
rible news  came  from  Havre  she  could  not — would  not 
— realize  its  meaning.  She  would  send  another  army, 
she  would  call  out  the  musters,  and  feed  the  garrison 
from  them  faster  than  the  plague  could  kill.  Cost  what 
it  would  Havre  should  be  held.  It  was  but  a  question 
of  men,  money,  and  food;  and  the  tarnished  fame  of 
England  should  be  regained.2 

And  worse  and  worse  came  the  news  across  the  water. 
When  June  ended,  out  of  his  seven  thousand  men  War- 
wick found  but  three  thousand  fit  for  duty,  and  the 
enemy  were  pressing  him  closer,  and  Montmorency  had 
joined  the  Rhingrave.  Thousands  of  workmen  were 
throwing  up  trenches  under  the  walls,  and  thousands  of 


1  Conde  to  Elizabeth,  June  26:  FORBES,  vol.  ii. 
2  The  Council  to  Wai-wick,  June  29  j  Elizabeth  to  "Warwick,  July  4 


Founw 


70  REIGN  OF  ELIZA&E  TH.  [CH.  4 1 . 

women  were  carrying  and  wheeling  earth  for  them.  Of 
the  English  pioneers  but  sixty  remained  alive,  and  the 
French  cannon  were  already  searching  and  sweeping  the 
streets.  Reinforcements  were  hurried  over  by  hundreds 
and  then  by  thousands.  Hale,  vigorous  English  country- 
men, they  were  landed  on  that  fatal  quay :  the  deadly 
breath  of  the  destroyer  passed  upon  them,  and  in  a  few 
days  or  hours  they  fell  down,  and  there  were  none  to 
bury  them,  and  the  commander  could  but  clamour  for 
more  and  more  and  more. 

On  the  nth  of  July  but  fifteen  hundred 
men  were  left.  In  ten  days  more  at  the  pre- 
sent death  rate  Warwick  said  he  would  have  but  three 
hundred  alive.1  All  failed  except  English  hearts.  '  Not- 
withstanding the  deaths/  Sir  Adrian  Poynings  reported, 
'  their  courage  is  so  good  as  if  they  be  supplied  with 
men  and  victual  they  trust  by  God's  help  yet  to  with- 
stand the  force  of  the  enemy  and  to  render  the  Queen  a 
good  account  thereof.'2  Those  who  went  across  from 
England,  though  going,  as  they  knew,  to  all  but  certain 
death,  'kept  their  high  courage  and  heart  for  the 
service.'8 

Ship  after  ship  arrived  at  Havre  with  its  doomed 
freight  of  living  men,  yet  Warwick  wrote  that  still  his 
numbers  waned,  that  the  new  comers  were  not  enough 
to  repair  the  waste.  The  ovens  were  broken  with  the 


1  "Warwick  to  the  Council,  July  u  :  FORBES,  vol.  ii.   Endorsed  '  Haste, 
post  haste  for  thy  life !     Haste,  haste,  haste ! ' 

2  Sir  Adrian  Poynings  to  Cecil,  July  6  :  Domestic  MSS.,  Elizabeth. 

3  Sir  Adrian  Poynings  to  Cecil,  July  9  :  Domestic  MSS.,  Elizabeth. 


1 563.  ]  THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE.  71 

enemy's  shot,  the  bakers  were  dead  of  the  plague.  The 
besiegers  by  the  middle  of  the  month  were  closing  in 
upon  the  harbour  mouth.  A  galley  sent  out  to  keep 
them  back  was  shot  through  and  sunk  with  its  crew 
under  the  eye  of  the  garrison.  On  the  1 9th  their  hearts 
were  cheered  by  large  arrivals,  but  they  were  raw  boys 
from  Gloucestershire,  new  alike  to  suffering  and  to  arms. 
Cannon  had  been  sent  for  from  the  Tower,  and  cannon 
came,  but  they  were  old  and  rusted  and  worthless.  *  The 
worst  of  all  sorts/  wrote  Warwick,  'is  thought  good 
enough  for  this  place/  It  was  the  one  complaint  which 
at  last  was  wrung  from  him. 

To  add  to  his  difficulties  the  weather  broke  up  in 
storms.  Clinton  had  twenty  sail  with  him,  and  three 
thousand  men  ready  to  throw  in.  If  the  fleet  could  have 
lain  outside  the  harbour  the  ships'  guns  could  have  kept 
the  approaches  open.  But  a  south-west  gale  chained 
Clinton  in  the  Downs ;  the  transports  which  sailed  from 
St  Helen's  could  not  show  behind  the  island,  and  there 
was  a  fear  that  the  garrison,  cut  off  from  relief,  might 
have  been  overpowered  in  their  weakness  and  destroyed. 

Too  late  for  the  emergency,  and  still  with  sullen  un- 
willingness to  yield,  the  Queen  on  the  soth  sent  over 
Throgmorton  to  accept  Conde's  terms.  But  the  French 
Court  was  with  the  besieging  army,  and  knew  the  con- 
dition of  Warwick's  troops  too  well  to  listen.  The 
harbour  was  by  that  time  closed ;  the  provisions  were 
exhausted ;  the  French  understood  their  power  and 
meant  to  use  it.  Warwick,  ordered  as  he  had  been  to 
hold  the  place  under  all  conditions,  '  was  prepared  to 


72  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

die  sword  in  hand '  rather  than  surrender  without  the 
Queen's  permission  ;  but  in  a  few  days  at  latest  those 
whom  the  sword  and  pestilence  had  spared  famine  would 
make  an  end  of.  Fortunately  Sir  Francis  Knowles,  who 
was  in  command  at  Portsmouth,  had  sent  to  the  Court 
to  say  that  they  must  wait  for  no  answer  from  France ; 
they  must  send  powers  instantly  to  "Warwick  to  make 
terms  for  himself.  A  general  attack  had  been  arranged 
for  the  morning  of  the  2 7th.  Lord  Warwick  knew  that 
he  would  be  unable  to  resist,  and  with  the  remnant  of 
his  men  was  preparing  the  evening  before  to  meet  a 
soldier's  death,  when  a  boat  stole  in  with  letters,  and  he 
received  Elizabeth's  permission  to  surrender  at  the  last 
extremity. 

War,  plague,  and  storm  had  done  their  work,  and 
had  done  it  with  fatal  efficacy.  Clinton  was  chafing 
helplessly  at  his  anchorage  '  while  the  French  were 
lying  exposed  on  the  beach  at  Havre.'  He  could  not 
reach  them,  and  they  could  but  too  effectually  reach 
Warwick.  Knowing  that  to  delay  longer  was  to  expose 
the  handful  of  noble  men  who  survived  with  him  to 
inevitable  death,  and  himself  wounded  and  ill,  the 
English  general  sent  at  once  to  the  Constable  to  make 
terms.  The  Constable  would  not  abuse  his  advantage, 
and  on  the  29th  of  July  Havre  was  restored  to  France, 
the  few  English  troops  remaining  being  allowed  to  de- 
part with  their  arms  and  goods  unmolested  and  at  their 
leisure. 

The  day  after,  the  weather  changed,  and  Clinton  ar- 
rived to  find  that  all  was  over,  and  that  Warwick  him- 


1 563. ]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE.  73 

self  was  on  board  a  transport  ready  to  sail.  The  Queen- 
mother  sent  M.  de  Lignerolles  on  board  Clinton's  ship 
to  ask  him  to  dine  with  her.  He  excused  himself  under 
the  plea  that  he  could  not  leave  his  men ;  but  he  said 
to  de  Lignerolles  '  that  the  plague  of  deadly  infection 
had  done  for  them  that  which  all  the  force  of  France 
could  never  have  done/ l 

Thus  ended  this  unhappy  enterprise  in  a  disaster 
which,  terrible  as  it  seemed,  was  more  desirable  for  Eng- 
land than  success.  Elizabeth's  favouring  star  had  pre- 
vented a  conquest  from  being  consummated  which 
would  have  involved  her  in  interminable  war.  Had  it 
not  been  for  the  plague  she  might  have  held  Havre ; 
but  she  could  have  held  it  only  at  a  cost  which,  before 
many  years  were  over,  would  have  thrown  her  an  ex- 
hausted and  easy  prey  at  the  feet  of  Philip. 

The  first  thought  of  Warwick,  ill  as  he  was,  011 
reaching  Portsmouth,  was  for  his  brave  companions. 
They  had  returned  in  miserable  plight,  and  he  wrote  to 
the  council  to  beg  that  they  might  be  cared  for.  But 
there  was  no  occasion  to  remind  Elizabeth  of  such  a 
duty  as  this  :  had  she  been  allowed  she  would  have  gone 
at  once  at  the  risk  of  infection  to  thank  them  for  their 
gallantry.2  In  a  proclamation  under  her  own 
hand  she  commended  the  soldiers  who  had 
faced  that  terrible  siege  to  the  care  of  the  country  ;  she 
entreated  every  gentleman,  she  commanded  every 
official,  ecclesiastical  or  civil,  in  the  realm  to  see  to  their 


1  Clinton  to  Cecil,  July  31 :  Domestic  MS8.,  Elizabeth. 
2  Lord  Robert  Dudley  to  the  Q,ueeu,  August  7  :  Domestic  MSS.,  vol.  xxix. 


74  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

necessities  '  lest  God  punish  them  for  their  unmerciful- 
ness  ; '  she  insisted  with  generous  forethought  '  that  no 
person  should  have  any  grudge  at  those  poor  captains 
and  soldiers  because  the  town  was  rendered  on  con- 
ditions : '  *  she  would  have  it  known  and  understood  that 
there  wanted  no  truth,  courage,  nor  manhood  in  any  of 
them  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest ; '  '  they  would  have 
withstood  the  French  to  the  utmost  of  their  lives.;  but 
it  was  thought  the  part  of  Christian  wisdom  not  to 
tempt  the  Almighty  to  contend  with  the  inevitable 
mortal  enemy  of  the  plague/ 1 

Happy  would  it  have  been  had  the  loss  of  Havre 
ended  the  calamities  of  the  summer.  But  the  garrison, 
scattering  to  their  homes,  carried  the  infection  through 
England.  London  was  tainted  already,  and  with  the 
heat  and  drought  of  August  the  pestilence  in  town  and 
village  held  on  its  deadly  way. 

The  eruption  on  the  skin  which  was  usual  with  the 
plague  does  not  seem  to  have  attended  this  visitation  of 
it.  The  first  symptom  was  violent  fever,  burning  heat 
alternating  with  fits  of  shivering ;  the  mouth  then  be- 
came dry,  the  tongue  parched,  with  a  pricking  sensation 
in  the  breast  and  loins  ;  headache  followed  and  languor, 
with  a  desire  to  sleep,  and  after  sleep  came  generally 
death,  '  for  the  heart  did  draw  the  poison,  and  the 
poison  by  its  own  malice  did  pierce  the  heart/  When 
a  man  felt  himself  infected  '  he  did  first  commend  him- 
self to  the  highest  Physician  and  craved  mercy  of  him.' 


Proclamation  by  the  Queen,  August  I :  Domestic  MSS. 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE.  75 

Where  lie  felt  pain  he  was  bled,  and  he  then  drank  the 
'  aqua  contra  pestem ' — the  plague  water — buried  him- 
self in  his  bed,  and  if  possible  perspired.  To  allay  his 
thirst  he  was  allowed  sorrel- water  and  verjuice,  with 
slices  of  oranges  and  lemons.  Light  food — rabbit, 
chicken  or  other  bird — was  taken  often  and  in  small 
quantities.  To  prevent  the  spread  of  the  contagion  the 
houses  and  streets  and  staircases  were  studiously 
cleaned ;  the  windows  were  set  wide  open  and  hung 
with  fresh  green  boughs  of  oak  or  willow ;  the  floors 
were  strewed  with  sorrel,  lettuce,  roses,  and  oak  leaves, 
and  freely  and  frequently  sprinkled  with  spring  water 
or  else  with  vinegar  and  rose-water.  From  cellar  to 
garret  six  hours  a  day  the  houses  were  fumigated  with 
sandalwood  and  musk,  aloes,  amber,  and  cinnamon.  In 
the  poorest  cottages  there  were  fires  of  rosemary  and 
bay.  Yet  no  remedy  availed  to  prevent  the  mortality, 
and  no  precaution  to  check  the  progress  of  the  infection. 
In  July  the  deaths  in  London  had  been  two  hundred  a 
week ;  through  the  following  month  they  rose  swiftly 
to  seven  hundred,  eight  hundred,  a  thousand,  in  the 
last  week  of  the  month  to  two  thousand ;  and  at  that 
rate  with  scarcely  a  diminution  the  people  continued  to 
die  till  the  November  rains  washed  the  sewers  and  ken- 
nels clean,  and  the  fury  of  the  disorder  was  spent. 

The  bishops,  attributing  the  calamity  to  super- 
natural causes,  and  seeing  the  cause  for  the  provocation 
of  the  Almighty  in  the  objects  which  excited  their  own 
displeasure,  laid  the  blame  upon  the  theatres,  and  peti- 
tioned the  Govcrnmentoto  inhibit  plays  and  amuse- 


76  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

ments.1  Sir  William  Cecil,  not  charging  Providence 
till  man  had  done  his  part,  found  the  occasion  rather  in 
the  dense  crowding  of  the  lodging-houses,  'by  reason 
that  the  owners  and  tenants  for  greediness  and  lucre 
did  take  unto  them  other  inhabitants  and  families  to 
dwell  in  their  chambers  ; '  he  therefore  ordered  that 
'  every  house  or  shop  should  have  but  one  master  and 
one  family/  and  that  aliens  and  strangers  should  re- 
move.2 

The  danger  alarmed  the  council  into  leniency  to- 
wards the  State  prisoners.  The  Tower  was  emptied. 
The  Catholic  prelates  were  distributed  among  the 
houses  of  their  rivals  and  successors ;  Lady  Catherine 
Grey  was  committed  to  the  charge  of  her  father's 
brother,  broken  in  health,  heart,  and  spirit,  praying, 
but  praying  in  vain,  that  '  her  lord  and  husband  might 
be  restored  to  her/  and  pining  slowly  towards  the 
grave  into  which  a  few  years  later  she  sank.3 

The  victims  who  died  of  the  plague  were  chiefly  ob- 
scure ;  one  person  however  perished  in  it  whose  disap- 
pearance the  reader  will  perhaps  regret. 

The_sjfcory_jnustgo  back  for  a  few  pages. 

The   King  of  Spain,   after  receiving  de   Quadra's 

letter  which  contained  the  proposals  of  the   Queen  of 

Scots  for  the  Prince  of  Spain,  took  time  to  consider  his 

answer,  and  at  length  on  the  I5th  of  June 

replied  as  follows  : — 


1  Grindal  to  Cecil,  February  22,  1564:  Lansdowne  MSS.  7. 

2  SirWm.  Cecil's  Injunction:  MS.  Ibid. 
3  Letters  of  Lord  John  and  Lady  Catherine  Grey  :  Lansdowne  MSS. 


'563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA VRE.  77 

PHILIP    II.    TO    THE    BISHOP    OF    AQUILA. 

June  15. 

1 1  have  pondered  over  the  conversation  which  has 
passed  between  you  and  Maitland  on  the  marriage  be- 
tween his  mistress  and  the  Prince  my  son,  and  I  am 
much  pleased  with  the  discretion  which  you  showed  in 
your  replies. 

'  Perceiving  as  I  do  that  if  this  marriage  can  be 
brought  about  it  may  be  the  beginning  of  a  better  state 
of  things  in  England,  I  am  willing  to  admit  the  consi- 
deration of  it ;  and  if  you  believe  that  those  who  have 
spoken  with  you  on  the  subject  are  persons  whom  you 
can  trust,  you  will  use  their  assistance  to  bring  the  thing 
about. 

'  You  will  leaf n  from  Maitland  and  from  the  Queen 
of  Scots  what  friends  they  most  rely  upon  in  England. 
You  will  judge  whether  the  names  which  they  mention 
are  of  sufficient  weight,  and  you  will  at  once  communi- 
cate with  me.  Above  all  you  will  be  secret,  for  the 
good  to  be  looked  for  depends  on  the  marriage  being 
completed  before  anything  is  heard  of  it.  If  the 
French  know  that  I  have  given  my  consent  there  is  no 
step  to  which  their  fears  will  not  drive  them  to  prevent 
the  consummation  of  it,  or,  if  we  persist  in  spite,  of 
them,  to  hinder  the  good  fruit  which  may  be  otherwise 
looked  for.  As  to  the  Queen  of  England  and  the 
heretics,  you  can  imagine  for  yourself  what  they  are 
likely  to  do.  You  must  therefore  be  most  cautious  with 
whom  you  speak  on  the  subject,  and  in  your  choice  of 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  41. 


agents  through,  whom  to  communicate  with  the  Queen 
of  Scotland. 

*  The  Emperor  also,  you  will  observe,  after  what  has 
passed  between  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  and  himself,1 
can  know  nothing  of  the  wishes  of  the  Queen  of  Scots 
herself  or  of  her  subjects ;  he  looks  on  his  son's  affair 
as  already  settled ;  and  I  may  say  for  myself  that  were 
there  any  likelihood  of  that  marriage  taking  effect  I 
should  prefer  it  to  the  other.2  I  should  not  move  in  the 
matter  at  all  till  the  Emperor  was  undeceived  were  it 
not  for  what  you  tell  me  of  the  unwillingness  of  that 
Queen  and  her  advisers  to  accept  the  Archduke,  and 
of  the  small  advantage  which  they  anticipate  from  the 
Austrian  connection. 

'  I  am  alarmed  especially  at  the  possibility  of  her 
marrying  a  French  King  again,  for  I  cannot  but  re- 
member the  trouble  which  her  last  alliance  in  that 
quarter  occasioned  me.  Should  she  marry  in  that 
quarter,  I  know  but  too  well  that  at  no  distant  time  I 
shall  be  forced  into  war  to  protect  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land from  an  invasion  such  as  was  intended  before ; 
and  you  can  judge  yourself  whether  that  is  an  event  to 
which  I  can  look  with  pleasure. 


1  The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  in  a 
personal  interview  with  Ferdinand, 
had  proposed  a  marriage  between  his 
niece  and  the  Archduke  Charles. 

3  A  note  in  the  margin  of  the  let- 
ter, in  Philip's  autograph,  shows  his 
extreme  slowness  and  caution  : — 
'  Be  punto  en  punto  me  vieis  avisando 


de  lo  que  en  esto  pasara,  sin  venir 
a  convencion  ninguna  ;  mas  de  en- 
tender  lo  que  arriba  se  dice,  hasta 
que  yo  os  avise  de  lo  que  en  ello  se 
me  ofriciese  y  se  hubiese  de  hacer ; 
aunque  podreis  ascgurarlos  que  mi 
intencion  es  la  que  aqui  se  dice.' 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE.  79 

'  You  will  ascertain  what  support  the  Scots  can  count 
upon  in  England,  and  you  will  not  prevent  them  from 
increasing  their  party  ;  but  you  will  not  involve  your- 
self with  any  particular  person  further  than  you  have 
already  done.  Let  them  do  the  work  by  themselves, 
let  them  gain  what  friends  they  can  among  the  Catho- 
lics and  others  whom  they  trust.  It  anytnmg  is  dis- 
covered it  must  be  their  affair  and  not  mine. 

'  As  for  what  you  say  of  the  dependence  of  the 
English  Catholics  upon  me,  I  am  anxious  to  do  the  very 
utmost  which  I  can  for  them.  You  will  animate  and 
console  them  as  usual ;  only  of  all  things  in  the  world 
you  must  be  careful  not  to  let  your  own  hand  be  seen. 
You  know  what  would  follow. 

'  I  am  very  sorry  for  the  Act  which  the  Queen  has 
obtained  from  Parliament  against  those  who  will  not 
accept  her  as  Head  of  the  Anglican  Church.  The 
bishops  and  other  Catholics  are  now  in  danger  of  death. 
They  have  begun  already,  you  tell  me,  with  the  Bishop 
of  London. 

. '  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  the  Emperor  has  remon- 
strated, though  I  fear  it  will  do  little  good.  I  have 
myself  also  written  to  the  Queen ;  and  you  will  yourself 
do  and  say  whatever  promises  to  be  most  effective  to 
make  them  change  their  purpose.  I  know  that  I  can 
depend  on  you  in  this,  feeling  as  you  do  so  acutely 
about  it.' l 


1  Ferdinand,  immediately  on  the 
passing  of  the  Act,  wrote  to  beg  that 


the  Catholic  bishops.   The  ingenuity 
of  the  lawyers  might  have  been  less 


no  violence  might  be  used  towards  i  successful  had  not  Elizabeth  been 


8o 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[en.  41. 


To  Philip's  letter  a  few  lines  were  added  by  the 
Duke  of  Alva : 

ALVA   TO    THE    BISHOP    OF    AQUILA. 

June  i 6. 

'Although  his  Majesty  in  his  own  letter  has  told 
you  how  important  it  is  to  be  secret  in  the  affair  of  the 
marriage  of  the  Queen  of  Scots,  I  cannot  but  myself 
reiterate  the  same  caution.  The  world  must  know 
nothing  till  all  is  actually  over,  or  no  good  will  come 
of  it. 

'You  will  therefore  charge  those  with  whom  you 
have  to  deal  to  allow  no  hint  of  our  purpose  to  trans- 
pire. You  will  let  us  know  step  by  step  how  the  nego- 
tiation proceeds,  and  his  Majesty  will  take  measures 
accordingly/ 

-No  answer  could   have   promised  better  for  Mary 

Stuart's  hopes;  but  it  had  been  long  in  coming,  and 

the  diplomacy  of  conspiracy  was  restless  and  feverish. 

Maitland,  after  his  visit  to  France,  returned  to 

London  in  July  to  learn  what  de  Quadra  had 

heard.     He  had  as  yet  heard  nothing,  and  Maitland' s 

views  meanwhile  had  been  qualified  by  a  conversation 

with   Catherine   de   Medici.      The    Queen-mother,    as 


able  to  shield  herself  behind  Fer- 
dinand's and  Philip's  letters.  Arch- 
bishop Parker  also  lent  his  assist- 
ance. In  a  circular  to  his  brother 
bishops  he  desired  them,  with  the 
Queen's  and  Cecil's  connivance,  not 
to  offer  tho  oath  to  any  one  a  second 
time  without  referring  to  himself; 


'  not,'  he  said,  '  that  he  had  warrant 
to  stay  the  execution  of  impartial 
laws,'  but  being  ready  '  to  jeopard 
his  private  estimation  if  the  purpose 
which  the  Queen  would  have  done, 
might  be  performed.' — STRYPE'S 
Life  of  Parker,  vol.  i.  pp.  249,  250. 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VKR.  8l 

Philip  had  foreseen,  dreaded  nothing  so  much  as  this 
Spanish  marriage ;  and  to  prevent  it  she  had  promised 
that  if  the  Queen  of  Scots  would  remain  unmarried  for 
two  years,  Charles  the  Mnth  and  the  crown  of  France 
would  again  be  at  her  service.  Construing  Philip's 
silence  unfavourably,  Maitland  allowed  de  Quadra  to 
see  that  he  thought  well  of  the  French  connection.  In 
vain  de  Quadra  spoke  of  the  Archduke  Charles.  Mait- 
land would  not  hear  of  him  unless  with  a  distinct  un- 
derstanding that  Philip  would  make  his  mistress  Queen 
of  England.  It  was  yet  possible  too  for  the  Queen  of 
Scots  to  extort  favourable  terms  from  Elizabeth. 

Before  Maitland  returned  to  Scotland,  E]izaheih--iB. 
her  parting  jnterview  bade  him  tell  Mary  Stuart  that  if 
she  married  into  the  houses  of  Austria,  France,  or  Spain, 
she  would  take  it  as  an  act  of  war.1  She  would  prefer 
a  marriage  at  home  for  her.  But  there  were  the  Pro- 
testant Princes ;  there  was  the  King  of  Denmark;  there 
was  the  Duke  of  Ferrara  :  any  one  of  these  she  might 
choose,  or  any  French  nobleman  not  of  royal  rank,  and 
she  should  be  named  successor  at  once. 

Maitland  entered  too  far  into  these  views  for  de 
Quadra's  peace.  He  feared  that  Mary  Stuart  herself  in 
her  passionate  desire  for  recognition  might  consent  after 
all  to  some  marriage  detrimental  to  the  interests  of 
Catholicism,2  and  in  dread  of  such  a  catastrophe,  and 


1  'No  podria  de  dejarla  de  tener 
por  enemiga.' — De  Quadra  to  Philip, 
June  26  :  MS.  Simancas. 

2  '  Es  de  temer  que  la  golosina  de 
ser  declurada  sucesora  deste  lieyno 

VOL.  vn. 


no  haga  aquella  Eeyna  condescender 
en  algun  casamiento  menos  conveni- 
ente  5.  las  cosas  de  la  religion.' — De 
Quadra  to  Philip,  June  2'6 :  MS. 
Simancas. 


b2  RRIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

not  trusting  Maitland,  the  Spanish  ambassador,  on  his 
own  responsibility,  sent  an  English  friend  to  lay  before 
her  the  wishes  of  the  Catholics,  and  to  assure  her  that 
whether  she  obtained  the  Prince  of  Spain,  or  accepted 
the  Archduke  Charles,  Philip  in  either  case  would  sup- 
port her  claims  in  England  by  arms.1 

At  this  crisis  the  letters  of  Philip  and  Alva  reached 
London.  De  Quadra  regretted  that  his  commission  was 
so  cautiously  worded ;  but  he  lost  not  a  moment  in  de- 
spatching his  own  secretary,  Luis  de  Paz,  to  Holyrood. 
As  a  blind  to  the  English  Government  he  sent  him  first 
to  Chester,  under  pretence  of  inquiring  into  the  seizure 
of  a  Spanish  ship  by  pirates.  At  Chester  de  Paz  found 
that  the  pirates  in  question  were  Scots — and  went  on  as 
if  to  seek  redress  at  Edinburgh.  There  he  saw  Mary 
Stuart,  Maitland,  and  Murray.  His  message  was  re- 
ceived with  delight  by  all  of  them.  The  Queen  of  Scots 
wrote  to  the  Duchess  of  Parma,  relinquishing  with  eager 
gratitude  every  other  prospect  for  herself.  The  Bishop 
of  Ross  hurried  off  to  London  to  de  Quadra  to  agree  to 
all  conditions  which  Philip  might  ask.2  The  long  and 
dangerous  labours  of  the  indefatigable  ambassador  were 
at  last,  it  seemed,  about  to  prosper  and  bear  fruit — when 
in  the  moment  of  success  he  was  taken  away.  Luis  de 

Paz  returned  to  London  on  the  26th  of  Au- 
August. 

gust  to  find  him  dying.     'He  knew  me,'  Luis 


Que  tenga  fuerzas  para  conseguir  su  derecko  5,  este  Reyno.' — MS. 


2  Note  of  the  mission  of  Luis  de  Paz  to  Scotland,  by  Diego  Perez . 
MIGNET'S  Life  of  Mary  Stuart.    Appendix  C. 


1563-3 


THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE. 


wrote,  '  and  answered  bravely  when  I  spoke  to  him. 
He  was  grieved  to  end  his  services  at  a  moment  when 
he  hoped  to  be  of  use.  His  last  words  were,  '  I  can  do 
no  more.' ' 1 

So  died  a  good  servant  of  a  falling  cause — faith- 
ful even  unto  death.  The  Bishop  of  Aquila  had  the 
character  of  his  race  and  his  profession.  In  the  arts  of 
diplomatic  treachery  he  was  an  accomplished  master. 
Untiring  and  unscrupulous,  skilled  in  the  subtle  wind- 
ings of  the  heart,  he  could  stimulate  the  conscience  into 
heroism,  or  play  with  its  weakness  till  he  had  tempted 
it  to  perdition — as  suited  best  with  the  ends  which  he 
pursued  with  the  steadiness  of  a  sleuthhound.  He  would 
converse  in  seeming  frankness  from  day  to  day  with 
those  whom  with  his  whole  soul  he  was  labouring  to 
blast  into  ruin.  Yet  he  was  brave  as  a  Spaniard  should 
be—brave  with  the  double  courage  of  an  Ignatius  and 
a  Cortez.  He  was  perfectly  free  from  selfish  and  igno- 
ble desires,  and  he  was  loyal  with  an  absolute  fealty  to 
his  creed  and  his  King.  It  was  his  misfortune  that  he 
served  in  a  cause  which  the  world  now  knows  to  have 
been  a  wrong  cause;  but  qualifications  in  themselves 
neither  better  nor  worse  than  those  of  Alvarez  de  Quadra 
won  for  Walsingham  a  place  in  the  brightest  circle  of 
English  statesmen. 

How  it  might  have  fared  with  Mary  Stuart  and  Don 
Carlos  had  de  Quadra  lived  to  complete  tiie  work  for 
which  he  was  so  anxious,  the  curious  in  such  things 


puedo  mas.' — Memoir  of  Luis  de  Paz  :  MS.  Simancas. 


84  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

may  speculate.  The  Prince  of  Spain  had  the  intellect 
and  the  ferocity  of  a  wolf;  the  Queen  of  Scots  had  a 
capacity  for  relieving  herself  of  disagreeable  or  incon- 
venient companions.  Yet  they  would  scarcely  perhaps 
have  made  their  lots  more  wretched  than  they  actually 
were  :  we  wonder  at  the  caprices  of  fortune ;  we  com- 
plain of  the  unequal  fates  which  are  distributed  among 
mankind — but  Providence  is  more  even-handed  than  it 
seems  ;  Mary  Stuart  might  have  been  innocent  and 
happy  as  a  fishwife  at  Leith ;  the  Prince  of  Spain 
might  have  arrived  at  some  half-brutal  usefulness 
breaking  clods  on  the  brown  plains  of  Castile. 

Philip's  orders  had  been  so  well  observed  that  no 
hints  had  transpired  of  what  was  intended.  The  Arch- 
duke Charles  was  the  supposed  candidate  in  the  Spanish 
and  Imperial  interest.  The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  had 
arranged  the  marriage  with  Ferdinand.  It  had  been 
talked  of  in  the  Council  of  Trent.  It  had  been  argued 
upon  in  a  Parliament  which  met  at  Edinburgh  in  the 
preceding  June.  The  name  of  the  Prince  of  Spain  was 
mentioned  from  time  to  time,  but  rather  as  a  vague 
surmise ;  and  the  last  thought  which  entered  the  mind  of 
any  one  was  that  Philip  would  seriously  substitute  his 
son  for  his  cousin.  The  Austrian  match  was  the  object 
of  Elizabeth's  fears ;  and  what  she  had  said  to  Maitland 
she  directed  Randolph  to  submit  formally  to  the  Queen 
of  Scots  herself. 

To  settle  the  succession  in  some  way,  and  if  possible 
to  settle  it  in  Mary  Stuart's  favour,  she  said,  was  her 
most  ardent  desire.  She  had  combated  hitherto  the  wish 


I563-] 


THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE. 


of  Parliament  to  disinherit  Mary.     On  public  ground 
she  was  anxious  for  the  union  of  the  realms- — and  pri 
vately  she  considered  the  Queen  of  Scots'  claim  to  be 
the  best.     But  the  Queen  of  Scots,  if  she  was  to  succee< 
to  the  English  crown,  must  make  up  her  mind  to  accep 
the  Eeformation,  if  not  as  her  own  conviction  yet  as  thi 
public  law  of  the  realm.    If  she  chose  to  marry  a  Catholic 
prince,  if  she  chose  to  make  herself  the  representative  o 
a  Catholic  party  and  policy,  Parliament  would  unques-\ 
tionably  renew  the  attempt  to  bar  her  title ;  the  country 
would  not  submit  again  to  the  Pope  and  the  Inquisition, 
and  Elizabeth  would  herself  be  unable  to  take  her  part 
further.1 

*  She  did  not  believe/  Elizabeth  continued — and  the 
clause  is  in  her  own  handwriting ;  '  she  did  not  believe 
that  the  Queen  of  Scots  meant  anything  against  herself; ' 
and  'she  might  perhaps  be  borne  in  hand  that  some  num- 
ber in  England  might  be  brought  to  allow }  her  general 
schemes.  But  she  warned  her  sister  not  to  be '  abused '  by 


1  '  To  consider  her  own  particu- 
lar which,  in  the  way  of  friendship 
towards  her,  we  do  most  weigh,  we 
do  assure  her  by  some  present  proof 
that  we  have  in  our  realm,  upon 
some  small  report  made  thereof  (of 
the  Austrian  marriage),  we  well  per- 
ceive that,  if  we  do  not  meddle  and 
interpose  her  authority,  it  will  not 
he  long  before  it  shall  appear  that  as 
much  as  wit  can  imagine  will  be 
used  to  impeach  her  intention  for 
the  furtherance  of  her  title.  And 
considering  the  humours  of  such  as 


mind— except  our  authority  or  the 
fear  of  us  shall  stay  them — their  own 
particular,  what  can  our  sister  think 
more  hurtful  to  her  than  by  this 
manner  of  proceeding  by  her  friends 
that  be  not  of  her  natural  nation  nor 
of  her  kingdom— first,  to  endanger 
the  amity  betwixt  us ;  secondly,  to 
dissolve  the  concord  between  the  two 
nations;  thirdly,  to  disappoint  her 
of  more  than  ever  they  shall  re- 
cover.'—Elizabeth  to  Randolph,  Au- 
gust 20 :  Cotton.  MSS.,  CALIO.B.  10. 


86  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  41. 

foolishness.  'If  she  tried  that  way  she  would  come  to  no 
good/  For  both  their  own  sakes  and  for  the  sake  of  both 
the  countries  she  implored  the  Queen  of  Scots  to  avoid 
a,  course  which  might "'  become  a  perpetual  reproof  to 
both  of  them  through  all  posterity/  If  she  married  the 
Archduke,  England  must  and  would  accept  that  act  as  a 
declaration  of  hostility.  If  she  would  take  advice  which 
she  might  assure  herself  was  well  meant  towards  her,  she 
would  marry  some  one  to  whom  no  suspicion  could  be 
attached.  Her  title  should  then  be  examined,  and 
should  receive  the  fullest  support  which  she  herself  could 
give  it — ( her  own  natural  inclination  being  most  given 
to  further  her  sister's  interest  and  to  impeach  what 
should  seem  to  the  contrary.' 

As  to  the  person — an  English  nobleman  would  best 
please  the  English  nation  ;  and  measuring  the  attractive- 
ness of  the  offer  by  her  self-sacrifice  in  making  it,  Eliza- 
beth said  that  '  she  could  be  content  to  give  her  one 
whom  perchance  it  could  be  hardly  thought  she  could 
agree  unto.'  But  she  would  not  bind  the  Queen  of 
Scots  to  this  choice  or  to  that ;  England  required  only 
that  she  should  not  marry  any  one  *  of  such  greatness 
as  suspicion  might  be  gathered  that  he  might  intend 
trouble  to  the  realm  ; '  she  might  take  a  husband  where 
I  she  pleased  '  so  as  he  was  not .  sought  to  change  the 
Vgolicy '  of  the  English  nation,  which  it  was  certain  '  that 
they  would  in  no  wise  bear.' l 

What  right,  it  has  been  asked  impatiently,  had  Eliza- 

1  Instructions  to  Randolph,  August  20:  Cotton.  MSS.,  CALTG.  B.  10. 
Matter  committed  to  Thomas  Randolph,  August,  1563  :  Scotch  MSS. 
Holla  House. 


1 563-]  THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VRE.  87 

betli  to  interfere  with  Mary  Stuart's  marriage  ?  As  much 
right,  it  may  be  answered,  as  Mary  Stuart  had  to  pre- 
tend to  the  succession  of  the  English  crown.  Those  who 
aspire  to  sovereignty  must  accept  the  conditions  under 
which  sovereignty  can  be  held.  The  necessities  of  State 
which  at  the  present  day  bar  the  succession  of  a  Roman 
Catholic,  were  stronger  a  thousandfold  when  a  Catholic 
sovereign  might  bring  back  with  her  the  fires  of  Smith- 
field:  and  the  fault  of  Elizabeth  was  rather  in  for- 
bearing to  insist  upon  a  change  of  creed  than  in  being 
willing  to  accept  a  successor  with  a  less  effective  security 
for  her  harmlessness. 

Nor  was  it  Elizabeth  only  who  had  a  right  to  be 
alarmed.  Murray,  Argyle,  and  Maitland  had  been  led 
astray  by  vanity  and  idle  ambition.  In  their  eagerness 
to  give  a  sovereign  to  England  they  had  half  lost  their 
interest  in  the  Reformation,  or  had  closed  their  eyes 
to  the  dangers  to  which  they  exposed  it.  But  there 
were  those  in  Scotland  to  whom  the  truth  of  God  was 
more  than  crowns  and  kingdoms — to  whom  the  re- 
volution which  had  passed  over  their  country  was  too 
precious  to  be  fooled  away  by  courtiers'  weakness  or  a 
woman's  cunning.  Knox  knew  as  well  as  Mary  knew 
the  fruit  which  would  follow  if  she  married  a  Catholic 
prince.  He  had  laboured  to  save  Murray  from  the  spell 
which  his  sister  had  flung  over  him ;  but  Murray  had 
only  been  angry  at  his  interference,  and  '  they  spake 
not  together  familiarly  for  more  than  a  year  and  a  half/  1 


1  KNOX'S  History  of  the  Eef or  motion. 


88  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.41 

The  falling  off  of  his  friends  threw  the  weight  of  the 
battle  upon  Knox.  In  '  the  Parliament  time/  when  the 
Lords,  thinking  then  only  of  the  Austrian  Charles,  had 
been  congratulating  one  another  on  the  great  match  in- 
tended for  their  Queen,  Knox  rose  in  the  pulpit  at  St 
Giles's  and  told  them  all  'that  whenever  they,  professing 
the  Lord  Jesus,  consented  that  a  Papist  should  be  head  of 
their  sovereign,  they  did  as  far  as  in  them  lay  to  banish 
Christ  from  the  realm ;  they  would  bring  God's  venge- 
ance on  their  country,  a  plague  on  themselves,  and 
perchance  small  comfort  to  their  sovereign/ 

It  was  language  which  should  not  have  been  needed, 
for  it  was  language  which  they  should  themselves  have 
used.  It  was  language  which  with  the  necessary  change 
of  diction  any  English  statesman  would  have  used  from 
the  Revolution  till  the  present  day.  It  contained  but  a 
plain  political  truth  of  which  Knox  happened  to  be  the 
exponent. 

Mary  recognized  her  enemy.  Him  alone  she  had  failed 
to  work  upon,  and  believing  herself  sure  of  the  Lords  she 
gave  her  anger  its  course. 

In  imagination  Queen  of  Scotland,  England,  Ireland, 
Spain,  Flanders,  Naples,  and  the  Indies — in  the  full  tide 
of  hope  and  with  the  prize  almost  in  her  hands,  she  was 
in  no  humour  to  let  a  heretic  preacher  step  between  her 
and  the  soaring  flights  of  her  ambition.  She  sent  for 
Knox,  and  her  voice  shaking  between  tears  and  passion, 
she  said  that  never  had  prince  been  handled  as  she; 
she  had  borne  his  bitterness,  she  had  admitted  him  to 
her  presence,  she  had  endured  to  be  reprimanded,  and 


1 563 .]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE.  89 

yet  she  could  not  be  quit  of  him. ;  '  she  vowed  to  God 
she  would  be  avenged/ 

Quiet,  collected — seeing  through  and  through  her, 
yet  with  a  sound  northern  courtesy,  the  Reformer  an- 
swered that  when  it  pleased  God  to  open  her  eyes  she 
would  see  that  he  had  done  nothing  to  offend  her ;  in 
private  he  had  been  silent ;  '  in  the  preaching  place '  he 
must  obey  God  Almighty. 

'But  what/  she  asked,  'have  you  to  do  with  my 
marriage  ?  ' 

He  said  his  duty  was  to  preach  the  Evangel :  the  \ 
nobility  were  so  much  addicted  to  her  affections  that! 
they  had  forgotten  their  duty,  and  he  was  therefore  j 
bound  to  remind  them  of  it. 

'  But  what/  she  repeated,  '  have  you  to  do  with  my 
marriage  ?  what  are  you  within  this  commonwealth  ?  * 

'  A  subject  born  within  the  same,  madam/  he  replied ; 
'  and  one  whose  vocation  and  conscience  demands  plain- 
ness of  speech ;  and  therefore,  madam/  he  went  on,  '  I 
say  to  yourself  what  I  spake  in  yonder  public  place — 
whenever  the  nobility  shall  consent  that  you  be  subject 
to  an  unfaithful  husband,  they  renounce  Christ  and  be- 
tray the  realm.' 

The  Queen  again  sobbed  violently. 

Knox  stood  silent  till  she  had  collected  herself.  He 
then  continued — '  Madam,  in  God's  presence  I  speak ;  I 
never  delighted  in  the  weeping  of  any  of  God's  creatures ; 
yea,  T  can  scarcely  abide  the  tears  of  my  own  boys  whom 
my  own  hand  corrects ;  but  seeing  I  have  but  spoken 
the  truth  as  my  vocation  craves  of  me,  I  must  sustain 


90  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  41. 

your  Majesty's  tears  rather  than  hurt  my  conscience/ 
Soon  after  this  conversation  Randolph  brought  Eliza- 
beth's message.  In  his  account  of  the  interview  he 
gives  a  noticeable  sketch  of  Mary  Stuart's  personal 
habits. 

Active  and  energetic  when  occasion  required,  this 
all-accomplished  woman  abandoned  herself  to  intervals 
of  graceful  self-indulgence.  Without  illness  or  imagin- 
ation of  it  she  would  lounge  for  days  in  bed,  rising  only 
at  night  for  dancing  or  music ;  and  there  she  reclined 
with  some  light  delicate  French  robe  carelessly  draped 
about  her,  surrounded  by  her  ladies,  her  council,  and 
her  courtiers,  receiving  ambassadors  and  transacting 
business  of  State.  It  was  in  this  condition  that  Ran- 
dolph found  her.  She  affected  the  utmost  cordiality; 
she  listened  graciously  to  his  communication ;  she  pro- 
fessed herself  grateful  for  Elizabeth's  interest  in  her;  she 
desired  him  to  be  cautious  to  whom  he  spoke,  and  re- 
ferred him  for  her  answer  to  Maitland  and  Murray.  But 
with  all  her  address  she  could  not  conceal  from  him 
that  more  was  intended  than  she  allowed  to  appear. 
Her  want  of  interest  in  the  Austrian  marriage  was 
evident,  and  Randolph  himself  feared '  she  might  be  more 
Spanish  than  Imperial.' *  A  month  later  John  Knox  had 
discovered  the  secret  and  made  haste  to  tell  Cecil  what 
was  impending.  It  was  no  Austrian  prince  on  whom 
Mary's  eyes  were  fixed.  The  King  of  Spain  had  con- 
sented to  give  her  his  son.  The  Queen  of  France  offered 


1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  September  4 :  Scotch  MSS.  Eolls  Souse. 


I563-] 


THE  ENGLISH  A  T  If  A  VRE. 


her  the  hand  of  Charles  the  Ninth.  She  would  take 
Don  Carlos  if  Philip  kept  his  word.  If  Don  Carlos 
failed  her  she  would  take  the  French  King.  The 
majority  of  her  council  had  consented  to  what  would  be 
their  own  destruction,  and  '  the  greater  part  would  before 
long  draw  the  better  after  them.'  The  Queen  of  Eng- 
land would  be  amused  with  smooth  answers ;  but  the 
mask  would  soon  be  laid  aside.  There  was  still  hope  of 
the  constancy  of  the  Earl  of  Murray.  But  if  Murray 
followed  the  rest  '  the  rage  of  the  storm  would  overthrow 
the  force  of  the  strongest ' — '  all  through  the  inordinate 
affection  of  her  that  was  born  to  be  a  plague  to  the  realm.5 

'Thus,'  Knox  concluded,   'you  have  the 
plainness  of  my  troubled  heart ;  use  it  as  ye 
will  answer  to  God  and  as  ye  tender  the  commonwealth  ; 
the  Eternal  assist  you  with  His  Spirit.'1 

In  the  midst  of  these  encompassing  perils 
Elizabeth  bore  herself  bravely.  The  death- 
rate  in  London  at  the  end  of  December  was  still  two 
hundred  a  week ;  the  country  was  smarting  under  the 
disaster  at  Havre ;  the  French  difficulty  was  likely  to 
lead  to  a  general  war2  in  which  Spain  would  take  part ; 
and  Mary  Stuart  married  to  a  Catholic  prince  formed  the 


October. 


December. 


1  Knox  to   Cecil,    October   5  : 
Scotch  MSS.     A  postscript  adds — 
'  The  Inch  between  Leitli  and  King- 
horn   is  left  void.     What   strange 
fowl    shall  first   alight  there  God 
knoweth.' 

2  '  By  many  intelligences  here,  I 
see  none  other  but  war  to  ensue  be- 


tween us  and  the  French  King  ere 
it  be  long.  God  send  grace  that 
King  Philip's  subjects  be  not  also 
our  enemies,  for  we  suspect  as  much.' 
— Francis  Chaloner  to  Sir  Thomas 
Chaloner,  December  18  :  Spanish 
MSS.  Rolls  House. 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  41. 


ominous  centre  round  which  the  clouds  were  forming. 
Yet  Elizabeth  to  the  world  appeared  to  be  given  up  to 
amusement,  caring  for  nothing  but  pleasure,  and  wasting 
her  fondness  upon  idle  and  tawdry  favourites.  'The 
Queen/  wrote  Francis  Chaloner  to  his  brother,  '  thinks 
of  nothing  but  her  love  affairs ;  she  spends  her  days  with 
her  hawks  and  hounds  and  her  nights  in  dances  and 
plays.  Though  all  things  go  ill  with  England  she  is 
incapable  of  serious  thought.  The  Court  is  as  merry  as 
if  the  world  were  at  our  feet ;  and  the  ingenious  fool 
who  can  devise  the  best  means  of  trifling  away  time  is 
the  man  most  admired  and  prized.'1 

Yet  Elizabeth  was  but  concealing  her  real  nature 
behind  a  mask  of  levity.  Her  spirits  rose  with  trouble, 
and  her  high  qualities  were  never  more  thoroughly 
awake. 

Notwithstanding  the  struggle  in  Normandy,  peace 
still  existed  in  name  between  England  and  France ;  but 
Catherine  demanded  as  an  indemnity  for  the  aggression 
on  French  territory  a  formal  surrender  of  the  English 
claim  on  Calais.  Elizabeth  answered  that  she  would 
brave  all  consequences  before  she  would  submit  '  to  that 
dishonour : y  2  and  a  declaration  of  war  was  daily  ex- 
pected. Philip  had  offered  to  mediate,  but  with  the  key 


1  '  Regina  tota  amoribus  dedita 
?st,  venationibusque  aucupiis  choreis 
et  rebus  ludicris  insumens  dies  noc- 
tesque  ;  nihil  serio  tractatur,  quan- 
quam  omnia  adverse  cedant ;  tamen 
jocamur  hie,  perinde  ac  si  orbera 
universum  debellati  fuerimus.  Et 


qui  plures  nugandi  modos  ridicule 
studio  excogitaverit,  quasi  vir  summo 
pretio  dignus  suspicitur.  — Spanish 
MSS, 

2  Elizabeth  to  Chaloner,  Decem- 
ber, 1563  :  MS.  Ibid. 


THE  ENGLISH  A  r 


93 


to  Philip's  policy  in  her  hand  she  left  him  unanswered 
till  his  ministers  complained  to  her  ambassador  of  her 
scanty  courtesy ; l  and  then  for  reply  she  bade  Chaloner 
tell  Philip  that  in  her  past  difficulties,  though  he  had 
many  opportunities  of  helping  her,  she  had  received 
nothing  from  him  but  '  good  words  : '  he  desired  to  have 
her  at  his  feet,  acting  under  his  orders,  and  humbly 
petitioning  for  his  support ;  but  never  in  that  position 
should  Philip  see  her  :  she  doubted  whether  a  protracted 
residence  of  an  ambassador  at  the  Court  of  Spain  was 
any  longer  expedient ;  she  had  half  resolved  to  continue 
her  diplomatic  intercourse  with  him  only  through  the 
Regent  in  Flanders  ;  better  an  open  enemy  than  a 
treacherous  friend ;  if  the  worst  came  she  could  en- 
counter it.2 

In  her  bearing  towards  Mary  Stuart  she  showed  at 
the  same  time  large  forbearance  and  a  clear  foreseeing 
statesmanship.  She  knew  the  Queen  of  Scots'  intentions 
beyond  all  uncertainty,  but  she  still  hoped  to  win  her 
over  to  a  safer  course  with  the  prospect  of  the  suc- 
cession ; 3  while  Mary  Stuart,  on  her  part,  would  not 
risk  a  quarrel  till  the  Spanish  affair  had  gone  further. 
De  Quadra's  death  had  broken  the  link  of  her  com- 


1  Chaloner  to  Elizabeth,  Decem- 
ber 19  :  Spanish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 

2  Elizabeth  to  Chaloner :    MS. 
Ibid. 

3  Luis  de  Paz,  who  was  left  in 
charge  at  the  Spanish  embassy  after 
de  Quadra's  death,  wrote  to  Philip 
on  the  3rd  of  December  that  Eliza- 
beth had  been  speaking  of  the  mar- 


riage between  the  Queen  of  Scots 
and  the  Prince  of  Spain,  and  had 
said  positively  it  should  never  be. 
'  No,  no  ! '  '  que  no  se  hara.'  It 
was  thought,  he  said,  that  she  would 
tempt  the  Queen  of  Scots  to  give  it 
up  by  the  largeness  of  her  offers  on 
the  other  side. — MS.  Simancas. 


94  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  41. 

munication  with  Philip,  and  since  the  visit  of  Luis  de 
Paz  she  had  heard  no  more  from  him. 

After  a  delay  of  some  weeks  she  had  replied  to  Ran- 
dolph's message,  thanking  Elizabeth  for  her  advice  ; 
to  gain  time  and  to  avoid  committing  herself  to  a  re- 
fusal, she  desired  to  be  told  explicitly  which  of  the 
many  candidates  for  her  hand  would  be  '  allowed'  in 
England  and  which  would  not  ;  and  again  with  more 
distinctness  what  would  be  done  for  her  if  she  married 
as  Elizabeth  wished. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  had  no 

real  intention  of  being  guided  by  Elizabeth. 
November. 

Quadra  that  she  would 


not  marry  a  Protestant  even  if  her  recognition  was  an 
accomplished  fact.  The  inquiry  therefore  could  only 
have  been  finesse.  Elizabeth,  with  less  temptation  to  in- 
sincerity, replied  'that  the  principal  marriage  which 
would  make  all  other  marriages  fortunate,  happy,  and 
fruitful  was  the  conjunction  of  the  two  countries  and  the 
two  Queens  ;  '  but  she  warned  the  Queen  of  Scots  that 
'whatever  mountains  of  felicity  or  worldly  pomp'  she 
might  promise  herself  by  going  her  own  way,  she  would 
find  her  hopes  in  the  end  deceive  her  ;  the  fittest  hus- 
band for  her  would  be  some  English  or  Scottish  nobleman  ; 
but  if  she  preferred  to  look  elsewhere  all  Christendom 
was  open,  excepting  only  —  as  the  Queen  of  Scots  desired 
her  to  be  explicit  —  the  royal  Houses  of  Spain,  France, 
or  Austria.  A  marriage  into  either  of  these  could  be 
construed  only  into  a  renewal  of  the  schemes  which 
she  hud  entertained  '  in  her  late  marriage  with  the 


1563-] 


THE  ENGLISH  A  T  HA  VR& 


95 


French  King ;  but  no  other  restriction  should  be  placed 
upon  her  choice  and  no  other  difficulty  raised/  Eliza- 
beth trusted  only  that  her  selection  '  might  be  such  as 
should  tend  to  the  perpetual  weal  of  the  two  kingdoms 
— the  conjunction  whereof  she  counted  the  only  mar- 
riage of  continuance  and  blessedness — to  endure  after 
their  own  lives  to  posterity  to  the  pleasure  of  Almighty 
God  and  the  eternal  renown  of  themselves  as  queens  and 
good  mothers  of  their  countries/ 

To  the  last  question  of  the  Queen  of  Scots — what 
should  be  done  for  her  if  she  complied — Elizabeth 
answered  that  she  would  '  proceed  forthwith  to  the  in- 
quisition of  her  right  by  all  good  means  in  her  favour  ; 
and  finding  it  fall  to  her  advantage,  upon  plain  under- 
standing had  what  manner  of  marriage  she  should  make, 
she  would  proceed  to  the  denunciation  of  her  title  as  she 
would  do  for  her  own  natural  daughter.' 1 

It  was  long  before  Randolph  was  allowed  an  audience 
to  give  this  second  message.  The  Queen  of  Scots  had 
quarrelled  again  with  Knox,  whom  she  attempted  to 
provide  with  lodgings  in  Edinburgh  Castle;  the  Lords 
had  interfered,  and  anger  and  disappointment  had  made 
her  ill. 

Moreover  she  was  still  waiting  for  letters 
from  Spain  which  would  not  arrive.     She  was 
waiting  and  would  have  long  to  wait ;    for  the  fire  of 
resolution  no  longer  fanned  by  de  Quadra's  letters  had 
grown  faint  again,  and  other  schemes  and  other  anxieties 


1  Elizabeth  to  Randolph,  November  17  :  Cotton.  MSS.  CALIG.  B.  10, 
Scotch  MtiS.  Rolls  House. 


96  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  41. 

were  distracting  Philip's  mind  from  Scotland.  The  death 
of  Gfuise  and  the  compromise  between  Conde  and  Cathe- 
rine had  destroyed  the  party  which  he  had  raised  in 
France.  Ferdinand  of  Austria  was  on  the  edge  of  the 
grave.  There  was  a  project  for  marrying  the  daughter 
of  Maximilian,  who  would  succeed  to  the  Empire,  to 
Charles  the  Ninth ;  and  this  alliance  might  serve  to  re- 
new the  broken  league  among  the  Catholic  powers,  or  at 
all  events  might  relieve  him  of  his  fear  that  the  prize- 
might  be  secured  by  Mary  Stuart.  A  grave  difficulty 
lay  in  the  character  of  Don  Carlos  himself.  '  The  cruel 
and  sullen  disposition  of  the  Prince  of  Spain '  was  be- 
coming more  dangerous  as  he  grew  towards  manhood. 
His  brain  had  been  hurt  by  a  fall.  His  appetite  was  so 
furious  that  no  gluttony  could  satisfy  it.  His  passions 
were  so  violent  that  the  King  himself  durst  not  thwart 
him  lest  he  should  die  in  the  suffocation  of  his  rage.1 
Such  a  youth  was  no  promising  subject  of  a  matrimonial 
intrigue — no  safe  foundation  on  which  to  build  a  policy. 
Towards  England  Chaloner  described  Philip  as  '  un- 
certain whether  the  ancient  league  or  present  personal 
respects  should  most  prevail  with  him/  The  best- in- 
formed Spaniards  held  a  war  to  be  eventually  inevit- 
able ;  but  they  did  not  expect  it  immediately.  The 
Pope  was  labouring  to  bring  about  a  cordial  action  be- 
tween the  Catholic  sovereigns,  and  it  was  thought  he 
would  eventually  succeed ;  but  the  critical  condition  of 
Flanders — fermenting  on  the  edge  of  rebellion — would 


1  Minutes  of  Sir  Thomas  Chaloner,  December  19  :  Spanish  MSS. 


. 563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE.  97 

probably  postpone  for  the  present  the  rupture  with 
Elizabeth.  Philip,  Chaloner  said,  was  '  a  prince  of  good 
disposition,  soft  nature,  and  given  to  tranquillity/  who 
if  left  to  himself  would  leave  England  in  peace  ;  but 
Alva,  Ruy  Gomez,  de  Feria,  and  others  by  whom  he 
was  surrounded  were  men  of  another  temperament ;  and 
Elizabeth's  wellwishers  in  Spain  advised  her  to  make 
peace  with  France  in  time,  and  reserve  her  strength  for 
the  future  struggle.1 

The  condition  of  Don  Carlos  however  forbade  the 
further  mooting  of  the  Scotch  or  any  other  marriage  for 
him,  and  Mary  Stuart's  hope  of  sharing  the  Crown  of 
Spain,  whatever  else  she  might  expect  from  Philip, 
faded  away.  It  was  necessary  for  her  to  turn  her 
thoughts  elsewhere ;  and  uncertain  what  to  do  she 
at  length  admitted  Randolph  to  her  cabinet  once 
more. 

She  was  again  in  bed.  It  was  after  dinner.  Murray, 
Maitland,  Argyle,  and  a  number  of  other  noblemen  were 
present. 

'  Now,  Mr  Randolph/  she  said,  kissing  as  she  spoke 
a  diamond  heart — a  present  from  Elizabeth — which 
hung  about  her  neck :  '  Now,  Mr  Randolph,  I  long  to 
hear  what  answer  you  have  brought  me  from  my  good 
sister.  I  am  sure  it  cannot  be  but  good/ 

Randolph  delivered  his  message. 

She  listened  without  interest  till  he  spoke  of  her 
recognition,  when  she  became  at  once  attentive.  She 


1  Minutes  of  Sir  Thomas  Chaloner,  December  19  :  Spanish  MSfi. 

TOL.    VII.  7 


9»  REIGN  OF  E  LIZ  ABE  777  ['  1 1.  4 1 . 

expected  however  to  hear  some  person  mimed  as  tlie 
husband  desired  for  her. 

'  You  have  more  to  tell  me/  she  said,  '  let  me  hear 
all/ 

Randolph  answered  that  his  commission  extended 
no  further. 

Lord  Argyle  approached  the  bed.  'My  Lord/  she 
said  to  him,  '  Randolph  here  would  have  me  marry  in 
England.  What  say  you  ?  ' 

'  Is  the  Queen  of  England  become  a  man  ? '  said 
Argyle. 

'  Who  is  there,  my  Lord/  said  she,  '  that  you  would 
wish  me  to  marry  ?  ' 

'  Whoever  your  Majesty  can  like  well  enough/  the 
Earl  answered.  '-I  would  there  was  so  noble  a  man  in 
England  as  you  could  like/ 

'That  would  not  please  the  Hamiltons/  said  the 
Queen. 

'  If  it  please  God  and  be  good  for  your  Majesty's 
country/  Argyle  rejoined,  '  what  matter  it  who  is  dis- 
pleased ? ' 

She  passed  the  subject  off.1 

She  dismissed  Randolph  without  an  answer,  and 
weeks  passed  before  she  sent  for  him  again.  He  spoke 
to  Murray  and  Maitland,  to  all  those  lords  who  were 
under  the  deepest  obligations  to  England,  but  they  were 
cold  and  reserved. 

'  The  Lord  everlasting  bring  it  to  pass/  he  wrote  to 

1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  December  13,  December  21,  and  December  30: 
Scotch  MSS.  Eolls  House. 


1563.]  THE  ENGLISH  AT  HA  VRE.  99 

Elizabeth,  '  that  we  may  rather  rejoice  in  the  birth  of 
your  Majesty's  body  before  any  other  without  the  same, 
whom  God  may  put  in  your  heart  to  yield  your  right 
unto  after  your  Majesty's  days/  * 


Randolph  to  Elizabeth,  January  21,  1564  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


NOTE  TO  p.  30. 

EXTRACT  from  the  Sermon  of  Dr  Nowell  made  at  the  opening  of 
Parliament,  January  12,  1562-3,  from  a  manuscript  in  the  library  of 
Caius  College,  Cambridge  : — 

'  Furthermore,  where  the  Queen's  Majesty  of  her  own  nature  is 
wholly  given  to  clemency  and  mercy,  as  full  well  appeareth  hitherto ; 
for  in  this  realm  was  never  seen  a  change  so  quiet  and  so  long  since 
reigning  without  blood  (God  be  thanked  for  it) ;  howbeit  those  which 
hitherto  will  not  be  reformed,  but  obstinate  and  can  skill  by  no 
clemency  or  courtesy,  ought  otherwise  to  be  used.  But  now  will 
some  say^  *  Oh,  bloody  man  that  calleth  this  the  house  of  right,  and 
now  would  have  it  made  a  house  of  blood.'  But  the  Scripture  teach- 
eth  us  that  divers  faults  ought  to  be  punished  by  death,  and  therefore 
following  God's  precepts  it  cannot  be  accounted  cruel ;  and  it  is  not 
against  this  house,  but  the  part  thereof  ;  to  see  justice  ministered  to 
them  who  will  abuse  clemency.  Therefore  the  goodness  of  Her  Ma- 
jesty's clemency  may  well  and  ought  now  therefore  to  be  changed  to 
justice,  seeing  it  will  not  help.  But  now  to  explicate  myself,  I  say, 
if  any  man  keeping  his  opinion,  will,  and  mind,  close  within  himself, 
and  so  not  open  the  same,  then  he  ought  not  to  be  punished,  but 
when  he  openeth  it  abroad  then  it  hurteth  and  ought  to  be  cut  off: 
And  especially,  if  in  anything  it  touch  the  Queen's  Majesty  ;  for 
such  errors  of  heresy,  ought  not,  as  well  for  God's  quarrel  as  the 
realm's,  to  be  unlocked  unto,  for  clemency  ought  not  to  be  given  to 


100 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  4i. 


the  wolves  to  kill  and  devour  as  they  do  the  lambs,  for  which  cause 
it  ought  to  be  foreseen  ;  for  that  the  Prince  shall  answer  for  all  that 
so  perish,  it  lying  in  her  power  to  redress  it,  for  by  the  Scriptures 
murderers,  breakers  of  the  holy  day,  and  maintainers  of  false  religion 
ought  to  die  by  the  sword. 

'  Also  some  other  sharp  laws  for  adultery,  and  also  for  murder, 
more  stricter  than  for  felony — which  in  France  is  well  used,  as  the 
wheel  for  the  one,  the  halter  for  the  other,  which  if  we  had  here  I 
doubt  not  within  few  years  would  save  many  a  man's  life.' 


101 


CHAPTER  XLII 


SHAN   O  NEIL. 

THE  currency  speculations  of  the  Government  of 
Edward  the  Sixth  had  not  recommended  to  the 
Irish  the  morals  of  the  Reformation;  the  plays  of 
Bishop  Bale  had  failed  to  convert  them  to  its  theology. 
On  the  accession  of  Mary  the  Protestant  missionaries 
had  fled  from  their  duties,  being  unambitious  of  mar- 
tyrdom, and  the  English  service  which  had  been  forced 
into  the  churches  disappeared  without  sound  or  effort. 
The  monasteries  of  the  four  shires,  wherever  the  estates 
had  remained  with  the  Crown,  were  rebuilt  and  rein- 
habited  ;  beyond  the  border  of  the  Pale  the  Irish  chief- 
tains followed  the  example,  wherever  piety  or  super- 
stition were  stronger  than  avarice.  In  the  south  the 
religious  houses  had  been  protected  from  spoliation  by 
the  Earl  of  Desmond,  and  the  monks  had  been  secretly 
supported ;  with  the  change  of  government  they  were 
reinstated  in  their  homes,  and  the  country  reverted  to 
its  natural  condition.  The  English  garrisons  cessed 
and  pillaged  the  farmers  of  Meath  and  Dublin ;  the 


102  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

chiefs  made  forays  upon  each  other,  killing,  robbing, 
and  burning.  When  the  war  broke  out  between  Eng- 
land and  France  there  were  the  usual  conspiracies  and 
uprisings  of  nationality ;  the  young  Earl  of  Kildare, 
in  reward  to  the  Queen  who  had  restored  him  to  his  rank, 
appearing  as  the  natural  leader  of  the  patriots. 

Ireland  was  thus  happy  in  the  gratification  of  all  its 
natural  tendencies.  The  Brehon  law  readvanced  upon 
the  narrow  limits  to  which,  by  the  exertions  of  Henry 
the  Eighth,  the  circuits  of  the  judges  had  been  ex- 
tended ;  and  with  the  Brehon  law  came  anarchy  as  its 
inseparable  attendant.  '  The  Lords  and  Gentiles  of  the 
Irish  Pale  that  were  not  governed  under  the  Queen's 
laws  were  compelled  to  keep  and  maintain  a  great 
number  of  idle  men  of  war  to  rule  their  people  at  home, 
and  exact  from  their  neighbours  abroad  —  working 
every  one  his  own  wilful  will  for  a  law — to  the  spoil  of 
his  country  and  decay  and  waste  of  the  common  weal 
of  the  same.'  'The  idle  men  of  war  ate  up  all  to- 
gether ; '  the  lord  and  his  men  took  what  they  pleased, 
'  destroying  their  tenants  and  themselves  never  the 
better ; '  '  the  common  people  having  nothing  left  to 
lose/  became  '  as  idle  and  careless  in  their  behaviour  as 
the  rest/  '  stealing  by  day  and  robbing  by  night/  Yet 
it  was  a  state  of  things  which  they  seemed  all  equally 
to  enjoy,  and  high  and  low  alike  '  were  always  ready  to 
bury  their  own  quarrels  to  join  against  the  Queen  and 
the  English/  1 


1  The  disorders  of  the  Irishry,  1559 :  Irish  MSS.  Roll*  Honsf. 


1559-] 


SHAN  a  NEIL. 


103 


At  the  time  when  the  crown  passed  to  Elizabeth  the 
good  and  bad  qualities  of  the  people  were  thus  described 
by  a  correspondent  of  the  council. 

1  The  appearance  and  outward  behaviour  of  the  Irish 
sheweth  them  to  be  fruits  of  no  good  tree,  for  they 
exercise  no  virtue,  and  refrain  and  forbear  from  no 
vice,  but  think  it  lawful  to  do  every  man  what  him 
listeth. 

'  They  neither  love  nor  dread  God  nor  yet  hate  the 
devil.  They  are  worshippers  of  images  and  open  idol- 
aters. Their  common  oath  they  swear  is  by  books, 
bells,  and  other  ornaments  which  they  do  use  as  holy 
religion.  Their  chief  and  solemnest  oath  is  by  their 
lord's  or  master's  hand,  which  whoso  forsweareth  is 
sure  to  pay  a  fine  or  sustain  a  worse  turn. 

'  The  Sabbath  day  they  rest  from  all  honest  exer- 
cises, and  the  week  days  they  are  not  idle,  but  worse 
occupied. 

'  They  do  not  honour  their  father  or  mother  so  much 
as  they  do  reverence  strangers. 

'  For  every  murder  they  commit  they  do  not  so  soon 
repent ;  for  whose  blood  they  once  shed,  they  lightly 
never  cease  killing  all  that  name. 

1  They  do  not  so  commonly  commit  adultery ;  not 
for  that  they  profess  or  keep  chastity,  but  for  that  they 
seldom  or  never  marry,  and  therefore  few  of  them  are 
lawful  heirs,  by  the  laws  of  the  realm,  to  the  lands  they 
possess. 

'  They  steal  but  from  the  strong,  and  take  by  vio- 
lence from  the  poor  and  weak. 


104  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

'  They  know  not  so  well  who  is  their  neighbour  as 
whom  they  favour ;  with  him  they  will  witness  in  right 
and  wrong. 

'  They  covet  not  their  neighbours'  goods,  but  com- 
mand all  that  is  their  neighbours'  as  their  own. 

'  Thus  they  live  and  die,  and  there  is  none  to  teach 
them  better.  There  are  no  ministers.  Ministers  will 
not  take  pains  where  there  is  no  living  to  be  had,  nei- 
ther church  nor  parish,  but  all  decayed.  People  will 
not  come  to  inhabit  where  there  is  no  defence  of 
law.'1 

The  condition  of  the  Pale  was  more 
miserable  than  that  of  the  districts  purely 
Irish.  The  garrison  took  from  the  farmers  by  force 
whatever  they  required  for  their  support,  paying  for 
it  in  the  brass  shillings  in  which  they  themselves 
received  their  own  wages.  The  soldiers  robbed  the 
people;  the  Government  had  before  robbed  the  sol- 
diers ;  and  the  captains  of  the  different  districts  in 
turn  robbed  the  Government  by  making  false  returns 
of  the  number  of  men  under  their  command.  They 
had  intermarried  with  the  Irish,  or  had  Irish  mis- 
tresses living  in  the  forts  with  them,  and  thus  for  the 
most  part  they  were  in  league  with  those  whom  they 
were  maintained  to  repress ;  so  that  choosing  one 
master  instead  of  many,  and  finding  themselves  obnox- 
ious to  their  own  countrymen  by  remaining  under  a  rule 
from  which  they  derived  no  protection,  the  tenantry  of 


The  disorders  of  the  Irishry,  1559  :  Jm//  MSS.  Rolls  Howe. 


I559-] 


SHAN  O1  NEIL. 


Meath  flocked  by  hundreds  over  the  northern  border, 
and  took  refuge  with  O'Neil.1 

Sir  Edward  Bellingham  in  1549,  by  firmness  of  hand 
and  integrity  of  heart,  had  made  the  English  name  re- 
spected from  the  Giant's  Causeway  to  Yalentia.  Could 
Bellingham  have  lived  a  few  years  longer  —  could 
Somerset  or  Northumberland  or  Mary,  so  zealous  each 
in  their  way  for  *  the  glory  of  God/  have  remembered 
that  without  common  sense  and  common  honesty  at  the 
bottom  of  them,  creeds  and  systems  are  as  houses  built 
on  quicksands — the  order  which  had  taken  root  might 
have  grown  strong  under  the  shadow  of  justice,  and 
Ireland  might  have  had  a  happier  future. 

But  this  was  not  to  be.  The  labour  and  expense  of 
a  quarter  of  a  century  was  thrown  idly  away.  The 
Irish  army,  since  the  rebellion  of  Lord  Thomas  Fitz- 
gerald, had  cost  thirteen  or  fourteen  hundred  thousand 
pounds,  yet  the  Pale  was  shortened  and  its  revenues 
decreased ;  the  moral  ruin  was  more  complete  than  the 


1  After  six  years  of  discipline 
and  improvement,  Sir  Henry  Sidney 
described  the  state  of  the  four  shires, 
the  Irish  inhabitants,  and  the  Eng- 
lish garrison,  in  the  following  lan- 
guage :— 

'The  English  Pale  is  over- 
whelmed with  vagabonds — stealth 
and  spoil  daily  carried  out  of  it ;  the 
people  miserable — not  two  gentlemen 
in  the  whole  of  it  able  to  lend 
twenty  pounds.  They  have  neither 
horse  nor  armour,  nor  apparel  nor 
victual.  The  soldiers  be  so  beggar- 


like  as  it  would  abhor  a  general  to 
look  on  them ;  yet  so  insolent  as  to 
be  intolerable  to  the  people,  so  rooted 
in  idleness  as  there  is  no  hope  by 
correction  to  amend  them,  yet  so 
allied  with  the  Irish  I  dare  not  trust 
them  in  a  fort  or  in  any  dangerous 
service.  They  have  all  an  Irish 

w e  or  two — never  a    married 

wife  among  them ;  so  that  all  is 
known  that  we  intend  to  do  here.' — 
Sidney  to  Leicester,  March  5,  1556  : 
Irish  MSS.  Bolls  House. 


io6  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  ICH.  42. 

financial,  and  the  report  of  1559  closed  with  an  earnest 
exhortation  to  Elizabeth  to  remember  that  the  Irish 
were  her  subjects ;  that  it  was  her  duty  as  their  sove- 
reign 'to  bring  the  poor  ignorant  people  to  better 
things/  '  and  to  recover  so  many  thousand  lost  souls 
that  were  going  headlong  to  the  devil.'1 

Following  close  on  the  first  survey,  a  more  detailed 
account  was  furnished  to  Cecil  of  the  social  condition  of 
the  people.  The  common  life  of  a  chief  and  the  rela- 
tions between  any  two  adjoining  tribes  were  but  too 
familiar  and  intelligible.  But  there  was  a  general 
organisation  among  the  people  themselves,  extending 
wherever  the  Irish  language  was  spoken,  with  a  civiliz- 
ation of  an  Irish  kind  and  an  intellectual  hierarchy. 
Besides  the  priests  there  were  four  classes  of  spiritual 
leaders  and  teachers,  each  with  their  subdivisions. 

'  The  first/  wrote  Cecil's  correspondent,  '  is  called 
the  Brehon,  which  in  English  is  called  f  the  judge ; ' 
and  before  they  give  judgment  they  take  pawns  of  both 
the  parties,  and  then  they  will  judge  according  to  their 
own  discretion.  These  men  be  neuters,  and  the  Irish- 
men will  not  prey  them.  They  have  great  plenty  of 
cattle,  and  they  harbour  many  vagabonds  and  idle  per- 
sons ;  and  if  there  be  any  rebels  that  move  rebellion 
against  the  prince,  of  these  people  they  are  chiefly 
maintained ;  and  if  the  English  army  fortune  to  travel 
in  that  part  where  they  be,  they  will  flee  to  the  moun- 


1  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


IS59-] 


SHAN  a  NEIL. 


107 


tains  and  woods,  because  they  would  not  succour  them 
with  victuals  and  other  necessaries. 

'  The  next  sort  is  called  the  '  Shankee.'  They  also 
have  great  plenty  of  cattle  wherewith  they  do  succour 
the  rebels.  They  make  the  ignorant  men  of  the  country 
believe  that  they  be  descended  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
or  of  Darius,  or  of  Caesar,  or  of  some  other  notable 
prince,  which  makes  the  ignorant  people  to  run  mad 
and  care  not  what  they  do — the  which  is  very  hurtful 
to  the  realm. 

'  The  third  sort  is  called  '  Denisdan,'  which  is  to 
say  in  English  the  'Boulde.'  These  people  be  very 
hurtful  to  the  commonwealth,  for  they  chiefly  maintain 
the  rebels  ;  and  further  they  do  cause  them  that  would 
be  true,  to  be  rebellious — thieves,  extortioners,  murder- 
ers, raveners — yea  and  worse  if  it  was  possible.  Their 
first  practice,  if  they  see  any  young  man  descended  of  the 
septs  of  0  or  Mac,  and  have  half  a  dozen  about  him,  then 
.will  they  make  a  rhyme  wherein  they  will  commend  his 
father  and  his  ancestors,  numbering  how  many  heads 
they  have  cut  off,  how  many  towns  they  have  burned, 
how  many  virgins  they  have  deflowered,  how  many 
notable  murders  they  have  done  ;  and  in  the  end  they 
will  compare  them  to  Annibal,  or  Scipio,  or  Hercules, 
or  some  other  famous  person — wherewithal  the  poor 
fool  runs  mad  and  thinks  indeed  it  is  so.  Then  will  he 
gather  a  sort  of  rascals  to  him,  and  he  must  get  him  a 
prophesier  who  shall  tell  him  how  he  shall  speed  as  he 
thinks.  Then  will  he  get  him  lurking  to  the  side  of  a 


io8  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

wood  and  there  keepeth  him  close  till  morning;  and 
when  it  is  daylight  then  will  they  go  to  the  poor  vil- 
lages, not  sparing  to  destroy  young  infants  and  aged 
people ;  and  if  a  woman  be  ever  so  great  with  child,  her 
will  they  kill,  burning  the  houses  and  corn,  and  ran- 
sacking the  poor  cots.  Then  will  they  drive  all  the 
kine  and  plough  horses,  with  all  other  cattle,  and  drive 
them  away.  Then  must  they  have  a  bagpipe  blowing 
before  them,  and  if  any  of  the  cattle  fortune  to  wax 
weary  or  faint  they  will  kill  them  rather  than  it  should 
do  the  owner  good.  And  if  they  go  by  any  house  of 
friars  or  religious  house,  they  will  give  them  two  or 
three  beeves ;  and  they  will  take  them  and  pray  for 
them — yea,  and  praise  their  doings,  and  say  'his  father 
was  accustomed  so  to  do ; '  wherein  he  will  rejoice. 

*  And  when  he  is  in  a  safe  place  they  will  fall  to  a 
division  of  the  spoil  according  to  the  discretion  of  the 
captain.  Now  comes  the  rhymer  that  made  the  rhyme 
with  his  '  Rakery.'  The  '  Raker  '  is  he  that  shall  utter 
the  rhyme,  and  the  rhymer  himself  sits  by  with  the  cap- 
tain very  proudly.  He  brings  with  him  also  his  harper, 
who  plays  all  the  while  that  the  raker  sings  the  rhyme. 
Also  he  hath  his  bard,  which  is  a  foolish  fellow  who  must 
nave  a  horse  given  him.  The  harper  must  have  a  new 
saffron  shirt  and  a  mantle  ;  and  the  raker  must  have  two 
or  three  kine  ;  and  the  rhymer  himself  a  horse  and  har- 
ness, with  a  nag  to  ride  on,  a  silver  goblet,  and  a  pair  of 
bedes  of  coral  with  buttons  of  silver.  And  this  with 
more  they  look  for  to  have  for  the  reducing  of  the  people, 
to  the  disruption  of  the  commonwealth  and  blasphemy 


1559-] 


SHAN  a  NEIL. 


109 


of  God ;  for  this  is  the  best  thing  the  rhymer  causeth 
them  to  do. 

1  The  fourth  sort  are  those  which  in  England  are 
called  Poets.  These  men  have  great  store  of  cattle,  and 
use  all  the  trade  of  the  others  with  an  addition  of  pro- 
phecies. These  are  maintainers  of  witches  and  other 
vile  matters  to  the  blasphemy  of  God  and  to  the  impover- 
ishing of  the  commonwealth. 

'  These  four  septs  are  divided  in  all  places  of  the 
four  quarters  of  Ireland  and  some  of  the  islands  beyond 
Ireland,  as  '  the  Land  of  the  Saints/ l  the  '  Innis 
Buffen/  '  Innis  Turk/  '  Innis  Main/  and  '  Innis  Clare.' 
These  islands  are  under  the  rule  of  O'Neil,  and  they  are 
very  pleasant  and  fertile,  plenty  of  wood,  water,  and 
arable  ground  and  pastures,  and  fish,  and  a  verv  temper- 
ate air.2 

'  There  be  many  branches  belonging  to  the  four  septs 
— as  the  Gogath,  which  is  to  say  the  glutton,  for  one  of 
them  will  eat  half  a  mutton  at  a  sitting  :  another  called 
the  Carrow;  he  commonly  goeth  naked  and  carrieth 
dice  and  cards  with  him,  and  he  will  play  the  hair  off 
his  head ;  and  these  be  maintained  by  the  rhymers. 

*  There  is  a  set  of  women  called  the  Goyng  women. 
They  be  blasphemers  of  God,  and  they  run  from  country 
to  country  sowing  sedition  among  the  people.  They  are 
common  to  all  men ;  and  if  any  of  them  happen  to  be 


1  Arran,  outside  Galway  Bay. 

2  At   present    they   are    barren 
heaps  of  treeless  moors  and  moun- 
tains.     They    yield    nothing     but 
scanty  oat-crops  and  potatoes,  and 


though  the  seas  are  full  of  fish  as 
ever,  there  are  no  hands  to  catch 
them.  The  change  is  a  singular 
commentary  on  modern  improve- 
ments. 


I io  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

with  child  she  will  say  that  it  is  the  great  Lord  adjoin- 
ing, whereof  the  Lords  are  glad  and  do  appoint  them,  to 
he  nursed. 

'  There  is  another  two  sorts  that  goeth  about  with 
the  Bachele  of  Jesus,1  as  they  call  it.  These  run  from 
country  to  country ;  and  if  they  come  to  any  house 
where  a  woman  is  with  child  they  will  put  the  same 
about  her,  and  whether  she  will  or  no  causeth  her  to 
give  them  money,  and  they  will  undertake  that  she  shall 
have  good  delivery  of  her  child,  to  the  great  disruption 
of  the  people  concerning  their  souls'  health. 

'  Others  go  about  with  St  Patrick's  crosier,  and  play 
the  like  part  or  worse  ;  and  no  doubt  so  long  as  these 
be  used  the  word  of  God  can  never  be  known  among 
them,  nor  the  Prince  be  feared,  nor  the  country 
prosper.' 

So  stands  the  picture  of  Ireland,  vivid  because  simple, 
described  by  some  half- Anglicised,  half-Protestantized 
Celt  who  wrote  what  he  had  seen  around  him,  careless 
of  political  philosophy  or  of  fine  phrases  with  which  to 
embellish  his  diction.  The  work  of  civilization  had 
again  to  begin  from  the  foundation.  Occupied  with 
Scotland  and  France  and  holding  her  own  throne  by  so 
precarious  a  tenure,  Elizabeth,  for  the  first  eighteen 
months  of  her  reign,  hud  little  leisure  to  attend  to  it ; 
and  the  Irish  leaders,  taking  advantage  of  the  opportun- 
ity, offered  themselves  and  their  services  to  Philip's  am- 
bassador in  England.  The  King  of  Spain,  who  at  the 

1  The  Baculum  Jesus,  said  to  have  been  brought  over  by  St  Patrick. 

2  Report  ou  the  State  of  Ireland,  1559:  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


'559-] 


SHAN  &NEIL. 


in 


beginning  desired  to  spare  and  strengthen  Elizabeth, 
sent  them  a  cold  answer,  and  against  Philip's  will  the 
great  Norman  families  were  unwilling  to  stir.  The  true- 
bred  Celts  however,  whose  sole  political  creed  was  hatred 
of  the  English,  were  less  willing  to  remain  quiet.  To 
the  Celt  it  was  of  small  moment  whether  the  English 
sovereign  was  Protestant  or  Catholic.  The  presence  of 
an  English  deputy  in  Dublin  was  the  symbol  of  his 
servitude  and  the  constant  occasion  for  his  rebellion.  Had 
there  been  no  cause  of  quarrel  the  mere  pleasure  of 
fighting  would  have  insured  periodical  disturbances ;  and 
in  Ulster  there  were  special  causes  at  work  to  produce  a 
convulsion  of  peculiar  severity. 

Identical  in  race  and  scarcely  differing  in  language, 
the  Irish  of  the  north  and  the  Scots  of  the  Western 
Isles  had  for  two  centuries  kept  up  a  close  and  increas- 
ing intercourse.  Some  thousand  Scottish  families  had 
recently  emigrated  from  Bute,  Arran,  and  Argyleshire, 
to  find  settlements  on  the  thinly  peopled  coasts  of  An- 
trim and  Down.  The  Irish  chiefs  had  sought  their 
friendship,  intermarried  with  them,  or  made  war  on 
them,  as  the  humour  of  the  moment  prompted ;  but 
their  numbers  had  steadily  increased  whether  welcome 
or  unwelcome,  and  at  Elizabeth's  accession  they  had  be- 
come objects  of  alarm  both  to  the  native  Irish,  whom 
they  threatened  to  supplant,  and  to  the  English,  whom 
they  refused  to  obey. 

Lord  Sussex,  who  was  Mary's  last  deputy,  had  made 
expeditions  against  them  both  in  the  Isles  and  in  Ulster ; 
but  even  though  assisted  by  the  powers  of  O'Neil  had 


112  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

only  irritated  their  hostility.  They  made  alliance  with 
the  O'Donnells  who  were  O'NeiTs  hereditary  enemies. 
James  M'Connell  and  his  two  brothers,  near  kinsmen  of 
the  House  of  Argyle,  crossed  over  with  two  thousand 
followers  to  settle  in  Tyrconnell,  while  to  the  Callogh 
O'Donnell,  the  chief  of  the  clan,  the  Earl  of  Argyle  him- 
self gave  his  half-sister  for  a  wife. 

With  this  formidable  support  the  O'Donnells  threat- 
ened to  eclipse  their  ancient  rivals,  when  there  rose  up 
from  among  the  O'Neils  one  of  those  remarkable  men 
who  in  their  own  persons  sum  up  and  represent  the 
energy,  intellect,  power,  and  character  of  the  nation  to 
which  they  belong. 

In  the  partial  settlement  of  Ireland  which  had  been 
brought  about  by  Henry  the  Eighth,  the  O'Neils,  among 
the  other  noble  families,  surrendered  their  lands  to  the 
Crown  to  receive  them  again  under  the  usual  feudal 
tenure ;  and  Con  O'Neil  the  Lame  had  received  from 
Henry  for  himself  and  his  heirs  the  title  of  Earl  of 
Tyrone.  For  himself  and  his  heirs — but  who  the  heirs 
of  Con  O'Neil  might  be  was  not  so  easy  to  decide.  His 
son  Shan  in  explaining  his  father's  character  to  Elizabeth 
said  that  he  was  '  a  gentleman/ — the  interpretation  of 
the  word  being  that '  he  never  denied  any  child  that  was 
sworn  to  him,  and  that  he  had  plenty  of  them.' l  The 
favourite  of  the  family  was  the  offspring  of  an  intrigue 
with  a  certain  Alyson  Kelly,  the  wife  of  a  blacksmith  at 
Dundalk.  This  child,  a  boy  named  Matthew,  grew  to 


Shau  O'Neil  to  Elizabeth,  February  8,  1561  :  Irish  MSS,  Rolh  Home. 


I559-]  SHAN  CfNEIL.  113 

be  a  fine  dashing  youth  such  as  an  Irish  father  delighted 
to  honour ;  and  although  the  Earl  had  another  younger 
son,  Shan  or  John,  with  some  pretensions  to  legitimacy, 
Henry  the  Eighth  allowed  the  father  to  name  at  his  will 
the  heir  of  his  new  honours.  Matthew  Kelly  became 
Baron  of  Dungannon  when  O'Neil  received  his  earldom ; 
and  to  Matthew  Kelly  was  secured  the  reversion  on  his 
father's  death  of  the  earldom  itself. 

No  objection  could  be  raised  so  long  as  Shan  was  a 
boy ;  but  as  the  legitimate  heir  grew  to  manhood  the 
arrangement  became  less  satisfactory.  The  other  sons 
whom  Con  had  brought  promiscuously  into  the  world 
were  discontented  with  the  preference  of  a  brother  whose 
birth  was  no  better  than  their  own ;  and  Shan,  with  their 
help,  as  the  simplest  solution  of  the  difficulty,  at  last 
cut  the  Baron  of  Dungannon's  throat. 

They  manage  things  strangely  in  Ireland.  The  old 
O'Neil,  instead  of  being  irritated,  saw  in  this  exploit  a 
proof  of  commendable  energy.  He  at  once  took  Shan 
into  favour,  and  had  he  been  able  would  have  given  him 
his.  dead  brother's  rights  ;  but  unfortunately  the  Baron 
had  left  a  son  behind  him,  and  the  son  was  with  the 
family  of  his  grandmother  beyond  the  reach  of  steel  or 
poison. 

Impatient  of  uncertainty  and  to  secure  himself  by 
possession  against  future  challenge,  Shan  next  conspired 
against  his  father,  deposed  him,  and  drove  him  into  the 
Pale,  where  he  afterwards  died ;  and  throwing  over  his 
English  title  and  professing  to  prefer  the  name  of  O'Neil 
to  any  patent  of  nobility  held  under  an  English  sove- 

VOL.    VII.  8 


114 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  42. 


reign,  he  claimed  the  right  of  succession  by  Irish  cus- 
tom, precedent,  and  law.  In  barbarous  and  half-bar- 
barous tribes  there  is  generally  some  choice  exercised 
among  the  members  of  the  chiefs  family,  or  some  rule 
is  followed,  by  which  the  elder  and  stronger  are  pre- 
ferred to  the  young  and  weak.  In  our  own  Heptarchy 
the  uncle,  if  able  and  brave,  was  preferred  to  the  child 
of  an  elder  brother. 

In  Tyrone  the  clan  elected  their  chief  from  the  blood 
of  the  ancient  kings  ;  and  Shan,  waiving  all  question  of 
legitimacy,  received  the  votes  of  his  people,  took  the 
oath  with  his  foot  upon  the  stone,  and  with  the  general 
consent  of  the  north  was  proclaimed  O'Neil.1 

This  proceeding  was  not  only  an  outrage  against 
order,  but  it  was  a  defiance  of  England  and  the  English 
system.     The  descent  to  an  earldom  could  not  be  regu- 
lated by  election,  and  it  was  obvious  that  the  English 
\  Government  must  either  insist  upon  the  rights  of  the 
I  young  Baron  of  Dungannon,  or  relinquish  the  hope  of 
(  feudalizing  the  Irish  chieftains. 

Knowing  therefore  that  he  could  not  be 
left  long  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  success,  Shan 
O'Neil  attempted  to  compose  his  feud  with  the  O'Don- 
nells,  and  his  first  step  was  to  marry  O'Donnell's  sister. 


1560. 


1  *  They  place  him  that  shall  be 
called  their  captain  upon  a  stone 
always  reserved  for  that  purpose,  and 
commonly  placed  on  a  hill.' — SPEN- 
SEH'S  View  of  the  State  of  Iceland. 
The  stone  in  Westminster  Abhey 
brought  from  Scone  by  Edward  the 


First  was  one  of  these,  and  according 
to  legend  is  the  original  Lias  Fail  or 
thundering  stone  on  which  the  Irish 
kings  were  crowned.  The  Lias 
Fail  however  still  stands  on  Tara 
Hill,  ready  for  use  when  Ireland's 
good  time  returns. 


i56o.] 


SHAN  a  NEIL. 


But  the  reconciliation  was  of  brief  duration  ;  the  smaller 
chiefs  of  Ulster  in  loyal  preference  for  greatness  attached 
themselves  for  the  most  part  to  the  O'Neils.  Shan,  no 
longer  careful  of  offence,  l  misused  '  his  wife ;  and  the 
Callogh,  at  the  time  when  the  notice  of  the  English 
Government  began  to  be  drawn  towards  the  question, 
was  preparing,  with  the  help  of  the  Scots,  to  revenge  her 
injuries.1 

Where  private  and  public  interests  were  closely  in- 
terwoven there  was  a  necessary  complication  of  sides 
and  movements.  The  English  Government,  in  the  be- 
lief that  the  sister  of  the  Earl  of  Argyle  might  be  a 
means  of  introducing  Protestantism  into  Ulster,  made 
advances  to  the  M'Connells  whom  before  they  had 
treated  as  enemies ;  they  sent  a  present  to  the  Countess2 
of  some  old  dresses  of  Queen  Mary's  '  for  a  token  of 
favour/  and  they  promised  to  raise  the  Callogh  to  a 
rival  earldom  on  condition  of  good  service. 

They  were  encountered  however  by  an  embarrassing 
cross  current.  The  M'Connells  affected  to  reciprocate 
the  English  good  will,  but  the  Earl  of  Argyle's  con- 


1  A  detailed  account  of    these 
proceedings  is  found  in  a  letter  of 
Lord  Justice    Fitzwilliam    to    the 
Earl  of  Sussex,  written  on  the  8th 
of  March,  1560.—  Irish  MSS.  Rolls 
House. 

2  This  lady,  who  was  mentioned 
ahove  as  the  wife  of  the  Callogh 
and  the  half-sister  of  Macallummore, 
is  always  described  in  the  Irish  de- 
spatches as  the  Countess  of  Argyle. 
There  is  no  difficulty  in  identifying 


the  person.    It  is  less  easy  to  under? 
stand  the  title. 

3  '  MEMOKANDUM. — To  send  to 
O'Donnell,  with  the  Queen's  thanks 
for  service  done,  and  her  promise  to 
make  him  an  Earl  on  further  merit 
on  his  part.  The  gown  and  kirtle 
that  were  Queen  Mary's,  with  some 
old  habiliments,  to  he  sent  to  the 
Countess  Avgyle,  O'Donneli's  wife, 
for  a  token  of  favour  to  her  good  dis- 
position in  religion.'  —Irish  MSS. 


f  16  REIGN'  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

nection  with  the  reforming  party  in  Scotland  had  not 
touched  the  dependencies  of  his  clan.  The  hearts  of 
ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  persons  on  the  north  of 
Tweed  were  fixed  on  securing  the  English  crown  either 
for  Arran  or  for  Mary  Stuart ;  and  James  M'Connell  was 
heard  in  private  to  say  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  was  right- 
ful Queen  of  England.1  Shan  O'Neil  therefore  adroitly 
availed  himself  of  the  occasion  to  detach  from  the  O'Doii- 
nells  their  formidable  northern  allies.  The  '  misused  * 
wife  being  disposed  of  by  some  process  of  murder  or 
otherwise,  he  induced  M'Connell  to  give  him  his  daugh- 
ter. He  married  or  proposed  to  marry  her — for  ties  of 
this  kind  sat  with  astonishing  lightness  on  him — and 
the  Callogh  was  outmanoeuvred. 

Again  an  interval,  and  there  was  another  and  a  bolder 
change.  Either  the  new  lady  did  not  please  Shan  or 
his  ambition  soared  to  a  higher  flight.  Supposing  that 
the  Scots  in  Ireland  would  not  dare  to  resent  what  the 
jEarl  of  Argyle  should  approve,  and  that  the  clan  would 
welcome  his  support  to  Mary  Stuart's  claims,  he  had 
scarcely  rid  himself  of  his  first  wife  and  married  a  second 
than  he  wrote  to  the  Earl  proposing  that  his  sister  the 
Countess  should  be  transferred  from  O'Donnell  to  him- 
self. The  M'Connells  could  be  got  rid  of,  and  the 
Scotch  colony  might  pass  under  the  protection  of  the 


1  '  At  my  kinsman  being  with 
him  in  Kintyre,  James  M'Connell 
ministered  to  him  very  evil  talk 
against  the  Queen's  Majesty,  saying 
the  Queen  of  England  was  a  bastard, 
and  the  Queen  of  Scotland  rightful 


heir  to  the  crown  of  England.  It 
was  not  once  nor  twice,  but  divers 
times  ;  not  only  by  him  but  by  his 
wife  also.' — John  Piers  to  Sir  Wil- 
liam Fitz  william.  Irish  MSS.  Rolls 


1560.  ]  SHAN  O  NEIL.  1 1 7 

O'Neils.  James  M'Connell's  daughter  might  be  thought 
a  difficulty,  '  but  we  swear  to  you  our  kingly  oath/  the 
audacious  Shan  dared  to  write,  '  that  there  is  no  impedi- 
ment by  reason  of  any  such  woman.'1 

Unprepared  to  recognize  such  swift  transmutations, 
and  at  that  time  concerned  with  the  rest  of  his  party  in 
the  scheme  for  the  elevation  of  the  Earl  of  Arran,  Ar- 
gyle  contented  himself  with  enclosing  Shan's  letter  to 
the  English  council.  He  told  them  briefly  that  O'Neil 
was  the  most  dangerous  person  in  Ireland ;  and  he  said 
that  unless  the  Queen  was  prepared  to  acknowledge  him 
she  had  better  lose  no  time  in  bringing  him  to  reason.2 

So  matters  stood  in  Ireland  in  the  spring  of  1560, 
when  the  conspiracy  of  the  Guises  and  the  necessity  of 
defending  her  throne  forced  Elizabeth  into  the  Scotch 
war.  The  deputy,  Lord  Sussex,  was  in  England  ;  Sir 
William  Fitzwilliam  was  left  in  command  in  Dublin, 
watching  the  country  with  uneasy  misgivings ;  and  from 
the  symptoms  reported  to  him  from  every  quarter  he 
anticipated,  notwithstanding  Philip's  coldness,  a  summer 
of  universal  insurrection ;  the  Parliament  of  the  Pale 
had  given  the  Catholics  a  rallying  cry  by  endorsing  the 
Act  of  Uniformity ;  and  '  big  words/  '  prophecies  of  the 
expulsion  of  the  English  within  the  year/  and  rumours  of 
armies  of  liberation  from  France  and  Spain,  filled  all 
the  air.  The  outward  quiet  was  undisturbed,  but  '  in- 
wardly never  such  fears  since  the  rebellion  of  Lord 
Thomas  Fitzgerald/  The  country  was  for  the  most  part 

1  Notice  and  letter  sent  by  the  Earl  of  Argyle  ;  Irish  MSB.  Rolls  House 
3  Ibid. 


118  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

a  wilderness,  but  the  desolation  would  be  no  security. 
The  Irish,  Fitzwilliam  anxiously  reported,  could  keep 
the  field  where  the  English  would  starve ;  '  no  men  of 
war  ever  lived  the  like,  nor  others  of  God's  making  as 
touching  feeding  and  living ;  they  were  like  beasts  and 
vermin  bred  from  the  earth  and  the  filth  thereof;  but 
brute  and  bestial  as  by  their  outward  life  they  showed, 
there  was  not  under  the  sun  a  more  craftier  vipered 
undermining  generation/  * 

The  immediate  fear  was  of  the  great  southern  earls. 
If  Kildare  and  Desmond  rose,  the  whole  of  Ireland  would 
rise  with  them,  even  the  Pale  itself.  They  had  promised 
Fitzwilliam  to  be  loyal,  but  he  did  not  trust  them. 
They  had  met  at  Limerick  in  the  winter ;  they  were 
known  to  have  communicated  with  Shan,  and  O'Brien 
of  Inchiquin  had  gone  to  Spain  and  France  to  solicit 
assistance.  If  he  brought  back  a  favourable  answer,  the 
Geraldines  '  would  take  the  English  part  until  such  time 
as  the  push  came,  and  then  the  English  company  should 
be  paid  home/2 

Most  fortunately  for  Elizabeth  the  success  of  the 
Queen  of  Scots  was  more  formidable  to  Philip  than 
the  temporary  triumph  of  heresy.  He  discouraged  all 
advances  to  himself;  he  used  his  best  endeavours  to  pre- 
vent the  Irish  from  looking  for  assistance  in  France ; 
and  although  his  advice  might  have  been  little  attended 
to  had  the  Guises  been  at  liberty  to  act,  Elizabeth's 
intrigues  with  the  Huguenots  had  provided  them  with 

1  Fitzwilliam  to  Cecil,  March  and  April,  1560  :  Irish  MSS.  Holla  Rouse. 
2  Ibid. 


1560.]  SHAN  a  NEIL.  119 

sufficient  work  at  home.  They  could  spare  no  troops 
for  Ireland  while  they  were  unable  to  reinforce  their 
army  at  Leith. 

O'Brien  however  received  promises  in  abundance. 
Three  French  ships  accompanied  him  on  his  return,  and 
Irish  imagination  added  thirty  or  forty  which  were  said 
to  be  on  the  way.  Kildare  called  his  retainers  under 
arms,  and  held  a  Parliament  of  chiefs  at  Maynooth  which 
was  opened  with  public  mass.  In  speeches  of  the  time- 
honoured  type  the  patriotic  orators  dwelt  upon  the 
wrongs  of  Ireland ;  they  swore  that  they  would  be 
*  slaves '  no  longer  ;  they  protested  '  that  their  kingdom 
was  kept  from  them  by  force  by  such  as  were  aliens  in 
blood ; '  and  Fitzwilliam,  frightened  by  the  loud  words, 
wrote  in  haste  for  assistance  that  '  the  English  might 
fight  for  their  lives  before  they  were  all  dead.'1 

"With  the  death  of  Henry  the  Second,  the  fall  of 
Leith,  and  the  failure  of  the  French  to  appear,  the 
Irish  courage  cooled  and  the  more  pressing  danger 
passed  off.  Kildare's  larger  knowledge  showed  him 
that  the  opportunity  was  gone.  His  father's  death  on 
the  scaffold  and  his  own  long  exile  had  taught  him 
that  without  support  from  abroad  a  successful  insurrec- 
tion was  impossible  ;  and  having  no  personal  interests 
to  defend  he  bought  his  pardon  for  the  treason  which 
he  had  meditated  by  loyally  returning  to  his  allegiance. 

Shan    O'Neil   was   less   favourably   circumstanced. 
His  rank  and  his  estates  were  at  stake,  and  he  on  his 


Advertisements  out  of  Ireland,  May  28,  1560 :  Irish  MSS.  Soils  House. 


120  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.42. 

part  had  determined  never  to  submit  at  all  unless  he 
was  secured  in  their  possession.  But  he  too  thought  it 
prudent  to  temporize.  His  father  was  by  this  time 
dead.  He  was  required  to  appear  before  Elizabeth  in 
person  to  explain  the  grounds  on  which  he  challenged 
his  inheritance ;  and  after  stipulating  for  a  safe-conduct, 
and  an  advance  of  money  for  expenses  of  his  journey, 
he  affected  a  willingness  to  comply ;  but  he  chose  to 
treat  with  the  Government  at  first  hand,  and  in  a  cha- 
racteristic letter  to  Elizabeth  he  prepared  the  way  for 
his  reception. 

He  described  his  father's  miscellaneous  habits,  and 
*  gentlemanlike '  readiness  to  acknowledge  every  child 
that  was  assigned  to  him ;  he  explained  his  brother's 
birth  and  his  own  election  as  the  O'Neil ;  he  then  pro- 
ceeded thus  :— * 

'  The  deputy  has  much  ill-used  me,  your 
Majesty;  and  now  that  I  am  going  over  to 
see  you  I  hope  you  will  consider  that  I  am  but  rude 
and  uncivil,  and  do  not  know  my  duty  to  your 
Highness  nor  yet  your  Majesty's  laws,  but  am  one 
brought  up  in  wildness  far  from  all  civility.  Yet  have 
I  a  good  will  to  the  commonwealth  of  my  country ; 
and  please  your  Majesty  to  send  over  two  commission- 
ers that  you  can  trust  that  will  take  no  bribes  nor 
otherwise  be  imposed  on,  to  observe  what  I  have  done 
to  improve  the  country  and  to  hear  what  my  accusers 
have  to  say ;  and  then  let  them  go  into  the  Pale  and 

1  The  voluininousness  of  the  letter  renders  some  abridgment  necessary; 
but  the  character,  suhstancc,  and  arrangement  are  preserved. 


1561.]  SHAN  C? NEIL.  121 

hear  what  the  people  say  of  your  soldiers  with  their 
horses  and  their  dogs  and  their  concubines.  Within 
this  year  and  a  half  three  hundred  fanners  are 
come  from  the  English  Pale  to  live  in  my  country 
where  they  can  he  safe. 

'  Please  your  Majesty,  your  Majesty's  money  here 
is  not  so  good  as  your  money  in  England,  and  will 
not  pass  current  there.  Please  your  Majesty  to 
send  me  three  thousand  pounds  of  English  money  to 
pay  my  expenses  in  going  over  to  you,  and  when  I 
come  back  I  will  pay  your  deputy  three  thousand 
pounds  Irish,  such  as  you  are  pleased  to  have  current 
here. 

(  Also  I  will  ask  your  Majesty  to  marry  me  to  some 
gentlewoman  of  noble  blood  meet  for  my  vocation.  I 
will  make  Ireland  all  that  your  Majesty  wishes  for  you. 
I  am  very  sorry  your  Majesty  is  put  to  such  expense. 
If  you  will  trust  it  to  me  I  will  undertake  that  in  three 
years  you  shall  have  a  revenue  where  now  you  have 
continual  loss. 

'  Also  your  Majesty's  father  granted  certain  lands  to 
my  father  O'Neil  and  to  his  son  Matthew.  Mat  Kelly 
claims  these  lands  of  your  Majesty.  We  have  a  saying 
among  us  Irishmen  that  '  whatsoever  bull  do  chance  to 
bull  any  cow  in  any  kerragh,  notwithstanding,  the  right 
owner  of  the  cow  shall  have  the  calf  and  not  the  owner 
of  the  bull.'  How  can  it  be  or  how  can  it  stand  with 
natural  reason  that  the  said  Matthew  should  inherit 
my  father's  lands,  and  also  inherit  his  own  rightful 
father  the  smith's,  and  also  his  mother's  lands  which 


122  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.42. 

the   said   Matthew   hath   peaceably   in  possession  ? J 1 

Whether  Shan  would  follow  up  his  letter  by  really 
going  over  was  not  so  certain.  It  depended  on  the 
answer  which  he  received,  or  on  the  chances  which 
might  offer  themselves  to  him  of  doing  better  for  him- 
self in  some  other  way. 

The  English  Government  had  no  advantage  over 
him  in  sincerity.  Towards  Ireland  itself  the  intentions 
of  Elizabeth  were  honourable ;  but  she  had  determined 
to  use  her  first  leisure  in  restoring  order  and  obedience 
there;  and  for  Shan  the  meaning  of  his  summons  to 
England  was  merely  to  detain  him  '  with  gentle  talk/ 
till  Sussex  could  return  to  his  command  and  the  Eng- 
lish army  be  reinforced. 

Preparations  were  made  to  send  men  and  money  in 
such  large  quantities  that  rebellion  should  have  no 
chance ;  and  so  careful  was  the  secrecy  which  was  ob- 
served to  prevent  Shan  from  taking  alarm,  that  a  detach- 
ment of  troops  sent  from  Portsmouth  sailed  with  sealed 
orders,  and  neither  men  nor  officers  knew  that  Ireland 
was  their  destination  till  they  had  rounded  the  Land's 
End.2 

Notwithstanding  these  precautions  Shan's  friends 
found  means  to  put  him  on  his  guard.  He  was  to  have 
sailed  from  Dublin,  but  the  weeks  passed  on  and  he  did 
not  make  his  appearance.  At  one  time  his  dress  was 


1  Shan  O'Neil  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  February  8,  1561 :  Irish  JTSS. 
Compare  Shan  0'ISTeil  to  Cecil  (same  date). 

2  Matters  to  be  ordered  for  Ireland,  February  25,  March  4,  March  13 : 
Irish  MSS. 


1S6i.j  SHAN  a  NEIL.  123 

not  ready ;  at  another  he  had  110  money,  and  pressed  to 
have  his  loan  of  the  three  thousand  pounds  sent  up  for 
him  into  Tyrone  ;  and  to  this  last  request  Fitzwilliam 
would  give  no  sort  of  encouragement,  '  being/  as  he 
said,  '  for  his  own  part  unwilling  to  lend  Shan  five 
shillings  on  his  bond,  and  being  certain  that  he  would 
no  sooner  have  received  the  money  than  he  would  laugh 
at  them  all.' 

The  Government  however  cared  little  whether  he 
submitted  or  stayed  away.  As  yet  they  had  not  been 
forced  to  recognize  Shan's  ability,  and  the  troops  who 
were  to  punish  him  were  on  their  way.  Kildare,  whom 
Elizabeth  most  feared,  had  gone  to  London  on  her  first 
invitation.  As  long  as  Kildare  was  loyal  Desmond 
would  remain  quiet ;  and  no  serious  rebellion  was  con- 
sidered any  longer  possible.  O'Donnell  was  prepared 
to  join  the  English  army  on  its  advance  into  Ulster  ; 
and  the  Scots,  notwithstanding  their  predilection  for 
Mary  Stuart,  were  expected  to  act  as  Argyle  and  as  his 
sister  '  should  direct.' 

But  Shan  had  prepared  a  master-stroke  which  dis- 
concerted this  last  arrangement.  Though  his  suit  found 
no  favour  with  the  Earl  of  Argyle,  he  had  contrived 
to  ingratiate  himself  with  'the  Countess.'  The  Scots 
were  chiefly  anxious  to  secure  their  settlements  in 
Antrim  and  Down ;  and  Shan  was  a  more  useful  ally  for 
them  than  Elizabeth  or  the  feeble  Callogh.  The  lady 
from  whom  such  high  hopes  had  been  formed  cared  less 
for  Protestantism  than  for  the  impassioned  speeches  of  a 
lover  ;  and  while  Queen  Mary's  gown  and  kirtle  were 


124  REIGN1  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

on  their  way  to  her,  Fitzwilliam  was  surprised  with  the 
sudden  news  that  Shan  had  made  a  raid  into  Tyrconnell 
and  had  carried  off  both  her  and  her  husband.  Her 
Scotch  guard,  though  fifteen  hundred  strong,  had  offered 
no  resistance ;  and  the  next  news  was  that  the  Callogh 
was  a  prisoner  in  Shan's  castle,  and  that  the  Countess 
was  the  willing  paramour  of  the  0'  Neil.  The  affront 
to  M'Connell  was  forgiven,  or  atoned  for  by  private  ar- 
rangement ;  and  the  sister  of  the  Earl  of  Argyle — an 
educated  woman  for  her  time,  '  not  unlearned  in  Latin/ 
'  speaking  French  and  Italian/  '  counted  sober,  wise,  and 
no  less  subtle ' — had  betrayed  herself,  her  people,  and 
her  husband.1 

The  O'Neils  by  this  last  manoeuvre  became  supreme 
in  Ulster.  Deprived  of  their  head,  the  O'Donnells  sunk 
into  helplessness  ;  the  whole  force  of  the  province,  such 
as  it  was,  with  the  more  serious  addition  of  several 
thousand  Scotch  marauders,  was  at  Shan's  disposal,  and 
thus  provided  he  thought  himself  safe  in  defying  Eng- 
land to  do  its  worst. 

Both  sides  prepared  for  war.  Sussex  returned  to 
Dublin  at  the  beginning  of  June;  his  troops  and  sup- 
plies had  arrived  before  him ;  and  after  a  debate  in  '  the 
council'  the  Irish  of  the  Pale  were  invited  to  join  in  a 
'  general  hosting  '  into  Tyrone  on  the  first  of 
July.  Sussex  himself,  as  a  preliminary  move, 
made  a  dash  upon  Armagh.  He  seized  the  cathedral, 
which  he  fortified  as  a  depot  for  his  stores.  Leaving  a 


Fit/william  to  Cecil,  May  30:  Irish  MSS. 


SHAN  O'NETL. 


125 


garrison  there  lie  fell  back  into  Meath,  where  in  a  few 
days  he  was  joined  by  Ormond  with  flying  companies 
of  '  galloglasse.' 

But  Sussex  did  not  yet  understand  the  man  with 
whom  he  was  dealing.  He  allowed  himself  to  be  amused 
and  delayed  by  negotiations  ; J  and  while  he  was  making- 
promises  to  Shan  which  it  is  likely  that  he  intended  to 
disregard,  Armagh  was  almost  lost  again. 

Seeing  a  number  of  kerne  scattered  about  the  town 
the  officer  in  command  sallied  out  upon  them,  when 
Shan  himself  suddenly  appeared,  accompanied  by  the 
Catholic  Archbishop,  on  a  hill  outside  the  walls ;  and  the 
English  had  but  time  to  recover  their  defences  when 
the  whole  Irish  army,  led  by  a  procession  of  monks  and 
'every  man  carrying  a  faggot/  came  on  to  burn  the 
cathedral  over  their  heads.  The  monks  sung  a  mass  ; 
the  primate  walked  three  times  up  and  down  the  lines, 
'  willing  the  rebels  to  go  forward,  for  God  was  on  their 
side.'  Shan  swore  a  great  oath  not  to  turn  his  back 
while  an  Englishman  was  left  alive  ;  and  with  scream 
and  yell  his  men  came  on.  Fortunately  there  were  no 
Scots  among  them.  The  English,  though  outnumbered 
ten  to  one,  stood  steady  in  the  churchyard,  and  after  a 
sharp  hand  to  hand  fight  drove  back  the  howling  crowd. 
The  Irish  retired  into  the  '  friars'  houses '  outside  the 
cathedral  close,  set  them  on  lire,  and  ran  for  their  lives. 


1  'The  second  of  this  .month  we 
assembled  at  Raskreagh,  Mid  still 
treated  with  Shan  for  his  going  to 
your  Majesty,  making  him  great 


offers  if  he  would  go  quietly.'—  Sus- 
sex to  the  Queen,  July  16 :  Irish 
3f88. 


126  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [01143. 

So  far  all  was  well.  After  this  there  was  no  more 
talk  of  treating;  and  by  the  i8th,  Sussex  and  Ormond 
were  themselves  at  Armagh,  with  a  force — had  there 
been  skill  to  direct  it — sufficient  to  have  swept  Tyrone 
from  border  to  border. 

The  weather  however  was  wet,  the  rivers  were  high, 
and  slight  difficulties  seemed  large  to  the  English  com- 
mander. He  stayed  in  the  town  doing  nothing  till  the 
end  of  the  month,  when  his  provisions  began  to  run 
short,  and  necessity  compelled  him  to  move.  Spies 
brought  him  word  that  in  the  direction  of  Cavan  there 
were  certain  herds  of  cows  which  an  active  party  might 
cut  off;  and  cattle-driving  being  the  approved  method 
of  making  war  in  Ireland,  the  Deputy  determined  to 
have  them. 

The  Earl  of  Ormond  was  ill,  and  Sussex,  in  an  evil 
hour  for  his  reputation,  would  not  leave  him.  His  troops 
without  their  commander  set  out  with  Irish  guides  for 
the  spot  where  the  cows  had  been  seen. 

O'Neil  as  may  be  supposed  had  been  playing  upon 
Saxon  credulity ;  the  spies  were  his  own  men  ;  and  the 
object  was  merely  to  draw  the  English  among  bogs  and 
rivers  where  they  could  be  destroyed.  They  were  to 
have  been  attacked  at  night  at  their  first  halting-place ; 
and  they  escaped  only  by  the  accident  of  an  alteration 
of  route.  Early  the  following  morning  they  were  march- 
ing forward  in  loose  order ;  Fitzwilliam,  with  a  hundred 
horse,  was  a  mile  in  advance  ;  five  hundred  men-at-arms 
with  a  few  hundred  loyal  Irish  of  the  Pale  straggled 
after  him ;  another  hundred  horse  under  James  Wing- 
field  brought  up  the  rear. 


1561.]  SHAN  &NEIL.  127 

Weaker  in  numbers,  for  his  whole  force  did  not 
amount  to  more  than  six  hundred  men,  O'Neil  came  up 
with  them  from  behind.  Wingfield  instead  of  holding 
his  ground  galloped  forward  upon  the  men-at-arms,  and 
as  horses  and  men  were  struggling  in  confusion  together, 
on  came  the  Irish  with  their  wild  battle-cry — '  Laundarg 
Abo ! '— 'The  bloody  hand !  '—< Strike  for  O'BTeil.'  The 
cavalry,  between  shame  and  fear,  rode  down  their  own 
men,  and  extricated  themselves  only  to  fly  panic-stricken 
from  the  field  to  the  crest  of  an  adjoining  hill,  while 
Shan's  troopers  rode  through  the  broken  ranks  '  cutting 
down  the  footmen  on  all  sides/ 

Fitzwilliam,  ignorant  of  what  was  passing  behind  him, 
was  riding  leisurely  forwards,  when  a  horseman  was  ob- 
served galloping  wildly  in  the  distance  and  waving  his 
handkerchief  for  a  signal.  The  yells  and  cries  were 
heard  through  the  misty  morning  air,  and  Fitzwilliam, 
followed  by  a  gentleman  named  Parkinson  and  ten  or 
twelve  of  his  own  servants,  hurried  back  'in  a  happy 
hour.' 

.  Without  a  moment's  delay  he  flung  himself  into  the 
melee.  Sir  George  Stanley  was  close  behind  him  with 
the  rest  of  the  advanced  horse  ;  '  and  Shan,  receiving- 
such  a  charge  of  those  few  men  and  seeing  more  coming 
after/  ran  no  further  risk,  blew  a  recall  note  and  with- 
drew impursued.  Fitzwilliam' s  courage  alone  had  pre- 
vented the  army  from  being  annihilated.  Out  of  five 
hundred  English,  fifty  lay  dead,  and  fifty  more  were 
badly  wounded  ;  the  Irish  contingent  had  disappeared  ; 
and  the  survivors  of  the  force  fell  back  to  Armagh  so 
'  dismayed '  as  to  be  unfit  for  further  service. 


128  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  42. 

in  his  official  report  to  the  Queen  the  Earl  of  Sussex 
made  light  of  his  loss,  and  pretended  that  after  a  slight 
repulse  he  had  won  a  brilliant  victory.  The  object  of 
the  false  despatch  however  was  less  to  deceive  Elizabeth 
than  to  blind  the  English  world.  To  Cecil  the  Deputy 
was  more  open,  and  though  professing  still  that  he  had 
escaped  defeat,  admitted  the  magnitude  of  the  disaster. 

'  By  the  cowardice  of  some/  Sussex  said, '  all  was  like 
to  have  been  lost,  and  by  the  worthiness  of  two  men  all 
was  restored  and  the  contrary  part  overthrown.  It  was 
by  cowardice  the  dreadfullest  beginning  that  ever  was 
seen  in  Ireland ;  and  by  the  valiantness  of  a  few  (thanks 
be  given  to  Grod !)  brought  to  a  good  end.  Ah !  Mr 
Secretary,  what  unfortunate  star  hung  over  me  that  day 
to  draw  me,  that  never  could  be  persuaded  to  be  absent 
from  the  army  at  any  time,  to  be  then  absent  for  a 
little  disease  of  another  man  ?  The  rereward  was  the 
best  and  picked  soldiers  in  all  this  land.  If  I  or  any 
stout  man  had  been  that  day  with  them,  we  had  made 
an  end  of  Shan,  which  is  now  further  off  than  ever  it 
was.  Never  before  durst  Scot  or  Irishman  look  on 
Englishmen  in  plain  or  wood  since  I  was  here ;  and  now 
Shan,  in  a  plain  three  miles  away  from  any  wood,  and 
where  I  would  have  asked  of  God  to  have  had  him,  hath 
with  a  hundred  and  twenty  horse  and  a  few  Scots  and 
galloglasse,  scarce  half  in  numbers,  charged  our  whole 
army,  and  by  the  cowardice  of  one  wretch  whom  I  hold 
dear  to  me  as  my  own  brother,  was  like  in  one  hour  to 
have  left  not  one  man  of  that  army  alive,  and  after  to 
have  taken  me  and  the  rest  at  Armagh.  The  fame  of 


SHAN  a  NEIL. 


129 


August. 


the  English  army,  so  hardly  gotten,  is  now  vanquished, 
and  I  wrecked  and  dishonoured  by  the  vileness  of  other 
men's  deeds.'  1 

The  answer  of  Cecil  to  this  sad  despatch 
betrays  the  intriguing  factiousness  which  dis- 
graced Elizabeth's  Court.  Lord  Pembroke  seemed  to 
be  the  only  nobleman  whose  patriotism  could  be  depended 
on  ;  and  in  Pembroke's  absence  there  '  was  not  a  person 
—  no/  Cecil  reiterated,  'not  one,'  who  did  not  either 
wish  so  well  to  Shan  O'Neil  or  so  ill  to  the  Earl  of 
Sussex  as  rather  to  welcome  the  news  than  regret  the 
English  loss.2 

The  truth  was  soon  known  in  London  notwithstand- 
ing 'the  varnished  tale'  with  which  Sussex  had  sought 
to  hide  it.  A  letter  from  Lady  Kildare  to  her  husband 
represented  the  English  army  as  having  been  totally 
defeated  ;  and  Elizabeth,  irritated  as  usual  at  the  profit- 
less expense  in  which  she  had  been  involved,  determined, 
in  her  first  vexation,  to  bury  no  more  money  in  Irish 
morasses.  Kildare  undertook  to  persuade  Shan  into 
conformity  if  she  would  leave  him  in  possession  of  what 
it  appeared  she  was  without  power  to  take  from  him  ; 
the  Queen  consented  to  everything  which  he  proposed, 
and  the  old  method  of  governing  Ireland  by  the  Irish  — 
that  is,  of  leaving  it  to  its  proper  anarchy  —  was  about 
to  be  resumed.  Most  tempting  and  yet  most  fatal  ; 
for  the  true  desire  of  the  Irish  leaders  was  to  cut  the 
links  altogether  which  bound  them  to  England,  and 

1  Sussex  to  Cecil,  July  31  :  Irish  MSS. 
2  Cecil  to  Sussex,  August  12  :  WRIGHT,  vol.  i. 


VOL.    VII. 


9 


130  REIGN  QF  ELIZABETH.  [011.42 

England  could  not  play  into  their  hands  more  effectively 
than  by  leaving  them  to  destroy  at  their  leisure  the  few 
chiefs  who  had  dared  to  be  loyal. 

Kildare  returned  ito  Dublin  with  full  powers  to  act  as 
he  should  think  best ;  while  Sussex,  leaving  a  garrison 
as  before  in  Armagh  Cathedral,  returned  with  the  dis- 
pirited remnant  of  his  army  into  the  Pale.  Fitzwilliam 
was  despatched  to  London  to  explain  the  disaster  to 
the  Queen ;  and  the  Irish  council  sent  a  petition  by  his 
hands,  that  the  troops  who  had  been  so  long  quartered 
in  the  four  shires  should  be  recalled  or  disbanded.  Use- 
less in  the  field  and  tyrannical  to  the  farmer,  they  were 
a  burden  on  the  English  exchequer  and  answered  no 
purpose  but  to  make  the  English  name  detested. 

The  petition  corresponded  but  too  well  with  Elizabeth' s 
private  inclination,  but  Fitzwilliam  while  he  presented 
it  did  not  approve  of  its  recommendations ;  he  implored 
her — and  he  was  supported  in  his  entreaties  by  Cecil — 
to  postpone,  at  least  for  a  short  time,  a  measure  which 
would  be  equivalent  to  an  abandonment  of  Ireland. 
The  Queen  yielded,  and  in  allowing  the  army  to  remain 
permitted  it  to  be  reinforced  from  the  trained  soldiers 
of  Berwick.  Fitzwilliam  carried  back  with  him  three 
thousand  pounds  to  pay  the  arrears  of  wages ;  Cecil 
pressed  hard  for  three  thousand  besides ;  but  Elizabeth 
would  risk  no  more  till  ( she  saw  some  fruit  arise  from 
her  expenditure.' 

To  Shan  O'Neil  she  sent  a  pardon  with  a  safe- con- 
duct for  his  journey  to  England  if  Kildare  could  prevail 
on  him  to  come  to  her ;  and  '  accepting  the  defeat  as 


1561.]  SHAN  a  NEIL.  131 

i/he  chance  of  war  which  she  must  bear/  she  expressed 
to  Sussex  her  general  surprise  at  his  remissness,  with 
her  regret  that  an  English  officer  should  have  disgraced 
himself  by  cowardice.  She  desired  that  Wingfield  might 
be  immediately  sent  over  and  that  the  other  offenders 
should  be  apprehended  and  imprisoned.1 

Meantime  Sussex,  having  failed  in  the  field,  had  at- 
tempted to  settle  his  difficulties  by  other  methods.  A 
demand  from  Shan  had  followed  him  info  the  Pale  that 
the  Armagh  garrison  should  be  withdrawn.  The  bearers 
of  the  message  were  Cant  well,  0 'Neil's  seneschal,  and  a 
certain  Neil  Grey,  one  of  his  followers,  who  affected  to 
dislike  rebellion  and  gave  the  Deputy  an  opportunity  of 
working  on  him.  Lord  Sussex,  it  appeared,  regarded 
Shan  as  a  kind  of  vermin  whom  having  failed  to  capture 
in  fair  chase  he  might  destroy  by  the  first  expedient 
which  came  to  his  hand. 

The  following  letter  betrays  no  misgivings  either  on 
the  propriety  of  the  proceeding  which  it  describes,  or  on 
the  manner  in  which  tho  intimation  of  it  would  be  re- 
ceived by  the  Queen. 

THE    EARL    OF    SUSSEX    TO    QUEEN    ELIZABETH. 

August  24,  1561. 

'  May  it  please  your  Highness, 

'  After  conference  had  with  Shan  O'Neil's  seneschal 
I  entered  talk  with  Neil  Grey  ;  and  perceiving  by  him 


1  Memoranda  of  Letters  from  Ireland,  August  20  (Cecil's  hand).— Cecil 
to  Sussex,  August  21 ;  Elizabeth  to  Sussex,  August  20:  Irish  MSS. 
Rolls  Houst. 


1 32  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.42. 

that  he  had  little  hope  of  Shan's  conformity  in  anything, 
and  that  he  therefore  desired  that  he  might  be  received 
to  serve  your  Highness,  for  that  he  would  no  longer 
abide  with  him,  and  that  if  I  would  promise  to  receive 
him  to  your  service  he  would  do  anything  that  1  would 
command  him,  I  sware  him  upon  the  Bible  to  keep 
secret  that  I  should  say  unto  him,  and  assured  him  if  it 
were  ever  known  during  the  time  I  had  the  government 
there,  that  besides  the  breach  of  his  oath  it  should  cost 
him  his  life.  I  used  long  circumstance  in  persuading 
him  to  serve  you  to  benefit  his  country,  and  to  procure 
assurance  of  living  to  him  and  his  for  ever  by  doing  of 
that  which  he  might  easily  do.  He  promised  to  do  what 
I  would.  In  fine  I  brake  with  him  to  kill  Shan  ;  and 
bound  myself  by  my  oath  to  see  him  have  a  hundred 
marks  of  land  by  the  year  to  him  and  to  his  heirs  for  his 
reward.  He  seemed  desirous  to  serve  your  Highness 
and  to  have  the  land,  but  fearful  .to  do  it  doubting  his 
own  escape,  after  with  safety,  which  he  confessed  and 
promised  to  do  by  any  means  he  might  escaping  with 
his  life.  What  he  will  do  I  know  not,  but  I  assure  your 
Highness  he  may  do  it  without  danger  if  he  will.  And 
if  he  will  not  do  that  he  may  in  your  service,  then  will 
be  done  to  him  what  others  may.  God  send  your  High- 
ness a  good  end. 

*'  Your  Highness' s 
'  Most  humble  and  faithful  Subject  and  Servant, 

'  T.  SUSSEX.1 

'  From  Ardbrachan.' 


Irish  MSS.  Rolls  Home 


1561  ]  SHAN  a  NEIL.  133 

English  honour  like  English  coin  lost  something  of 
its  purity  in  the  sister  island.  Nothing  came  of  this  un- 
desirable proposal.  Neil  Grey  however  kept  his  secret, 
and  though  he  would  not  risk  his  life  by  attempting 
the  murder,  sought  no  favour  with  Shan  by  betraying 
Sussex. 

Elizabeth's  answer — if  she  sent  any  answer — is  nol 
discoverable.  It  is  most  sadly  certain  however  that 
Sussex  was  continued  in  office ;  and  inasmuch  as  it  will 
be  seen  that  he  repeated  the  experiment  a  few  months 
later,  his  letter  could  not  have  been  received  with  any 
marked  condemnation. 

Shortly  after,  Fitzwilliam  returned  from  England 
with  the  Berwick  troops,  and  before  the  season  closed 
and  before  Kildare  commenced  his  negotiations  the 
Deputy  was  permitted  to  make  another  effort  to  repair 
the  credit  of  English  arms. 

Despatching  provisions  by  sea  to  Lough  Foyle,  he 
succeeded  this  time  in  inarching  through  Tyrone  and  in 
destroying  on  his  way  four  thousand  cattle  which  he 
was  unable  to  carry  away ;  and  had  the  vessels  arrived 
in  time  he  might  have  remained  in  Ulster  long  enough 
to  do  serious  mischief  there.  But  the  wind  and  weather 
were  unfavourable.  He  had  left  Shan's  cows  to  rot 
where  he  had  killed  them  ;  and  thus  being  without  food, 
and  sententiously  and  characteristically  concluding  that 
'  man  by  his  policy  might  propose  but  God  at  his  will 
did  dispose/ 1  Lord  Sussex  fell  back  by  the  upper  waters 
of  Lough  Erne  sweeping  the  country  before  him. 


Sussex  to  Elizabeth,  September  21  :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


134  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

O'Neil  in  the  interval  had  been  burning  villages  in 
Meath ;  but  the  Deputy  had  penetrated  his  stronghold, 
had  defied  him  on  his  own  ground,  and  he  had  not  ven- 
tured to  meet  the  English  in  the  field.  The  defeat  of 
July  was  partially  retrieved  and  Sussex  was  in  a  better 
position  to  make  terms.  Kildare,  in  the  middle  of 
October,  had  a  conference  with  Shan  at  Dundalk,  and 
Shan  consented  to  repair  to  Elizabeth's  presence.  In 
the  conditions  however  which  he  was  allowed  to  name 
he  implied  that  he  was  rather  conferring  a  favour  than 
receiving  one,  and  that  he  was  going  to  England  as  a 
victorious  enemy  permitting  himself  to  be  conciliated. 
He  demanded  a  safe- conduct  so  clearly  worded  that 
whatever  was  the  result  of  his  visit  he  should  be  free  to 
return ;  he  required  a  complete  amnesty  for  his  past 
misdeeds,  and  he  stipulated  that  Elizabeth  should  pay 
all  expenses  for  himself  and  his  retinue  ;  the  Earls  of 
Ormond,  Desmond,  and  Kildare  must  receive  him  in 
state  at  Dundalk  and  escort  him  to  Dublin ;  Kildare 
must  accompany  him  to  England ;  and  most  important 
of  all,  Armagh  Cathedral  must  be  evacuated. 

On  these  terms  he  was  ready  to  go  to  London ;  he 
did  not  anticipate  treachery ;  and  either  he  hoped  to  per- 
suade Elizabeth  to  recognize  him,  and  thus  prove  to  the 
Irish  that  rebellion  was  the  surest  road  to  prosperity 
and  power,  or  at  worst  by  venturing  into  England  and 
returning  unscathed  he  would  show  them  that  the 
Government  might  be  defied  with  more  than  impunity. 

Had  Neil  Grey  revealed  to  him  those  dark  overtures 
of  Sussex  the  Irish  chief  would  have  relied  less  boldly  on 


1561.] 


SHAN  CPNEtL. 


December. 


English  good  faith.  When  his  terms  were  made  known 
to  Elizabeth's  council  the  propriety  of  acceding  to  them 
was  advocated  for  *  certain  secret  respects ; '  and  even 
Sir  William  Cecil  was  not  ashamed  to  say  '  that  in 
Shan's  absence  from  Ireland  something  might  be  cavilled 
against  him.  or  his  for  ncn-observing  the  covenants  on 
his  side ;  and  so  the  pact  being  infringed  the  matter 
might  be  used  as  should  be  thought  fit.' l 

The  intention  of  deliberate  dishonour  was 
not  persisted  in.  Elizabeth,  after  some  uncer- 
tainty whether  concessions  so  ignominious  could  be 
safely  made,  wrote  to  accept  them  all  except  the  evacu- 
ation of  the  cathedral.  Making  a  merit  of  his  desire 
to  please  her,  Shan  said  that  although  for  '  the  Earl  of 
Sussex  he  would  not  mollify  one  iota  of  his  agreement/ 
yet  he  would  consent  at  the  request  of  her  Majesty ; 2 
and  thus  at  last,  with  the  Earl  of  Kildare  in  attendance, 
a  train  of  galloglasse,  a  thousand  pounds  in  hand  and  a 
second  thousand  waiting  for  him  in  London,  the  cham- 
pion of  Irish  freedom  sailed  from  Dublin  and  l^2. 
appeared  on  the  2nd  of  January  at  the  Eng-  JanuaiT- 
lish  Court. 

Not  wholly  knowing  how  so  strange  a  being  might 
conduct  himself,  Cecil,  Pembroke,  and  Bacon  received 
him  privately  on  his  arrival  at  the  Lord  Keeper's  house* 
They  gave  him  his  promised  money  and  endeavoured  to 
impress  upon  him  the  enormity  of  his  misdemeanours. 
Their  success  in  this  respect  was  indifferent.  When 


1  Cecil  to  Throgmorton,  November  4,  1561  :   Ccnway  MSS. 
"  Kildare  to  Cecil,  December  3  :  flfS.  Ibid. 


136  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

Cecil  spoke  of  rebellion  Shan  answered  that  two  thou- 
sand pounds  was  a  poor  present,  from  so  great  a  Queen. 
When  Cecil  asked  if  he  would  be  a  good  subject  for  the 
future,  he  was  sure  their  honours  would  give  him  a  few 
more  hundreds.  He  agreed  however  to  make  a  general 
confession  of  his  sins  in  Irish  and  English ;  and  on  the 
6th  of  the  month  Elizabeth  received  him. 

The  council,  the  Peers,  the  foreign  ambassadors, 
bishops,  aldermen,  dignitaries  of  all  kinds,  were  present 
in  state  as  if  at  the  exhibition  of  some  wild  animal  of 
the  desert.  O'Neil  stalked  in,  his  saffron  mantle  sweep- 
ing round  and  round  him,  his  hair  curling  on  his  back 
and  clipped  short  below  the  eyes  which  gleamed  from 
under  it  with  a  grey  lustre,  frowning  fierce  and  cruel. 
Behind  him  followed  his  galloglasse  bare-headed  and 
fair-haired,  with  shirts  of  mail  which  reached  their  knees, 
a  wolfskin  flung  across  their  shoulders,  and  short  broad 
battle-axes  in  their  hands. 

At  the  foot  of  the  throne  the  chief  paused,  bent  for- 
ward, threw  himself  on  his  face  upon  the  ground,  and 
then  rising  upon  his  knees  spoke  aloud  in  Irish  :— 

'  Oh  !  my  most  dread  sovereign  lady  and  Queen,  like 
as  I,  Shan  O'JNeil,  your  Majesty's  subject  of  your  realm 
of  Ireland,  have  of  long  time  desired  to  come  into  the 
presence  of  your  Majesty  to  acknowledge  my  humble 
and  bounden  subjection,  so  am  I  now  here  upon  my 
knees  by  your  gracious  permission,  and  do  most  humbly 
acknowledge  your  Majesty  to  be  my  sovereign  lady  and 
Queen  of  England,  France,  and  Ireland ;  and  I  do  con- 
fess that  for  lack  of  civil  education  I  have  offended  your 


1562.]  SHAN  a  NEIL.  137 

Majesty  and  your  laws,  for  the  which  I  have  required 
and  obtained  your  Majesty 's  pardon.  And  for  that  I 
most  humbly  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  thank  your 
Majesty,  and  still  do  with  all  humbleness  require  the 
continuance  of  the  same  ;  and  I  faithfully  promise  here 
before  Almighty  God  and  your  Majesty,  and  in  presence 
of  all  these  your  nobles,  that  I  intend  by  God's  grace  to 
live  hereafter  in  the  obedience  of  your  Majesty  as  a  sub- 
ject of  your  land  of  Ireland. 

'  And  because  this  my  speech  being  Irish  is  not  well 
understanded,  I  have  caused  this  my  submission  to  be 
written  in  English  and  Irish,  and  thereto  have  set  my 
hand  and  seal ;  and  to  these  gentlemen  my  kinsmen  and 
friends  I  most  humbly  beseech  your  Majesty  to  be  mer- 
ciful and  gracious  lady.' 1 

To  the  hearers  the  sound  of  the  words  was  as  the 
howling  of  a  dog.2  The  form  which  Shan  was  made  to 
say  that  he  had  himself  caused  to  be  written,  had  been 
drawn  for  him  by  Cecil ;  and  the  gesture  of  the  culprit 
was  less  humble  than  his  language  ;  the  English  cour- 
tiers devised  '  a  style '  for  him,  as  the  interpretation  of 
his  bearing,  '  O'Neil  the  Great,  cousin  to  St  Patrick, 
friend  to  the  Queen  of  England,  enemy  to  all  the  world 
besides.' 3 

The  submission  being  disposed  of,  the  next  object  was 
to  turn  the  visit  to  account.  Shan  discovered  that  not- 


1  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 

2  '  He  confessed  his  crime  and  rebellion  with  howling.'—  CAMDEN.    So 
Hotspur  says — '  I  had  rather  hear  Lady  my  brach  howl  in  Irish.' 
3  CAMPION. 


138  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [cH.  42. 

withstanding  his  precautions  he  had  been  outwitted  in 
the  wording  of  the  safe-conduct.  Though  the  Govern- 
ment promised  to  permit  him  to  return  to  Ireland,  the 
time  of  his  stay  had  not  been  specified.  Specious  pre- 
texts were  invented  to  detain  him  ;  he  required  to  be 
recognized  as  his  father's  heir ;  the  English  judges 
desired  the  cause  to  be  pleaded  before  themselves ;  the 
young  Baron  of  Dungannon  must  come  over  to  be  heard 
on  the  other  side;  and  while  to  Shan  it  was  pretended 
that  the  Baron  had  been  sent  for,  Cecil  wrote  privately 
to  Fitzwilliam  to  prevent  him  from  leaving  Ireland. 

At  first  the  caged  chieftain  felt  no  alarm,  and  he 
used  his  opportunities  in  flattering  and  working  upon 
Elizabeth.  He  wrote  to  her  from  time  to  time,  telling 
her  that  she  was  the  sole  hope  and  refuge  which  he  pos- 
sessed in  the  world ;  in  coming  to  England  his  chief 
desire  had  been  to  see  that  great  person  whose  fame 
was  spoken  of  through  the  earth,  and  to  study  the 
wisdom  of  her  Government  that  he  '  might  learn  how 
better  to  order  himself  in  civil  polity.'  If  she  would 
give  him  his  father's  earldom,  he  said,  he  would  maintain ' 
her  authority  in  Ulster,  where  she  should  be  undisputed 
Queen  over  willing  subjects;  he  would  drive  away  all  her 
enemies;  he  would  expel  Mary  Stuart's  friends  the  Scots; 
and  with  them  it  seems  he  was  prepared  to  dismiss  his 
•'  countess ; '  for  ( he  was  most  urgent  that  her  Majesty 
would  give  him  some  noble  English  lady  for  a  wife  with 
augmentation  of  living  suitable ;  '  and  he  on  his  part 
would  save  the  Queen  all  further  expense  in  Ireland 
with  great  increase  of  revenue.'  As  the  head  of  the 


1562.]  SHAN  &NE1L.  139 

House  of  O'Neil  lie  claimed  undisputed  sovereignty  over 
the  petty  Ulster  chiefs.  He  admitted  that  he  had  killed 
his  brother,  but  he  saw  nothing  in  so  ordinary  an  action 
but  what  was  right  and  reasonable.1 

So  the  winter  months  passed  on.  At  last,  when 
January  was  gone,  and  February  was  gone, 
and  March  had  come,  and  '  the  young  Baron ' 
had  not  appeared,  Shan's  mind  misgave  him.  His  time 
had  not  been  wasted ;  night  after  night  he  had  been 
closeted  with  de  Quadra,  and  the  insurrectionary  re- 
sources of  Ireland  had  been  sketched  out  as  a  bait  to 
Philip.  His  soul  in  the  land  of  heretics  had  been  cared 
for  by  holv  wafers  from  de  Quadra's  chapel ;  but  his 
body  he  began  to  think  might  be  in  the  lion's  den, 
and  he  pressed  for  his  dismissal. 

A  cloud  of  obstacles  was  immediately  raised.  The 
Queen,  he  was  told,  was  indifferent  who  had  the  earl- 
dom provided  it  was  given  to  the  lawful  heir ;  and  as 
soon  as  the  Baron  arrived  the  cause  should  instantly  be 
heard.  When  Shan  was  still  dissatisfied,  he  was  recom- 
mended if  he  wished  for  favour  '  to  change  his  garments 
and  go  like  an  Englishman.' 

He  appealed  to  Elizabeth  herself.  With  an  air  of 
ingenuous  simplicity  he  threw  himself,  his  wrongs,  and 
his  position  on  her  personal  kindness,  '  having  no  refuge 
nor  succour  to  flee  unto  but  only  her  Majesty.'  His 
presence  was  urgently  required  in  Ireland  ;  the  Scots 
were  '  evil  neighbours ;  '  his  kinsmen  were  fickle :  if 


Shan  O'Ncil  to  Elizabeth,  January:  Irish  MSS, 


140  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH  [CH.  42. 

however  her  Majesty  desired  him  to  scay  he  was  her 
slave,  he  would  do  all  which  she  would  have  him  do  ;  he 
would  only  ask  in  return  that  '  her  Majesty  would  give 
him  a  gentlewoman  for  a  wife  such  as  he  and  she  might 
agree  upon ; '  and  he  begged  that  he  might  be  allowed 
— the  subtle  flatterer — to  attend  on  the  Lord  Robert ; 
'  that  he  might  learn  to  ride  after  the  English  fashion, 
to  run  at  the  tilt,  to  hawk,  to  shoot,  and  use  such  other 
good  exercises  as  the  said  good  lord  was  most  apt  unto/1 

He  had  touched  the  Queen  where  she  was  most  sus- 
ceptible, yet  he  lost  his  labour.  She  gave  him  no  Eng- 
lish lady,  she  did  not  let  him  go.  At  length  the  false 
dealing  produced  its  cruel  fruit,  the  murder  of  the  boy 
who  was  used  as  the  pretext  for  delay.  Sent  for  to 
England,  yet  prevented  from  obeying  the  command, 
the  young  Baron  of  Duiigannon  was  waylaid  at  the  be- 
ginning of  April  in  a  wood  near  Carlingford 
by  Tirlogh  O'Neil.  He  fled  for  his  life  with 
the  murderers  behind  him  till  he  reached  the  bank  of  a 
deep  river  which  he  could  not  swim,  and  there  he  was 
killed.2 

The  crime  could  not  be  traced  to  Shan.  His  rival 
was  gone,  and  there  was  no  longer  any  cause  to  be 
pleaded ;  while  he  could  appeal  to  the  wild  movements 
of  his  clan  as  an  evidence  of  the  necessity  of  his  presence 
among  them. 

The  council  were  frightened.  O'Neil  promised 
largely,  and  Elizabeth  persuaded  herself  to  believe  him. 

1  Shan  O'Neil  to  Elizabeth,  March  :  Irish  MSS. 
-  Fitz william  to  Cecil,  April  14  :  Irish  MSS. 


1562.]  SHAN  G1  NEIL.  141 

She  durst  not  imprison  him;  she  could  no  longer 
detain  him  except  by  open  force  :  she  preferred  to 
bribe  him  into  allegiance  by  granting  him  all  that  he 
desired. 

The  earldom — a  barren  title  for  which  he  cared  little 
— was  left  in  suspense.  On  the  2oth  of  April  an  inden- 
ture was  signed  by  Elizabeth  and  himself,  in  which 
Shan  bound  himself  to  do  military  service  and  to  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance  in  the  presence  of  the  Deputy  ; 
while  in  return  he  was  allowed  to  remain  Captain  of 
Tyrone  with  feudal  jurisdiction  over  the  northern  coun- 
ties. The  Pale  was  to  be  no  shelter  to  any  person  whom 
he  might  demand  as  a  malefactor.  If  any  Irish  lord 
or  chief  did  him  wrong,  and  the  Deputy  failed  within 
twenty  days  to  exact  reparation,  Shan  might  raise  an 
army  and  levy  war  on  his  private  account.  One  feeble 
effort  only  was  made  to  save  O'Donnell,  whose  crime 
against  O'Neil  had  been  his  devotion  to  England. 
O'Neil  consented  to  submit  O'Donnell's  cause  to  the 
arbitration  of  the  Irish  earls.1 

A  rebel  subject  treating  as  an  equal  with  his  sove- 
reign for  the  terms  on  which  he  would  remain  in  his 
allegiance  was  an  inglorious  spectacle ;  and  the  admis-  ( 
sion  of  Shan's  pretensions  to  sovereignty  was  one  more 
evidence  to  the  small  Ulster  chiefs  that  no  service  was 
worse  requited  in  Ireland  than  fidelity  to  the  English 
Crown.  The  M'Guyres,  the  O'Reillies,  the  O'Donnells 
— all  the  clans  who  had  stood  by  Sussex  in  the  pre- 

1  Indenture  between  the  Queen  of  England  and  Shan  O'Neil,  April  30, 
1562 :   Irish  MSS. 


1 42  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  JCH.  42 

ceding  summer — were  given  over  to  their  enemy  bound 
hand  and  foot.  Yet  Elizabeth  was  weary  of  the  expense, 
and  sick  of  efforts  which  Were  profitless  as  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  quicksand. 

True  it  was  that  she  was  placing  half  Ireland  in  the 
hands  of  an  adulterous,  murdering  scoundrel ;  but  the 
Irish  liked  to  have  it  so,  and  she  forced  herself  to  hope 
that  he  would  restrain  himself  for  the  future  within 
bounds  of  decency. 

Shan  therefore  with  his  galloglasse  returned  in  glory, 
his  purse  lined  with  money,  and  honour  wreathed  about 
his  brows.  On  reappearing  in  Tyrone  he  summoned  the 
northern  chiefs  about  him  ;  he  told  them  that  '  he  had 
not  gone  to  England  to  lose  but  to  win ; '  they  must 
submit  to  his  rule  henceforth  or  they  should  feel  his 
power 

The  O'Donnells,  in  vain  reliance  on  the  past  promises 
of  the  Deputy,  dared  to  refuse  allegiance  to  him.  With- 
out condescending  to  the  form  of  consulting  the  Govern- 
ment at  Dublin,  he  called  his  men  to  arms  and  marched 
into  Tyrconnell,  killing,  robbing,  and  burning  in  the  old 
style,  through  farm  and  castle. 

The  Earl  of  Sussex,  not  knowing  how  to  act,  could 
but  fall  back  on  treachery.  Shan  was  bound  by  his 
engagement  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  in  Dublin. 
The  Lord  Deputy  desired  him  to  present  himself  at  the 
first  opportunity.  The  safe-conduct  which  accompanied 
the  request  was  ingeniously  worded  ;  and  enclosing  a 
copy  of  it  to  Elizabeth,  Sussex  inquired  whether  in  the 
event  of  Shan's  coming  to  him  he  might  not  twist 


1562. 


SHAN  VNE1L* 


'43 


the  meaning   of  the   words,  and   make   him 

August. 

prisoner.1 

But  Shan  was  too  cunning  a  fish,  and  had  been  too 
lately  in  the  meshes,  to  be  caught  again  in  so  poor  a 
snare.  His  duty  to  the  Queen,  he  replied,  forbade  him 
to  leave  his  province  in  its  present  disturbed  condition. 
He  was  making  up  for  his  long  fast  in  England  from  his 
usual  amusements ;  and  when  fighting  was  in  the  wind 
neither  he  nor  his  troopers,  nor  as  it  seemed  his  clergy, 
had  leisure  for  other  occupations.  The  Catholic  Primate 
having  refused  allegiance  to  Elizabeth,  the  See  of  Armagh 
was  vacant,  and  Sussex  sent  down  a  conge  d'&ire  for  the 
appointment  of  '  Mr  Adam  Loftus.'  He  received  for 
answer  '  that  the  chapter  there,  whereof  the  greater  part 
were  Shan  O'Neirs  horsemen,  were  so  sparkled  and  out 
of  order  that  they  could  by  no  means  be  assembled  for 
the  election/2 

Once  more  Lord  Sussex  set  his  trap,  and 
this  time  he  baited  it  more  skilfully.      The 
Scotch  countess  was  not  enough  for  Shan's  ambition. 
His  passionate  desire  for  an  English  wife  had  survived 


September. 


1  The  safe -conduct  was  worded 
thus : —  Plenam  protectionem  nos- 
tram  per  praesentes  dicto  Joanni 
concedimus  qua  ipse  ad  praemissa 
perficienda  cum  omnibus  quibuscun- 
que  qui  cum  illo  venerint  ad  nos 
venire  et  a  nobis  cum  voluerint  li- 
bere  recedere  valeant  et  possint 
absque  ulla  perturbatione  seu  moles- 
tatione.' 

The  word  '  prsumissa  '  referred  to 


the  oath  of  allegiance ;  it  was  an- 
ticipated that  Shan  would  make  a 
difficulty  in  doing  homage  to  Sussex 
as  Elizabeth's  representative ;  and 
Sussex  thought  he  might  then  lay 
hands  on  him  for  breach  of  compact. 
— Sussex  to  Elizabeth,  August  27: 
Irish  MSS. 

z  Sussex  to  Elizabeth,  September 
2:  Irish 


J44  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH  [01.42. 

his  return,  and  Elizabeth  in  this  point  had  not  gratified 
his  wishes.  Lord  Sussex  had  a  sister  with  him  in  Dub- 
lin, and  Shan  sent  an  intimation  that  if  the  Deputy 
would  take  him  for  a  brother-in-law  their  relations  for 
the  future  might  be  improved.  The  present  sovereign 
of  England  would  perhaps  give  one  of  her  daughters 
to  the  King  of  Dahomey  with  more  readiness  than  the 
Earl  of  Sussex  would  have  consigned  his  sister  to  Shan 
O'Neil ;  yet  he  condescended  to  reply  '  that  he  could  not 
promise  to  give  her  against  her  will/  but  if  Shan  would 
visit  him  '  he  could  see  and  speak  with  her,  and  if  he 
liked  her  and  she  him  they  should  both  have  his  good 
will.'1  Shan  glanced  at  the  tempting  morsel  with  wist- 
ful eyes.  Had  he  trusted  himself  in  the  hands  of 
Sussex  he  would  have  had  a  short  shrift  for  a  blessing 
and  a  rough  nuptial  knot  about  his  neck.  At  the  last 
moment  a  little  bird  carried  the  tale  to  his  ear.  '  He 
had  advertisement  out  of  the  Pale  that  the  lady  was 
brought  over  only  to  entrap  him,  and  if  he  came  to  the 
Deputy  he  should  never  return.'2 

After  this  second  failure  Sussex  told  Elizabeth  that 
she  must  either  use  force  once  more  or  she  must  be  pre- 
pared to  see  first  all  Ulster  and  afterwards  the  whole 
'Irishry'  of  the  four  provinces  accept  Shan  for  their 
sovereign.  There  was  no  sort  of  uncertainty  as  to  O'Neil's 
intentions  :  he  scarcely  affected  to  conceal  them.  He 
had  written  to  the  Pope  ;  he  was  in  correspondence  with 
the  Queen  of  Scots ;  he  had  established  secret  relations 


1  Sussex  to  the  Queen,  September  20 :  Irish  MSS. 

2  Sussex  to  Elizabeth,  September  29 :  Irish  MSS. 


[562.]  SHAN  O' NEIL.  145 

with.  Spain  through  de  Quadra ;  and  Sussex  advised 
war  immediate  and  unsparing.  '  No  greater  danger/ 
he  said,  '  had  ever  been  in  Ireland ; '  he  implored  the 
Queen  not  to  trifle  with  it,  and  with  a  modest  sense  of 
his  own  failures  he  recommended  her  to  send  a  more 
efficient  person  than  himself  to  take  the  command — not, 
he  protested,  '  from  any  want  of  will,  for  he  would  spend 
his  last  penny  and  his  last  drop  of  blood  for  her  Majesty/ 
but  he  knew  himself  to  be  unequal  to  the  work. 

Post  after  post  brought  evidence  of  the  fatal  conse- 
quences of  the  quasi  recognition  of  Shan's  sovereignty. 
Right  and  left  he  was  crushing  the  petty  chiefs,  who  one 
and  all  sent  to  say  that  they  must  yield  unless  England 
supported  them.  Sussex  wrote  to  him  in  useless  menace 
*  that  if  he  followed  his  foolish  pride  her  Majesty  would 
destroy  him  at  the  last.'  He  '  held  a  parley  '  with  the 
Irish  council  on  Dundalk  Bridge  on  the  iyth  of  Sep- 
tember, and  bound  himself  '  to  keep  peace  with  the 
Queen'  'for  six  months; '  but  he  felt  himself  discharged 
of  all  obligations  towards  a  Government  which  had  aimed 
at  his  life  by  deliberate  treachery.  In  the  face  of  hi« 
ambiguous  dealings  the  garrison  had  been  still  main- 
tained at  Armagh ;  at  the  beginning  of  October 
the  hostages  for  his  good  behaviour,  which  he 
had  sent  in  on  his  return  from  England,  escaped  from 
Dublin  Castle ;  and  on  the  loth,  in  a  dark,  moon- 
less night  the  guard  at  the  cathedral  were  alarmed 
with  mysterious  lights  like  blown  matches  glimmering 
through  the  darkness.  Had  the  troops  ventured  out  to 
reconnoitre,  some  hundreds  of  '  harquebusmen '  were  in 

VOL.    VII.  10 


I46 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  42. 


ambush  to  cut  them  off.  Suspecting  treason  they  kept 
within  their  walls,  and  Shan  was  compelled  to  content 
himself  with  driving  their  cattle  ;  but  had  they  shown 
outside  not  a  man  of  them  would  have  been  left  alive. 
The  next  day  the  Irish  came  under  the  gate  and  taunted 
them  with  'cowardice/  ' telling  them  the  wolves  had 
eaten  their  cattle,  and  that  the  matches  they  thought  they 
saw  were  wolves'  eyes/1 

Con  O'Donnell,  the  Callogh's  son,  wrote  piteously  to 
Elizabeth  that  after  carrying  off  his  father  and  his 
mother,  Shan  had  now  demanded  the  surrender  of  his 
castles ;  he  had  refused  out  of  loyalty  to  England,  and 
his  farms  were  burnt,  his  herds  were  destroyed,  and  he 
was  a  ruined  man.2 

A  few  days  later  M' Guy  re,  from  the  banks  of  Lough 
Erne,  wrote  that  Shan  had  summoned  him  to  submit ; 
he  had  answered  '  that  he  would  not  forsake  the  English 
till  the  English  forsook  him  ; '  '  wherefore/  he  said,  i  1 
know  well  that  within  these  four  days  the  sayed  Shan 
will  come  to  dystroy  me  contrey  except  your  Lordshypp 
will  sette  some  remedy  in  the  matter.' 3 

Sussex  was  powerless.  Duly  as  the  unlucky  chief 
foretold,  Shan  came  down  into  Fermanagh  '  with  a  great 


1  Sussex  to  Elizabeth,  October 
15     Irish  MSS. 

2  Con   O'Donnell  to  Elizabeth, 
September   30:   Irish  MSS.  Holts 
Souse.     Sussex,  in  forwarding  the 
letter,  added — 

'  This  Con  is  valiant,  wise,  much 
disposed  of  himself  to  civility,  true 
of  his  word,  speaketh  and  writeth 


very  good  English,  and  hath  natural 
shame-fastness  in  his  face,  which  few 
of  the  wild  Irish  have,  and  is  as- 
suredly the  likeliest  plant  that  can 
grow  in  Ulster  to  graft  a  good  sub- 
ject on.' 

8  M'Guyre  to  Sussex,  Octobei  9  : 
WRIGHT'S  Elizabeth,  vol.  i.  p.  93. 


1562.] 


SHAN  a  NEIL, 


147 


hoste ; '  M'Guyre  still  kept  his  truth  to  England ; 
'  wherefore  Shan  bygan  to  wax  mad  and  to  cawsse  his 
men.  to  bran  all  his  corn  and  howsses  ; '  he  spared  neither 
church  nor  sanctuary  ;  three  hundred  women  and  chil- 
dren were  piteously  murdered ;  and  M'Guyre  himself 
'clean  banished/  as  he  described  it,  took  refuge  with 
the  remnant  of  his  people  in  the  islands  on  the  lake, 
whither  Shan  was  making  boats  to  pursue  him. 

'  Help  me,  your  lordship/  the  hunted  wretch  cried  in 
his  despair  to  Sussex ;  '  I  promes  you,  and  you  doo  not 
sy  the  rather  to  Shan  O'Nele  is  besynes,  ye  ar  lyke  to 
make  hym  the  strongest  man  of  all  Eiiond,  -for  every 
man  wyll  take  an  exampull  by  me  gratte  lostys ;  take 
hyd  to  yourself  by  thymes,  for  he  is  lyke  to  have  all  the 
power  from  this  place  thill  he  come  to  the  wallys  of 
Gallway  to  rysse  against  you/  l 

Elizabeth   knew   not  now  which  way  to 

November. 
turn.    Force,  treachery,  conciliation,  had  been 

tried  successively,  and  the  Irish  problem  was  more  hope- 
less than  ever.  Sussex  had  protested  from  the  first 
against  the  impolicy  of  recognizing  Shan ;  the  event 
had  proved  that  he  was  right,  and  the  Queen  now  threw 
herself  upon  him  and  the  council  of  Ireland  for  advice. 
In  the  dense  darkness  of  the  prospects  of  Ulster  there 
was  a  solitary  gleam  of  light.  Grown  insolent  with 
prosperity,  Shan  had  been  dealing  too  peremptorily  with 


1  Shan  M'Guyre  to  Sussex, 
October  2Or  and  November  25  ; 
WEIGHT,  vol.  i.  M'Guyre  adds  a 
curious  caution  to  Sussex  to  write  to 


him  in  English  and  not  in  Latin, 
because  he  would  not  clerks  noi 
other  men  should  know  his  mind. 


148 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[en.  42. 


the  Scots  ;  his  countess,  though  compelled  to  live  with 
him  and  to  be  the  mother  of  his  children,  had  felt  his 
brutality,  repented  of  her  folly,  and  perhaps  attempted 
to  escape.  In  the  day  time  when  he  was  abroad  ma- 
rauding, she  was  coupled  like  a  hound  to  a  page  or  a 
horse-boy,  and  only  released  at  night  when  he  returned 
to  his  evening  orgies.1  The  fierce  Campbells  were  not 
men  to  bear  tamely  these  outrages  from  a  drunken 
savage  on  the  sister  of  their  chief ;  and  Sussex  conceived 
that  if  the  Scots  could  by  any  contrivance  be  separated 
from  Shan  they  might  be  used  '  as  a  whip  to  scourge 
him.' 

Elizabeth  bade  Sussex  do  his  best.  The  Irish  coun- 
cil agreed  with  the  Deputy  that  the  position  of  things 
'  was  the  most  dangerous  that  had  ever  been  in  Ireland ; ' 
and  that  if  the  Queen  intended  to  continue  to  hold  the 
country  Shan  must  be  crushed  at  all  hazards  and  at  all 
costs.  In  desperate  acquiescence  she  consented  to  supply 
the  means  for  another  invasion  ;  yet,  with  characteristic 
perversity,  she  refused  to  accept  Sussex's  estimate  of  his 
own  inability  to  conduct  it.  In  submitting  to  his  opin- 
ion she  insisted  that  he  should  take  the  responsibility  of 
carrying  it  into  action. 

Once  more  therefore  the  Deputy  prepared  for  war. 
Fresh  stores  were  thrown  into  Armagh,  and  the  troops 
there  increased  to  a  number  which  could  harass  Tyrone 


1  '  Shan  O'^eil  possesseth  O'Don- 
nelTs  wife,  and  by  him  she  is  with 
child.  She  is  all  day  chained  by  the 
arm  to  a  little  boy,  and  at  bed  and 


board,  when  he  is  present,  she  is  at 
liberty.' — Randolph  to  Cecil;  Scotch 
MSS.  Bolls  House 


1562.]  SHAN  CPNEIL.  149 

through  the  winter.  The  M'Connells  were  plied  with 
promises  to  which  they  were  not  unwilling  to  listen  ; 
and  among -the  O'Neils  themselves  a  faction  was  raised 
opposed  to  Shan  under  Tirlogh,  the  murderer  of  the 
Baron  of  Dungannon.  O'Donnell  was  encouraged  to 
hold  out;  M'Ghiyre  defended  himself  in  his  islands. 
By  the  beginning  of  February  Sussex  undertook  to  re- 
lieve them. 

Unhappily  the  Deputy  had  but  too  accurately  mea- 
sured his  own  incapacity.  His  assassination  plots  were 
but  the  forlorn  resources  of  a  man  who  felt  his  work  too 
heavy  for  him ;  the  Irish  council  had  no  confidence  in 
a  man  who  had  none  in  himself;  and  certain  that  any 
enterprise  which  was  left  to  him  to  conduct  would  end 
in  disaster,  they  were  unwilling  to  waste  their  men,  their 
money,  or  their  reputation.  The  army  was  disaffected, 
disorganized,  and  mutinous ;  Sussex  lamented  its  con- 
dition to  the  Home  Government,  but  was  powerless  to 
improve  it ;  at  length  Kildare  and  Ormond,  in  the  name  £- 
of  the  other  loyal  noblemen  and  gentlemen,  declared 
that  they  had  changed  their  minds ;  they  declined  to 
supply  their  promised  contingents  for  the  invasion,  and 
requested  that  it  should  be  no  longer  thought  of.  The 
farmers  of  the  Pale  gathered  courage  from  the  example. 

They  too  refused  to  serve.    When  required  to 

December. 

supply  provisions,  they  replied  with  complain- 
ing of  the  extortion  of  the  soldiers.     They  swore  '  they 
would  rather    be    hanged    at    their  own    doors '  than 
establish  such  a  precedent.     '  If  the  Deputy  looked  to 
have  provisions  from  them  he  would  find  himself  de- 


150  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

ceived ; '  and  Sussex,  distracted  and  miserable,  could 
only  declare  that  the  Irish  council  was  in  a  conspiracy 
'  to  keep  O'Neil  from  falling/  l 

Thus   February  passed   and   March,   and 

M'Gruyre  and  O'Donnell  were  not  relieved. 

At  last,  between  threats  and  entreaty,  Sussex  wrung 

from   Ormond    an    unwilling    acquiescence  ; 

and  on  the  6th  of  April,  with  a  mixed  force 

of  Irish  and  English,  ill  armed,  ill  supplied,  dispirited 

and  almost  disloyal,  Sussex  set  out  for  the  north.     He 

took  but  provision  for  three  weeks  with  him.    A  vague 

hope  was  held  out  by  the  farmers  that  a  second  supply 

should  be  collected  at  Dundalk. 

The  achievements  of  an  army  so  composed  and  so 
commanded  scarcely  require  to  be  detailed.  The  sole 
result  of  a  winter's  expensive,  if  worthless,  preparation 
was  thus  summed  up  in  the  report  from  the  Deputy  to 
the  Queen  : — 

1  April  6.  The  army  arrives  at  Armagh. 

'  April  8.  We  return  to  Newry  to  bring  up  stores 
and  ammunition  which  had  been  left  behind. 

'April  ii.  We  again  advance  to  Armagh,  where 
we  remain  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  galloglasse  and 
kerne  from  the  Pale. 

'April  14.  A  letter  from  James  M'Connell,  which 
we  answer. 

'April  15.  The  galloglasse  not  coming,  we  go  upon 
Shan's  cattle,  of  which  we  take  enough  to  serve  us ; 

1  Sussex  to  Elizabeth,  February  19  ;  Sussex  to  the  English  Council, 
March  i  ;  Sussex  to  Cecil,  March  i :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls 


1563.]  SHAN  O1  NEIL.  i$i 

we  should  have  taken  more  if  we  had  had  galloglasse. 

'  April  1 6.  We  return  to  Armagh. 

*  April  17,  1 8,  19.  We  wait  for  the  galloglasse.  At 
last  we  send  back  to  Dublin  for  them,  and  begin  to 
fortify  the  churchyard. 

'  April  20.  We  write  to  M'Connell,  who  will  not 
come  to  us,  notwithstanding  his  promise. 

'  April  21.  We  survey  the  Trough  Mountains,  said 
to  be  the  strongest  place  in  Ireland. 

'  April  22.  We  return  to  Armagh  with  the  spoil 
taken,  which  would  have  been  much  greater  if  we  had 
had  galloglasse,  '  and  because  St  George's  even  forced 
me,  her  Majesty's  lieutenant,  to  return  to  Divine  serv- 
ice that  night. 

1  April  23.   '  Divine  service.'  ' 

The  three  weeks  had  now  all  but  expired ;  the  pro- 
visions were  consumed ;  it  was  necessary  to  fall  back  on 
the  Pale,  and  if  the  farmers  had  kept  their  word,  if  he 
could  obtain  some  Irish  horse,  and  if  the  Scots  did  not 
assist  Shan,  which  he  thought  it  likely  that  they  would 
do,  Sussex  trusted  on  his  next  advance  that  he  would 
accomplish  something  more.  Conscious  of  failure,  he 
threw  the  blame  on  others.  '  I  have  been  commanded 
to  the  field,'  he  wrote  to  Cecil,  'and  I  have  not  one 
penny  of  money ;  I  must  lead  forth  an  army  and  have 
no  commission ;  I  must  continue  in  the  field  and  I  see 
not  how  I  shall  be  victualled  ;  I  must  fortify  and  have 
no  working  tools/  1 


Sussex  to  the  Council,  April  24  ;  Sussex  to  Cecil,  April  24 :  Irish  MSS. 


152  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

Such,  after  six  months  of  preparation,  was  the  De- 
puty's hopeless  condition  ;  the  money,  in  which,  if  the 
complaints  in  England  of  the  expenses  of  the  Irish  war 
were  justified,  he  had  not  been  stinted,  all  gone ;  and 
neither  food  nor  even  spade  and  mattock.  In  the  Pale 
'he  could  not  get  a  man  to  serve  the  Queen,  nor  a 
peck  of  corn  to  feed  the  army.' 1  At  length,  with  a 
wild  determination  to  do  something,  he  made 
a  plundering  raid  towards  Ologher,  feeding 
his  men  on  the  cattle  which  they  could  steal,  wasted  a 
few  miles  of  country,  and  having  succeeded  in  proving 
to  the  Irish  that  he  could  do  them  no  serious  harm, 
relinquished  the  expedition  in  despair.  He  exclaimed 
loudly  that  the  fault  did  not  rest  with  him.  The  Scots 
had  deceived  him.  '  The  Englishry  of  the  Pale  '  were 
secretly  unwilling  that  the  rebellion  should  be  put 
down.  The  Ulster  chiefs  durst  not  move  because  they 
distrusted  his  power  to  protect  them.  The  rupture  be- 
tween England  and  France  had  given  a  stimulus  to  the 
rebellion,  and  '  to  expel  Shan  was  but  a  Sisyphus'  la- 
bour/ 2 

There  may  have  been  some  faint  foundation  for 
these  excuses.  The  Irish  council,  satisfied  of  the  De- 
puty's incapacity,  had  failed  to  exert  themselves  ;  while 
in  England  the  old  policy  of  leaving  Ireland  to  be 
|  governed  by  the  Irish  had  many  defenders  ;  and  Eliza- 
beth had  been  urged  to  maintain  an  inefficient  person 
against  his  will  in  the  command,  with  a  hope,  un- 

1  Sussex  to  the  Council,  April  28 :  Irish  MSS. 
2  Sussex  to  Cecil,  May  20. 


1563-]  SHAN  a  NEIL.  153 

avowed  by  those  who  advised  her,  that  he  would  fail. 

Most  certainly  the  English  commander  had  done  no 
injustice  to  his  incompetency.  Three  hundred  horses 
were  reported  to  have  been  lost,  and  Cecil  wrote  to  in- 
quire the  meaning  of  it.  Sussex  admitted  that  '  the 
loss  was  true  indeed.'  Being  Easter-time,  and  he 
having  travelled  the  week  before  and  Easter-day  till 
night,  thought  fit  to  give  Easter  Monday  to  prayer — 
and  in  this  time  certain  churls  stole  off  with  the  horses.1 

The  piety  which  could  neglect  practical  duty  for 
the  outward  service  of  devotion,  yet  at  the  same  time 
could  make  overtures  to  Neil  Grey  to  assassinate  his 
master,  requires  no  very  lenient  consideration. 

The  news  of  the  second  failure  reached  Elizabeth 
at  the  crisis  of  the  difficulty  at  Havre.  She  was  strain- 
ing every  nerve  to  supply  the  waste  of  an  army  which 
the  plague  was  destroying.  She  had  a  war  with  France 
hanging  over  her  head.  She  was  uncertain  of  Spain  and 
but  half  secure  of  the  allegiance  of  her  English  subjects. 
It  was  against  her  own  judgment  that  the  last  enterprise 
had  been  adventured,  and  she  reverted  at  once  to  her 
original  determination  to  spend  no  more  money  in  re- 
forming a  country  which  every  effort  for  its  amendment 
plunged  into  deeper  anarchy.  She  would  content  herself 
with  a  titular  sovereignty.  She  would  withdraw  or 
reorganize  on  a  changed  footing  the  profligate  and 
worthless  soldiers  whose  valour  flinched  from  an  enemy, 
and  went  no  further  than  the  plunder  of  a  friend.  The 


Sussex  to  Cecil,  May  26  :  Irish  MSS. 


154  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

Irish  should  be  left  to  themselves  to  realize  their  own 
ideals  and  govern  themselves  their  own  way. 

Sir  Thomas  Cusak,  a  member  of  the  Irish  council, 
came  over  with  a  scheme  which,  if  the  Queen  consented 
to  it,  would  satisfy  the  people  and  would  ensure  the  re- 
turn of  Shan  O'Neil  to  a  nominal  allegiance.  The  four 
provinces  should  constitute  each  a  separate  presidency. 
Ulster,  Connaught,  and  Munster  should  be  governed  in 
the  Queen's  name  by  some  Irish  chief  or  nobleman — if 
not  elected  by  the  people,  yet  chosen  in  compliance  with 
their  wishes.  O'Neil  would  have  the  north,  the  O'Briens 
or  the  Clanrickards  the  west.  The  south  would  fall  to 
Desmond.  On  these  conditions  Cusak  would  under- 
take for  the  quiet  of  the  country  and  for  the  undis- 
turbed occupation  of  the  Pale  by  the  English  Govern- 
ment. 

Prepared  as  Elizabeth  had  almost  become 
to  abandon  Ireland  entirely,  she  welcomed 
this  project  as  a  reprieve.  She  wrote  to  Sussex  to  say 
that,  finding  his  expedition  had  resulted  only  in  giving 
fresh  strength  to  Shan  O'Neil,  'she  had  decided  to 
come  to  an  end  of  the  war  of  Ulster  by  agreement 
rather  than  by  force ; '  and  Cusak  returned  the  first 
week  in  August  empowered  to  make  whatever  conces- 
sions should  be  necessary,  preparatory  to  the  proposed 
alteration. 

To  Shan  O'Neil  he  was  allowed  to  say  that  the  Queen 
•was  surprised  at  his  folly  in  levying  war  against  her ; 
nor  could  she  understand  his  object.  She  was  aware  of 
his  difficulties  ;  she  knew  '  the  barbarity '  of  the  people 


1563.]  SHAN  a  NEIL.  155 

with  whom  he  had  to  deal ;  she  had  never  intended  to 
exact  any  strict  account  of  him ;  and  if  he  was  dis- 
satisfied with  the  arrangements  to  which  he  had  consented 
when  in  England,  he  had  but  to  prove  himself  a  good 
subject,  and  he  l  should  not  only  have  those  points  re- 
formed, but  also  any  pre-eminence  in  that  country  which 
her  Majesty  might  grant  without  doing  any  other  person 
wrong/  If  he  desired  to  have  a  council  established  at 
Armagh,  he  should  himself  be  the  president  of  that 
council ;  if  he  wished  to  drive  the  Scots  out  of  Antrim, 
her  own  troops  should  assist  in  the  expulsion;  if  he  was 
offended  with  the  garrison  in  the  cathedral,  she  would 
gladly  see  peace  maintained  in  a  manner  less  expensive 
to  herself.  To  the  Primacy  he  might  name  the  person 
most  agreeable  to  himself;  and  with  the  Primacy,  as  a 
/natter  of  course,  even  the  form  of  maintaining  the  Pro- 
testant Church  would  be  abandoned  also. 

In  return  for  these  concessions  the  Queen  demanded 
only  that  to  save  her  honour  Shan  should  sue  for  them 
as  a  favour  instead  of  demanding  them  as  a  right.1  The 
rebel  chief  consented  without  difficulty  to  conditions 
which  cost  him  nothing ;  and  after  an  interview  with 
Cusak,  O'Neil  wrote  a  formal  apology  to  Elizabeth,  and 
promised  for  the  future  to  be  her  Majesty's  true  and 
faithful  subject.  Indentures  were  drawn  on  the  lyth  of 
December,  in  which  the  Ulster  sovereignty  was  trans- 
ferred to  him  in  everything  but  the  name ;  and  the 
treaty — such  treaty  as  it  was — required  only  Elizabeth's 


1  Instructions  to  Sir  Thomas  Cusak,  August  7 :  Irish  MSS, 


156  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

signature,  when  a  second  dark  effort  was  made  to  cut 
the  knot  of  the  Irish  difficulty. 

As  a  first  evidence  of  returning  cordiality,  a  present 
of  wine  was  sent  to  Shan  from  Dublin.  It  was  consumed 
at  his  table,  but  the  poison  had  been  unskilfully  pre- 
pared. It  brought  him  and  half  his  household  to  the 
edge  of  death,  but  no  one  actually  died.  Refined 
chemical  analysis  was  not  required  to  detect  the  cause  of 
the  illness;  and  Shan  clamoured  for  redress  with  the 
fierceness  of  a  man  accustomed  rather  to  do  wrong  than 
to  suffer  it. 

The  guilt  could  not  be  fixed  on  Sussex. 
The  crime  was  traced  to  an  English  resident 
in  Dublin  named  Smith;  and  if  Sussex  had  been  the 
instigator,  his  instrument  was  too  faithful  to  betray  him. 
Yet,  after  the  fatal  letter  in  which  the  Earl  had  revealed 
to  Elizabeth  his  own  personal  endeavours  to  procure 
O'Neil's  murder,  the  suspicion  cannot  but  cling  to  him 
that  the  second  attempt  was  not  made  without  his  con- 
nivance. Nor  can  Elizabeth  herself  be  wholly  acquitted 
of  responsibility.  She  professed  the  loudest  indig- 
nation; but  she  ventured  no  allusion  to  his  earlier 
communication  with  her ;  and  no  hint  transpires  of 
any  previous  displeasure  with  Sussex's  confessions  to 
herself. 

In  its  origin  and  in  its  close  the  story  is  wrapped  in 
mystery.  The  treachery  of  an  English  nobleman,  the 
conduct  of  the  inquiry,  and  the  anomalous  termination 
of  it,  would  have  been  incredible  even  in  Ireland,  were 
not  the  original  correspondence  extant  in  which  the 


1563.]  SHAN  a  NEIL.  157 

facts  are  not  denied.  Elizabeth,  on  the  receipt  of 
O'NeiTs  complaint,  directed  Sir  Thomas  Cusak  to  look 
into  the  evidence  most  scrupulously  ;  she  begged  Shan 
to  produce  every  proof  which  he  could  obtain  for  the 
detection  'both  of  the  party  himself  and  of  all  others 
that  were  any  wise  thereto  consenting ;  to  the  intent 
none  might  escape  that  were  parties  thereunto  of  what 
condition  soever  the  same  should  be.' 

'  We  have  given  commandment/  she  wrote 

October. 

to  Sussex,  '  to  show  you  how  much  it  grieveth 
us  to  think  that  any  such  horrible  attempt  should  be 
used  as  is  alleged  by  Shan  O'Neil  to  have  been  at- 
tempted by  Thomas  Smith  to  kill  him  by  poison ;  we 
doubt  not  but  you  have,  as  reason  is,  committed  the  said 
Smith  to  prison,  and  proceeded  to  the  just  trial  thereof; 
for  it  behoveth  us  for  all  good  and  honourable  respects 
to  have  the  fault  severely  punished,  and  so  we  will  and 
charge  you  to  do.' l 

'  We  assure  you/  she  wrote  to  Cusak,  '  the  indigna- 
tion which  we  conceive  of  this  fact,  being  told  with  some 
probability  by  you,  together  with  certain  other  causes 
of  suspicion  which  O'Neil  hath  gathered,  hath  wrought 
no  small  effect  in  us  to  incline  us  to  bear  with  divers 
things  unorder ly  passed,  and  to  trust  to  that  which  you 
have  on  his  behalf  promised  hereafter  in  time  to  come.'2 

It  is  in  human  nature  to  feel  deeper  indignation  at 
a  crime  which  has  been  detected  and  exposed  than  at 
guilt  equally  great  of  which  the  knowledge  is  confined 

1  The  Queen  to  Sussex,  October  15  :  Irish  MSS. 
8  The  Queen  to  Sir  Thomas  Cusak     Irish  MSS. 


'.t$&  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [01.42. 

to  the  few  who  might  profit  by  it ;  yet  after  the  repeated 
acts  of  treachery  which  had  been  at  least  meditated  to- 
wards Shan  with  Elizabeth's  knowledge,  she  was  scarcely 
justified  in  assuming  a  tone  of  such  innocent  anger ; 
nor  was  the  result  of  the  investigation  more  satisfactory. 
After  many  contradictions  and  denials  Smith  at  last 
confessed  his  guilt,  took  the  entire  responsibility  on 
himself,  and  declared  that  his  object  was  to  rid  his 
country  of  a  dangerous  enemy.  The  English  law  in  the 
sixteenth  century  against  crimes  of  violence  has  not  been 
suspected  of  too  much  leniency  ;  yet  it  was  discovered 
by  some  strange  interpretation  that  as  the  crime  had 
not  been  completed  it  was  not  punishable  by  death. 
Notwithstanding  Elizabeth's  letter  there  was  an  evident 
desire  to  hush  up  the  inquiry ;  and  strangest  of  all,  Sir 
Thomas  Cusak  induced  O'Neil  to  drop  his  complaint.  '  I 
persuaded  O'Neil  to  forget  the  matter/  Cusak 
wrote  to  Cecil,  '  whereby  no  more  talk  should 
grow  of  it ;  seeing  there  is  no  law  to  punish  the  offender 
other  than  by  discretion  in  imprisonment,  which  O'Neil 
would  little  regard  except  the  party  might  be  executed 
by  death,  and  that  the  law  doth  not  suffer.  So  as  the 
matter  being  wisely  pacified  it  were  well  done  to  leave 
it.51 

Behind  the  fragments  of  information  preserved  in 
the  State  correspondence,  much  may  remain  concealed, 
which  if  found  might  explain  a  conclusion  so  unexpected. 
Had  Smith  been  the  only  offender  it  might  have  been 


Sir  Thomas  Cusak  to  Cecil,  March  22,  1564:  Irish  MSS. 


1563.]  SHAN  a  NEIL.  t  $9 

expected  that  lie  would  have  been  gladly  sacrificed  as  an 
evidence  of  Elizabeth's  evenhandedness,  and  Shan  per 
haps  did  not  care  for  the  punishment  of  a  subordinate 
if  he  could  not  reach  the  principal. 

He  used  the  occasion  however  to  grasp  once  more  at 
the  great  object  of  his  ambition,  and  to  obtain  with  it  if 
possible  a  refined  revenge  on  Sussex.  Seeing  Elizabeth 
anxious,  whether  honestly  or  from  motives  of  policy,  to 
atone  for  the  attempt  to  murder  him,  he  renewed  his 
suit  to  her  for  an  English  wife.  The  M'llams,  relations 
of  the  Countess  of  Argyle,  had  offered  him  a  thousand 
pounds  to  let  her  go ;  and  Elizabeth  half  promising  if 
the  Countess  were  restored  to  her  friends  to  consider  his 
prayer,  he  fixed  on  Sussex's  sister,  who  had  been  em- 
ployed as  the  bait  to  catch  him;  so  to  humble  the 
haughty  English  Earl  into  the  very  dust  and  dirt. 

Elizabeth's  desire  to  conciliate  however  stopped  short 
of  ignominy.  Lord  Sussex  deserved  no  better,  nor  his 
sister  if  she  had  been  a  party  to  her  brother's  plot ;  but 
Cecil  did  not  even  venture  '  to  move  the  matter  to  the 
Queen,  fearing  how  she  might  take  it ; '  and  Shan,  lay- 
ing by  his  resentment,  contented  himself  with  the  sub- 
stantial results  of  his  many  successes.  M'Gfuyre  had  to 
fly  from  his  islands ;  O'Donnell's  castles  were  surren- 
dered ;  the  Armagh  garrison  was  withdrawn  at  last. 
Over  lake  and  river,  bog  and  mountain,  Shan  was  un-r 
disputed  Lord  of  Ulster — save  only  on  the  Antrim  shore 
where  the  Scots  maintained  a  precarious  independence. 
So  absolute  was  he  that  with  contemptuous  pity  he 
opened  the  doors  of  the  Callogh's  prison.  The  aged  and 


160  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  42. 

broken  chief  came  to  sue  for  maintenance  at  the  Court 
to  which  his  fidelity  had  ruined  him ;  and  Cusak  con- 
soled Cecil  with  saying  that  '  he  was  but  a  poor  creature 
without  activity  or  manhood/  and  that  '  O'Neil,  con- 
tinuing in  his  truth,  was  more  worthy  to  be  embraced 
than  three  O'Donnells/1 

Here  then  for  the  present  the  story  will  leave  Shan, 
safely  planted  on  the  first  step  of  his  ambition,  in  all  but 
the  title  sole  monarch  of  the  north.  He  built  himself  a 
fort  on  an  island  in  Lough  Neagh,  which  he  called 
'  Foogh-ni- Grail  '—or  '  Hate  of  Englishmen  ; '  and  grew 
rich  on  the  spoils  of  his  enemies,  '  the  only  strong  man 
in  Ireland.'  He  administered  justice  after  a  paternal 
fashion,  permitting  no  robbers  but  himself ;  when  wrong 
was  done  he  compelled  restitution,  '  or  at  his  own  cost 
redeemed  the  harm  to  the  loser's  contentation.' 2  Two 
hundred  pipes  of  wine  were  stored  in  his  cellars  ;  six 
hundred  men-at-arms  fed  at  his  table — '  as  it  were  his 
janissaries ; '  and  daily  he  feasted  the  beggars  at  his 
gate,  '  saying  it  was  meet  to  serve  Christ  first/  Half 
wolf,  half  fox,  he  lay  couched  in  his  '  Castle  of  Male- 
partus/  with  his  emissaries  at  Rome,  at  Paris,  and  at 
Edinburgh.  In  the  morning  he  was  the  subtle  and 
dexterous  pretender  to  the  Irish  throne  ;  in  the  after- 
noon, '  when  the  wine  was  in  him/  he  was  a  dissolute 
savage  revelling  in  sensuality,  with  his  unhappy  coun- 
tess uncoupled  from  her  horse-boy  to  wait  upon  his 
pleasure. 

1  Cusak  to  Cecil,  1564  :  Irish  MSS. 
2  CAMPION. 


1564.]  SHAN  a  NEIL.  161 

He  broke  loose  from  time  to  time  to  keep  his  hand 
in  practice  :  at  Carlingford,  for  instance,  he  swept  off  one 
day  some  two  hundred  sheep  and  oxen,  while  his  men 
violated  sixty  women  in  the  town.1  But  Elizabeth  looked 
away  and  endeavoured  not  to  see  ;  the  English  Govern- 
ment had  resolved  '  to  stir  no  sleeping  dogs  in  Ireland 
till  a  staff  was  provided  to  chastise  them  if  they  would 
bite.' 2  Terence  Daniel,  the  Dean  of  those  rough-riding 
canons  of  Armagh,  was  installed  as  Primate  ;  the  Earl 
of  Sussex  was  recalled  to  England  ;  and  the  new  Arch- 
bishop, unable  to  contain  his  exultation  at  the  blessed 
day  which  had  dawned  upon  his  country,  wrote  to  Cecil 
to  say  how  the  millennium  had  come  at  last — glory  be 
to  God ! 

Meantime  Cecil  set  himself  to  work  at  the  root  of 
the  evil.  Relinquishing  for  the  present  the  hope  of  ex- 
tending the  English  rule  in  Ireland,  he  endeavoured  to 
probe  the  secret  of  its  weakness  and  to  restore  some  kind 
of  order  and  justice  in  the  counties  where  that  rule  sur- 
vived. On  the  return  of  Sussex  to  England  Sir  Thomas 
Wroth  and  Sir  Nicholas  Arnold  were  sent  over  as  com- 
missioners to  inquire  into  the  complaints  against  the 
army.  The  scandals  which  they  brought  to  light,  the 
recrimination,  rage,  and  bitterness  which  they  provoked, 
fill  a  large  volume  of  the  State  Papers. 

Peculation  had  grown  into  a  custom  ;  the  most  bare- 
faced frauds  had  been  converted  by  habit  into  rights ; 
and  'a  captain's'  commission  was  thought  '  ill-handled ' 

1  Fitzwilliam  to  Cecil,  June  17,  1565  :  7mA  MSS. 
2  Cecil  to  Sir  Nicholas  Arnold  :  7mA  MSS. 

VOL.    VII.  11 


162  RElGtf  OF  ELIZABETH.  |CH.  42. 

if  it  did  not  yield  beyond  the  pay  500^.  a  year.  The 
companies  appeared  in  the  pay  books  as  having  their 
full  complement  of  a  hundred  men.  The  actual  number 
rarely  exceeded  sixty.  The  soldiers  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  their  leaders,  and  robbed  and  ground  the  pea- 
santry. Each  and  all  had  commenced  their  evil  ways, 
when  the  Government  itself  was  the  first  and  worst 
offender. 

A  few  more  years — perhaps  months — of  such  doings 
would  have  made  an  end  of  English  dominion.  Sir 
Thomas  Wroth  described  the  Pale  on  his  arrival  as  a 
weltering  sea  of  confusion — '  the  captains  out  of  credit/ 
*  the  soldiers'  mutinous,  the  English  Government  hated ; 
'  every  man  seeking  his  own,  and  none  that  which  was 
Christ's  ; '  '  few  in  all  the  land  reserved  from  bowing 
the  knee  to  Baal ;  '  '  the  laws  for  religion  mere  words.' l 

Something  too  much  of  theological  anxiety  impaired 
Wroth's  usefulness.  He  wished  to  begin  at  the  outside 
with  reforming  the  creed.  The  thing  needful  was  to 
reform  the  heart  and  to  bring  back  truth  and  honesty. 
Wroth  therefore  was  found  unequal  to  the  work ;  and 
the  purification  of  the  Pale  was  left  to  Arnold — a  hard, 
iron,  pitiless  man,  careful  of  things  and  careless  oi 
phrases,  untroubled  with  delicacy,  and  impervious  to 
Irish  '  enchantments.'  The  account  books  were  dragged 
to  light ;  where  iniquity  in  high  places  was  registered 
in  inexorable  figures.  The  hands  of  Sir  Henry  Ratcliffe, 
the  brother  of  Sussex,  were  not  found  clean.  Arnold 


1  Sir  Thomas  Wroth  to  Cecil,  April  16:    Irish  M88. 


1564.]  SffAN  ONEiL.  163 

sent  him  to  the  castle  with  the  rest  of  the  offenders. 
Deep  leading  drains  were  cut  through  the  corrupting 
mass ;  the  shaking  ground  grew  firm ;  and  honest, 
healthy  human  life  was  again  made  possible.  With  the 
provinces  beyond  the  Pale  Arnold  meddled  little,  save 
where,  taking  a  rough  view  of  the  necessities  of  the 
case,  he  could  help  the  Irish  chiefs  to  destroy  each  other. 
To  Cecil  he  wrote — 

'  I  am  with  all  the  wild  Irish  at  the  same  point  I 
am  at  with  bears  and  bandogs ;  when  I  see  them  fight, 
so  they  fight  earnestly  indeed  and  tug  each  other  well, 
I  care  not  who  has  the  worst/ l 

Why  not,  indeed  ?  Better  so  than  to  hire  assassins  ! 
Cecil,  with  the  modesty  of  genius,  confessed  his  ignor- 
ance of  the  country  and  his  inability  to  judge  ;  yet  in 
such  opinions  as  he  allowed  himself  to  give  there  was 
generally  a  certain  nobility  of  tone  and  sentiment. 

'  You  be  of  that  opinion,'  he  replied,  '  which  many 
wise  men  are  of — from  which  I  do  not  dissent,  being  an 
Englishman  ;  but  being  as  I  am  a  Christian  man,  I  am 
not  without  some  perplexity  to  enjoy  of  such  cruelties/  2 

Arnold  however,  though  perhaps  not  personally 
responsible,  saw  the  Irish  rending  each  other  as  he 
desired.  The  formal  division  into  presidencies  could  not 
be  completed  on  the  moment ;  but  English  authority 
having  ceased  to  cast  its  shadow  beyond  the  Pale,  the 
leading  chiefs  seized  or  contended  for  the  rule.  In  the 
north  O'Neil  was  without  a  rival.  In  the  west  the 


1  Sir  Nicholas  Arnold  to  Cecil,  January  29,  1565  :  Irish  MSS. 
2  Cecil  to  Sir  N.  Arnold,  February  28  ;  Irish  MSS. 


1 64  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  42. 

O'Briens  and  the  Clanrickards  shared  without  disputing 
for  them  the  glens  and  moors  of  Galway,  Clare,  and 
/  Mayo.  The  richer  counties  of  Munster  were  a  prize  to 
excite  a  keener  competition  ;  and  when  the  English 
Government  was  no  longer  in  a  position  to  interfere,  the 
feud  between  the  Butlers  and  the  Geraldines  of  the 
south  burst  like  a  volcano  in  fury,  and  like  a  volcano  in 
^r  the  havoc  which  it  spread.  Even  now  the  picture 
drawn  by  Sir  Henry  Sidney  and  repeated  by  Spenser 
can  scarcely  be  contemplated  without  'emotion.  The 
rich  limestone  pastures  were  burnt  into  a  wilderness  ; 
through  Kilkenny,  Tipperary,  and  Cork,  '  a  man  might 
ride  twenty  or  thirty  miles  nor  ever  find  a  house  stand- 
ing ; '  *  and  the  miserable  poor  were  brought  to  such 
wretchedness  that  any  stony  heart  would  have  rued  the 
same.  Out  of  every  corner  of  the  woods  and  glens 
they  came  creeping  forth  upon  their  hands,  for  their 
legs  could  not  bear  them  ;  they  looked  like  anatomies 
of  death ;  they  spoke  like  ghosts  crying  out  of  their 
graves ;  they  did  eat  the  dead  carrions,  happy  where 
they  could  find  them ;  yea,  they  did  eat  one  another 
soon  after,  insomuch  as  the  very  carcasses  they  spared 
not  to  scrape  out  of  their  graves  ;  and  if  they  found  a 
plot  of  watercresses  or  shamrocks,  there  they  flocked  as 
to  a  feast  for  a  time.  Yet  were  they  not  all  long  to 
continue  therewithal,  so  that  in  short  space  there  were 
none  almost  left,  and  a  most  populous  and  plentiful 
country  was  suddenly  left  void  of  man  and  beast ;  yet 
surely  in  all  that  war  there  perished  not  many  by  the 


SHAN  ONEIJ 


165 


sword,  but  all  by  the  extremity  of  famine  which  they 
themselves  had  wrought/1 


1  Compare  Spenser's  '  State  of 
Ireland '  with  '  A  Description  of 
Munster,'  by  Sir  Henry  Sidney, 
after  a  journey  through  it  in  1566. 


The  original  of  Sidney's  despatch  is 
in  the  Record  Office.  It  was  printed 
hy  Collins. — Sidney  Papers,  vol.  ; 


1 66 


CHAPTER  XLIIL 

THE    EMBASSY    OF    DE    S1LVA. 

THE  policy  of  Elizabeth  towards  the  French  Protest- 
ants had  not  been  successful.  Had  her  assistance 
been  moderately  disinterested  she  would  have  secured 
their  friendship,  and  at  the  close  of  the  eight  years, 
fixed  by  the  Treaty  of  Cambray  for  the  restoration  of 
Calais,  she  would  have  experienced  the  effects  of  their 
gratitude.  By  the  forcible  retention  of  Havre  after  the 
civil  war  was  ended  she  had  rekindled  hereditary  animo- 
sities ;  she  had  thrown  additional  doubt  on  her  sincerity 
as  a  friend  of  the  Reformation  ;  she  had  sacrificed  an 
English  army,  while  she  had  provided  the  French  Go- 
vernment with  a  fair  pretext  for  disowning  its  obliga- 
tions, and  was  left  with  a  war  upon  her  hands  from 
which  she  could  hardly  extricate  herself  with  honour. 
A  fortnight  before  Havre  surrendered,  the  Prince  of 
Conde  had  offered,  if  she  would  withdraw  from  it,  that 
the  clause  in  the  Treaty  of  Cambray  affecting  Calais 
should  be  reaccepted  by  the  King  of  France,  the  Queen- 
mother,  the  Council,  the  Noblesse,  and  the  Parliament. 


1 564.  ]  THE  E  MB  ASS  V  OF  DE  SIL  VA.  1 67 

She  had  angrily  and  contemptuously  refused  ;  and  now 
with  crippled  finances,  with  trade  ruined,  with  the 
necessity  growing  upon  her,  as  it  had  grown  upon  her 
sister,  of  contracting  loans  at  Antwerp,  her  utmost  hope 
was  to  extort  the  terms  which  she  had  then  rejected. 

Unable  to  maintain  a  regular  fleet  at  sea  she  had 
let  loose  the  privateers,  whose  exploits  hereafter  will 
be  more  particularly  related.  In  this  place  it  is  enough 
to  say  that  they  had  found  in  the  ships  of  Spain, 
Flanders,  or  even  of  their  own  country,  more  tempting 
booty  than  in  the  coasting  traders  of  Brittany.  English 
merchants  and  sailors  were  arrested  in  Spanish  harbours 
and  imprisoned  in  Spanish  dungeons  in  retaliation  for 
'  depredations  committed  by  the  adventurers ;  '•  while  a 
bill  was  presented  by  the  Madrid  Government  of  two 
million  ducats  for  injuries  inflicted  by  them  on  Spanish 
subjects.1  In  vain  Philip  struggled  to  avoid  a  quarrel 
with  Elizabeth ;  in  vain  Elizabeth  refused  to  be  the 
champion  of  the  Reformation  :  the  animosities  of  their 
subjects  and  the  necessity  of  things  were  -driving  them 
forward  towards  the  eventually  inevitable  breach. 
Mary  Stuart  was  looking  to  the  King  of  Spain  and  the 
King  of  Spain  to  Mary  Stuart,  each  as  the  ally  de- 
signed by  Providence  for  the  other  ;  and  the  English 
Government  in  this  unlucky  war  with  France  was 
quarrelling  with  the  only  European  power  which,  since 
the  breach  of  Henry  the  Eighth  with  the  Papacy,  had 
been  cordially  its  friend.  The  House  of  Guise  was 

1  Reasons  for  a  peace  with  France,  March  10,  1564:  French  MSS. 
Rolls  Home. 


158 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  43. 


under  eclipse.  The  Queen  of  Scots'  ambitions  were  no 
objects  of  interest  to  the  Queen- mother.  The  policy 
of  France  was  again  ready  to  be  moderate,  national, 
anti-Spanish,  and  anti- Papal,  to  be  all  which  England 
would  most  desire  to  see  it.  It  was  imperatively  neces- 
sary that  Elizabeth  should  make  peace,  that  she  should 
endure  as  she  best  might  the  supposed  ingratitude  of 
Conde,  and  accept  the  easiest  terms  to  which  Catherine 
de  Medici  would  now  consent.1 


1  A  letter  of  Sir  John  Mason  to 
Cecil  expresses  the  sense  entertained 
by  English  statesmen  of  the  necessity 
of  peace :— 'My  health,  I  thank  God, 
1  have  recovered,  nothing  remaining 
but  an  ill  cough,  which  will  needs 
accompany  senectutem  meam  to  the 
journey's  end ;  whereof  my  care  is 
much  lessened  by  the  great  care  of 
the  many  sicknesses  that  I  see  in 
our  commonwealth,  which  is  to  me 
more  dear  than  is  either  health  or 
life  to  be  assaulted  with;  which 
would  God  were* but  infirmities  as 
you  do  term  them,  ac  11011  potius 
Kaieoi]9tiai,  seu  quod  genus  morbi  iis 
sit  magis  immorigerum  et  ad  san- 
andum  rebellius  ;  and  that  worse  is, 
cum  universae  corporis  partes  nobis 
doleant  a  vertice  capitis  usque  ad 
plantain  pedis,  dolorem  tamen  (for 
any  care  that  is  seen  to  be  had 
thereof)  sentire  non  videmur,  quod 
mentis  acgrotantis  est  indicium.  A 
great  argument  whereof  is  that  in 
tot  Reipublica)  difficultatibus  editur 
bibitur  luditur  altum  dormitur  pri- 
vata  curantur  publica  negliguntur 


ceu  riderent  omnia  et  pax  rebus  esset 
altissima.  The  fear  of  God,  whereby 
all  things  were  wont  to  be  kept 
in  indifferent  order,  is  in  effect  gone, 
and  he  seemeth  to  weigh  us  and  to 
conduct  our  doings  thereafter.  The 
fear  of  the  Prince  goeth  apace  after, 
whereof  we  see  daily  proof  both  by 
sea  and  land.  It  is  high  time  there- 
fore for  her  Highness  to  take  some 
good  way  with  her  enemy,  and  to 
grow  with  him  to  some  reasonable 
end,  yielding  to  necessity  cui  ne  Dii 
quidem  resistunt,  et  non  ponere 
rumores  ante  salutem  ;  and  to  an- 
swer our  friends  in  reason,  so  as 
rebus  foris  constitutis,  she  may 
wholly  attend  to  see  things  in  better 
order  at  home  ;  the  looseness  where- 
of is  so  great,  as  being  not  remedied 
in  time,  the  tempest  is  not  a  little  to 
be  feared  cum  tot  coactai  nubes  nobis 
minantur,  which  God  of  his  mercy, 
by  the  prayer  of  decem  justi,  a  nobis 
longissirae  avertat. 

'  The  Queen  is  expected  to  go 
north  on  progress,  whereunto  no 
good  man  will  counsel  her.  There 


1564.] 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA. 


169 


The  diplomatic  correspondence  which  had 


January. 


continued  since  the  summer  had  so  far  been 
unproductive  of  result.  The  French  pretended  that  the 
Treaty  of  Cambray  had  been  broken  by  the  English 
in  the  seizure  of  Havre,  and  that  Elizabeth's  claims  on 
Calais,  and  on  the  half  million  crowns  which  were  to 
be  paid  if  Calais  was  not  restored,  were  alike  forfeited. 
They  demanded  therefore  the  release  of  the  hostages 
which  they  had  given  in  as  their  security  ;  and  they 
detained  Sir  Nicholas  Throgmorton  on  his  parole  until 
their  countrymen  were  returned  into  their  hands. 

The  English  maintained  on  the  other  side  that  they 
had  acted  only  in  self-defence,  that  the  treaty  had  been 
first  violated  by  the  French  when  Francis  and  Mary 
assumed  Elizabeth's  arms  and  style,  that  the  House  of 
Guise  had  notoriously  conspired  against  her  throne, 
and  that  Calais  therefore  had  been  already  forfeited  to 
themselves. 

Between  these  two  positions  Paul  de  Foix,  the 
French  ambassador  in  London,  Sir  Thomas  Smith, 
Elizabeth's  ambassador  in  Paris,  and  Throgmorton 
with  a  special  and  separate  commission,  were  en- 
deavouring to  discover  some  middle  ground  of  agree- 
ment. 

The  French  hostages  individually  had  proved  them- 


be  in  this  city  and  about  it  numbers 
of  men  in  much  necessity,  some  for 
lack  of  work  and  some  for  lack 
of  will  to  work.  If  these,  with 
others  that  have  possessed  the  high- 
ways round  about,  be  not  by  some  I 


good  means  kept  in  awe,  I  fear  there 
will  be  ill  dwelling  near  unto  Lon- 
don by  such  as  have  anything  to 
take  to.' — Mason  to  Cecil,  March  8 : 
Lansdowne  MSS.  7. 


r 70  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

selves  a  disagreeable  burden  on  Elizabeth.  They  had 
been  sent  to  reside  at  Eton,  where  they  had  amused 
themselves  with  misleading  the  Eton  boys  into  iniquity ; 
they  had  brought  ambiguous  damsels  into  the  Fellows' 
Common  Room,  and  had  misconducted  themselves  in 
the  Fellows'  precincts  'in  an  unseemly  manner.'  To 
give  them  up  was  to  acquiesce  in  the  French  interpret- 
ation of  the  Calais  question.  They  were  therefore 
arrested  in  retaliation  for  the  arrest  of  Throgmorton, 
and  were  thrown  into  prison. 

Yet  the  exigencies  of  England  required  peace,  and 
France  knew  it ;  and  the  negotiations  took  a  form 
which  might  without  difficulty  have  been  foreseen; 
Elizabeth  made  demands  on  which  she  durst  not  insist, 
and  she  acquiesced  at  last  in  a  conclusion  which  was 
made  humiliating  by  the  reluctance  with  which  it  was 
accepted. 

On  the  28th  of  January  Sir  Thomas  Smith  reported 
that  the  Queen-mother  and  her  ministers  were  anxious 
to  come  to  terms,  that  they  desired  nothing  better  than 
a  return  to  the  '  natural  love  '  which  had  existed  '  be- 
tween old  King  Francis  and  King  Henry ; '  but  that  to 
speak  any  more  of  'the  ratification  of  the  Treaty  of 
Cambray  was  lost  labour.' :  Elizabeth  knew  that  she 
must  give  way,  yet  she  desired  to  give  way  with 
dignity :  instead  of  replying  to  Smith  she  wrote  to 
Throgmorton,  who  was  intrusted  with  powers  to  nego- 
tiate independently  of  his  colleague.  She  admitted 

1  Sir  Thomas  Smith  to  Elizabeth,  January  28  :   French  M8S.  Rolls 
{fount. 


1564-]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  171 

that  if  the  treaty  was  not  to  be  ratified  she  could  not 
stand  out  upon  it ;  yet  unwilling  to  commit  herself 
formally  she  desired  Throgmorton  to  go  '  as  of  himself ' 
to  the  Queen-mother  and  inquire  whether  she  would 
consent  to  a  general  peace  with  a  mutual  reservation  of 
rights.  She  said  that  she  would  not  part  with  the 
hostages.  If  their  restitution  was  demanded  as  a  right 
'  she  would  rather  abide  the  worst  that  could  be  done 
against  her/  There  might  be  a  private  understanding 
that  on  the  signature  of  the  treaty  they  should  be  re- 
leased from  arrest ;  but  even  so  they  must  remain  in 
England l  until  the  French  had  either  paid  the  money 
or  had  given  mercantile  security  for  it.  To  surrender 
them  otherwise  would  be  an  admission  that  the  Treaty 
of  Cambray  was  no  longer  binding. 

February  was  consumed  in  diplomatic  fencing  over 
these  proposals ;  and  Throgmorton  tried  in  turn  the 
Queen-mother,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  the  Constable, 
the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  and  the  Chancellor.  But  if 
Elizabeth  was  afraid  of  doing  anything  to  compromise 
the  treaty,  the  French  were  equally  afraid  of  doing 
anything  to  acknowledge  it.  They  would  give  no 
second  security  to  recover  the  hostages ;  they  would 
not  pay  the  half  million  crowns  because  it  was  the  sum 


1  We  mean  not  by  any  our  own 
act  to  consent  that  the  hostages 
should  depart  hence,  as  persons  in 
whom  we  had  no  interest  in  respect 
of  the  Treaty  of  Cambray,  without 
we  may  have  caution  according  to 
the  treaty  ;  and  though  they  be  not 
here  but  for  a  sum  of  money,  yet  if 


we  should  let  them  depart,  having 
neither  the  money  nor  other  hostages, 
nor  yet  caution  of  merchants,  we 
should  thereby  to  our  dishonour  con- 
sent that  the  treaty  was  void.' — 
Elizabeth  to  Throgmorton,  February 
3  :  French  MSS.  Molls  House. 


172  RKIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

which  the  treaty  named.  Throgmorton  said  that  his 
mistress  would  make  no  objection  to  six  hundred 
thousand  if  they  were  afraid  of  the  stipulated  figures ; 
but  this  way  out  of  the  difficulty  did  not  commend 
itself. 

La  Halle,  a  gentleman  of  the  Court,  aiming  at  Eliza- 
beth through  her  weak  side,  suggested  a  present  of  a 
hundred  thousand  crowns  to  Lord  Robert.  The  Queen- 
mother  offered  to  add  to  it  some  rich  jewel  from  the 
French  crown  ;  but  Sir  Nicholas  encouraged  this  sug- 
gestion as  little  as  the  French  Court  had  encouraged  the 
other.  At  last  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  in  private  told 
him  that  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  crowns  would 
be  paid  for  the  hostages — so  much  and  no  more.  The 
Prince  of  Conde  and  those  in  the  French  council  whom 
the  Queen  of  England  had  obliged  the  most  were  op- 
posed to  making  any  concessions  at  all,  and  only  wished 
the  war  to  continue  ;  and  the  Cardinal  hinted  as  a  rea- 
son for  Elizabeth's  consent  that  it  was  well  known  that 
she  could  not  trust  her  own  subjects. 

To  this  last  suggestion  Throgmorton  answered  that 
'Although  there  were  some  that  desired  the  Roman 
religion,  as  he  thought  there  were,  yet  the  former  agi- 
tations and  torments  about  the  change  of  religion  had 
so  wearied  each  party  that  the  whole  were  resolved  to 
endure  no  more  changes,  for  they  were  so  violent ;  all 
sorts,  of  what  religion  soever  they  were,  did  find  more 
ease  and  surety  to  serve  and  obey  than  to  rebel ;  and  for 
proof  the  greatest  number  of  those  that  had  lost  their 
lives  in  the  wars  at  Newhaven  and  other  places  were 


1564.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  173 

reported  to  be  of  the  Roman  religion  :  so  as  surely  the 
diversity  of  conscience  did  not  in  England  make  diversi- 
ties of  duties  or  breed  new  disobedience/ l 

Some  truth  there 'doubtless  was  in  this  ac- 
count of  the  state  of  English  feeling;    yet 
Throgmorton  could  scarcely  have  felt  the  confidence 
which  he  expressed.     The  disaffection  of  the  Catholics 
was  but  too  notorious,  although  Philip  had  embarrassed 
their  action  by  forbidding  them  to  look  to  France  for 
assistance. 

The  loyalty  or  disloyalty  of  the  English  people  how- 
ever did  not  touch  the  immediate  question.  Beyond  the 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  crowns  the  French  offer 
would  not  rise.  Throgmorton  .wrote  home  for  instruc- 
tions, and  the  proposal  was  met  in  the  spirit  which 
usually  characterized  Elizabeth's  money  transaction.-. 

The  Queen  replied  with  directing  the  ambassadors  to 
demand  four  hundred  thousand  crowns ;  if  the  French 
refused,  she  said  that  they  might  descend  to  three  hun- 
dred thousand,  and  must  protest  that  they  had  no  power 
to  go  lower ;  if  there  was  no  hope  of  obtaining  three 
hundred  thousand,  '  they  must  do  their  uttermost  to 
make  the  sum  not  less  than  two  hundred  thousand.' 

These  instructions  were  delivered  in  the  usual  form 
to  the  State  messenger  Somers,  and  appeared  to  be  an 
ultimatum  ;  but  Somers  carried  with  him  a  second  sealed 
packet  which  he  was  not  to  deliver  except  at  the  last 
extremity.  The  ambassadors  were  to  be  able  to  say  with 


1  Throgmorton  to  Elizabeth,  February  28 :   French  MSS.  Poll*  House. 


174  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  |CH.  43. 

a  clear  conscience  that  they  had  no  authority  to  accept 
less  than  the  two  hundred  thousand;  yet  sooner  than 
let  the  chance  of  peace  escape  they  were  to  be  allowed 
at  the  last  extremity  to  take  whatever  Catherine  de 
Medici  would  give. 

The  French  Court  was  at  Troyes  when  Somers  ar- 
rived. Smith  and  Throgmorton,  who  had  been  employed 
hitherto  as  rivals — each  informed  of  but  half  the  truth, 
and  intrusted  with  information  which  had  been  concealed 
from  the  other — were  united  at  last  in  a  common  hu- 
miliation. With  the  first  despatch  in  his  hand  Sir 
Thomas  Smith  repaired  to  the  Queen-mother,  and  de- 
scended his  scale  so  far  as  he  then  knew  that  his  powers 
extended.  Catherine  replied  shortly  that  the  recovery 
of  Havre  had  cost  France  two  millions  of  gold  ;  on  the 
sum  to  be  paid  to  Elizabeth  '  she  had  not  bargained  and 
huckstered  and  altered  her  terms  as  the  English  had 
done  ;  she  had  fixed  in  her  own  mind  at  first  what  she 
would  give  ;  and  she  would  give  that  or  nothing/  She 
intended  to  leave  Troyes  the  following  morning.  If 
not  accepted  in  the  mean  time  the  offer  would  be  with- 
drawn. 

"With  this  answer  Smith  returned  to  his  brother  am- 
bassador. They  were  looking  blankly  in  each  other's 
faces  when  Somers  produced  his  second  letter.  The  seal 
was  broken.  They  found  themselves  permitted  to  con- 
sent ;  and  they  sent  a  message  to  Bourdin,  Catherine's 
secretary,  begging  him  to  come  to  them.  Their  tempers 
Were  not  improved  by  the  position  in  which  Elizabeth 
had  placed  them  ;  and  while  waiting  for  Bourdiii's  ar- 


1564.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SlLVA.  i?$ 

rival  each  laid  on  the  other  the  blame  of  their  bad  suc- 
cess. Throgmorton  '  chafed  and  fumed/  '  detested  and 
execrated  himself !  '  and  then  accused  his  companion  of 
having  betrayed  to  the  Queen-mother  the  secret  of  the 
second  commission.  Smith  protested  that  he  could  not 
have  betrayed  what  he  did  not  know ;  but  five  years 
of  '  practice  '  and  conspiracy  were  ending  in  shame ;  and 
Sir  Nicholas  could  not  bear  it  and  was  unreasonable. 

Sir  Thomas  Smith  himself  describes  the  scene. 

' '  I  tell  the  Queen-mother  ! '  quoth  I.  « Why  or 
how  should  I  tell  her  ? ' 

' '  Thou  liest ! '  said  Throgmorton,  '  like  a  whoreson 
traitor  as  thou  art ! ' 

' '  A  whoreson  traitor  !  Nay,  thou  liest ! '  quoth  I. 
'  I  am  as  true  to  the  Queen's  majesty  as  thou,  every 
day  in  the  week,  and  have  done  and  do  her  Highness  as 
good  service  as  thou.' 

1  Hereupon  Sir  Nicholas  drew  his  dagger,  and  poured 
out  such  terms  as  his  malicious  and  furious  rage  had  in 
store  ;  and  called  me  '  arrant  knave/  '  beggarly  knave/ 
'traitor/  and  other  such  injuries  as  came  next  to  hand 
out  of  his  good  store. 

'  I  drew  my  dagger  also.  Mr  Somers  stepped  be- 
tween us ;  but  as  he  pressed  with  his  dagger  to  come 
near  me,  I  bade  him  stand  back  and  not  come  no  nearer 
to  me,  or  I  would  cause  him  stand  back,  and  give  him 
such  a  mark  as  his  Bedlam  furious  head  did  deserve/1 

To  such  a  pass  had  two  honest  men  been  brought  by 


1  Smith  to  Cecil,  April  13  :   French  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


176  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

Elizabeth's  bar  gain- driving.  Throgmorton  felt  tlie 
wound  most  deeply,  as  the  person  chiefly  answerable  for 
the  French  policy.  Tie  had  offered  ( to  lie  in  prison 
for  a  year  rather  than  the  enemy  should  have  their 
will.'  To  rouse  the  Queen  to  fierceness  he  had  quoted 
the  French  proverb,  that  '  if  she  made  herself  a  sheep 
the  wolf  would  devour  her  ;  '*  and  it  ended  in  his  being 
compelled  at  last  to  haggle  like  a  cheating  shopkeeper, 
and  to  fail. 

The  ruffled  humours  cooled  at  last,  and  when  quiet 
was  restored  Smith  proposed  one  more  attempt  to 
'  traffic  ;  '  but  Sir  Nicholas  would  not  give  Catherine 
any  further  triumph ;  Bourdin  came,  and  the  Peace  of 
Troyes  was  arranged. 

The  terms  were  simple.  Complicated  claims  and 
rights  on  both  sides  were  reserved ;  the  Treaty  of  Cam- 
bray  was  neither  acknowledged  nor  declared  void ;  the 
French  hostages  were  to  be  released  from  England  ;  the 
French  Government  undertook  to  pay  for  them  the 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  crowns  ;  and  free  trade 
was  to  be  allowed  'between  the  subjects  of  both  sove- 
reigns in  all  parts  of  their  respective  dominions.' J 
The  unfortunate  war  was  at  an  end.  Elizabeth  was 
obliged  to  bear  graciously  with  the  times  ;  and  her  bit- 
terness was  reserved  for  the  Prince  of  Conde.  From 
him  she  charged  Smith  to  demand  instant  repayment  of 
the  loan  which  she  had  advanced  to  him  in  his  hour  of 
difficulty.  *  We  mean  not,'  she  said, '  to  be  so  deluded  as 

1  '  Si  tu  te  fais  ung  moutou  le  loup  te  mangera/ 
2  Peace  of  Troyes     RYMER. 


1 564.  ]  THE  E  MB  ASS  Y  OF  DE  SILVA.  177 

both  to  forbear  our  money  and  to  have  Lad  at  this  time 
no  friendship  by  his  means  in  the  conclusion  of  the 
peace/  l 

The  peace  itself  came  not  an  hour  too  soon.  Scarcely 
was  it  signed  than  news  arrived  from  Italy  that  the 
Sacred  College  had  repented  of  their  first  honest  answer 
to  the  English  Catholics  who  had  asked  leave  to  attend 
the  established  services.  It  had  been  decided  in  secret 
council  to  permit  Catholics  in  disguise  to  hold  benefices 
in  England,  to  take  the  oaths  of  allegiance,  and  to  serve 
Holy  Church  in  the  camp  of  the  enemy.  '  Remission  of 
sin  to  them  and  their  heirs — with  annuities,  honours, 
and  promotions/  was  offered  'to  any  cook,  brewer, 
baker,  vintner,  physician,  grocer,  surgeon,  or  other  who 
would  make  away  with  the  Queen  ; '  the  curse  of  God 
and  his  vicar  was  threatened  against  all  those  'who 
would  not  promote  and  assist  by  money  or  otherwise  the 
pretences  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  to  the  English  crown ; ' 2 
the  Court  of  Rome,  once  illustrious  as  the  citadel  of  the 
saints,  was  given  over  to  Jesuitism  and  the  devil ;  and 
the  Papal  fanatics  in  England  began  to  weave  their 
endless  web  of  conspiracy — aiming  amidst  a  thousand 
variations  at  the  heart  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

The  ruffle  with  France  sunk  speedily  into 

May. 

calm.     The  ratifications   were  promptly   ex- 
changed.     Lord  Hunsdon  went  to  France,  taking  with 


1  Elizabeth  to  Sir  T.  Smith,  May  2  :  French  MSS.  Rolls  House 
2  Report  of  E.  Dennum,  April  13,  1564 :  STRYPE'S  Annals  of  Eliza- 
beth^ vol.  i.,  part  2,  p.  54. 

VOL.    VII.  12 


i78 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  43. 


him  the  Garter  for  the  young  King.1  M.  de  Gonor 
and  the  Bishop  of  Coutances  came  to  England ;  and  an 
attempt,  not  very  successful,  was  made  to  show  them 
in  their  reception  that  England  was  better  defended 
than  they  supposed.  In  January,  when  a  French  in- 
vasion was  thought  likely,  Archbishop  Parker  had  re- 
ported '  Dover,  "Walmer,  and  Deal  as  forsaken  and 
unregarded  for  any  provision  ;  '  *  the  people  feeble,  un- 
armed, and  commonly  discomforted  towards  the  feared 
mischief.'  The  Lord  Warden  had  gone  to  his  post  '  as 
naked  without  strength  of  men.'  The  Archbishop,  living 
at  Bekesbourne  with  the  ex-Bishop  of  Ely  and  another 
Catholic  at  free  prison,  felt  uneasy  for  his  charge  ;  and 
not  sharing  Throgmorton's  confidence  and  believing 
that  if  the  French  landed  they  would  carry  all  before 
them,  wrote  to  Cecil  to  warn  him  of  the  danger  '  which 
if  not  looked  to  he  feared  would  be  irreparable.' 

'  If  the  enemy  have  an  entry/  he  said,  '  as  by  great 
consideration  'of  our  weakness  and  their  strength,  of 
their  vigilance  and  our  dormitation  and  protraction,  is 
like,  the  Queen's  majesty  shall  never  be  able  to  leave  to 
her  successors  that  which  she  found  delivered  her  by 
God's  favourable  hand.' 2 


1  The  ceremony  was  nearly  spoilt 
by  an  odd  accident.  The  Garter, 
though  Hunsdon  said  it  cost  her 
Majesty  dear,  was  a  poor  and  shabby 
one.  It  had  been  made  on  the  com- 
mon pattern,  as  if  for  some  burly 
English  nobleman,  and  would  not 
remain  on  the  puny  leg  of  Charles 
the  Ninth  Hunsdon  was  obliged  to 


send  back  in  haste  for  one  which  had 
belonged  to  King  Edward  or  King 
Philip.  'These  things,'  he  said, 
'touch  her  Majesty's  honour.' — 
French  MSS.,  May,  1564:  Rolls 
House. 

2  Parker  to  Cecil,  January  20 
and  February  6,  1564:  Lansdowne 
MSS. 


1 564. ]  THE  EMBA SS Y  OF  DE  SIL  VA.  1 79 

The  peril  had  passed  over ;  and  for  fear  the  French 
ambassadors  might  carry  back  too  tempting  a  report  of 
the  defencelessness  of  the  coast,  Lord  Abergavemiy  was 
directed — as  if  to  do  them  honour — to  call  under  arms 
the  gentlemen  of  the  south-eastern  counties. 
The  result  not  being  particularly  successful, 
the  Archbishop  invited  De  Gronor  and  the  Bishop  of 
Coutances  to  Bekesbourne,  and  '  in  a  little  vain  brag, 
psrhaps  infirmity/  showed  them  his  well-furnished 
armoury,  hoping  that  his  guests  would  infer  that  if  a 
prelate  *  had  regard  of  such  provisions  others  had  more 
care  thereabout/  1 

The  thin  disguise  would  have  availed  little  had  there 
been  a  real  desire  for  the  continuance  of  the  war.  In 
the  unprotected  shores,  the  open  breezy  downs,  the 
scattered  and  weakly-armed  population,  they  observed 
the  facility  of  invasion,  and  remarked  upon  it  plainly. 
But  Catherine  de  Medici  had  no  interest  in  Mary 
Stuart  and  no  desire  to  injure  Elizabeth.  Mary  Stuart's 
friends  were  rather  at  Madrid  than  at  Paris ;  and  the 
French  ministers  were  more  curious  of  the  religious 
condition  of  England  than  of  its  military  defences. 

Their  visit  to  Bekesbourne  therefore  gave  occasion 
for  the  Archbishop  and  his  visitors  to  compare  eccle- 
siastical notes.  The  Bishop  of  Coutances  expressed  the 
unexpected  pleasure  which  it  had  given  him  to  find 
that  '  there  was  so  much  reverence  about  the  sacra- 
ments/ l  that  music  was  still  permitted  in  the  quires/ 


Parker  to  Cecil,  June  3  :  Domestic  MSS.  Elizabeth,  vol.  xxxiii. 


i8o  REIGN  OF  ELIZABE  TH.  [CH.  43. 

and  that  the  lands  of  the  suppressed  abbeys  had  been 
bestowed  '  for  pious  uses.'  He  wished  that  as  happy  a 
change  could  be  worked  in  France ;  and  marvelled  that 
the  deposed  bishops  should  have  been  f  so  stiff '  in  re- 
fusing '  to  follow  the  Prince's  religion  ; '  he  noted  and 
delighted  in  English  mediocrity ;  charging  the  Genevans 
and  the  Scots  with  going  too  far  in  extremities/  The 
Archbishop  told  him  that  '  there  were  priests  and  bish- 
ops in  England  both  married  and  unmarried  ; '  '  he  did 
not  disallow  thereof,  and  was  contented  to  hear  evil  of 
the  Pope/ 

The  ambassadors  proceeded  to  London,  leaving  be- 
hind them  an  agreeable  impression  of  themselves,  and 
carrying  with  them  a  sunny  memory  of  a  pleasant  Eng- 
lish summer  home,  with  its  woods  and  gardens  and 
cawing  rooks  and  cheery  social  life ;  the  French  pages 
had  been  so  well  schooled  in  their  behaviour  that  when 
they  were  gone  the  Archbishop  was  surprised  to  find 
'  he  could  not  charge  them  with  purloining  the  worth  of 
one  silver  spoon/  l  On  both  sides  of  the  Channel,  in 
London  and  Paris,  the  peace  once  made  there  was  the 
warmest  endeavour  to  obliterate  painful  recollections ; 
the  moderate  party  was  in  power  at  the  Court  of  Cathe- 
rine, and  with  it  the  liberal  anti-Spanish  foreign  policy ; 
the  interests  of  France  and  England  were  identical  on 
the  great  political  questions  of  the  day  ;  and  Elizabeth 
was  fortunate  in  having  a  treaty  forced  upon  her  which 
obliged  Philip  to  look  with  less  favour  on  the  Queen  of 


Parker  to  Cecil,  June  3  :  Domestic-  MSS.,  Elizabeth,  vol.  xxxiii. 


1564-] 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  S1LVA. 


[Si 


Scots — which  compelled  the  Spanish  ministers  to  post- 
pone their  resentment  against  English  piracies,  and 
drove  them  rather  to  dread  their  own  inability  to  retain 
their  Low  Countries  than  to  seek  opportunities  for  in- 
terference abroad. 

The  King  of  Spain  had  intended  to  send  no  more 
ambassadors  to  England  till  Mary  Stuart  was  on.  the 
throne :  on  the  Peace  of  Troyes  he  changed  his  mind, 
and  resumed  or  affected  to  resume  his  friendly  relations 
with  Elizabeth.  Guzman  de  Silva  received  his  commis- 
sion as  de  Quadra's  successor ;  and  once  more  in  the  old 
language  Luis  de  Paz,  the  Spanish  agent  in  London, 
reported  to  Granvelle  '  the  affliction  and  discontent  of 
the  English  Catholics,  who  had  been  encouraged  to  hope 
that  their  trials  were  at  an  end,  who  had  rested  their 
entire  hopes  on  Philip,  and  now  knew  not  where  to 
turn/  l 

Mary  Stuart,  as  her  hopes  of  the  Prince  of  Spain 
grew  fainter,  was  pausing  over  the  answer  which  she 
should  make  to  Elizabeth's  last  proposals.  She  had  been 
in  communication  throughout  the  winter  with  the 
Netherlands,  and  was  perhaps  aware  in  some  degree  of 
the  difficulties  created  by  the  Prince's  character.  She 
had  iiejasd^ely_refused  the  Archduke  of  Austria  whom 
Philip  wished  her  to  take  in  his  son's  stead ;  and  al- 
though the  Spanish  Court,  waiting  probably  for  some 


1  '  Los  Catolicos  del  Reyno  estan 
muy  afligidos  con  gran  descontento, 
viendo  que  todas  las  esperangas  que 
tenian  eran  en  su  Magd.,  y  que  no 


veen  semblante  ninguno  para  prin- 
ciple de  remediar  tanta  desventura.' 
—Luis  Romano  to  Granvelle,  1564- 
MS.  Simancas. 


Ib2  kElGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  jcri.  43. 

favourable  change  in  Don  Carlos,  had  not  yet  deter- 
mined that  the  marriage  must  be  given  up,  the  Queen 
of  Scots  knew  enough  to  prevent  her  from  feeling  san- 
guine of  obtaining  him.  It  became  necessary  for  he; 
to  consider  whether  she  could  make  anything  out  of  the 
English  overtures. 

Elizabeth's  attitude  towards  her  was  in  the  main 
honourable  and  statesmanlike.  The  name  of  a  successor, 
as  she  said  herself,  was  like  the  tolling  of  her  death-bell. 
In  her  sister's  lifetime  she  had  experienced  how  an  heir- 
presumptive  with  an  inalienable  right  became  inevitably 
a  rallying  point  of  disaffection.  She  did  not  trust  the 
Queen  of  Scots,  and  if  she  allowed  her  pretensions  to  bq 
sanctioned  by  Act  of  Parliament  she  anticipated  neglect, 
opposition — perhaps  worse.  But  of  assassination  she 
could  scarcely  be  in  greater  danger  than  she  was  already; 
and  if  she  could  induce  Mary  to  meet  her  half  way  in 
some  moderate  policy,  and  if  the  Queen  of  Scots,  instead 
of  marrying  a  Catholic  prince  and  allying  herself  with 
the  revolutionary  Ultramontanes,  would  accept  an  Eng- 
lish nobleman  of  whose  loyalty  to  herself  she  could  feel 
assured,  she  was  ready  to  sacrifice  her  personal  unwill- 
ingness to  what  she  believed  to  be  the  interest  of  her 
people.  There  could  then  be  no  danger  that  England 
would  be  sacrificed  to  the  Papacy.  Some  tolerant  creed 
could  be  established  which  Catholics  might  accept  with- 
out offence  to  their  consciences,  and  Protestants  could 
live  under  without  persecution ;  while  the  resolution  of 
the  two  factions  into  neutrality,  if  not  into  friendship, 
the  union  of  the  crowns,  and  the  confidence  which  would 


1564. 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA. 


arise  from  a  secured  succession,  were  objects  with  which 
private  inclination  could  not  be  allowed  to  interfere. 
Elizabeth  had  made  the  offer  in  good  faith,  with  a  sin- 
cere hope  that  it  would  be  accepted,  and  with  a  fair 
ground  of  confidence  that  with  the  conditions  which  she 
had  named  the  objections  of  the  House  of  Commons  to 
the  Queen  of  Scots  would  be  overcome. 

Even  in  the  person  whom  in  her  heart  she  desired 
Mary  to  marry,  Elizabeth  was  giving  an  evidence  of  the 
honesty  of  her  intentions.  Lord  Robert  Dudley  was  per-  .', 
haps  the  most  worthless  of  her  subjects ;  but  in  the 
loving  eyes  of  his  mistress  he  was  the  knight  sans  peur  et 
sans  reproche ;  and  she  took  a  melancholy  pride  in  offer- 
ing her  sister  her  choicest  jewel,  and  in  raising  Dudley, 
though  she  could  not  marry  him  herself,  to  the  rever- 
sion of  the  English  throne. 

She  had  not  indeed  named  Lord  Robert  formally  in 
Randolph's  commission.  She  had  spoken  of  him  to  e. 
Maitland,  but  she  had  spoken  also  of  the  Earl  of  War- 
wick ;  and  she  perhaps  retained  some  hope  that  if  Mary 
would  be  contented  with  the  elder  brother  she  might 
still  keep  her  favourite  for  herself.1  But  if  she  enter- 


1  Randolph  himself  seems  to  have 
thought  something  of  the  kind.  On 
the  2  ist  of  January,  before  the  peace 
with  France,  he  wrote  to  Elizabeth  : 

'  The  French  have  heard  through 
M.  de  Foix  of  your  Majesty's  intent, 
and  the  Cardinal  of  Guise  is  set  to 
hinder  it.  He  writes  to  the  Queen 
of  Scots  to  beware  of  your  Majesty, 
that  you  mean  nothing  less  than 


good  faith  with  her ;  and  that  it 
proceedeth  of  finesse  to  make  her 
believe  that  you  intend  her  good,  or 
that  her  honour  shall  be  any  way 
advanced  by  marriage  of  anything 
so  base  as  either  my  Lord  Robert  or 
Earl  of  Warwick,  of  which  two  your 
Majesty  is  determined  to  take  the 
one  and  to  give  her  the  other. 
Though  this  whole  matter  be  not 


i84 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  43. 


tained  any  such  thought  she  soon  abandoned  it ;  her 
self-abnegation  was  to  be  complete  ;  and  in  ignorance  of 
the  objections  of  Mary  Stuart  to  the  Archduke  Charles 
she  had  even  allowed  Cecil  at  the  close  of  1563  to  re- 
open negotiations  with  the  Emperor  for  the  transfer  of 
his  son  to  herself.  Ferdinand  however  had  returned  a 
cold  answer.  He  had  been  trifled  with  once  already. 
Elizabeth  had  played  with  him,  he  said,  for  her  own  pur- 
poses with  no  real  intention  of  marriage  ;  and  neither 
he  nor  the  Archduke  should  be  made  ridiculous  a  second 
time.1  Elizabeth  accepted  the  refusal  and  redoubled 
her  advances  to  Mary  Stuart ;  relinquishing,  if  she  had 
ever  really  entertained,  the  thought  of  a  simultaneous 
marriage  for  herself  until  she  had  seen  how  her  scheme 
for  Dudley  would  end. 

She  was  so  capable  of  falsehood  that  her  own  expres- 
sions would  have  been  an  insufficient  guarantee  for  her 
sincerity ;  yet  it  will  be  seen  beyond  a  doubt  that  those 
around  her — her  ministers,  her  instruments,  Cecil,  Ran- 
dolph, the  foreign  ambassadors — all  believed  that  she 
really  desired  to  give  Dudley  to  Mary  Stuart  arid  to 
settle  the  Scottish  difficulty  by  it.  In  this,  as  in  every- 
thing else,  she  was  irresolute  and  changeable;  but  neither 
her  conduct  nor  her  words  can  be  reconciled  with  the 
hypothesis  of  intentional  duplicity;  and  the  weak  point 
of  the  project  was  that  which  she  herself  regarded  with 


true,  your  Majesty  seeth  that  he 
hath  a  shrewd  guess  at  it.' — Ran- 
dolph to  Elizabeth,  January  21  : 
Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1  Christopher  Mundt  to  Cecil, 
December  28,  1563  :  Burghky  Pa- 
pers, HAINES. 


1564.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DR  SILVA.  185 

the  greatest  self- admiration.  She  was  giving  in  Lord 
Robert  the  best  treasure  which  she  possessed ;  and  Cecil 
approved  the  choice  to  rid  his  mistress  of  a  companion 
whose  presence  about  her  person  was  a  disgrace  to  her 

But  no  true_^iend  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  could  advise 
her  to  accept  a  husband  whom  Elizabeth  dared  not  marry 
for  fear  of  her  subjects'  resentment.  The  first  two  months 
of  the  year  passed  off  with  verbal  fencing ;  the  Queen 
of  Scots  was  expecting  news  from  Spain,  and  Murray 
and  Maitland  declined  to  press  upon  her  the  wishes  of 
Elizabeth ;  *  while  Mary  herself  began  to  express  an 
anxiety  which  derives  importance  from  her  later  history 
for  the  return  to  Scotland  of  the  Earl  of  Both  well. 

Both  well,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  been  charged 
two  years  before  by  the  Earl  of  Arran  with  a  design  of 
killing  Murray  and  of  carrying  off  the  Queen.  He  had 
been  imprisoned  in  Edinburgh  Castle,  and  had  escaped, 
not  it  was  supposed  without  Mary's  connivance.  He 
had  attempted  to  fly  to  France,  but  had  been  driven  by 
foul  weather  into  Berwick,  where  he  was  arrested  by  the 
English  commander.  When  Randolph  informed  the 
Queen  of  Scots  of  his  capture  '  he  doubted  whether  she 
did  give  him  any  thanks  for  the  news  ; '  and  a  few  days 
after  she  desired  that  he  should  be  sent  back  '  to  her 
keeping.'  Her  ministers  '  suspecting  that  her  mind  was 
more  favourable  to  him  than  was  cause/  and  fearing  that 
she  wished  for  him  only  '  to  be  reserved  in  store  to  be 
employed  in  any  kind  of  mischief,'  had  said  that  they 

1  Letters  of  Randolph  to  Cecil  and  Elizabeth,  January  and  February, 
1564  :  MS.  Rolls  House. 


i86  kEtGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  |CH.  43. 

would  rather  never  see  him  in  Scotland  again  ;  and  Itan- 
dolph  took  the  opportunity  of  giving  Cecil  his  opinion 
of  the  Karl  of  Bothwell. 

'  One  thing  I  thought  not  to  omit,  that  I  know  him  as 
mortal  an  enemy  to  our  whole  nation  as  any  man  alive ; 
despiteful  above  measure,  false  and  untrue  as  a  devil. 
If  he  could  have  had  his  will,  neither  the  Queen's  Ma- 
jesty had  stood  in  as  good  terms  with  the  Queen  of  Scots 
as  she  doth,  nor  minister  left  alive  that  should  be  a 
travailer  between  their  Majesties  for  a  continuance  of 
the  same.  He  is  an  enemy  to  my  country,  a  blasphem- 
ous and  irreverent  speaker  both  of  his  own  sovereign 
and  the  Queen's  Majesty  my  mistress ;  and  over  that  the 
godly  of  this  whole  nation  hath  cause  to  curse  him  for 
ever.  Your  honour  will  pardon  me  thus  angrily  to 
write ;  it  is  much  less  than  I  do  think  or  have  cause  to 
think.'1 

Having  an  animal  of  this  temper  in  her  hands  Eliza- 
beth had  not  been  anxious  to  let  him  go.  Bothwell  was 
detained  for  three  months  at  Berwick,  and  was  then  sent 
for  to  London.  The  English  Government,  exasperated 
at  the  unexpected  support  which  the  Scotch  Protestants 
then  were  lending  to  Mary  Stuart's  claims,  trusted  by 
keeping  him  in  close  confinement  and  examining  him 
strictly  to  extract  secrets  out  of  him  which  could  be  used 
to  reattach  them  to  England — some  proof  that  the  Queen 
intended  as  soon  as  occasion  served  to  turn  round  against 
them  and  against  the  Reformation.2 

1   Randolph   to    Cecil,    January  I        2  'La  de  Inglaterra,  deseosa  de 
22,  1563  :   MS.  Rolls  House.  \  descubrir  alguna  cosa  que   pudiese 


^564.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  187 

Bothwell  was  too  loyal  to  his  mistress  to  betray  her  ; 
but  the  cage  door  was  not  opened.     More  than  a  year  ^ 
had  passed  since  his  arrest,  and  he  was  still  detained, 
without  right  or  shadow  of  right,  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower. 
At  length,  however,  Mary  Stuart  pleaded  so  loudly  for 
him  that  Elizabeth  could  not  refuse.     In  the  midst  pf 
the  marriage  discussion  the  Queen  of  Scots  asked  as  a 
favour  what  if  she  had  pleased  she  could  have  demanded 
as  a  right.     Bothwell  was  let  go,  and  made  his  way  into  »- 
France. 

This  object  secured,  Mary  Stuart  addressed  herself 
more  seriously  to  the  larger  matter.  The  Emperor,  sup- 
ported by  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  was  still  pressing  the 
Archduke  Charles  upon  her,  and  to  make  the  offer  more 
welcome  he  proposed  to  settle  <5n  his  son  an  allowance  of 
two  million  francs  a  year.  But  the  Archduke  Charles  <- 
was  half  a  Protestant,  and  was  unwelcome  to  the  English 
Catholics.  At  the  end  of  February  she  sent  her  secre- 
tary to  Graiivelle  to  explain  the  reasons  which  obliged 
her  to  refuse  the  Austrian  alliance,  and  to  learn  conclus- 
ively whether  she  had  anything  to  hope  from  Spain.1 
If  the  Prince  of  Spain  failed,  her  friends  in  England 
wished  that  she  should  marry  LordJDarnley.  She  now 
proposed  to  play  with  the  position,  to  affect  submission, 
to  induce  the  Queen  of  England  herself,  if  possible,  to 
propose  Darnley  to  her  ;  and  by  accepting  him  with  de- 

causar  division  eritre  la  de  Escocia  y  I  De   Quadra   to    Philip,    April   24, 


Milord  James  y  los  demas  Protes- 
tantes,  le  ha  hecho  venir  aqui,  donde 
sera  examinado  y  bien  guardado. 
Este  es  evangelic  que  aqui  se  usa.' — 


1563  :  MS.  Simancas. 

1  Mary    Stuart    to    Granvelle : 
LABANOFF,  vol.  i.  p.  200. 


i88  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

ferential  and  seeming  reluctance,  to  obtain  the  long-de- 
sired recognition.  Once  married  to  Darnley  and  ad- 
mitted by  Parliament  as  heir-presumptive,  her  course 
would  then  be  easy.  At  the  bottom  of  her  heart  she 
had  determined  that  she  would  never  cease  to  be  Eliza- 
beth's enemy ;  never  for  a  moment  had  she  parted  with 
the  conviction  that  the  English  crown  was  hers,  and  that 
Elizabeth  was  a  usurper.  But  without  support  from 
abroad  she  was  obliged  to  trust  to  her  address ;  could 
she  win  her  way  to  be  '  second  person/  and  were  she 
married  with  Elizabeth's  consent  to  the  favourite  of  the 
insurrectionary  Catholics,  she  could  show  her  colours  with 
diminished  danger ;  she  could  extort  concession  after 
concession,  make  good  her  ground  inch  by  inch  and 
yard  by  yard,  and  at  lasl,  when  the  favourable  moment 
came,  seize  her  rival  by  the  throat  and  roll  her  from  her 
throne  into  the  dust.  Elizabeth  had  offered  her  the 
choice  of  any  English  nobleman.  Darnley's  birth  and 
person  marked  him  out  as  the  one  on  whom  her  choice, 
if  anywhere,  might  naturally  be  expected  to  rest.  It 
was  with  some  expectation  of  hearing  his  name  at  least 
as  one  among  others  that  she  at  last  pressed  Elizabeth 
to  specify  the  person  whom  she  had  in  view  for  her.  It 
was  with  some  real  and  much  affected  surprise  that  she 
found  the  name  when  it  came  at  last — to  be  that  of  Lord 
Robert  Dudley — and  of  Lord  Robert  Dudley  alone. 

Randolph  conveyed  Elizabeth's  wishes  to 
her,  and   with  "them  a  distinct  promise  that 
as  Dudley's  wife  the  Queen  of  England  would  have  her 
named  as  successor. 


1564.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  189 

She  commanded  herself  so  far  as  to  listen  cautiously. 
She  objected  to  Dudley's  inferiority  of  rank  and  said 
that  a  marriage  with  him  would  impair  her  honour. 

It  was  honour  enough,  Randolph  replied,  to  inherit 
such  a  kingdom  as  England. 

'  She  looked  not/  she  said,  '  for  the  kingdom,  for  her 
sister  might  marry  and  was  likely  to  live  longer  than 
herself;  she  was  obliged  to  consider  her  own  and  her 
friends'  expectations,  and  she  did  not  think  they  would 
agree  that  she  should  abase  her  state-  so  far.' 

So  far  she  answered  in  public  ;  but  Mary  Stuart' 
art   was  to  affect  a  peculiar  confidence  in  the  person 
whom  she  was  addressing.     She  waited  till  she   wai 
alone,  and  then  detaining  Randolph  when  the  courtiers 
were  gone  she  said  : 

1  Now,  Mr  Randolph,  tell  me,  does  your  mistress  in 
good  earnest  wish  me  to  marry  my  Lord  Robert  ? ' 

Randolph  assured  her  that  it  was  so. 

'  Is  that,'  she  said,  '  conform  to  her  promise  to  use 
me  as  a  sister  or  daughter  to  marry  me  to  her  subject  ?  ' 

Randolph  thought  it  was. 

'  If  I  were  a  sister  or  a  daughter,'  she  said, '  were  it 
not  better  to  match  me  where  some  alliance  or  friend- 
ship might  ensue  than  to  marry  me  where  neither 
could  be  increased  ?  ' 

The  alliance  which  his  sovereign  desired,  Randolph 
answered,  was  the  perpetual  union  of  the  two  realms jn 
a  single  monarchy. 

'The  Queen  your  mistress,'  she  said,  '  being  assured 
of  me,  might  let  me  marry  where  it  may  like  me ;  and  I 


190  RE  JON  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

always  should  remain  friend  to  her  ;  she  may  marry  her- 
self and  have  children  and  what  shall  I  have  gained  ? ' 

Randolph  said  his  mistress  must  have  provided  for 
that  chance  and  would  act  honourably.  But  Mary  Stuart 
replied  justly  that  she  could  take  no  step  of  so  great  con- 
sequence without  a  certainty  to  rely  upon  ;  she  bade  him 
tell  Elizabeth  that  the  proposal  was  sudden — she  could 
give  no  answer  without  longer  thought ;  she  had  no. 
objection  to  Lord  Robert's  person,  but  the  match  was 
unequal;  commissioners  on  both  sides  might  meet  to 
consider  it ;  more  she  could  not  say.  She  left  Randolph 
with  an  impression  that  she  had  spoken  as  she  felt,  and 
Maitland  bade  him  not  be  discouraged.  If  Elizabeth 
would  pay  the  price  she  might  obtain  what  she  wished. 
Yet  some  secret  friend  advised  Randolph  to  be  on  his 
guard  in  the  following  remarkable  words  : — '  Whereso- 
ever she  hovers  and  how  many  times  soever  she  doubles 
to  fetch  the  wind,  I  believe  she  will  at  length  let  fall  her 
anchor  between  Dover  and  Berwick,  though  perchance 
not  in  that  fort,  haven,  or  road  that  you  wish  she 
should.' J 

Elizabeth,  either  satisfied  from  Randolph's  report 
that  the  Queen  of  Scots  was  on  the  way  to  compliance, 
or  determined  to  leave  her  nothing  to  complain  of,  at 
once  gave  a  marked  evidence  that  on  her  part  she  would 
adhere  to  her  engagement.  Although  the  debate  in 
Parliament  had  gone  deeply  into  the  succession  ques- 
tion, yet  it  had  been  carried  on  with  closed  doors  ;  and 

1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  March  20  and  April  13,  1564:  Scotch  MSS 
Hoik  Home. 


1564-]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  S2LVA.  191 

the  turn  which  it  had  taken  was  unknown  except  by 
rumour  to  the  public.  Lady  Catherine  Grey  was  still, 
though  pining  in  captivity,  the  hope  of  the  Protestants; 
and  John  Hales,  Clerk  of  the  Hanaper — report  said 
with  Cecil's  help  and  connivance — collected  the  sub- 
stance of  the  arguments  in  her  favour ;  he  procured 
opinions  at  the  same  time  from  Italian  canonists  in  sup- 
port of  the  validity  of  her  marriage  with  Lord  Hert- 
ford ;  and  out  of  these  materials  he  compiled  a  book  in 
defence  of  her  title  which  was  secretly  put  into  circula- 
tion. The  strongest  point  in  Lady  Catherine's  favour 
— the  omission  of  the  Scottish  line  in  the  will  of  Henry 
the  Eighth — could  only  be  touched  on  vaguely,  the  will 
itself  being  still  concealed ;  but  the  case  which  Hales 
contrived  to  make  out,  representing  as  it  did  not  only 
the  wishes  of  the  ultra-Protestants  but  the  opinions  at 
this  time  of  Lord  Arundel  and  the  Howards,  was  strong 
enough  to  be  dangerous.  Elizabeth,  who  in  addition  to 
her  political  sympathies  cherished  a  vindictive  dislike 
of  her  cousin,  sent  Hales  to  the  Fleet  and  inflicted  on 
Cecil  the  duty  of  examining  and  exposing  what  she 
chose  to  regard  as  conspiracy.1 

The  imprisonment  of  Hales  was  accepted  as  little 
less  than  a  defiance  of  the  Protestant  party  in  England, 
and  as  equivalent  to  a  public  declaration  in  favour  of 
the  Queen  of  Scots.  The  long- talked- of  meeting  of 


'  In  this  matter  I  am  by  com-  {  nee   ad   sinistram  ;    and  yet   I  am 


mandnient  occupied,  whereof  I  could 
be  content  to  be  delivered;  but  I 
will  go  upright  neither  ad  dextram 


not  free  from  suspicion.' — Cecil  to 
Sir  Thomas  Smith,  May,  1564  : 
WRIGHT'S  Elizabeth,  vol.  i. " 


192  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

the  Queens  was  again  expected  in  the  approaching 
summer,  and  the  recognition  of  Mary  Stuart  was  antici- 
pated with  more  certainty  than  ever  as  the  result  of  the 
interview. 

The  Queen  of  Scots  however  was  growing  impa- 
tient with  hopes  long  deferred.  She  either  disbelieved 
Elizabeth's  honesty  or  misinterpreted  her  motives  into 
fears.  As  Darnley  was  not  offered  to  her  she  more 
than  ever  inclined  towards  getting  possession  of  him  ; 
and  .anticipating  a  storm  she  would  not  wait  to  let 
events  work  for  her,  and  showed  her  intentions  pre- 
maturely in  preparing  the  way  for  his  acceptance  in 
Scotland. 

The  Earl  of  Lennox,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  lost 
his  estates  in  the  interests  of  England.  For  some  years 
past  he  had  pressed  for  their  restoration,  and  his  petition 
had  been  supported  by  Elizabeth.  So  long  as  Mary  had 
hopes  elsewhere  she  had  replied  with  words  and  excuses. 
The  lands  of  Lennox  had  been  shared  among  the  friends 
of  the  Hamiltons.  The  lands  of  Angus,  which  he  claimed 
in  right  of  his  wife,  were  held  in  trust  for  his  nephew 
by  the  Earl  of  Morton,  whom  the  Queen  of  Scots  durst 
not  quarrel  with.  The  law  in  Scotland  was  the  law 
of  possession,  and  the  sword  alone  would  have  rein- 
stated the  exiled  nobleman.  The  position  of  his  family 
had  hitherto  been  among  the  greatest  objections  to  her 
thinking  seriously  of  Lord  Darnley  as  a  husband.  If 
Elizabeth  offered  him,  she  would  have  less  to  fear;  if 
to  gratify  the  English  Catholics  she  was  to  marry  him 
against  Elizabeth's  will,  she  would  have  in  the  first 


1564-]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  S1LVA.  193 

instance,  to  depend  on  her  subjects  to  maintain  her,  and 
among  them  the  connection  might  prove  an  occasion  of 
discord. 

So  long  as  the  Hamiltons  were  strong  the  marriage 
would  have  been  absolutely  impossible.  Chatelherault, 
however,  was  now  in  his  dotage ;  the  Earl  of  Arran 
was  a  lunatic ;  the  family  was  enfeebled  and  scattered ; 
and  Mary  Stuart  wTas  enabled  to  feel  her  way  towards 
her  object  by  allowing  Lennox  to  return  and  sue  for  his 
rights.  Could  the  House  of  Lennox  recover  its  rank  in 
Scotland  the  next  step  would  be  more  easy. 

Had  she  affected  to  consult  Elizabeth — had  she'\ 
openly  admitted  her  desire  to  substitute  Darnley  for 
Lord  Robert — affecting  no  disguise  and  being  ready  to 
accept  with  him  the  conditions  and  securities  which  the 
English  Parliament  would  have  attached  to  the  mar- 
riage— Elizabeth  would  probably  have  yielded,  or  in 
refusing  would  have  given  the  Queen  of  Scots  legitimate 
ground  of  complaint. 

But  open  and  straightforward  conduct  did  not  suit 
the  complexion  of  Mary  Stuart's  genius  :  she  breathed 
more,  freely,  and  she  used  her  abilities  with  better  effect, 
in  the  uncertain  twilight  of  conspiracy. 

Although  bofh  Murray  and  Maitland  consented  to 
the  return  of  Lennox,  the  Protestants  in  Scotland 
instantly  divined  the  purpose  of  it.  'Her  meaning 
therein  is  not  known/  wrote  one  of  Randolph's  corre- 
spondents to  him  on  the  3ist  of  April,  'but  some  sus- 
pect she  shall  at  last  be  persuaded  to  favour  his  son ; 
we  are  presently  in  quiet,  but  I  fear  it  shall  not  be  for 

VOL.   VIL  13 


194  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.43. 

long,  for  tilings  begin  to  grow  to  a  ripeness,  and  there 
are  great  practisers  who  are  like  to  set  all  aloft.' l 
'The  Lady  Margaret  and  the  young  Earl  are  looked 
for  soon  after/  wrote  Knox ;  '  the  Lord  Bothwell  will 
follow  with  power  to  put  in  execution  whatever  is  de- 
manded, and  Knox  and  his  preaching  will  be  pulled  by 
the  ears/2 

This  last  contingency  would  not  have 
deeply  distressed  Elizabeth ;  but  she  knew 
Mary  Stuart  too  well  to  trust  her  smooth  speeches. 
The  Queen  of  Scots  had  represented  the  return  of  Len- 
nox as  a  concession  to  the  wishes  of  her  dear  sister,  the 
Queen  of  England.  The  expressions  of  friendliness 
were  somewhat  overdone,  and  served  chiefly  to  place 
Elizabeth  on  her  guard. 

Randolph  sent  an  earnest  entreaty  that  Lennox 
should  be  detained  in  England ;  and  when  the  Earl 
applied  for  a  passport  to  Scotland,  a  variety  of  pretexts 
were  invented  for  delay  or  refusal. 

Mary  Stuart  wanted  the  self-control  for  successful 
diplomacy.  She  saw  that  she  was  suspected,  and  the 
suspicion  was  the  more  irritating  because  it  was  just. 
Her  warmer  temper  for  the  moment  broke  loose.  She 
sent  for  Randolph,  bade  him  go  to  his  mistress  and  tell 
her  that  there  could  be  no  interview  in  the  summer : 
her  council  disapproved  of  it.  She  wrote  violently  to 
Elizabeth  herself,  and  Maitland  accompanied  the  letter 
with  another  to  Cecil,  in  which  he  laid  on  England  the 

1 to  Randolph,  April  31  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 

*  Knox  to  Randolph,  May  3 :  Ibid. 


1 564.]  THE  E  MB  ASS  Y  OF  DE  SIL  VA.  1 95 

failure  of  all  the  attempts  to  reconcile  the  two  Queens. 
Why  Lennox  should  be  prevented  from  returning  when 
Elizabeth  herself  had  supported  his  suit,  he  professed 
himself  unable  to  understand.  The  conduct  of  the  Eng- 
lish Court  was  a  mystery  to  him,  and  '  he  much  feared 
that  God,  by  the  ingratitude  of  both  the  nations  being 
provoked  to  anger,  would  not  suffer  them  to  attain  so 
great  worldly  felicity  as  the  success  of  the  negotiation ' 
for  the  union.1 

On  these  terms  stood  Elizabeth  and  Mary 

June. 
Stuart  in  the  beginning  of  June,  when  the 

new  Spanish  ambassador,  Don  Diego  Guzman  de  Silva, 
arrived  in  London.  De  Silva,  though  a  more  honour- 
able specimen  of  a  Castilian  gentleman,  was  far  inferior 
to  de  Quadra  in  ability  for  intrigue  ;  yet  he  was  a  man 
who  could  see  clearly  and  describe  intelligibly  the 
scenes  in  the  midst  of  which  he  lived ;  and  his  de- 
spatches are  more  pleasing  and,  under  some  aspects, 
more  instructive  than  the  darker  communications  of  his 
predecessor. 

In  the  following  letters  he  tells  the  story  of  his  re- 
ception at  Elizabeth's  Court,  where,  the  curtain  being 
once  more  lifted,  Lord  Robert  Dudley  is  still  seen  at  his 
old  game,  professing  at  home  an  increasing  attachment 
to  the  Reformation,  abroad  maintaining  an  agent  at  the 
Vatican,  and  declaring  himself  to  Philip  the  most  de- 
voted servant  of  Rome. 


1  Maitland  to  Cecil,  June  6,  June  23,  and  July  13  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls 
House. 


196  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

DE    SILVA    TO    PHILIP    II. 

London,  June  2J. 

'  I  arrived  in  London  the  1 8th  of  this  month.  The 
day  following,  the  Queen  sent  an  officer  of  the  house- 
hold to  welcome  me  in  her  name.  I  had  previously 
received  a  number  of  kind  messages  from  the  Lord 
Robert,  and  in  returning  him  my  thanks  I  had  asked 
him  to  arrange  my  audience  with  her  Majesty.  She 
promised  to  see  me  on  Thursday  the  22nd.  The  Court 
was  at  Richmond :  I  went  up  the  river  in  a  barge  and 
landed  near  the  palace.  Sir  Henry  Dudley  and  a  rela- 
tive of  Sir  Nicholas  Throgmorton  met  me  at  the  stairs, 
and  brought  me  to  the  Council  Room.  There  Lord 
Darnley,  Lady  Margaret  Lennox's  son,  came  to  me 
from  the  Queen,  and  escorted  me  into  her  presence. 

'  As  I  entered,  some  one  was  playing  on  a  harpsi- 
chord. Her  Majesty  rose,  advanced  three  or  four  steps 
to  meet  me,  and  then  giving  me  her  hand,  said  in  Italian 
she  did  not  know  in  what  language  to  address  me.  I 
replied  in  Latin,  and  after  a  few  words  I  gave  her  your 
Majesty's  letter.  She  took  it,  and  after  first  handing 
it  to  Cecil  to  open,  she  read  it  through. 

'  She  then  spoke  to  me  in  Latin  also — with  easy 
elegance — expressing  the  pleasure  which  she  felt  at  my 
arrival.  Her  Court,  she  said,  was  incomplete  without 
the  presence  of  a  minister  from  your  Majesty ;  and  for 
herself  she  was  uneasy  without  hearing  from  time  to 
time  of  your  Majesty's  welfare.  Her  '  ill  friends  '  had 
told  her  that  your  Majesty  would  never  send  an  am- 


1564-] 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SlLVA. 


197 


bassador  to  England  again.  She  was  delighted  to  find 
they  were  mistaken.  Her  obligations  to  your  Majesty 
were  deep  and  many,  and  she  would  show  me  in  her 
treatment  of  myself  that  she  had  not  forgotten  them. 

'  After  a  few  questions  about  your  Majesty  she  then 
took  me  aside  and  inquired  about  the  Prince,  how 
his  health  was,  and  what  his  character  was.  She  talked 
at  length  about  this  ;  and  then  falling  back  into  Italian, 
which  she  speaks  remarkably  well,  she  began  again  to 
talk  of  your  Majesty.  Your  Majesty,  she  said,  had 
known  her  when  she  was  in  trouble  and  sorrow.  She 
was  much  altered  since  that  time,  and  altered  she  would 
have  me  to  understand  much  for  the  better/ 

Some  unimportant  conversation  followed  and  de  Silva 
took  his  leave,  Lord  Darnley  again  waiting  upon  him  to 
his  barge. 

A  postscript  was  added  in  cipher : — 

'  An  intimate  friend  of  Lord  Robert  Dudley  has  just 
been  with  me.  I  understand  from  him  that  Lord  Robert 
was  on  bad  terms  with  Cecil  before  the  late  book  on  the 
succession  appeared,  and  that  now  the  enmity  between 
them  is  deeper  than  ever,  because  he  takes  Cecil  to  have 
been  the  author  of  it.1  The  Queen  is  furious,  but  there 
are  so  many  accomplices  in  the  business  that  she  has 
been  obliged  to  drop  the  prosecution.  This  gentleman, 
although  he  desires  me  to  be  careful  how  I  mention  Lord 
Robert's  name,  yet  entreats  me  at  the  same  time  to  lose 


1  Lord  Robert  hoped  that  if  the 
Queen  of  Scots  was  recognized  as 
heir  to  the  throne  after  Elizabeth 


and  her  children,  the  country  would 
waive  the  objection  to  himself  in  the 
desire  to  see  the  Queen  married. 


19S  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

no  opportunity  of  urging  the  Queen  to  severe  measures. 
If  Cecil  can  once  be  dismissed  from  the  council,  the 
Catholic  religion  and  your  Majesty's  interests  in  England 
will  all  be  the  better  for  it.  Lord  Robert,  who  is  your 
Majesty's  most  faithful  friend,  believes  that  this  book 
may  be  the  knife  with  which  to  cut  his  throat.  If  the 
Queen  can  be  prevailed  upon  to  part  with  him  much 
good  will  follow,  and  I  am  strongly  advised  to  use  Lord 
Robert's  assistance. 

'  I  have  said  that  I  shall  always  welcome  Lord 
Robert's  help,  that  your  Majesty  I  was  well  aware  would 
wish  me  to  do  so,  and  that  in  the  present  matter  I  will 
do  what  I  can ;  but  I  mean  to  move  cautiously  and  to 
see  my  way  before  I  step/ 

DE    SILVA    TO    PHILIP    II. 

July  2. 

*  Lord  Robert  is  more  pressing  than  ever  in  offering 
his  assistance  to  your  Majesty.  The  gentleman  of  whom 
I  spoke  tells  me  that  Lord  Robert  has  still  hopes  of  the 
Queen  ;  and  that  if  he  succeeds,  the  Catholic  religion 
will  be  restored.  Again  cautioning  me  to  be  secret,  he 
informed  me  that  Lord  Robert  was  in  communication 
with  the  Pope  about  it,  and  had  agents  residing  con- 
tinually at  the  Papal  Court.  He  spoke  of  his  intentions 
in  the  warmest  terms,  especially  with  reference  to  the 
restoration  of  the  truth. 

'  The  interests  at  stake  are  so  weighty,  there  are  so 
many  pretensions  liable  to  be  affected,  and  such  a  multi- 
tude of  considerations  on  all  sides  which  may  not  be 


1564  ]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SlLVA.  1 90 

overlooked,  that  I  must  entreat  your  Majesty  to  direct 
me  what  to  do  and  say.  I  have  not  as  yet  exchanged 
a  word  upon  the  subject  with  any  one  except  the  person 
I  speak  of.  I  suspect  the  French  have  been  trying  to 
make  use  of  Lord  Eobert.  His  father,  people  tell  me. 
had  large  French  connections/ 

DE    SILVA    TO    PHILIP    II. 

July  10. 

'I  have  been  at  Court  at  Richmond  again.  The 
Queen  was  in  the  garden  with  the  ladies  when  I  arrived, 
and  she  bade  the  Grand  Chamberlain  bring  me  to  her. 
She  received  me  with  the  most  pointed  kindness.  She 
had  been  so  anxious  to  see  me,  she  said,  that  she  could 
not  help  giving  me  the  trouble  of  coming. 

'  She  took  me  aside  and  led  me  into  a  gallery,  where 
she  kept  me  for  an  hour,  talking  the  whole  time  of  your 
Majesty,  and  alluding  often  to  her  embarrassments  when 
she  first  came  to  the  throne.  I  need  not  weary  your 
Majesty  with  repeating  her  words;  but  she  spoke  with 
unaffected  sincerity,  and  seemed  annoyed  when  we  were 
interrupted  by  supper. 

'  The  meal  was  attended  with  the  usual  ceremonies. 
Nothing  could  be  more  handsome  than  the  entertain- 
ment. She  made  the  band  play  the  '  Battle  of  Pavia,' 
and  declared  it  was  the  music  that  she  liked  best  in  the 
world. 

'  After  supper  she  had  more  conversation  with  me ; 
and  as  it  was  then  late  I  thought  it  time  to  take  my 
leave  :  but  the  Queen  said  I  must  not  think  of  going ; 
there  was  a  play  to  be  acted  which  I  must  see.  She 


200  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

must  retire  to  her  room  for  a  few  minutes,  she  said,  but 
she  would  leave  me  in  the  hands  of  Lord  Robert.  The 
Lord  Robert  snatched  the  opportunity  of  her  absence  to 
speak  of  his  obligations  to  your  Majesty,  and  to  assure 
me  that  he  was  your  most  devoted  servant.  She  returned 
almost  immediately,  and  we  adjourned  to  the  theatre. 
The  piece  which  was  performed  was  a  comedy,  of  which 
I  should  have  understood  but  little  had  not  the  Queen 
herself  been  my  interpreter.  The  plot  as  usual  turned 
on  marriage.  While  it  was  going  on  the  Queen  recurred 
to  the  Prince  of  Spain,  and  asked  about  his  stature.  I 
replied  that  his  Highness  was  full  grown.  She  was 
silent  a  while,  and  then  said — 

' '  Eveiy  one  seems  to  disdain  me.  I  understand  you 
think  of  marrying  him  to  the  Queen  of  Scots  ? ' 

''Do  not  believe  it,  your  Majesty/  I  said.  'His 
Highness  has  been  so  ill  for  years  past  with  quartan 
ague  and  other  disorders  that  his  marriage  with  any  one 
has  been  out  of  the  question.  Because  he  is  better  now, 
the  world  is  full  of  idle  stories  about  him.  Subjects  are 
never  weary  of  talking  of  their  princes/ 

' '  That  is  true/  she  answered.  '  It  was  reported  a 
few  days  since  in  London  that  the  King  my  brother 
intended  to  offer  him  to  me.' 

'  The  play  was  followed  by  a  masque.  A  number  of 
people  in  black  and  white,  which  the  Queen  told  me 
were  her  colours,  came  in  and  danced.  One  of  them 
afterwards  stepped  forward  and  recited  a  sonnet  in  her 
praise  ;  and  so  the  spectacle  ended.  We  adjourned  to  a 
saloon  where  a  long  table  was  laid  out  with  prest  rvod 


1564.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  201 

fruits  and  sweetmeats.  It  was  two  in  the  morning 
before  I  started  to  return  to  London.  The  Queen,  at 
the  same  time,  stepped  into  her  barge  and  went  down 
the  river  to  Westminster.' 

It  is  possible  that  the  communications  from  Lord 
Robert  to  the  Spanish  ambassador  were  part  of  a  deliber- 
ate plot  to  lead  Philip  astray  after  a  will-o'-the-wisp  ; 
to  amuse  him  with  hopes  of  recovering  Elizabeth  to  the 
Church,  while   she  was  laughing  in  her  sleeve  at  his 
credulity.     If  Lord  Eobert  was  too  poor  a  creature  to 
play  such  a  part  successfully,  it  is  possible  that  he  too 
was  Elizabeth's  dupe.     Or  again,  it  may  have  been  that 
Elizabeth  was  insincere  in  her  offer  of  Lord  Robert  to 
the  Queen  of  Scots,  while  she  was  sincere  in  desiring. the 
recognition  of  Mary  Stuart's  title — because  she  hoped 
that  to  escape  the  succession  of  a  Scottish  princess,  one 
party  or  other  would  be  found  in  England  to  tolerate 
her  marriage  with  the  only  person  whom  she  would 
accept.     If  the  Queen  was  playing  a  false  game,  it  is 
hard  to  say  which  hypothesis  is  the  more  probable ;  yet, 
on  the  one  hand,  it  will  be  seen  that  Cecil,  Randolph — 
every  one  who  has  left  an  opinion  on  record — believed 
that  she  was  in  earnest  in  desiring  Mary  Stuart  to  accept 
Lord  Robert;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  readiness 
with  which  the  Spanish  Court  listened  to  Lord  Robert's 
overtures  proves  that  they  at  least  believed  that  he  had 
a  real  hold  on  Elizabeth's  affections  ;  and  it  is  unlikely, 
with  the  clue  to  English  State  secrets  which  the  Spanish 
ministers  undoubtedly  possessed,  that  they  would  have 


202 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  43. 


been  deceived  a  second  time  by  a  mere  artifice.  The 
least  subtle  explanations  of  human  things  are  usually  the 
most  true.  Elizabeth  was  most  likely  acting  in  good 
faith  when  she  proposed  to  sacrifice  Dudley  to  the  Queen 
of  Scots.  Lord  Robert  as  probably  clung  to  his  old 
hopes,  and  was  sincere  —  so  far  as  he  could  be  sincere  at 
all  —  in  attempting  to  bribe  Philip  to  support  him  in 
obtaining  his  object. 

That  this  was  Philip's  own  opinion  appears  certainly 
from  his  answer  to  de  Silva. 


PHILIP    II.    TO    I)E    SILVA. 


6. 


'  Your  reply  to  the  advances  made  to  you  by  Lord 
Robert's  friend  was  wise  and  cautious.  So  long  as  Cecil 
remains  in  power  you  must  be  careful  what  you  do.  If 
means  should  offer  themselves  to  overthrow  him,  every 
consideration  should  move  you  not  to  neglect  the  oppor- 
tunity ;  but  I  leave  you  to  your  own  discretion. 

*  As  to  Lord  Robert's  marriage  with  the  Queen  :  if 
he  will  assure  you  that  when  he  becomes  her  husband 
he  will  restore  the  true  ancient  and  Catholic  faith,  and 
will  bring  back  the  realm  under  the  obedience  of  the 
Pope  and  the  Holy  See,  you  may  promise  in  our  name 
that  we  will  assist  him  to  the  uttermost  of  our  power. 

'  The  propositions  of  the  Irish  Catholics  you  will  cut 
short,  courteously  but  firmly.1  The  time  does  not  suit 
to  encourage  rebellion  in  that  quarter.  They  have  ap- 


*  Alluding  to  something  in  a 
letter  of  de  Silva' s  which  is  lost. 
The  same  letter  contained  expres- 


sions about  Lord  Robert's  agent  in 
Rome,  which  would  have  shown 
more  clearly  what  de  Silva  himself 


1564-] 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA. 


203 


plied  to  me  before  and  I  have  answered  always  in  the 
same  tone. 

'  I  have  read  what  you  say  of  the  book  on  the  succes- 
sion ;  of  the  Queen's  anger ;  and  of  the  suspicions  indi- 
cated to  you  by  Lord  Robert  that  Cecil  was  at  the  bot- 
tom of  it.  I  avail  myself  of  the  occasion  to  tell  you  my 
opinion  of  that  Cecil.  I  am  in  the  highest  degree  dis- 
satisfied with  him.  He  is  a  confirmed  heretic ;  and  if 
with  Lord  Robert's  assistance  you  can  so  inflame  the 
matter  as  to  crush  him  down  and  deprive  him  of  all 
further  share  in  the  administration,  I  shall  be  delighted 
to  have  it  done.  If  you  try  it  and  fail,  be  careful  that 
you  are  not  yourself  seen  in  the  matter/ 

Over  such  mines  of  secret  enmity  walked  Cecil, 
standing  between  his  mistress  and  her  lover,  and  nevei 
knowing  what  a  day  would  bring  forth. 

At  the  beginning  of  August  the  Court  broke 
up  from  Richmond.  Elizabeth  went  on  pro- 
gress, and  for  a  time  had  a  respite  from  her  troubles. 
Among  other  places  she  paid  a  visit  to  Cambridge,  where 
she  had  an  opportunity  of  showing  herself  in  her  most 
attractive  colours. 

The  divisions  of  opinion,'  the  discrepancies  of  dress 
and  practices  by  which  Cambridge,  like  all  other  parU 
of  England,  was  distracted,  were  kept  out  of  sight  by 
Cecil's  industry.  He  hurried  down  before  her,  per- 


All£USt. 


thought  about  Lord  Kobert.  Philip 
answers — '  En  lo  de  aquel  caballero 
Ingles  que  se  tuv6  en  Roma,  y 


platicas  que  os  aviso  mi  Embajador 
que  habia  tenido  con  su  Santidad, 
sospechamos  lo  mismo  que  vos.' 


204  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

suaded  the  college  authorities  for  once  into  obeying  the 
Act  of  Uniformity  ;  ordered  the  fellows  and  chaplains 
to  appear  in  surplices  ;  concealed  the  dreary  communion 
tables  in  the  college  chapels  behind  decent  coverings  ; 
and  having  as  it  were  thrown  a  whitewash  of  order  over 
the  confusion,  surprised  the  Queen  into  an  expression  of 
pleasure.  The  Church  of  England  was  not,  after  all.  the 
miserable  chaos  which  she  had  believed  ;  and  '  contrary 
to  her  expectation,  she  found  little  or  nothing  to  dis- 
please her/ 

She  was  at  once  thrown  into  the  happiest  humour ; 
and  she  moved  about  among  the  dignitaries  of  the  Uni- 
versity with  combined  authority  and  ease.  She  ex- 
changed courtesies  with  them  in  Latin  ;  when  they 
lauded  her  virtues  she  exclaimed  '  Non  est  veritas ; ' 
when  they  praised  the  virgin  state  she  blessed  them  for 
their  discernment :  she  attended  their  sermons  ;  she  was 
present  at  their  disputations  ;  and  when  a  speaker  mum- 
bled she  shouted  'Loquimini  altius.'  The  public  orator 
addressed  her  in  Greek — she  replied  in  the  language  of 
Demosthenes.  On  the  last  day  of  her  visit  she  addressed 
the  University  in  Latin  in  the  Senate  House.  In  a  few 
well-chosen  sentences  she  complimented  the  students  on 
their  industry  ;  she  expressed  her  admiration  of  the 
colleges  and  chapels — those  splendid  monuments  of  the 
piety  of  her  predecessors.  She  trusted,  if  God  spared 
her  life,  she  might  leave  her  own  name  not  undistin- 
guished by  good  work  done  for  England. 

Not  one  untoward  accident  had  marred  the  harmony 
of  the  occasion.  The  Queen  remained  four  days ;  and 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA. 


20S 


left  the  University  with  the  first  sense  of  pleasure  which 
she  had  experienced  in  the  ecclesiastical  administration. 
Alas  !  for  the  imperfection  of  human  things.  The  rash- 
ness of  a  few  boys  marred  all. 

Elizabeth  had  been  entreated  to  remain  one  more 
evening  to  witness  a  play  which  the  students  had  got 
up  among  themselves  for  her  amusement.  Having  a 
long  journey  before  her  the  following  day,  and  desiring 
to  sleep  ten  miles  out  of  Cambridge  to  relieve  the  dis- 
tance, she  had  been  unwillingly  obliged  to  decline. 

The  students,  too  enamoured  of  their  performance  to 
lose  the  chance  of  exhibiting  it,  pursued  the  Queen  to 
her  resting-place.  She  was  tired,  but  she  would  not 
discourage  so  much  devotion,  and  the  play  commenced. 

The  actors  entered  on  the  stage  in  the  dress  of  the 
imprisoned  Catholic  bishops.  Each  of  them  was  distin- 
guished by  some  symbol  suggestive  of  the  persecution. 
Bonner  particularly  carried  a  lamb  in  his  arms  at  which 
he  rolled  his  eyes  and  gnashed  his  teeth.  A  dog  brought 
up  the  rear  with  the  host  in  his  mouth.  Elizabeth  could 
have  better  pardoned  the  worst  insolence  to  herself:  she 
rose,  and  with  a  few  indignant  words  left  the  room ;  the 
lights  were  extinguished,  and  the  discomfited  players 
had  to  find  their  way  out  of  the  house  in  the  dark,  and 
to  blunder  back  to  Cambridge.1 

It  was  but  a  light  matter,  yet  it  served  to  irritate 


1  De  Silva  to  the  Duchess  of 
Parma,  August  19  :  MS.  Simancas. 
De  Silva  was  not  present,  but  de- 
scribed the  scene  as  he  heard  it  from 
an  eye-witness.  The  story  naturally 


enough  is  not  mentioned  by  Nicolls, 
who  details  with  great  minuteness 
the  sunny  side  of  the  visit  to  tho 
University  :  /  rogresses  of  Elizabeth, 
1564. 


206  REIGN*  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

Elizabeth's  sensitiveness.  It  exposed  the  dead  men's 
bones  which  lay  beneath  the  whited  surface  of  Uni- 
versity good  order ;  and  she  went  back  to  London  with 
a  heart  as  heavy  as  she  carried  away  from  it.  The  vast 
majority  of  serious  Englishmen,  if  they  did  not  believe 
in  transubstantiation,  yet  felt  for  the  sacrament  a  kind 
of  mysterious  awe.  Systematic  irreverence  had  in- 
truded into  the  churches ;  carelessness  and  irreligion 
had  formed  an  unnatural  alliance  with  Puritanism ; 
and  in  many  places  the  altars  were  bare  boards  resting 
on  tressels  in  the  middle  of  the  nave.  The  communi- 
cants knelt,  stood,  or  sat  as  they  pleased ;  the  chalice 
was  the  first  cup  which  came  to  hand ;  and  the  clergy- 
men wore  surplice,  coat,  black  gown,  or  their  ordinary 
dress,  as  they  were  Lutherans,  Calvinists,  Puritans,  or 
nothing  at  all.1 

The  parish  churches  themselves,  those  amazing 
monuments  of  early  piety,  built  by  men  who  themselves 
lived  in  clay  hovels  while  they  lavished  their  taste, 
their  labour,  and  their  wealth  on  '  the  house  of  God/ 
were  still  dissolving  into  ruin.  The  roofs  were  break- 
ing into  holes ;  the  stained  whitewash  was  crumbling 
off  the  damp  walls,  revealing  the  half-effaced  remains 
of  the  frescoed  stories  of  the  saints ;  the  painted  glass 
was  gone  from  the  windows;  the  wind  and  the  rain 
swept  through  the  dreary  aisles ;  while  in  the  church- 
yards swine  rooted  up  the  graves. 

And  now  once  more  had  come  a  reaction  like  that 


1  Varieties  used  in  the  administration  of  the  service,  1564  :  Lansdoivne 
MSS. 


1 564.  ]  fffE  EM  BASS  Y  OF  DE  SIL  VA .  207 

which  had  welcomed  Mary  Tudor.  In  quiet  English 
homes  there  arose  a  passionate  craving  to  be  rid  of  all 
these  things  ;  to  breathe  again  the  old  air  of  reverence 
and  piety ;  and  Calvinism  and  profanity  were  working 
hand  in  hand  like  twin  spirits  of  evil,  making  a  road 
for  another  Mary  to  reach  the  English  throne. 

The  progress  being  over,  Elizabeth  returned  .to  the 
weary  problems  which  were  thickening  round  her  more 
and  more  hopelessly.  From  France  came  intelligence 
that  '  a  far  other  marriage  was  meant  for  the  Queen  of 
Scots  than  the  Lord  Robert ;  with  practices  to  reduce 
the  realm  to  the  old  Pope,  and  to  break  the  love  be- 
tween England  and  Scotland.' l  The  Earl  of  Lennox 
had  been  allowed  to  cross  the  Border  "at  last  as  a  less 
evil  than  the  detaining  him  by  violence ;  but  Cecil 
wrote  from  Cambridge  to  Maitland,  '  making  no  obscure 
demonstration  of  foul  weather/  Parliament  was  ex- 
pected to  meet  again  in  October,  and  with  Parliament, 
would  come  the  succession  question,  the  Queen's 
marriage  question,  and  their  thousand  collateral  vexa- 
tions. Either  in  real  uncertainty,  or  that  she  might 
have  something  with  which  to  pacify  her  subjects, 
Elizabeth  was  again  making  advances  towards  the 
eternal  Archduke.  His  old  father  Ferdinand,  who  had 
refused  to  be  trifled  with  a  second  time,  was  dead. 
Ferdinand  had  left  the  world  and  its  troubles  on  the 
25th  of  July  ;  but  before  his  death,  in  a  conversation 
with  the  Duke  of  Wurtemburg,  he  had  shown  himself 

1  Sir  T.  Smith  to  Cecil  (cipher),  Sept.  I,  1564:    French  MSS.  Rolls 
House. 


208 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  43 


September. 


less  implacable.  An  opportunity  was  offered  for  re- 
opening the  suit,  and  Cecil,  by  the  Queen's  order,  sent  a 
message  through  Mundt  the  English  agent  in  Germany, 
to  the  new  Emperor  Maximilian,  that  although  for  his 
many  excellent  qualities  the  Queen  would  gladly  have 
married  Lord  Robert  Dudley,  yet,  finding  it  impossible, 
she  had  brought  herself  to  regard  Lord  Robert  as  a 
brother,  and  for  a  husband  was  thinking  of  the  Arch- 
duke.1 On  the  1 2th  of  September  a  resolu- 
tion of  council  was  taken  to  send  an  embassy 
to  Vienna,  ostensibly  to  congratulate  Maximilian  on 
his  accession — in  reality  to  feel  the  way  towards  '  the 
prince  with  the  large  head/  2  A  few  days  later,  during 
an  evening  stroll  through  St  James's  Park,  Elizabeth 
herself  told  the  secret  to  de  Silva,  not  as  anything 
certain,  but  as  a  point  towards  which  her  thoughts 
were  turning.3 

The  Queen  of  Scots  meantime,  to  whom  every 
uttered  thought  of  Elizabeth  was  known,  began  to  re- 
pent of  her  precipitate  explosion  of  temper.  She  had 
obtained  what  she  immediately  desired  in  the  return  of 


1  Cecil  to  Mundt,  September  8, 
1 564 :     Jussu    Regina.      Burghley 
Papers,  HAINES,  vol.  i. 

2  l  Some  one  is  to  be  sent  with 
condolences   on    the   death   of   the 
Emperor — Sir  H.  Sidney  or  Sir  N. 
Throgmorton  or  1  or  Lord  Robert ; 
which  it  shall  be  I  think  nobody  yet 
knoweth.     But  to  tell  you  the  truth, 
there  is  more  meant  than  condolence 
or  congratulation.     It  may  be  an 
intention  for  the  marriage  with  the 


Archduke.  This  may  be  very 
strange,  and  therefore  I  pray  you 
keep  it  very  close.' — Cecil  to  Sir 
T.  Smith,  September  12,  1564: 
WRIGHT,  vol.  i. 

3  De  Silva  to  the  Duchess  of 
Parma,  Sept.  23 :  MS.  Simancas. 
Elizabeth  said  that  the  Court  fool 
advised  her  to  have  nothing  to  do 
with  Germans,  who  were  a  poor 
heavy-headed  set. 


1564-]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  209 

Lennox;  her  chief  anxiety  was  now  to  prevent  the 
Austrian  marriage,  and  to  induce  Philip,  though  she 
could  not  marry  his  son,  to  continue  to  watch  over  her 
interests.  In  September  the  Spanish  ambassador  IE 
Paris  wrote  that  his  steps  were  haunted  by  Beton, 
Mary's  minister  ;  he  had  met  the  advances  made  to 
him  with  coldness  and  indifference ;  but  Beton  had 
pressed  upon  him  with  unwearied  assiduity ; l  desiring, 
as  it  appeared  afterwards,  to  learn  what  Philip  would 
do  for  his  mistress  in  the  event  of  her  marriage  with 
Darnley. 

At  the  same  time  it  was  necessary  to  soothe 
Elizabeth,  lest  she  might  withdraw  her  protection,  and 
allow  Parliament  to  settle  the  succession  unfavourably 
to  the  Scottish  claims.  Maitland  therefore  having 
forfeited  Cecil's  confidence,  the  Queen  of  Scots  obtained 
the  services  of  a  man  who,  without  the  faintest  preten- 
sions to  statesmanship,  was  as  skilled  an  intriguer  as 
Europe  possessed.  Sixteen  years  had  passed  since  Sir 
James  Melville  had  gone  as  a  boy  with  Monluc,  Bishop 
of  Valence,  to  the  Irish  Castle,  where  Monluc  by  his 
light  ways  was  brought  to  shame.  From  the  Bishop, 
Melville  had  passed  to  the  Constable  Montmorency. 
Erom  Montmorency  he  had  gone  to  the  Elector  Pala- 
tine, and  had  worked  himself  into  a  backstairs  intimacy 
with  European  courts  and  princes.  Mary  Stuart  her- 
self had  probably  known  him  in  France  ;  and  in  the 
spring  of  1564  she  wrote  to  request  him  to  return  to 


1  Don  F.  de  Alava  to  Philip  II.,  Styjtember  20,  1564:  TEULET,  vol. 

VOL.    VII.  14 


210 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH,  43. 


Scotland  to  be  employed  in  secret  service.  So  highly 
she  valued  his  abilities,  that  notwithstanding  her 
poverty  she  settled  on  him  an  annual  pension  of  a 
thousand  marks — twice  the  income  perhaps  of  the 
richest  nobleman  in  Scotland.1  He  was  already  ac- 
quainted with  Elizabeth,  who,  according  to  his  own 
account,  had  spoken  confidentially  with  him  about  the 
Queen  of  Scots'  marriage. 

This  Melville  it  was  whom  Man^  Stuart  now  selected 
to  be  her  instrument  to  pacify  and  cheat  Elizabeth,  to 
strengthen  her  party  at  the  English  Court,  and  to 
arrange  with  Lady  Lennox  for  Darnley's  escape  to 
Scotland.  She  directed  him  to  apologize  to  Elizabeth 
for  the  hasty  letter  which  she  had  written,  and  to  beg 
that  it  might  be  forgotten.  He  was  to  entreat  her  not 
to  allow  his  mistress's  interests  to  suffer  any  prejudice 
in  Parliament ;  and  further,  he  had  secret  instructions 
from  Mary's  own  lips,  the  nature  of  which  he  indicates 
without  explaining  himself  more  completely — ( to  deal 
with  the  Spanish  ambassador,  Lady  Margaret  Douglas, 
and  sundry  friends  she  had  in  England  of  different 
opinions.' 

Melville  left  Edinburgh  towards  the  end  of  Septem- 
ber,2 preceded  by  Randolph,  who,  after  communicating 
with  Elizabeth,  was  on  the  point  of  returning  to  Scotland 


1  So  Melyille  himself  says  in  his 
Memoirs  ;   hut,  Melville's  credibility 
is  a  very  open  question. 

2  The  copy  of  his   instructions 
printed  in  his  Memoirs  is  dated  Sep- 
tember   28.     But   Melville  was   in 


London  on  Michaelmas-day,  when 
Lord  llobert  Dudley  was  created 
Earl  of  Leicester,  and  was  present  at 
the  ceremony ;  28  is  perhaps  a  mis- 
print for  20. 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SlLVA. 


at  the  time  of  Melville's  arrival.  The  information  which 
Randolph  had  brought  had  been  utterly  unsatisfactory, 
and  Elizabeth  was  harassed  into  illness  and  was  in  the 
last  stage  of  despair.  *  I  am  in  such  a  labyrinth  about 
the  Queen  of  Scots/  she  wrote  on  the  23rd  of  September 
to  Cecil,  '  that  what  to  say  to  her  or  how  to  satisfy  her 
I  know  not.  I  have  left  her  letter  to  me  all  this  time 
unanswered,  nor  can  I  tell  what  to  answer  now.  Invent 
something  kind  for  me  which  I  can  enter  in  Randolph's 
commission  and  give  me  your  opinion  about  the  matter 
itself.5 1 

In  this  humour  Melville  found  Elizabeth.  She  was 
walking  when  he  was  introduced  in  the  garden  at  West- 
minster. He  was  not  a  stranger,  and  the  Queen  rarely 
allowed  herself  to  be  long  restrained  by  ceremony.  She 
began  immediately  to  speak  of  '  the  Queen  of  Scots' 
despiteful  letter '  to  her.  '  She  was  minded/  she  said, 
'  to  answer  it  with  another  as  despiteful '  in  turn.  She 
took  what  she  had  written  out  of  her  pocket,  read  it 
aloud,  and  said  that  she  had  refrained  from  sending  it 
only  because  it  was  too  gentle. 

Melville,  accustomed  to  Courts  and  accustomed  to 
Elizabeth,  explained  and  protested  and  promised.  With 
his  excuses  he  mingled  flattery,  which  she  could  swallow 


1  'In  ejusmocli  labyrintho  posita 
sum  de  response  meo  reddendo  ad 
Reginam.  Scotiso,  ut  nesciam  quo- 
modo  illi  satisfaciam,  quum  neque 
toto  isto  tempore  illi  ullum  respon- 
sum  dederim,  nee  quid  mihi  dicen- 
dum  nunc  sciarn.  Invenias  igitur 


aliquid  boni  quod  in  mandatis  scrip- 
tis  Randall  dare  possira,  et  in  hac 
causa"  tuam  opinionem  mihi  indica. 
Endorsed  in  Cecil's  hand  —  '  The 
Queen's  Majesty's  writing,  being 
sick,  September  23.' — Scotch  MS 8 
Rolls  House. 


212  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

when  mixed  by  a  far  less  skilful  hand  ;  in  his  first  in- 
terview he  so  far  talked  her  into  good  humour  that  '  she 
did  not  send  her  angry  letter ; '  and  although  he  satisfied 
himself  at  the  same  time  that  she  was  dealing  insincerely 
with  his  mistress,  he  perhaps  in  this  allowed  his  sus- 
picions to  mislead  him.  Elizabeth  was  only  too  happy 
to  believe  in  promises  which  it  was  her  interest  to  find 
true.  Personally  she  cared  as  little  for  the  Queen  of 
Scots  as  the  Queen  of  Scots  cared  for  her ;  but  Mary 
Stuart's  position  and  Mary  Stuart's  claims  created  an 
intense  political  difficulty  for  which  there  appeared  but 
one  happy  solution ;  and  Elizabeth,  so  far  as  can  be  seen 
from  the  surface  of  the  story,  clutched  at  any  prospect 
of  a  reasonable  settlement  with  an  eager  credulity. 
Melville  might  indeed  naturally  enough  believe  Eliza- 
beth as  insincere  as  he  knew  himself  to  be.  At  the 
very  moment  when  he  was  delivering  Mary's  smooth 
messages,  apologies,  and  regrets  he  knew  himself  to  be 
charged  with  a  secret  commission  to  the  Catholic  con- 
spirators ;  but  Elizabeth's  duplicity  does  not  follow 
from  his  own,  and  she  may  at  least  be  credited  with 
having  been  honest  when  she  had  no  interest  in  being 
otherwise.  She  saw  the  Scotch  ambassador  daily,  and 
the  Queen  of  Scots'  marriage  was  the  incessant  subject 
of  discussion.  Melville  said  his  mistress  would  refer  it 
to  a  commission.  Murray  and  Maitland  might  meet 
Bedford  and  Lord  Robert  at  Berwick  to  talk  it 
over. 

1  Ah  ! '  she  said,  '  you  make  little  of  Lord  Robert, 
naming  him  after  the  Earl  of  Bedford.  I  mean  to  make 


1564.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  213, 

him  a  greater  earl  and  you  shall  see  it  done.  I  take  him 
as  my  brother  and  my  best  friend/ 

She  went  on  to  say  that  she  would  have  married 
Lord  Robert  herself  had  she  been  able.  As  she  might 
not,  she  wished  her  sister  to  marry  him ;  and  '  that 
done/  '  she  would  have  no  suspicion  or  fear  of  any 
usurpation  before  her  death,  being  assured  that  Dudley 
was  so  loving  and  trusty  that  he  would  never  permit 
anything  to  be  attempted  during  her  time.'1 

'  My  Lord  Robert's  promotion  in  Scotland 

J  October. 

is  earnestly  intended,    Cecil  wrote  a  few  days 

later  to  Sir  Thomas  Smith. 2  On  Michaelmas-day  he 
was  created  Earl  of  Leicester  at  Westminster  in  Mel- 
ville's presence — to  qualify  him  for  his  higher  destiny ; 
while  Elizabeth,  vain  of  his  beauty,  showed  off  his  fair 
proportions  and  dwelt  on  the  charms  which  she  was 
sacrificing. 

Nor  was  she  unaware  of  Melville's  secret  practices  or 
of  Mary's  secret  desires.  '  You  like  better,'  she  said 
sadly  to  the  ambassador,  '  you  like  better  yonder  long 
lad  ' — pointing  to  Darnley,  who,  tall  and  slim  with  soft 
and  beardless  face,  bore  the  sword  of  state  at  the  cere- 
mony. 

To  throw  her  off  the  scent  Melville  answered  that 
'  no  woman  of  spirit  could  choose  such  an  one  who  more 
resembled  a  woman  than  a  man.'  '  I  had  no  will,'  he 
said  of  himself,  '  that  she  should  think  that  1  had  an 
eye  that  way,  although  I  had  a  secret  charge  to  deal 


1  MELVILLE'S  Memoirs.     2  Cecil  to  Smith.  October  4 :  WRIGHT,  vol.  i. 


214  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  rCH.  43. 

with  Lady  Lennox  to  procure  liberty  for  him  to  go  to 
Scotland/ 

Elizabeth  was  not  deceived,  but  she  chose  to  blind 
herself.  Clinging  to  her  favourite  scheme,  she  allowed 
a  legal  opinion  to  be  drawn  out  in  favour  of  the  Scottish 
title.  She  promised  Melville  that  when  Parliament  met 
she  would  again  protect  his  mistress's  interests.  The 
poor  Archduke  was  to  be  once  more  cast  overboard  ;  she 
undertook  to  bind  herself  never  to  marry  unless  f  neces- 
sitated by  her  sister's  hard  behaviour ; '  and  last  of  all—- 
as the  strongest  evidence  which  she  could  give  that  she 
was  acting  in  good  faith — she  risked  the  discontent 
which  would  inevitably  be  provoked,  and  postponed  the 
Parliament  till  the  spring  or  the  following  autumn. 
Randolph,  who  had  been  detained  on  Melville's  arrival, 
was  sent  off  to  tell  Mary  that  ( the  tragedy  created  by 
her  letter  had  turned  into  comedy ; '  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land would  consent  with  pleasure  to  the  proposed  meet- 
ing of  commissioners  ;  and  meanwhile — '  contrary  to  the 
expectation  and  desire  of  her  people,  contrary  to  the 
disposition  of  no  small  number  of  her  council  and  also 
to  some  detriment  of  herself  for  her  own  private  lucre, 
by  the  intention  of  her  people  to  have  gratified  her  with 
some  subsidy — her  Majesty  had  by  proclamation  pro- 
longed her  Parliament  that  should  have  been  even  now 
begun  in  October :  meaning  of  purpose  to  have  no  as- 
sembly wherein  the  interests  of  her  sister  might  be 
brought  in  question  until  it  were  better  considered  that 
no  harm  might  thereof  ensue  to  her,  and  that  her 
Majesty  and  the  Queen  of  Scots  might  have  further 


1 564.  ]  THE  EM  BASS  Y  OF  DE  SILVA.  215 

proceedings   in  the   establishment    of  their  amity/ l 

In  the  delay  of  the  Parliament  the  Queen  of  Scots 
had  gained  one  step  of  vital  moment ;  she  had  next  to 
obtain  the  consent  of  her  own  people  to  her  marriage 
withjbrnley  ;  shehacl  to  strengthen  the  Lennox  faction 
that  it  might  be  strong  enough  to  support  her  against 
the  Hamiltons,  and  when  this  was  done  to  get  the  per- 
son of  I)arnTeyTnto  her  hands. 

Lennox  himself  was  distributing  presents  with 
lavish  generosity  in  the  Court  at  Holyrood.  Melville 
when  he  returned  to  Scotland  carried  back  with  him 
Lady  Margaret's  choicest  jewels  to  be  bestowed  to  the 
best  advantage.  For  the  full  completion  of  the  scheme 
it  was  necessary  to  delude  Elizabeth  into  the  belief  that 
Mary  Stuart  would  give  way  about  Leicester ;  and 
having  satisfied  her  that  she  really  had  nothing  to  fear 
from  Darnley's  visit  to  Edinburgh,  to  obtain  leave  of 
absence  for  him  for  three  months  to  assist  Lennox  in 
the  recovery  of  his  property.  When  the  father  and 
son  were  once  on  Scottish  soil  she  could  then  throw  off 
the  mask. 

The  ambassador  had  employed  his  time  well  in 
England  making  friends  for  his  mistress,  and  had  car- 
ried back  with  him  from  London  profuse  promises  of 
service;  some  from  honourable  men  who  looked  to 
Mary  Stuart's  succession  as  a  security  fbr  the  peace  of 
the  country,  some  from  the  courtier  race  who  desired  to 
save  their  own  fortunes  should  the  revolution  come. 


1  Message  sent  by  Randolph  to  the  Queen  of  Scots,  October  4  :  Scotch 
MSS.  Rolls  House. 


216  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

Among  these  last  was  Leicester — that  very  Leicester 
in  whose  affection  Elizabeth  was  blindly  confiding,  who 
was  to  be  her  own  protection  when  she  had  named 
Mary  Stuart  her  heir.  The  man  who  thought  it  no  pre- 
posterous ambition  to  aspire  to  the  hand  of  Elizabeth, 
excused  himself  to  Melville  with  abject  apologies  as 
having  been  forced  to  appear  as  the  suitor  of  a  princess 
whose  shoes  he  was  unworthy  to  loose ;  he  implored 
the  Queen  of  Scots  to  pardon  him  for  '  the  proud  pre 
tences  which  were  set  forward  for  his  undoing  by  Cecil 
and  his  secret  enemies/  l 

On  the  position  and  views  of  Lord  Robert — on  the 
state  of  feeling  at  the  Court — on  the  Scotch  and  other 
questions — additional  light  is  thrown  by  a  letter  of  de 
Silva  written  on  the  9th  of  October. 

DE    SILVA   TO    PHILIP.2 

London,  October  9. 

'  The  gentleman  sent  hither  from  the  Court  of  Scot- 
land has  returned,  and  this  Queen  has  written  by  him 
to  say  that  for  various  reasons  there  will  be  no  Parlia- 
ment this  year.  The  succession  question  therefore  will 
be  allowed  to  rest.  She  says  she  is  not  so  old  that  her 
death  need  be  so  perpetually  dragged  before  her. 

'  Cecil  has  intimated  to  the  heretical  bishops  that 
they  must  look  to  their  clergy  ;  the  Queen  is  determined 
to  bring  them  to  order  and  will  no  longer  tolerate  their 
extravagances. 

1  MELVILLE'S  Memoirs. 
7  JUS.  Simancas. 


1 5  64.  ]  THE  E  MB  ASS  Y  OF  DE  SILVA.  217 

'  He  desires  them  too  to  be  careful  how  they  proceed 
against  the  Catholics;  the  Queen  will  not  have  her 
good  subjects  goaded  into  sedition  by  calumnies -on  their 
creed  or  by  irritating  inquiries  into  their  conduct.  I 
am  told  that  the  bishops  do  not  like  these  cautions. 
Cecil  understands  his  mistress  and  says  nothing  to  her 
but  what  she  likes  to  hear.  He  thus  keeps  her  in  good 
humour  and  maintains  his  position.  Lord  Robert  is 
obliged  to  be  on  terms  with  him  although  at  heart  he 
hates  him  as  much  as  ever.  Cecil  has  more  genius  than 
the  rest  of  the  council  put  together  and  is  therefore 
envied  and  hated  on  all  sides. 

'  The  Queen,  happening  to  speak  to  me  about  the 
beginning  of  her  reign,  mentioned  that  circumstances 
had  at  first  obliged  her  to  dissemble  her  real  feelings  in 
religion  ;  but  God  knew,  she  said,  that  her  heart  was 
sound  in  his  service  ;  with  more  to  the  same  purpose  : 
she  wanted  to  persuade  me  that  she  was  orthodox,  but 
she  was  less  explicit  than  I  could  have  wished. 

'  I  told  her  (she  knew  it  already)  that  the  preachers 
railed  at  her  in  the  most  insolent  language  for  keeping 
the  cross  on  the  altar  of  her  chapel.  She  answered  that 
she  meant  to  have  crosses  generally  restored  throughout 
the  realm. 

1  Again  and  again  she  has  said  to  me,  '  I  am  insulted 
both  in  England  and  abroad  for  having  shown  more 
favour  than  I  ought  to  have  shown  to  the  Lord  Robert. 
I  am  spoken  of  as  if  I  were  an  immodest  woman.  I 
ought  not  to  wonder  at  it :  I  have  favoured  him  because 
of  his  excellent  disposition  and  for  his  many  merits ; 


2i8  REIGN-  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

but  I  am  young  and  lie  is  young  and  therefore  we  have 
been  slandered.  God  knows  they  do  us  grievous  wrong, 
and  the  time  will  come  when  the  world  will  know  it 
also.  I  do  not  live  in  a  corner — a  thousand  eyes  see  all 
that  I  do  and  calumny  will  not  fasten  on  ine  for  ever/ 

'  She  went  on  to  speak  of  the  Queen  of  Scots,  whose 
beauty  she  warmly  praised. 

' '  Some  tell  me/  she  said,  '  that  my  sister  will  marry 
your  Prince  after  all/ 

'  I  laughed  and  said  that  the  last  story  which  I  had 
heard  was  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  was  to  marry  the 
King  of  France. 

1  She  said  that  could  not  be,  '  The  Queen-mother 
and  the  Queen  of  Scots  were  not  good  friends/ 

'  The  Lord  Robert,  whom  they  now  call  Earl  of 
Leicester,  has  been  with  me  again  repeating  his  protest- 
ations of  a  desire  to  be  of  use  to  your  Majesty.  He 
mentioned  particularly  the  troubles  in  the  Low  Coun- 
tries and  the  necessity  of  taking  steps  to  pacify  them. 

'I  assured  him  of  the  confidence  which  your  Ma- 
jesty felt  in  his  integrity  and  of  the  desire  which  you 
entertained  for  his  advancement.  I  repeated  the  words 
which  the  Queen  had  used  to  me  about  religion  ;  and 
I  said  that  now  when  she  was  so  well  disposed  there 
was  an  opportunity  for  him  which  he  should  not  allow 
to  escape.  If  the  Queen  could  make  up  her  mind  to 
marry  him  and  to  reunite  England  to  the  Catholic 
Church  your  Majesty  would  stand  by  him,  and  he  should 
soon  experience  the  effects  of  your  Majesty's  good- will 
towards  him  ;  the  Queen's  safety  should  be  perfectly 


1 564  J  TtfE  EMBASS Y  OF  DE  SILVA.  219 

secured  and  he  should  be  himself  maintained  in  the  re- 
putation and  authority  which  he  deserved. 

'  He  answered  that  the  Queen  had  put  it  off  so  long 
that  he  had  begun  to  fear  she  would  never  marry  him 
at  all.  He  professed  himself  very  grateful  for  my  offer, 
but  of  religion  he  said  nothing.  In  fact  he  is  too  ill- 
informed  in  such  matters  to  take  a  resolute  part  on  either 
side  unless  when  he  has  some  other  object  to  gain. 

'I  told  him  that  the  dependence  of  the  Catholics 
was  wholly  on  the  Queen  and  himself.  To  him  they 
attributed  the  preservation  of  the  bishops  and  of  the 
other  prisoners  ;  and  I  said  that  by  saving  their  lives 
he  had  gained  the  good-will  of  all  Christian  princes 
ibroad  and  of  all  the  Catholics  at  home,  who  as  he  well 
knew  were  far  more  numerous  than  those  of  the  new 
religion.  The  heretics  notoriously  hated  both  him  and 
his  mistress,  and  had  not  the  Catholics  been  so  strong 
would  long  ago  have  given  them  trouble ;  the  Queen 
could  see  what  was.  before  her  in  the  book  on  the 
succession,  which  after  all  it  appeared  she  was  afraid  to 
punish. 

'  His  manner  was  friendly,  but  I  know  not  what  he 
will  do.  Had  the  Catholics  as  much  courage  as  the 
heretics,  he  would  declare  for  them  quickly  enough,  for 
he  admits  that  they  are  far  the  larger  number ;  things  are 
in  such  a  state  that  the  father  does  not  trust  his  child.' 

To  return  to  the  Queen  of  Scots'  marriage.  Not- 
withstanding Lennox's  efforts  and  Lady  Margaret's 
jewels  the  Scottish  noblemen  were  difficult  to  manage 


220  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

Mary  Stuart  was  still  unable  to  act  without  her  brother 
and  Maitland ;  and  the  Earl  of  Murray  was  a  better 
Protestant  than  Knox  believed  him  to  be,  and  Mait- 
land's  broad  statesmanship  had  little  in  common  with 
the  scheming  conspiracies  which  were*hatched  in  the 
chambers  of  priests.  Maitland's  single  object  was  the 
union  of  the  realms,  where  Scotland,  in  compensation  for 
the  surrender  of  its  separate  independence,  would  have 
the  pride  of  giving  a  sovereign  to  its  ancient  enemy. 
While  therefore  he  was  zealous  for  the  honour  of  his 
mistress,  he  had  no  interest  in  those  collateral  objects  of 
religious  revolution  and  personal  revenge  of  which 
Mary  was  in  such  keen  pursuit.  With  the  Darnley 
connection,  as  it  appeared  afterwards,  he  had  no  sym- 
pathy, unless  Darnley  was  freely  offered  by  Elizabeth 
and  the  choice  was  freely  sanctioned  by  the  two  Parlia- 
\  ments. 

So  far  therefore  Maitland  was  ill  suited  for  the 
Queen  of  Scots'  purposes  ;  on  the.  other  hand,  he  was 
by  far  the  ablest  minister  that  she  possessed.  He  wag_ 
fanatically  eager — so  far  as  a  man  of  so  cool  and  clear 
an  intellect  could  be  fanatical  about  anything — to  secure 
the  English  succession  for  her ;  and  aware  of  his  value, 
she~named  himTwith  her  brother  to  meet  the  English 
commissioners  and  consider  in  form  Elizabeth's  pro- 
posals. The  conference  was  to  be  kept  secret  from  the 
world.  The  Queen  of  Scots  would  go  to  Dunbar  in  the 
middle  of  November.  The  two  ministers  would  leave 
her  as  if  for  a  few  days'  hawking  on  the  Tweed,  and  the 
Governor  of  Berwick  would  invite  them  to  visit  him. 


1 564.  ]  THE  EMBA SS  Y  OF  DE  SILVA.  221 

Lord  Bedford  and  Randolph  were  to  represent  Eng- 
land ;  and  Elizabeth's  instructions  to  them  are  a  fresh 
evidence  of  the  feelings  with  which  she  regarded  Leices- 
ter. When  Leicester's  name  was  first  officially  men- 
tioned, Maitland  had  urged  on  Cecil  the  propriety  of 
leaving  Mary's  choice  of  a  husband  as  little  restricted 
as  possible.  If  Elizabeth  objected  to  a  foreign  prince 
she  must  at  least  permit  a  free  selection  among  the  Scotch 
and  English  nobility.  Besides  Darnley  there  was  Nor- 
folk, there  was  Arundel — each  more  eligible  than  the 
son  of  the  parvenu  Northumberland  ;  and  Elizabeth 
had  no  right  to  demand  more  than  a  marriage  which 
did  not  threaten  herself  or  the  liberty  of  England. 

But  Elizabeth's  heart  was  fixed  on  Leicester,  and 
she  could  see  no  merit  anywhere  but  in  him.  '  Among 
all  English  noblemen/  she  said,  in  giving  her  directions 
to  the  commissioners,  '  she  could  see  none  for  her  own 
contentation  meeter  for  the  purpose  than  one  who  for 
his  good  gifts  she  esteemed  fit  to  be  placed  in  the  num- 
ber of  kings  and  princes;  for  so  she  thought  him 
worthy:  and  if  he  were  not  born  her  subject,  but  had 
happened  with  these  qualities  to  be  as  nobly  born  under 
some  other  prince  as  he  was  under  herself,  the  world 
should  have  well  perceived  her  estimation  of  him.  The 
advantage  of  the  marriage  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester  would 
not  be  great,  but  to  the  Queen  of  Scots  it  would  be 
greater  than  she  could  have  with  any  other  person. 
The  Earl  would  bring  with  him  no  controversy  of  title 
to  trouble  the  quietness  of  the  Queen  of  Scots,  and  she 
preferred  him  to  be  the  partaker  of  the  Queen  of  Scots' 


222  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  fen.  43. 

fortunes,  whom,  if  it  might  lie  in  her  power,  she  would 
make  owner  and  heir  of  her  own  kingdom.  She  had 
already  placed  a  check  on  all  other  pretenders  to  the 
succession ;  and  whatever  sovereign  might  do  in  the 
direction  of  the  matter  for  her  sister's  advantage  should 
not  be  wanting.  If  after  her  recognition  the  Queen  of 
Scots  should  desire  to  reside  in  England  she  would  her- 
self bear  the  charge  of  the  family  both  of  her  and  of  the 
Earl  of  Leicester  as  should  be  meet  for  one  sister  to  do 
for  another.' 

But  Elizabeth  admitted  that  before  the  recognition 
could  be  carried  through  Parliament  the  Queen  of  Scots 
must  first  accept  the  indispensable  condition.  She 
should  receive  the  prize  which  hung  before  her  eyes 
only  when  she  was  Leicester's  wife,  and  till  that  time 
she  must  be  contented  with  a  promise  that  she  should 
not  be  disappointed.  '  If  she  require  to  be  assured  first/ 
Elizabeth  continued  with  an  appearance  of  mournful 
sincerity,  if  she  will  not  marry  till  an  Act  of  Succession 
in  her  favour  has  been  actually  passed,  'you  may  of 
yourselves  say  it  may  work  in  us  some  scruple  to 
imagine  that  in  all  this  friendship  nothing  is  more 
minded  than  how  to  possess  that  which  we  have ;  and 
that  it  is  but  a  sorrowful  song  to  pretend  more  shortness 
of  our  life  than  is  cause,  or  as  though  if  God  would 
change  our  determination  in  not  desiring  to  marry,  we 
should  not  by  likelihood  have  children.  We  can  mean 
no  better  than  we  do  to  our  sister ;  we  doubt  not  that 
she  shall  quietly  enjoy  all  that  is  due  to  her,  and  the 
more  readier  we  are  so  to  do,  because  we  are  so  naturally 


1564.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  223 

disposed  with  great  affection  towards  her,  as  before  God 
we  wish  her  right  to  be  next  to  us  before  all  other.3 1 

Mary  Stuart  herself  meanwhile  was  in  close  com- 
munication with  Lady  Lennox,  and  was  receiving  from 
her  more  and  more  assurances  of  the  devotion  of  the 
English  Catholics.  Randolph,  on  his  return  to  Edin- 
burgh from  London,  found  Maitland  open-mouthed  at 
the  suspension  of  the  prosecution  of  Hales  for  his  book 
on  the  succession.  The  Scotch  Court  had  expected  that 
he  would  have  been  '  put  to  death  as  a  traitor/ 

Randolph  protested  against  the  word  '  traitor '  inas- 
much as  it  implied  '  the  certainty  of  the  Queen  of  Scots7 
claim/  '  which  many  in  England  did  not  believe  to  be 
certain  at  all.'  '  Hales  has  not  deserved  death,'  he  said, 
*  and  imprisonment  was  the  worst  which  could  be  in- 
flicted/ 

Maitland  spoke  menacingly  of  the  disaffection  among 
the  Catholics.  Randolph  '  bade  him  not  make  too  much 
account  of  conspirators  ; '  '  the  behaviour  of  the  Scotch 
Court/  he  said,  '  was  so  strange  that  he  could  only  sup- 
pose they  meant  to  quarrel  with  England  ; '  '  and  with 
these  words  they  grew  both  into  further  choler  than 
wisdom  led  them/ 2 

Mary's  own  language  was  still  smooth,  affectionate, 
and  confiding;  but  Maitland  and  even  Murray  pro- 
tested beforehand  that  when  the  commission  met  they 
would  agree  to  no  conditions  and  accept  no  marriage 


1  Elizabeth  to  Bedford  and  Randolph,  October  7,  1564:  /Scotch  MSS 
Rolls  House. 

2  Randolph  to  Cecil,  October  24 :  Scotch  MSS.  Soils  House. 


224  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43 

for  their  mistress  unless  her  title  was  first  fully  admitted 
and  confirmed.  Darnley's  name  was  not  mentioned ; 
but  '  it  was  through  the  mouths  of  all  men  that  it  was  a 
thing  concluded  in  the  Queen's  heart ; '  and  Randolph 
was  under  the  mistaken  impression  that  Maitland  was 
as  much  in  favour  of  it  as  his  mistress.1 

'Their  object/  Randolph,  on  the  7th  of 
November,  wrote  to  Elizabeth,  '  is  to  have  the 
Lord  Darnley  rather  offered  by  your  Majesty  than  de- 
sired of  themselves ; '  '  but  your  Majesty  I  am  assured 
will  consider  the  unfitness  of  the  match  for  greater 
causes  than  I  can  think  of  any — of  which  not  the  least 
will  be  the  loss  of  many  a  godly  man's  heart  that  by 
your  Majesty  enjoy eth  now  the  liberty  of  their  country, 
and  know  but  in  how  short  a  time  they  shall  lose  the 
same  if  your  Majesty  give  your  consent  to  match  her 
with  such  an  one  as  either  by  dissention  at  home  or  lack 
of  knowledge  of  God  and  his  word  may  persecute  them 
that  profess  the  same.'2 

\  The  Scotch  Protestants  comprehended  instinctively 
the  thousand  dangers  to  which  they  would  be  exposed. 
[The  House  of  Lennox  was  the  hereditary  enemy  of  the 
'Hamiltons,  who  had  headed  the  Revolution  of  1559. 
Darnley  was  known  to  be  a  Catholic ;  and  his  marriage 
with  Mary  Stuart  was  well  understood  to  mean  a 
i  Catholic  revolution. 

'  The  terrible  fear  is  so  entered  into  their  hearts/ 
continued  Randolph,  '  that  the  Queen  tendeth  only  to 

1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  October  31 :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
2  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1564.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  S1LYA.  225 

that,  that  some  are  well  willing  to  leave  their  country, 
others  with  their  force  to  withstand  it,  the  rest  with 
patience  to  endure  it  and  let  God  work  His  will.' 

Mail  land  seems  to  have  believed  that  Mary  .Stuart 
would  be  moderate  and  reasonable  even  if  she  was 
recognized  unconditionally  arid  was  left  to  choose  her 
own  husband  ;  he  professed  to  imagine  that  some 
'  liberty  of  religion  '  could  be  established  in  the  modern 
and  at  that  time  impossible  sense  in  which  wolf  and 
dog,  Catholic  and  Protestctut,  could  live  in  peace  to- 
gether, neither  worried  nor  worrying  each  other.  But 
few  of  the  serious  Reformers  shared  his  hope ;  and  a 
gajp_was  already  opening  wide  between  him  and  the 
Earl  of  Murray-.—  Maitland  was  inclined  to  press  Eng- 
land '  to  the  uttermost ; '  Randolph,  in  a  private  con- 
versation with  Murray,  '  found  in  that  nobleman  a  mar- 
vellous good  will '  to  be  guided  by  Elizabeth,  although 
he  was  disturbed  by  the  conflict  of  duties.  The  Earl,  as 
the  meeting  of  the  commissioners  approached,  in  his 
perplexity  sent  Elizabeth  a  message,  '  that  whatever  he 
might  say,  or  however  vehement  he  might  seem  to  be  in 
his  mistress's  cause,  he  hoped  her  Majesty  would  not 
take  it  as  if  he  was  in  any  way  wanting  in  devotion  to 
her.'  Both  Murray  and  Randolph  were  nervously  con- 
scious of  their  incapacity  to  cope  with  Maitland  in  a 
diplomatic  encounter. 

'  To  meet  with  such  a  match,'  Randolph  wrote  to 
Elizabeth,  '  your  Majesty  knoweth  what  wits  had  been 
fit.  How  far  he  exceedeth  the  compass  of  one  or  two 
heads  that  is  able  to  govern  a  Queen  and  guide  a  whole 

VOL.    VII.  15 


226 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  43. 


realm  alone,  your  Majesty  may  well  think.  How  unfit 
I  am,  and  how  able  is  he  to  go  beyond  me,  I  would  it 
were  not  as  I  know  it  to  be.' 1 

Little  time  was  lost  in  preparation.  On  the  i8th  of 
November  the  four  commissioners  met  at  Berwick : 
Bedford,  a  plain,  determined  man,  with  the  prejudices  of 
a  Protestant  and  the  resolution  of-  an  English  states- 
man ;  Randolph,  true  as  Bedford  to  Elizabeth,  but  en- 
tangled deeply  in  the  intricacies  of  diplomacy,  and 
moving  with  more  hesitation  ;  Murray,  perplexed  as  we 
have  seen ;  and  Maitland,  at  home  in  the  element  in 
which  he  played  with  the  practised  pleasure  of  a  master. 

The  preliminaries  were  soon  disposed  of.  Both  sides 
agreed  on  the  desirableness  of  the  union  of  the  realms ; 
and  the  English  ministers  admitted  the  propriety  of  the 
recognition  of  the  Queen  of  Scots,  if  adequate  securities 
could  be  provided  for  Elizabeth's  safety  and  for  the 
liberties  of  the  realm. 

The  main  subject  was  then  approached.  Lord  Bed- 
ford said  that  his  mistress  would  undertake  to  favour 
Mary  Stuart's  title  if  Mary  Stuart  would  marry  where 
the  English  council  wished ;  and  he  proposed  the  Earl 
of  Leicester  as  a  suitable  husband  for  her. 

'  The  Earl  of  Leicester/  Maitland  replied,  '  was  no 


1  Randolph  to  Elizabeth,  Novem- 
ber 7  ;  Cotton.  MSS.,  CALIG.  B.  10. 
On  the  same  day  Randolph  wrote  to 
Leicester  :  '  I  would  you  were  to  be 
at  Berwick  to  say  somewhat  for 
yourself,  for  there  I  assure  you  some- 
what will  be  said  of  you  that  for 


your  lordship  may  tend  to  little  good. 
How  happy  is  your  life  that  between 
these  two  Queens  are  tossed  to  and 
fro.  Your  lordship's  luck  is  evil  if 
you  light  not  in  some  of  their  laps 
that  love  so  well  to  play.' — Scotch 
MSS.  Rolls  Souse. 


1564.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  227 

fit  marriage  for  his  mistress  taken  alone ;  and  he  desired 
to  be  informed  more  particularly  what  the  Queen  of 
England  was  prepared  to  do  in  addition.  Indefinite 
promises  implied  merely  that  she  did  not  wish  the 
Queen  of  Scots  to  make  a  powerful  alliance ;  his  mis- 
tress could  not  consent  to  make  an  inferior  marriage 
while  the  Queen  of  England  was  left  unfettered ;  the 
Queen  of  England  might  herself  marry  and  have  child- 
ren/ 

*  It  is  not  the  intention  of  the  Queen  of  England/ 
said  Randolph,  '  to  offer  the  Lord  Robert  only  as  Earl 
of  Leicester  without  further  advancement.  She  desires 
to  deal  openly,  fairly,  and  kindly,  but  neither  will  her 
Majesty  say  what  she  will  do  more,  nor  ought  she  to 
say,  till  she  knows  in  some  degree  how  her  offer  will  be 
embraced/  '  As  you/  he  said  particularly  to  Maitland, 
*  have  spoken  an  earnest  word,  so  I  desire  without  of- 
fence to  have  another,  which  is  that  if  you  think  by 
finesse,  policy,  or  practice,  or  any  other  means,  to  wring 
anything  out  of  her  Majesty's  hands,  you  are  but  abused 
and  do  much  deceive  yourselves.' 

As  much  as  this  had  probably  been  foreseen  on  all 
sides.  Maitland  wished  to  extort  an  independent  ad- 
mission of  Mary's  claims  from  which  Elizabeth  would 
not  afterwards  be  able  to  recede ;  the  English  would 
admit  nothing  until  Mary  had  consented  generally  to 
conditions  which  would  deprive  her  of  the  power  of  being 
dangerous.  But  it  seems  that  they  were  empowered,  if 
Leicester  was  unacceptable,  to  give  the  Queen  of  Scots 
the  larger  choice  which  Maitland  demanded.  Cecil  had 


228  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

foreseen  that  Leicester  would  be  rejected.  '  I  think/ 
he  said,  writing  on  the  26th  of  November  to  Sir  Thomas 
Smith,  '  that  no  marriage  is  more  likely  to  succeed  than 
,  if  it  may  come  from  them.' 

The  name  omitted  was  doubtless  Darnley's.  De  Silva, 
in  describing  the  conference  to  Philip,  said  that  the 
English  commissioners  had  given  the  Scots  the  alterna- 
tive of  Leicester,  Norfolk,  or  Darnley.1  Of  Norfolk  at 
that  time  there  had  been  little  mention  or  none.  Darn- 
ley  perhaps  Elizabeth  would  have  consented  to  allow 
if  the  Queen  of  Scots  would  ask  for  him ;  for  in  giving 
way  to  Mary  Stuart's  wishes  she  could  have  accompanied 
her  consent  with  restrictions  which  would  render  the 
marriage  innocuous ;  while  the  Queen  of  Scots  on  the 
other  side  would  have  accepted  Darnley  had  Elizabeth 
offered  him  •  for  Elizabeth  would  have  been  unable  to 
shackle  her  own  proposal  with  troublesome  stipulations. 

No  matter  what  promises  Elizabeth  might  make,  no 
matter  to  what  engagements  she  might  bind  herself,  the 
Queen  of  Scots  had  long  resolved  to  agree  to  nothing 
which  would  alienate  the  Catholics.  As  Maitland  had 
told  the  Bishop  of  Aquila,  she  could  have  no  confidence 
that  any  engagement  would  be  observed  unless  she  was 
supported  by  a  force  independent  of  Elizabeth  ;  and  if 
she  married  Darnley  it  was  necessary  for  her  to  keep 
unimpaired  her  connection  with  the  party  of  insurrec- 
tion, and  with  the  foreign  Catholic  powers. 

Xhus  neither  side  would  be  the  first  to  mention  Dam- 


1  De  Silva  to  Philip,  December  18  :  MS,  Simancas. 


1564.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  229 

,ley_.  The  arguments  played  round  the  mark  but  never 
reached  it ;  and  at  last,  when  there  was  no  longer  a  hope 
of  a  satisfactory  end,  the  commissioners  found  it  was  use- 
less to  waste  time  longer.  They  parted  without  a  quarrel, 
yet  without  a  conclusion,  Maitland  summing  up  his  own 
demands  in  the  following  words  : — 

*  That  the  Queen  of  England  would  permit  his  mis- 
tress to  marry  where  she  would,  saving  in  those  royal 
houses  where  she  desired  her  to  forbear ;  that  her 
Majesty  would  give  her  some  yearly  revenue  out  of  the 
realm  of  England,  and  by  Parliament  establish  unto  her 
the  crown,  if  God  did  his  will  on  her  Majesty,  and  left  her 
without  children ;  in  so  doing  her  Majesty  might  have 
the  honour  to  have  made  the  marriage,  and  be  known  to 
the  world  to  have  used  the  Queen  of  Scots  as  a  dear  and 
loving  sister/1 

Immediately  after  the  breaking  up  of  the  conference 
Mary  Stuart  wrote  to  request  that  Lord  Darnley  might 
be  allowed  to  join  his  father  in  Scotland,  and  assist  him 
in  the  recovery  of  the  Lennox  estates.  Had  Elizabeth 
anticipated  what  would  follow  she  would  probably,  in- 
stead of  complying,  have  provided  Darnley  with  a  lodg- 
ing in  the  Tower.  But  the  reports  from  Scotland  were 
contradictory ;  Lennox  said  openly  that  '  his  son  should 
marry  the  Queen  ; '  yet  Randolph  '  knew  of  many,  by 
that  which  had  been  spoken  of  her  own  mouth,  that  the 
marriage  should  never  take  eifect  if  otherwise  she  might 
have  her  desire.'  Lennox  had  succeeded  imperfectly  in 


Report  of  the  Conference  at  Berwick  :   Cotton.  MSS.,  CALIG.  B.  10. 


230  RE  TON  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

making  a  party  amongst  the  lords  ;  and  Darnley's  eleva- 
tion to  the  Crown  of  Scotland  would  wake  a  'thousand 
sleeping  feuds.  The  requested  permission  was  suspended 
without  being  refused ;  while  Elizabeth  began  again  as 
usual  to  play  with  thoughts  of  the  Archduke.  Cecil 
sent  to  Germany  to  urge  Maximilian  to  propose  in  form 
for  her  hand ; l  while  stranger  still,  Catherine  de  Medici 
meditated  an  alliance  between  Elizabeth  and  her  son 
Charles  the  Ninth.  Elizabeth  was  twenty-nine  and 
Charles  not  more  than  fourteen  ;  but  political  conveni- 
ence had  overruled  more  considerable  inequalities  ;  and 
though  Elizabeth  affected  to  laugh  at  the  suggestion  as 
absurd,  de  Silva  reminded  her  that  the  difference  of  age 
was  scarcely  greater  than  that  between  Philip  and  her 
sister ;  while  the  Queen-mother  of  France  made  the  pro- 
posal, as  will  presently  be  seen,  in  perfect  seriousness.2 

On  their  return  to  Edinburgh  from  Ber- 
December.       .  ••     T»T   .  ••       !        -,  .., 

wick,  Maitland  and  Murray  wrote  a  joint  letter 

to  Cecil,  in  which  they  recapitulated  their  arguments  at 
the  conference  and  put  forward  again  the  demand  on  be- 
half of  their  mistress  with  which  Maitland  had  concluded. 
They  dwelt  on  the  marriages  abroad  which  were  offered 
to  her  acceptance — far  exceeding  in  general  desirable- 
ness that  which  was  proposed  by  Elizabeth.  They  ex- 
pressed themselves  however  deferentially,  and  professed 
a  desire  which  both  of  them  really  felt  for  a  happy  ter- 
mination of  the  difficulty. 

Cecil's  answer  was  straightforward,  consistent,  and 

1  Boger  Strange  to  Gaspar  Prcgnyar,  February  i,  1565  :  HAYNES,  vol.  i. 
2  De  Silva  to  Philip,  October  9  :   ,]/>•'.  Simancas. 


1564.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  231 

honourable.  He  was  glad  to  perceive  from  their  letter, 
he  said,  that  they  were  beginning  to  comprehend  the 
Queen  of  England's  real  feelings.  If  they  persisted  in 
!;he  tone  which  they  had  first  assumed  they  would  alienate 
England  altogether.  They  talked  of  proposals  to  marry 
their  mistress  in  this  place  and  that ;  there  were  pro- 
posals for  his  own  mistress  as  well,  and  they  would  do 
better  in  confining  themselves  to  the  subject  which  was 
immediately  before  them.  They  professed  to  desire  to 
know  the  Queen  of  England's  real  wishes.  They  knew 
them  already  perfectly  well.  His  mistress  had  never 
vnried  either  in  her  words  or  in  her  intentions.  She 
wished  well  to  the  Queen  of  Scots.  She  had  no  objec- 
tion to  the  Queen  of  Scots'  recognition  as  second  person 
if  England  could  be  satisfied  that  its  liberties  would  not 
be  in  danger. 

'  And  now,'  Cecil  said,  '  in  return  for  this  you  propose 
that  the  Queen's  Majesty  should  permit  your  Sovereign 
to  marry  where  she  would,  saving  in  some  places  pro- 
hibited, and  in  that  consideration  to  give  her  some  yearly 
revenue  out  of  the  realm  of  England,  and  by  Parliament 
establish  the  succession  of  the  realm  to  her ;  and  then 
you  add  that  it  might  be  the  Queen's  Majesty's  desire 
would  take  effect.  Surely,  my  Lord  of  Ledington,  I  see 
by  this — for  it  was  your  speech — you  can  well  tell  how 
to  make  your  bargain.  Her  Majesty  will  give  the  Earl 
of  Leicester  the  highest  degree  that  any  nobleman  may 
receive  of  her  hand ;  but  you  look  for  more — you  would 
have  with  him  the  establishment  of  your  Sovereign's 
title  to  be  declared  in  the  second  place  to  the  Queen's 


232  REIGN  OF  ELIZABE  777.  [CH.  43. 

Majesty.  The  Queen's  Majesty  will  never  agree  to  so 
much  of  this  request,  neither  in  form  nor  substance,  as 
with  the  noble  gentleman  already  named.  If  you  will 
take  him  she  will  cause  inquisition  to  be  made  of  your 
Sovereign's  rights  ;  and  as  far  as  shall  stand  with  justice 
and  her  own  surety,  she  will  abase  such  titles  as  shall  be 
proved  unjust  and  prejudicial  to  her  sister's  interest. 
You  know  very  well  that  all  the  Queen's  Majesty  mind- 
eth  to  do  must  be  directed  by  the  laws  and  by  the  con- 
sent of  the  three  Estates ;  she  can  promise  no  more  but 
what  she  can  with  their  assent  do..  The  Queen  of  Eng- 
land, if  trusted  as  a  friend,  may  and  will  do  what  she 
will  never  contract  or  bargain  to  do  or  submit  to  be 
pressed  to  do.  It  is  a  tickle  matter  to  provoke  sove- 
reigns to  determine  their  succession. 

'  Wherefore,  good  my  Lords/  Cecil  concluded,  '  think 
hereof,  and  let  not  this  your  negotiation,  which  is  full 
of  terms  of  friendship,  be  converted  into  a  bargain  or 
purchase ;  so  as  while  in  the  outward  face  it  appears  a 
design  to  conciliate  these  two  Queens  and  countries  by 
a  perpetual  amity,  in  the  unwrapping  thereof  there  be 
not  found  any  other  intention  but  to  compass  at  my 
Sovereign's  hands  a  kingdom  and  a  crown,  which  if 
sought  for  may  be  sooner  lost  than  gotten,  and  not  being 
craved  may  be  as  soon  offered  as  reason  can  require. 
Almighty  Grod  assist  you  with  His  spirit  in  your  de- 
liberation upon  this  matter  to  make  choice  of  that  which 
shall  increase  His  glory  and  fortify  the  truth  of  the 
gospel  in  this  isle.'1 


'  Cecil  to  Maitland  and  Murray,  December  16 :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1564.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  233 

Before  this  letter  reached  Scotland  Maitland  had  be- 
come disposed  to  receive  it  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  was 
written.  He  had  expressed  his  regret  to  Randolph  for 
having  '  meddled '  with  English  Catholic  conspirators ; 
he  was  drawing  off  from  the  dangerous  policy  to  which 
he  appeared  to  have  committed  himself ;  and  Randolph, 
who  a  month  before  had  been  more  afraid  of  him  than 
of  any  man  in  Scotland,  wrote  on  the  1 6th  of  December, 
the  date  of  Cecil's  despatch,  that  'he  never  thought 
better  of  him  than  at  that  moment/1 

So  anxious  Maitland  seemed  to  be  to  recover  ^55. 
the  confidence  of  the  English  Government,  that  Janu«7- 
except  for  the  opposition  which  he  continued  to  offer — 
when  opposition  had  become  dangerous — to  the  Darnley 
marriage,  it  might  have  been  thought  that  he  was  in 
league  with  Mary  to  throw  Elizabeth  off  her  guard.  His 
motives  must  in  part  remain  obscure.  He  had  perhaps 
become  acquainted  with  Darnley  in  England,  and  had 
foreseen  the  consequences  if  a  youth  of  such  a  tempera- 
ment came  in  too  close  contact  with  his  mistress.  Per- 
haps too  he  had  never  meant  to  do  more  than  play  with 
poisoned  tools  ;  and  withdrew  when  he  saw  that  Eliza- 
beth would  not  be  frightened  with  them.  But  an  obvious 
reason  for  Maitland's  change  of  posture  was  to  be  frmnrl 
in  the  new  advice  and  the  new-advisers  that  were  finding 
favour  withjthe  Uueen~oT^Scots.  Two  years  before,  M. 
de  "Slofet,  the  ambassador  from  Savoy,  had  brought  in 
bis  suite  to  Mary  Stuart's  Court  an  Italian  named  David 
Rizzio.  The  youth — he  was  about  thirty — became  a 


Randolph  to  Cecil,  December  16  :  MS.  Ibid. 


\ 


234  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.43. 

favourite  of  Mary.  Like  Chatelar,  lie  was  an  accom- 
plished musician  ;  he  soothed  her  hours  of  solitude  with 
love  songs,  and  he  had  the  graceful  tastes  with  which 
she  delighted  to  amuse  her  leisure.  He  had  glided 
gradually  into  her  more  serious  confidence,  as  she  dis- 
covered that  he  had  the  genius  of  his  countrymen  for 
intrigue,  and  that  his  hatred  for  the  Reformers  rivalled 
her  own  in  its  intensity. 

The  adroit  diplomacy  of  statesmen  found  less  favour  in 
Mary's  cabinet  than  the  envenomed  weapons  of  deliberate 
fraud.  Rhe_shook  off  the^control  of  the  one  supremely 
able  minister  that  she  possessed,  and  shejwent_on  with 
renewejjjpnjt,  disembarrassed  of  a  companion  whojvas 
too  honourable  for  her  present  schemes.  To  the  change 
of  counsellors  may  be  attributed  her  sudden  advance  in 
the  arts  of  intrigue.  On  a  sudden,  none  knew  why 
she  professed  a  readiness  to  yield  to  Elizabeth's  wishes. 
*  Her  mind  to  the  Lord  Robert/  she  said  to  Randolpli 
at  the  end  of  January,  (  was  as  it  ought  to  be  to  so 
noble  a  gentleman ; '  '  such  a  one  as  his  mistress  would 
marry  were  he  not  her  subject  ought  to  content  her  ; ' 
'  what  she  would  do  should  depend  on  the  Queen  of 
England,  who  should  wholly  guide  her  and  rule  her.' * 
She  deceived  Maitland  as  she  deceived  Randolph, 
and  Maitland  wrote  warmly  to  Cecil,  full  of  hopes 
'that  the  great  work  at  which  they  had  so  long 
laboured  together,  the  union  of  the  two  countries, 
would  be  accomplished  at  last  to  their  perpetual  hon- 


Randolph  to  Cecil,  February  5  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


I565.J 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA. 


235 


our.' l  It  appears  as  if  she  had  persuaded  him  that 
she  had  looked  the  Darnley  marriage  in  the  face  and 
had  turned  away  from  it  as  too  full  of  danger ;  and  even 
Cecil  was  so  far  convinced  that  he  entered  in  his  diary 
at  the  date  of  these  letters — '  Mr  Randolph  writeth  at 
length  of  the  Queen  of  Scots'  allowance  of  my  Lord  of 
Leicester,  and  giveth  great  appearance  of  success  in  the 
marriage.' 2 

On  the  6th  of  February  Randolph  wrote 
again  to  Leicester  as  if  there  was  no  longer 
any  doubt  that  he  would  be  accepted.  '  This  Queen,' 
he  said,  '  is  now  content  to  give  good  ear  to  her  Majesty's 
suit  in  your  behalf;  she  judges  you  worthy  to  be  husband 
to  any  Queen.'3  And  though  Randolph  himself  still 
vaguely  anticipated  evil,  and  though  other  persons  who 
understood  the  state  of  things  in  Scotland  shared  his 
misgivings,4  Elizabeth  permitted  herself  to  be  persuaded 


February. 


1  Maitland  to  Cecil,  January  16 
and  February  i  :  MS.  Rolls  House. 

2  Cecil's  Diary,  February  5. 

3  Randolph    to    Leicester,   Feb- 
ruary 6 :  WRIGHT,  vol.  i. 

4  Among  the  Conway  MSS.  there 
is  a  remarkable  paper,  unsigned  and 
unaddressed,  on  the  Lennox  question 
in  Scotland,  and  on  the  views  sup- 
posed to  be   entertained  by  Lady 
Lennox  and  her  busband.    It  shows 
how  remarkably  the  religious  parties 
were  intersected   by  family  feuds ; 
and  how  disintegrating  and  danger- 
ous to  the  Catholic  party  in  Scotland 
the  marriage  of  Mary   Stuart  and 
Darnley  must  have  been. 


NOTE  OF  AFFAIRS  IN  SCOTLAND. 
February  3,  1564-5. 
'  Enemies  to  the  Earl  of  Lennox 
— All  the  Protestants  of  that  realm 
in  general,  and  in  special  the  Duke 
of  Chatelherault,  with  all  the  Hamil- 
tons  in  Clydesdale,  Linlithgow,  and 
Edinburgh  ;  the  Bishop  of  St  An- 
drew's ;  the  Abbot  of  Kilwinning ; 
the  Bishop  of  Glasgow  ;  all  the  Be- 
tons ;  the  allies  of  the  late  Cardinal 
of  St  Andrew's ;  the  Laird  of  Borth- 
wick,  and  all  the  Scots.  The  Earl 
of  Argyle,  sister's  son  to  the  Duke ; 
all  the  Campbells;  the  Earl  of 
Glencairn,  whose  eldest  son  is  sister's 
son  to  the  Duke;  and  all  the  Cu»- 


236 


REIGN  OF  E  LIZ  ABE  TIL 


[CH.  43- 


that  Mary  Stuart  was  at  last  sincere.    Cecil  and  Leicester 
shared  her  confidence  or  were  prepared  to  risk  the  ex- 


ninghams.  The  Earl  of  Eglinton 
was  never  good  Lennox.  The  Earl 
of  Cassilis,  young,  and  of  small  con- 
duct. The  remnants  of  Huntley's 
house  will  favour  the  Duke,  and  so 
will  James  M'Connell,  and  others 
of  the  Isles.  The  Lord  James  and 
Ledington  in  their  hearts  have  mis- 
liked  Lennox ;  unless  now,  in  hope 
to  continue  their  rule  in  that  realm, 
they  may  he  changed.  The  Earl  of 
Morton,  being  chancellor;  the  young 
Earl  of  Angus,  Drumlanrig,  and  all 
the  Douglasses,  with  the  Justice 
Clerk  ;  M'Gill  and  their  alliance,  if 
my  Lady  Lennox  do  not  relinquish 
her  title  to  the  Earldom  of  Angus, 
which  I  suppose,  in  respect  of  the 
greater  advancement,  she  hath  al- 
ready promised.  The  Lords  Max- 
well and  Erskine,  allied  to  Argyle. 
Livingstone  is  fi'iend  to  the  Duke, 
and  Fleming  likewise.  Borthwick 
will  hang  with  the  Douglasses.  The 
Earl  of  Montrose  and  the  Leslies, 
being  Protestants. 

'  Of  these  [some]  may  be  won, 
partly  in  hope  that  Darnley  will 
embrace  religion,  which  I  doubt  will 
never  be,  partly  by  preferment  of 
spiritual  lands,  partly  by  money,  and 
partly  but  in  fear  by  the  authority 
and  in  respect  of  other  insolent  pre- 
tences. 

'  Friends  hoped  upon  it — 

*  The  Humes  and  the  Kers,  albeit 
they  will  choose  the  best  side. 

'The  Earl  of  BothweU,  of  no 
force  now. 


1  The  Earl  Athol ;  the  Earl  Errol ; 
the  Lords  Ruthven  and  Seton ;  the 
gentlemen  of  Lennox,  and  some  of 
the  Barony  of  Renfrew.  The  Laird 
of  Tullybardine,  a  young  head. 

'The  Queen,  being  his  chief 
countenance,  thinketh  from  the. 
Duke's  overthrow,  if  she  can  bring 
it  to  pass,  to  advance  Lennox  as  her 
heir-apparent,  failing  of  her  issue. 
If  Darnley  can  hit  the  mark,  then 
carcth  my  Lady  (Lady  Lennox)  nei- 
ther for  the  Earldom  of  Lennox, 
Angus,  nor  lands  in  England,  hav- 
ing enough  that  way;  and  if  the 
Queen  can  bring  it  about,  division 
shall  follow.  The  overthrow  of  re- 
ligion is  pretenced;  the  French  to 
be  reconciled ;  their  aid  again  to  be 
craved ;  and  if  they  can,  they  intend 
to  pretend  title  here  in  England, 
where  they  make  account  upon 
friends.  Whenas  they  have  Lennox, 
Darnley,  and  the  mother  within  their 
border,  whatsoever  nourishing  words 
be  used  for  the  shift,  either  here  or 
in  Scotland,  by  Lady  Lennox,  her 
son,  or  husband,  their  hearts  portend 
enmity  to  our  Sovereign  and  division 
to  her  realm.  They  are  only  bent 
to  please  and  revenge  the  Queen  of 
Scots'  quarrel,  and  to  follow  her 
ways,  who  remembereth,  as  I  am  in- 
formed, her  mother,  her  uncle  Guise, 
and  her  own  pretences.  This  realm 
hath  a  faction  to  serve  their  turn. 
Betwixt  Chatelherault  and  Lennox, 
take  heed  that  ye  suffer  not  that 
Chatelherault  be  overthrown,  and  in 


1565.] 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA. 


237 


periment;  and  Darnley  was  allowed  leave  of  absence 
for  three  months  in  the  belief  that  it  might  be  safely 
conceded. 

Darnley  therefore  went  his  way.  Elizabeth  herself 
meanwhile,  half  desponding,  half  hopeful  of  the  re- 
sult, and  perhaps  to  hold  a  salutary  fear  over  the 
Queen  of  Scots,  listened  to  the  proposals  of  Catherine 
de  Medici  for  Tier  own  marriage  with  the  boy  King  of 
France. 

On  the  24th  of  January  the  Queen-mother  addressed 
a  letter  to  Paul  de  Foix,  setting  forth  that,  consider- 
ing the  rare  excellence  of  the  Queen  of  England,  the 
position  of  England  and  France,  separated  as  they  were 
only  by  a  three  hours'  passage,  and  the  deep  interests 
of  both  countries  in  their  mutual  prosperity,  she  would 
feel  herself  the  happiest  mother  in  the  world  if  either 
of  her  sons  could  convert  so  charming  a  sister  into  a 
daughter  equally  dear.1 

Before  Mary  Stuart  had  given  signs  of  an  alteration 
of  feeling,  and  immediately  that  she  was  made  aware  of 
the  ill  success  of  the  conference  at  Berwick,  Elizabeth 
had  been  again  haunted  by  the  nightmare  of  marriage. 
Again  Cecil  had  communicated  with  Maximilian,  and  in 


the  end  advance  him  who  shall  he 
enemy  to  this  realm.  It  may  fall 
out  the  Queen's  Majesty's  purpose 
may  be  followed  hy  them  of  Scot- 
land, in  which  case  it  should  be  well ; 
but  I,  in  my  simple  opinion,  am  in 
despair  thereof,  for  they  look  for  her 
where  the  Lord  preserve  her,  and 
therefore  betimes  seek  ways  to  stop 


the  tide,  and  fill  their  hands  full  at 
home,  which  may  well  be  done.' — 
Conway  MSS.  Rolls  House. 

1  *  Me  sentirois  la  plus  heureuse 
mere  du  monde  si  un  de  mes  enfans 
d'une  bien  aymee  so3ur  m'en  avoit 
faict  une  tres  chere  fille.' — Catherine 
de  Medici  to  Paul  de  Foix.  Vie  de 
Marie  Stuart :  MIGNET  ;  Appendix. 


238  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  LCii.  43. 

writing  to  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  on  the  J5th  of  December, 
he  had  said : 

1  This  also  I  see  in  the  Queen's  Majesty,  a  sufficient 
contentation  to  be  moved  to  marry  abroad ;  and  if  it 
may  so  please  Almighty  God  to  lead  by  the  hand  some 
meet  person  to  come  and  lay  hands  on  her  to  her  con- 
tentation, I  could  then  wish  myself  more  health  to 
endure  my  years  somewhat  longer,  to  enjoy  such  a 
world  here  as  I  trust  will  follow  ;  otherwise  I  assure 
you  as  now  things  hang  in  desperation  I  have  no  com- 
fort to  live.' 1 

Cecil's  interest  was  in  the  Archduke  who  was  a 
grown  man.  Elizabeth,  if  she  was  obliged  to  marry 
preferred  perhaps  a  husband  with  whom  her  connection 
for  a  time  would  be  a  form. 

When  Paul  de  Foix  read  Catherine's  letter  to  her 
she  coloured,  expressed  herself  warmly  grateful  for  an 
offer  of  which  she  felt  herself  unworthy,  and  wished 
that  she  had  been  ten  years  younger.  She  feared,  she 
said,  that  if  at  her  age  she  married  any  one  so  young  as 
the  King  of  France,  it  would  be  with  her  as  it  had  been 
with  her  sister  and  King  Philip.  In  a  few  years  she 
would  find  herself  a  discontented  old  woman  deserted 
by  a  husband  who  was  weary  of  her. 

The  ambassador  politely  objected.  She  might  have 
children  to  give  stability  to  the  throne  ;  virtue  never 
grew  old,  and  her  greatness  would  for  ever  make  her 
loved. 


1  Cecil  to  Sir  T.  Smith,  December  15  :  WUIGUT,  vol.  i. 


1565']  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SUVA.  239 

She  said  she  would  sooner  die  than  be  a  neglected 
wife,  and  yet,  while  conscious  of  its  absurdity,  she 
allowed  the  thought  to  rest  before  her.  She  admitted 
that  her  subjects  desired  her  to  marry.  They  would 
perhaps  prefer  an  Englishman  for  her  ;  but  she  had  no 
subject  in  England  of  adequate  rank  except  the  Earl  of 
Arundel,  and  Arundel  she  could  not  endure.  She 
could  have  loved  the  noble  Earl  of  Leicester,  but  her 
subjects  objected  and  she  was  bound  to  consult  their 
wishes. 

So  with  a  promise  to  consider  the  proposal  she  gra- 
ciously dismissed  de  Foix  and  proceeded  to  consult  Cecil. 
The  careful  Cecil  with  methodical  gravity  paraded  the 
obvious  objections,  the  inequality  of  age,  the  danger, 
should  the  marriage  prove  fruitful,  of  the  absorption  of 
England  into  France,  the  risk  of  being  involved  in 
continental  wars,  and  the  innovations  which  might  be 
attempted  upon  English  liberty  and  English  law. 

Elizabeth  admitted  the  force  of  these  considerations, 
but  she  would  not  regard  them  as  decisive.  De  Foix 
suggested  that  the  crown  of  England  might  be  entailed 
on  the  second  son  or  the  second  child ;  and  Catherine 
de  Medici  herself,  excited  by  Elizabeth's  uncertainty, 
became  more  pressing  than  ever,  and  made  light  of 
difficulties. 

She  even  tempted  Cecil  with  splendid  offers  if  he 
would  recommend  tjie  French  alliance  and  do  her  a 
pleasure ;  but  she  had  mistaken  the  temperament  which 
she  was  addressing.  Cecil  answered  like  himself  '  that 
he  thought  neither  of  how  to  gratify  the  Queen  of 


240 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  43. 


France  nor  of  any  gift  or  recompense  which  might 
accrue  to  himself;  his  sole  care  was  for  the  service  of 
God,  the  weal  of  his  mistress,  and  the  interests  of  the 
realm  ;  if  the  marriage  would  further  these  it  should 
have  his  hearty  support,  if  otherwise  no  second  con- 
sideration could  move  him.' 1 

The  Queen-mother  was  too  eager  to  be  daunted. 
The  Queen  of  Spain  was  coming,  in  the  course  of  the 
spring,  to  Bayonne  on  a  visit  to  her  mother.  Some 
marriage  in  Philip's  interest  would  then  probably  be 
proposed  for  her  son ;  and  while  de  Foix  was  working 
on  Elizabeth,  Catherine  herself  continued  to  press  upon 
the  English  ambassador  and  to  urge  the  necessity  of  an 
immediate  resolution.2 

Elizabeth  really  thought  for  the  time  that 
unless  she  could  succeed  with  Mary  Stuart  her 
choice  lay  only  between  the  Archduke  and  the  King  of 
France.  She  told  de  Silva  in  March  that  she  must 
marry  or  she  could  not  face  another  Parliament,  whilst 
she  durst  not  marry  Leicester  for  fear  of  an  irisurrec- 


1  MIGNET'S  Mary  Stuart ;   Ap- 
pendix. 

2  Sir  Thomas  Smith  reports  a 
singular  Order  of  Council   for  the 
behaviour  of  the  French  Court,  in 
preparation  for  the  Queen  of  Spain's 
visit  :— 

'  Oraers  are  taken  in  the  Court, 
that  no  gentleman  shall  entertain 
with  talk  any  of  the  Queen's  maids 
except  it  be  in  the  Queen's  presence, 
T  except  he  be  married.  And  if  any 


demoiselle  do  sit  upon  a  form  or 
stool,  he  may  sit  by  her,  but  not  lie 
along  as  the  fashion  was  afore  in 
this  Court,  with  other  such  restraints, 
which  whether  they  be  made  for  this 
time  of  Lent,  or  to  somewhat  imi- 
tate the  austerity  of  the  Spanish 
Court,  that  they  should  not  be  of- 
fended' or  think  evil  of  the  liberty 
used  in  this  Court,  I  cannot  tell.' — 
Sir  T.  Smith  to  Cecil,  April  10  • 
French  MSS.  Rolls  HOVM 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  241 

tion.1  Catherine  de  Medici  knew  the  necessity  which 
was  bearing  upon  her,  and  laboured  hard  with  Sir 
Thomas  Smith  to  remove  the  objections  raised  by 
Cecil. 

Age  was  nothing,  she  said.  If  the  Queen 
of  England  was  contented  with  the  age  of 
her  son  he  would  find  no  fault  with  hers.  Elizabeth 
professed  to  fear  that  a  marriage  with  the  King  of 
France  might  oblige  her  to  be  often  absent  from  Eng- 
land. Catherine  could  see  no  difficulty  in  governing 
England  by  a  viceroy  ;  and  it  was  to  no  purpose  that 
Smith  urged  that  the  English  people  were  less  easy  to 
govern  than  the  French,  and  that  their  princes 
had  trouble  enough  to  manage  them  though  they  re- 
mained always  at  home.  He  told  Catherine  that  he 
thought  she  was  too  precipitate ;  the  young  people 
might  meet  and  make  acquaintance.  '  You  are  a  young 
man,  sir/  he  said  to  Charles  himself ;  '  when  you  are 
next  in  Normandy  you  should  disguise  yourself,  go 
lustily  over  unknown,  and  see  with  your  own  -eyes/ 

The  Queen-mother  laughed,  but  said  it  could  not  be. 
She  must  have  an  answer  at  once ;  and  the  match  was 
so  advantageous  for  both  parties  that  she  could  not  be- 
lieve Elizabeth  would  refuse.  France  and  England 
united  could  rule  the  world,  for  French  and  English 
soldiers  united  could  conquer  the  world.  '  France  had 
the  honour  for  horsemen,  English  footmen  were  taken 
for  invincible.' 


1  De  Silva  to  Philip,  March  17  :  MS.  Simancas. 

VOL.    VII.  10 


242  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

The  conversation  turned  on  the  chances  of  children, 
where  Catherine  was  equally  confident ;  and  the  dia- 
logue which  followed  was  reported  by  Sir  T.  Smith  in  a 
letter  to  Elizabeth  herself : — 

1  The  Queen  told  me  that  she  was  married  when 
King  Henry  had  but  fifteen  years  and  she  fourteen ; 
and  that  Mr  Secretary  Cecil  had  a  child  at  fourteen 
years  of  age,  as  her  ambassador  had  written  to  her ; 
and,  said  she,  '  you  see  my  son,  he  is  not  small  nor  little 
of  growth/ 

'  With  that  the  King  stood  upright. 

' '  Why/  said  "she,  '  you  would  show  yourself  bigger 
than  you  be/  and  laughed. 

* '  But  what  think  you  will  be  the  end,  M.  TAmbas- 
sadeur/  saith  she ;  '  I  pray  you  tell  me  your  opinion 
frankly/ 

' '  By  my  troth,  madame/  quoth  I,  '  to  say  what  I 
think,  I  think  rather  it  will  take  effect  than  no  ;  and 
yet  in  my  letters  I  see  nothing  but  deliberation  and  ir- 
resolution and  request  of  delay  to  consult;  butmethinks 
it  groweth  fast  together  and  cometh  on  hotlier  than  I 
did  imagine  it  would  have  done ;  and  that  maketh  me 
judge  rather  that  at  the  last  it  will  take  effect  than 
otherwise.  But  methinks  on  your  part  and  the  King's 
you  make  too  much  haste.  If  the  King  had  three  or 
four  more  years  and  had  seen  the  Queen's  Majesty  and 
was  taken  in  love  with  her,  then  I  would  not  marvel  at 
this  haste/ 

' '  Why/  said  the  King,  '  I  do  love  her  indeed/ 

1 '  Sir/  quoth  I,  '  your  age  doth  not  yet  bear  that 


'565.1 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA. 


243 


you  should  perfectly  know  what  love  meaneth  ;  but  you 
shall  shortly  understand  it,  for  there  is  no  young  man, 
prince  nor  other,  but  he  doth  pass  by  it.  It  is  the 
foolishest  thing,  the  most  impatient,  most  hasty,  most 
without  respect  that  can  be/ 

'  With  that  the  King  blushed. 

'  The  Queen  said  this  is  no  foolish  love. 

' '  No,  Madame/  quoth  I,  '  this  is  with  respect  and 
upon  good  grounds,  and  therefore  may  be  done  with 
deliberation/  ' x 

*  *  So  your  Majesty  is  to  marry  the  King  of  France 
after  all/  said  de  Silva  to  Elizabeth  a  little  after  this. 

*  She  half  hid  her  face  and  laughed.     '  It  is  Lent, 
she  said  ;  '  and  you  are  a  good  friend,  so  I  will  confesi 
my  sins  to  you.     My  brother  the  Catholic  King  wished 
to  marry  me,  the  King  of  Sweden  and  Denmark  wished 
to  marry  me,  the  King  of  France  wishes  to  marry 


me. 


And  the  Archduke  also/  said  de  Silva. 


'  l  Sir  Thomas  Smith  to  Elizabeth, 
April  15 :  French  MSS.  Rolls  Home. 
Elizabeth  had  desired  the  am- 
bassador to  describe  the  young  King 
to  her.  Smith  said  he  was  a  pale, 
thin,  sickly,  ungainly  boy,  with  large 
knee  and  ankle  joints.  His  health 
had  been  injured  by  over-doses  of 
medicine.  He  seemed  amiable, 
cheerful,  and  more  intelligent  than 
might  have  been  expected,  '  seeing 
he  had  not  been  brought  up  to  learn- 
ing, and  spoke  no  language  but  his 


In  a  letter  to  Cecil,  the  ambassa- 
dor said — 

'  The  Queen-mother  hath  a  very 
good  opinion  of  you.  She  liketh 
marvellous  well  that  you  had  a  son 
in  your  fourteenth  or  fifteenth  year, 
for  she  hopeth  therefore  that  her  son 
the  King  shall  have  a  son  as  well 
as  you  in  his  sixteenth  year,  and 
thinketh  you  may  serve  as  an  ex- 
ample to  the  Queen's  Majesty  not  to 
contemn  the  young  years  of  the 
Kinjr's.'— Smith  to  Cecil  MS  Ibid. 


244  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

' '  Your  Prince,'  she  went  on  without  noticing  the 
interruption,  '  is  the  only  one  who  has  not  been  at  my 
feet ;  I  have  had  all  the  rest.' 

' '  When  the  King  my  master  failed/  replied  de 
Silva,  'he  supposed  your  Majesty  would  never  marry 
at  all.' 

' '  There  was  no  need  of  so  hasty  a  conclusion/  she 
said ;  '  although  it  is  true  that  at  that  time  I  was  very 
unwilling  to  marry  ;  and  I  assure  you  that  if  at  this 
moment  I  could  name  any  fitting  person  to  succeed  to 
my  crown  I  would  not  marry  now ;  I  have  always 
shrunk  from  it ;  but  my  subjects  insist,  and  I  suppose  I 
shall  be  forced  to  comply  unless  I  can  contrive  some 
alternative,  which  will  be  very  difficult.  The  world, 
when  a  woman  remains  single,  assumes  that  there  must 
be  something  wjong  about  her,  and  that  she  has  some 
discreditable  reason  for  it.  They  said  of  me  that  I 
would  not  marry  because  I  was  in  love  with  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,  and  that  I  could  not  marry  him  because  he 
had  a  wife  already ;  yet  now  he  has  no  wife,  and  for  all 
that  I  do  not  marry  him,  although  at  one  time  the 
King  my  brother  advised  me  to  do  it.  But  what  are 
we  to  do  ?  tongues  will  talk,  and  for  ourselves  we  can 
but  do  our  duties  and  keep  our  account  straight  with 
God.  Truth  comes  out  at  last,  and  God  knows  my 
heart  that  I  am  not  what  people  say  I  am.' '  * 

feanwhile  in  Scotland  the  drama  was  fast   pro- 
gressing.    Darnley  reached  Edinburgh  on  the  I2th  of 


1  MIONET  ;  Appendix  6. 


i565.] 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA. 


245 


February;  and  a  week  later  he  was  introduced  to  Mary 
at  Wemyss  Castle  in  Fife.  As  yet  he  had  but  few 
friends :  the  most  powerful  of  the  Catholic  nobles 
looked  askance  at  him ;  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  the 
Cardinal  of  Guise,  and  the  widowed  Duchess,  misunder- 
standing the  feeling  of  his  friends  in  England,  imagined 
that  in  accepting  a  youth  who  had  been  brought  up  at 
Elizabeth's  Court,  the  Queen  of  Scots  was  throwing 
up  the  game.1  The  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  Mary's 
minister  in  Paris — a  Beton,  and  therefore  an  hereditary 
enemy  of  Lennox — sent  an  estafette  to  Madrid  in  the 
hope  that  Philip  would  dissuade  her  from  a  step  which 
he  regarded  as  fatal ;  and  though  Melville,  who  was  in 
the  confidence  of  the  English  Catholics,  assured  her 
'  that  no  marriage  was  more  in  her  interest,  seeing  it 
would  render  her  title  to  the  succession  of  the  crown 
unquestionable/  although  Rizzio,  'the  known  minion 
of  the  Pope/  threw  himself  into  Darnley's  intimacy  so 
warmly  *  that  they  would  lie  sometimes  in  one  bed  to- 
gether/ 2  Mary  Stuart  either  disguised  her  resolution, 
or  delayed  the  publication  of  it  till  Philip's  answer 
should  arrive.  She  had  not  yet  relinquished  hope  of 
extracting  concessions  from  Elizabeth  by  professing  a 


1  "When  Mary's  final  resolution 
to  marry  Darnley  was  made  known 
in  Paris,  Sir  Thomas  Smith  wrote  to 
Leicester,  '  The  Cardinal  of  Guise, 
Madame  de  Guise,  and  the  Scottish 
ambassador,  are  in  a  marvellous 
agony  for  the  news  of  the  marriage 
of  the  Scottish  Queen  with  the  Lord 


Darnley.  They  have  received  letters 
out  of  Scotland  from  some  friends 
there,  which  when  they  had  read, 
they  fell  weeping  all  that  night.' — 
Smith  to  Leicester,  April,  1565  : 
French  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
2  CALDERWOOD. 


346  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

desire  to  be  guided  by  her  ;  she  was  afraid  of  driving 
Elizabeth  by  over-precipitancy  to  accept  the  advances 
of  France. 

In  the  interval  therefore  she  continued  to  assure 

Randolph  that  she  would  be  guided  by  '  her  sister's ' 

wishes.     '  How  to  be  sure  that  it  is  her  real  mind  and 

not  words  only/  Randolph  wrote  on  the  ist 

of  March,  '  is  harder  than  I  will  take  upon 

me  ,  but  so  far  as  words  go,  to  me  and  others  she  seems 

fully  determined.     I   never   at   any  time   had   better 

hopes  of  her  than  now.' 1 

Yet  the  smooth  words  took  no  shape  in  action.  She 
pressed  Randolph  every  day  to  know  Elizabeth's  resolu- 
tion, but  the  conditions  on  both  sides  remained  as  they 
were  left  at  Berwick.  Elizabeth  said  to  Mary  Stuart, 
*  Marry  as  I  wish  and  then  you  shall  see  what  I  will 
do  for  you.'  Mary  said,  '  Recognize  me  first  as  your 
successor  and  I  will  then  be  all  that  you  desire.'  Each 
distrusted  the  other  ;  but  Elizabeth  had  the  most  pro- 
ducible reason  for  declining  to  be  credulous.  However 
affectionate  the  Queen  of  Scots'  language  might  be,  the 
Treaty  of  Edinburgh  remained  unratified. 

The  more  Mary  pressed  for  recognition  therefore, 
the  more  Elizabeth  determined  to  withhold  what  if 
once  conceded  could  not  afterwards  be  recalled,  till  by 
some  decisive  action  her  suspicion  should  have  been 
removed.  With  the  suspense  other  dangerous  symp- 
toms began  to  show  themselves.  Soon  after  Darnley's 


Randolph  to  Cecil,  March  I  :  Scotch  AfSS.  Rolls  Souse. 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  24? 

appearance  the  Queen  of  Scots  made  attempts  to  rein- 
troduce  the  mass.  Murray  told  Eandolph  that  <  if  she 
had  her  way  in  her  '  Papistry '  things  would  be  worse 
than  ever  they  were.'  Argyle  said  that  unless  she 
married  as  the  Queen  of  England  desired  '  he  and  his 
would  have  to  provide  for  their  own.'  The  chapel  at 
Holyrood  was  thrown  open  to  all  comers ;  and  while 
the  Queen  insisted  that  her  subjects  should  '  be  free  to 
live  as  they  listed,'  the  Protestants  '  offered  their  lives 
to  be  sacrificed  before  they  would  suffer  such  an  abomin- 
ation.' Becoming  aggressive  in  turn  they  threatened 
to  force  the  Queen  into  conformity,  and  they  by  their 
violence  '  kindled  in  her  a  desire  to  revenge.'  _Mary_ 
Stuart  was  desiring  merely  to  reconcile  the  Catholics  of 
the  anti-Lennox  faction  to  her  marriage  with  Darnley. 
There  was  fighting  about  the  chapel  door ;  the  priest 
was  attacked  at  the  altar  ;  and  in  the  daily  quarrels  at 
the  council-board  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation  told 
Mary  openly  that  '  if  she  thought  of  marrying  a  Papist 
it  would  not  be  borne  with.' l  Suddenly,  unlooked  for 
and  uninvited,  the  evil  spirit  of  the  storm,  the  Earl  of 
Both  well,  reappeared  at  Mary's  Court.  She  disclaimed 
all  share  in  his  return ;  he  was  still  attainted ;  yet 
there  he  stood — none  daring  to  lift  a  hand  against  him 
— proud,  insolent,  and  dangerous. 

At  this  crisis  Randolph  brought  Mary  a  message 
which  shewas  desired  Jo^acgfipiL^as^final ;  that  until 
Elizabeth  had  herself  married  ojrha d  made  up  her  mind 

1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  March  15,  March  17,  and  March  20:  MS.  Rolls 
House, 


248  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

not  to  marrv^  the  succession  must  remainunsettled. 
The  Queen  of  Scots  (  wept  her  fill ; '  but  tears  in  those 
eves  were  no  sign  of  happy  promise.  Randolph  so  little 
liked  the  atmosphere  that  he  petitioned  for  his  own 
recall.  Lennox  had  gathered  about  him  a  knot  of  wild 
and  desperate  youths — Cassilis,  Eglinton,  Montgomery, 
and  Bothwell — the  worst  and  fiercest  of  all.  Darnley 
had  found  a  second  friend  and  adviser  besides  Rizzio  in 
Lord  Robert  Stuart,  the  Queen's  half-brother,  '  a  man 
full  of  all  evil/  The  Queen's  own  marriage  with  him 
was  now  generally  spoken  of;  and  Chatelherault,  Argyle, 
and  Murray  gave  the  English  ambassador  notice  that 
mischief  was  in  the  wind,  '  and  joined  themselves  in  a 
new  bond  to  defend  each  other's  quarrels.' 1 

'  To  help  all  these  unhappy  ones,'  Randolph  wrote  to 
Cecil,  '  I  doubt  not  but  you  will  take  the  best  way ; 
and  this  I  can  assure  you,  that  contrary  to  my  sovereign's 
will,  let  them  attempt,  let  them  seek,  let  them  send  to 
all  the  cardinals  and  devils  in  hell,  it  shall  exceed  their 
power  to  bring  anything  to  pass,  so  that  be  not  refused 
the  Queen  of  Scots  which  in  reason  ought  to  content 
her.' 2 

The  elements  of  uncertainty  and  danger  were  already 
too  many,  when  it  pleased  Elizabeth  to  introduce  another 
which  completed  the  chaos  and  shook  the  three  king- 
*-,  doms.  Despising  doctrinal  Protestantism  too  keenly  to 
do  justice  to  its  professors,  Elizabeth  had  been  long 
growing  impatient  of  excesses  like  that  which  had 

1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  March  20  :   Cotton.  3LSS.  <"ALIG.  B.  10. 
2  Ibid. 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA  249 

shocked  her  at  Cambridge,  and  had  many  times  expressed 
her  determination  to  bring  the  Church  to  order.  Her 
own  creed  was  a  perplexity  to  herself  and  to  the  world. 
With  no  tinge  of  the  meaner  forms  of  superstition,  she 
clung  to  practices  which  exasperated  the  Reformers, 
while  the  Catholics  laughed  at  their  inconsistency ;  her 
crucifixes  and  candles,  if  adopted  partly  from  a  politic 
motive  of  conciliation,  were  in  part  also  an  expression  of 
that  half  belief  with  which  she  regarded  the  symbols  of 
the  faith ;  and  while  ruling  the  clergy  with  a  rod  of  iron, 
and  refusing  as  sternly  as  her  father  to  tolerate  their 
pretensions  to  independence,  she  desired  to  force  upon 
them  a  special  and  semi-mysterious  character ;  to  dress 
them  up  as  counterfeits  of  the  Catholic  hierarchy ;  and 
half  in  reverence,  half  in  contempt,  compel  them  to 
assume  the  name  and  character  of  a  priesthood,  which 
both  she  and  they  in  their  heart  of  hearts  knew  to  be 
an  illusion  and  a  dream. 

Elizabeth's  view  of  this  subject  cannot  be  called  a 
fault.  It  was  the  result  of  her  peculiar  temperament ; 
and  in  principle  was  but  an  anticipation  of  the  eventual 
attitude  into  which  the  minds  of  the  laity  would  subside. 
But  the  theory  in  itself  is  suited  only  to  settled  times, 
when  it  is  safe  from  the  shock  of  external  trials :  from 
the  first  it  has  been  endured  with  impatience  by  those 
nobler  minds  to  whom  sincerity  is  a  necessity  of  exist- 
ence ;  and  in  the  first  establishment  of  the  English 
Church,  and  especially  when  Elizabeth  attempted  to 
insist  on  conditions  which  overstrained  the  position,  she 
tried  the  patience  of  the  most  enduring  clergy  in  the  world. 


2  5° 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  43. 


Her  first  and  greatest  objection  was  to  their  marriage. 
The  holy  state  of  matrimony  was  one  which  she  could 
not  contemplate  without  bitterness ;  and  although  she 
could  not  at  the  time  of  her  accession  prevent  the  clergy 
from  taking  wives,  and  dared  not  re-enact  the  prohibitory 
laws  of  her  sister,  she  refused  to  revive  the  permissive 
statutes  of  Edward.  She  preferred  to  leave  the  arch- 
bishops and  bishops  with  their  children  legally  illegiti- 
mate and  themselves  under  the  imputation  of  concubin- 
age. Nor  did  time  tend  to  remove  her  objections. 
Cecil  alone  in  1561  prevented  her  from  making  an 
attempt  to  enforce  celibacy.1  To  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  himself  ( she  expressed  a  repentance  that  he 
and  the  other  married  bishops  were  in  office,  wishing  it 
had  been  otherwise ;  '  she  thought  them  worse  as  they 
were,  '  than  in  the  glorious  shame  of  a  counterfeited 
chastity  ; '  '  I  was  in  horror,'  the  Archbishop  wrote  after 
a  conversation  with  her  on  the  subject,  '  to  hear  such 
words  come  from  her  mild  nature  as  she  spake  concern- 
ing God's  holy  ordinance  of  matrimony/  *  Princes 
hitherto  had  thought  it  better  to  cherish  their  ecclesias- 
tical state  as  conservators  of  religion ;  the  English 
bishops  alone  were  openly  brought  in  hatred,  shunned 
and  traduced  before  the  malicious  and  ignorant  people 
as  beasts  without  knowledge,  as  men  of  effrenate  intem- 


1  '  Her  Majesty  continues  very 
ill-affected  towards  the  state  of  ma- 
trimony in  the  clergy  ;  and  if  I  were 
not  therein  very  stiff,  her  Majesty 


would  utterly  and  openly  condemn 
and  forbid  it.' — Cecil  to  Archbishop 
Parker,  August  12,  1561  :  STRYPB'S 
Life  of  Parker., 


1565.]  THE  EM  BASS  V  OF  DE  SILVA.  251 

perancy,  without  discretion  or  any  godly  disposition 
worthy  to  serve  in  their  state/  1 

In  the  same  spirit  the  Queen  attempted  to  force  her 
crucifixes  into  the  parish  churches ;  and  she  provoked  by 
it  immediate  rebellion.  The  bishops  replied  with  one 
voice  '  that  they  would  give  their  lives  for  her ;  but 
they  would  not  set  a  trap  for  the  ignorant  and  make 
themselves  guilty  of  the  blood  of  their  brethren  ; '  '  if  by 
the  Queen's  authority  they  established  images,  they 
would  blemish  the  fame  of  their  notable  fathers 
who  had  given  their  lives  for  the  testimony  of  God's 
truth.' 

Thus  the  antagonism  went  on,  irritating  Elizabeth 
on  her  side  into  dangerous  traffickings  with  the  Bishop 
of  Aquila  and  his  successor ;  while  Parker  declared 
openly  that  he  must  obey  God  rather  than  man  ;  and, 
that  however  the  Queen  might  despise  him  and  his 
brethren,  '  there  were  enough  of  that  contemptible  flock 
that  would  not  shrink  to  offer  their  blood  for  the  defence 
of  Christ's  verity.' 2 

The  right  however,  as  has  been  already  pointed  out, 
was  not  wholly  on  the  Protestant  side.  The  recollec- 
tions of  Protestant  ascendancy  in  the  days  of  Edward 
were  not  yet  effaced  ;  and  the  inability  of  the  Eeformers 
to  keep  in  check  the  coarser  forms  of  irreverence  and 
irreligion  was  as  visible  as  before.  They  were  them- 
selves aggressive  and  tyrannical;  and  when  prebendaries' 


1  Parker  to  Cecil :  STRYPE'S  Life  of  Parker.  *  Ibid. 


252  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

wives  melted  tlie  cathedral  organ-pipes  into  dish-covers 
and  cut  the  frames  into  bedsteads,  there  was  something 
to  be  said  even  in  favour  of  clerical  celibacy.  The  bad 
relations  between  the  Crown  and  the  spiritual  estate 
prevented  the  clergy  from  settling  down  into  healthy 
activity.  The  Queen  insulted  her  bishops  on  one  side  ; 
the  Puritans  denounced  them  on  the  other  as  imps  of 
Antichrist ;  and  thus  without  effective  authority — with 
its  rulers  brought  deliberately  into  contempt — the 
Church  of  England  sunk  deeper  day  by  day  into 
anarchy. 

Something  no  doubt  it  had  become  necessary  to  do ; 
but  Elizabeth  took  a  line  which  however  it  might  be 
defended  in  theory  was  approved  of  only  by  the  Catho- 
lics— and  by  them  in  the  hope  that  it  would  prove  the 
ruin  of  the  institution  which  they  hated. 

At  the  close  of  1564,  after  the  return  of  the  Court 
from  Cambridge,  an  intimation  went  abroad  that  the 
Queen  intended  to  enforce  uniformity  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  services  and  to  insist  especially  on  the  use 
of  the  surplice  and  cap — the  badges  which  distinguished 
the  priest  from  the  Genevan  minister.  The  Puritan 
clergy  would  sooner  have  walked  to  the  stake  in  the 
yellow  robes  of  Sanbenitos.  But  it  was  in  vain  that  the 
Dean  of  Durham  insisted  that  it  was  cruel  to  use  force 
against  Protestants  while  '  so  many  Papists,  who  had 
never  sworn  obedience  to  the  Queen  nor  yet  did  any 
part  of  their  duty  to  their  flocks,  enjoyed  their  liberty 
and  livings.5  It  was  in  vain  that  Pilkington  and  others 
of  the  bishops  exclaimed  against  disturbing  the  peace 


1565  ]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  253 

of  the  Church  at  such  a  time  '  about  things  indifferent.' 1 
On  the  24th  of  January  the  Queen  addressed  a  letter  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  '  that  whereas  the  eccle- 
siastical government  ought  to  be  the  example  in  its  per- 
fection to  all  others — by  the  carelessness  of  him  the 
Archbishop  and  of  the  other  bishops,  differences  of 
opinion,  differences  of  practice,  differences  in  the  rites 
used  in  the  churches,  had  risen  up  throughout  the 
realm,  to  the  great  offence  of  godly,  wise,  and  obedient 
persons.  She  had  hoped  that  the  bishops  would  in 
time  have  remembered  their  duties  ;  but  finding  her  ex- 
pectation disappointed  she  had  now  resolved  to  use  her 
own  authority  and  suppress  and  reform  all  novelties, 
diversities,  and  varieties.  The  Act  of  Uniformity  should 
be  obeyed  in  all  its  parts,  and  the  bishops  must  see  to  it 
at  their  peril/  In  the  first  draft  of  the  letter  a  clause 
was  added  in  Cecil's  hand,  recommending  them  to  act 
with  moderation ;  but  the  words  were  struck  through 
and  a  menace  substituted  in  their  place  that  '  if  the 
bishops  were  now  remiss,  the  Queen  would  provide 
other  remedy  by  such  sharp  proceedings  as  should 
not  be  easy  to  be  borne  by  such  as  were  disordered ; 
and  therewith  also  she  would  impute  to  them  the  cause 
thereof.' 2 

Much  might  have  been  said  on  the  manner  of  these 
injunctions.     To  the  matter  there  was  no  objection,  pro- 


1  Pilkington  to   Leicester,  October  25,  1564:   STKYPE'S  Parker,  Ap- 
pendix. 

2  The  Queen  to  Archbishop  Parker,  January  24,  1565  ;  STKYPE'S  Life 
of  Parker. 


254  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

vided  discretion  had  been  observed  in  limiting  the  points 
which  were  to  be  insisted  on  within  the  bounds  which 
were  indispensably  necessary,  and  provided  the  bishops' 
powers  were  equal  to  the  duties  imposed  upon  them. 
Henry  the  Eighth  had  again  and  again  issued  similar 
orders ;  and  on  the  whole,  because  he  was  known  to  be 
evenhanded  and  because  the  civil  authority  supported 
the  ecclesiastical,  he  had  held  in  check  the  more  dan- 
gerous excesses  both  of  Catholic  and  Protestant.  But 
the  reformed  opinions  had  now  developed  far  beyond 
the  point  at  which  Henry  left  them.  They  had  gained 
a  hold  on  the  intellect  as  well  as  on  the  passions  of  the 
best  and  noblest  of  Elizabeth's  subjects ;  and  on  the 
other  hand,  as  the  Dean  of  Durham  complained,  vast 
numbers  of  the  Catholic  clergy  were  left  undisturbed  in 
their  benefices  who  scarcely  cared  to  conceal  their  creed. 
The  bishops  were  rebuked  if  they  attempted  to  exact 
the  oath  of  allegiance  from  Papist  recusants ;  while  the 
Queen's  displeasure  was  reserved  for  those  who  were 
true  from  the  bottom  of  their  hearts  to  the  throne 
which  the  Catholics  were  undermining.  The  ablest 
and  worthiest  of  the  English  clergy  were  those  on 
whom  the  injunctions  would  press. most  heavily.  Eliza- 
beth it  seemed  had  not  yet  forgiven  the  good  service 
which  they  had  done  her  when  Anne  Hobsart  died,  and 
when  but  for  them  she  would  have  married  Lord  Robert. 
But  there  was  no  escape.  The  surplice  should  be 
worn  though  it  scorched  like  the  robe  of  Nessus.  The 
Archbishop,  with  the  help  of  the  Bishops  of  London, 
Ely,  Lincoln,  and  Winchester,  drew  up  a  body  of  articles 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  255 

for  '  uniformity  of  apparel  and  ritual/  and  submitted 
them  to  Cecil  for  approval.  Elizabeth,  meanwhile  had 
supplemented  her  first  orders  by  a  command  that  *  mat- 
ters in  controversy  in  religion '  should  not  be  discussed 
in  sermons ;  the  clergy  while  wearing  Catholic  garments 
were  not  to  criticise  Catholic  doctrines.  The  Archbishop 
told  Cecil  that  while  '  the  adversaries  '  were  so  busy  on 
the  Continent  writing  against  the  English  Liturgy,  this 
last  direction  was  thought  '  too  unreasonable ; '  and  im- 
plored him  '  not  to  strain  the  cord  too  tight ;  '  while  he 
requested  an  order  in  writing  from  the  Queen,  addressed 
to  himself  and  the  Bishop  of  London,  as  their  authority 
for  enforcing  her  first  commands.1 

Neither  a  letter  from  herself  however,  nor  assistance 
in  any  form  from  the  Government,  would  Elizabeth  allow 
to  be  given.  The  bishops  should  deliver  their  tale  of 
bricks,  but  they  should  have  no  straw  to  burn  them. 
They  were  the  appointed  authorities,  and  by  them  she 
was  determined  at  once  that  the  work  should  be  done 
and  that  the  odium  of  it  should  be  borne. 

She  did  something  indeed ;  but  not  what  Parker 
desired.  As  if  purposely  to  affront  the  Protestants,  the 
Court  had  revived  the  ceremonies  of  the  Carnival.  On 
Shrove  Tiiesday  Leicester  gave  a  tournament  and  after- 
wards a  masque,  where  Juno  and  Diana  held  an  argu- 
ment on  the  respective  merits  of  marriage  and  celibacy. 
Jupiter,  as  the  umpire,  gave  sentence  at  last  for  matri- 
mony ;  and  the  Queen,  who  had  the  Spanish  ambassador 


1  Parker  to  Cecil,  March  3,  1565  :  Lansdoivne  MSS.  8. 


256  REIGN  Ofi  ELIZABETH.  \cn.  43. 

as  usual  at  her  side,  whispered  to  him  '  that  is  meant 
for  me/  A  supper  followed,  but  not  till  past  midnight. 
As  Lent  had  begun  the  ambassador  declined  to  eat,  and 
Elizabeth  laughed  at  him.  The  next  day 
being  A  sh  Wednesday,  de  Silva  accompanied 
her  to  St  Paul's,  where  Nowell,  the  Dean,  was  to  preach. 
A  vast  crowd  had  assembled— more,  the  Queen  thought, 
to  see  her  than  to  hear  the  sermon.  The  Dean  began, 
and  had  not  proceeded  far  when  he  came  on  the  subject 
of  images — *  which  he  handled  roughly/ 

'  Leave  that  alone/  Elizabeth  called  from  her  seat. 
The  preacher  did  not  hear,  and  went  on  with  his  invec- 
tives. '  To  your  text !  Mr  Dean/  she  shouted,  raising 
her  voice  ;  '  To  your  text ;  leave  that ;  we  have  heard 
enough  of  that !  To  your  subject.' 

The  unfortunate  Doctor  Nowell  coloured,  stammered 
out  a  few  incoherent  words,  and  was  unable  to  go  on. 
Elizabeth  went  off  in  a  rage  with  her  ambassador.  The 
congregation  —  the  Protestant  part  of  it — were  in 
tears.1 

Archbishop  Parker,  seeing  the  Dean  '  utterly  dis- 
mayed/ took  him  '  for  pity  home  to  Lambeth  to 
dinner ; ' 2  and  wrote  to  Cecil  a  respectful  but  firm  re- 
monstrance. Without  the  letter  for  which  he  had  ap- 
plied he  was  powerless  to  move.  The  bishops,  without 
the  support  of  the  Queen  or  council,  would  only  be 
laughed  at.  Let  Leicester,  Bacon,  Cecil  himself,  and 
the  Queen  send  for  the  Protestant  ministers  if  they 

1  De  Silva  to  Philip,  March  12  :  MS.  Simancas. 

2  Parker  to  Cecil,  March  8  :  Lansdowm  M&S,  8. 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  S1LVA.  257 

pleased,  and  say  to  them  what  they  pleased.  TLey  had 
begun  the  trouble,  and  it  was  for  them  to  pacify  it.  '  I 
can  do  no  good,'  he  said.  'If  the  ball  shall  be  tossed 
unto  us,  and  we  have  no  authority  by  the  Queen's  hand, 
we  will  sit  still ;  I  will  no  more  strive  against  the 
stream — fume  or  chide  who  will.  The  Lord  be  with 
you  ! ' l 

Still  labouring  to  do  his  best,  the  Archbishop  called 
a  meeting  of  the  bishops  and  invited  them  either  to  re- 
commend obedience  among  the  clergy  or  to  abstain 
from  encouraging  them  in  resistance.  But  the  bishops 
were  now  as  angry  as  the  Queen.  They  refused  in  a 
body  to  '  discourage  good  Protestants ; '  and  Parker  told 
Elizabeth  plainly  that  unless  she  supported  him  in  car- 
rying them  out  the  injunctions  must  be  modified.  He 
had  to  deal  with  men  *  who  would  offer  themselves  to 
lose  all,  yea,  their  bodies  to  prison,  rather  than  conde- 
scend ; '  while  the  lawyers  told  him  that  he  could  not 
deprive  incumbents  of  their  livings  'with  no  more 
warrant  but  the  Queen's  mouth/ 

While  Parker  addressed  the  Queen,  the  other 
bishops  waited  on  Cecil  with  the  same  protest.  The 
Reforming  clergy,  they  said,  refused  everywhere  '  to 
wear  the  apparel  of  Satan ; '  '  Christ  had  no  fellowship 
with  Belial ; '  and  '  for  themselves  they  would  not  be 
made  Papists  in  disguise/ 

Cecil,  who  knew  that  all  appeals  to  Elizabeth  in  her 
present  humour  would  only  exasperate  her,  replied  that 


1  Parker  to  Cecil,  March  8  :  Lansdowne  MS& 

VOL.    VII.  17 


258  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.43. 

*  they  talked  more  rhetoric  than  reason ;  the  Queen 
must  be  obeyed  or  worse  would  follow.' l 

Never  were  human  beings  in  a  more  cruel  position. 
Elizabeth  sat  still  in  malicious  enjoyment  of  the  torture 
which  she  was  inflicting,  while  Parker  and  Grindal, 
after  a  fresh  consultation  with  the  lawyers,  undertook 
at  last  to  summon  the  London  clergy  and  attempt  to 
extort  a  promise  from  them  to  obey  the  Act  of  Uni- 
formity ;  if  the  clergy  refused,  the  Archbishop  supposed 
that  the  Court  was  prepared  for  the  consequences,  and 
that  he  must  proceed  to  sequestration  and  deprivation  ; 
but  while  he  consented  to  submit  to  the  Queen's  com- 
mands he  warned  Cecil  of  the  inevitable  consequences  : 
many  churches  would  be  left  destitute  of  service ;  many 
ministers  would  forsake  their  livings  and  live  at  print- 
ing, teaching  children,  or  otherwise  as  they  could : 
'  what  tumults  would  follow,  what  speeches  and  talks 
were  like  to  rise  in  the  realm  and  in  the  city,  he  left  it 
to  Cecil's  wisdom  to  consider ; '  and  driven  as  he  was 
against  his  will  to  these  unwise  extremities,  he  again 
entreated  that  some  member  of  the  council  might  be 
joined  in  commission  with  him  '  to  authorize  the  Queen's 
commandments.' 2 

On  this  last  point  Elizabeth  would  yield  nothing. 
The  clergy  were  under  the  charge  of  the  bishops ;  and 
the  bishops  should  manage  them  with  law  or  without. 
One  or  two  of  the  most  violent  of  the  London  preachers 
were  called  before  the  council  and  '  foul  chidden :  '  but 


1  De  Silva  to  Philip,  March  12. 
2  Parker  and  Grindal  to  Cecil,  March  20 :  Lansdowne  MSS.  8. 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  259 

lay  interference  with  them  was  limited  to  remonstrance. 
The  responsibility  of  punishing  them  was  flung  per- 
sistently on  the  Archbishop,  who  at  length,  after  once 
more  ineffectually  imploring  Cecil '  to  pacify  the  Queen/ 
opened  a  commission  at  Lambeth  with  the  Bishop  of 
London  on  the  26th  of  March. 

A  few  hours'  experience  sufficed  to  justify  the  worst 
alarm.  More  than  a  hundred  of  the  London  clergy 
appeared.  Sixty-one  promised  conformity ;  a  few 
hesitated  ;  thirty- seven  distinctly  refused  and  were  sus- 
pended for  three  months  '  from  all  manner  of  ministry.' 
They  were  the  best  preachers  in  the  city  ;  ( they  showed 
reasonable  quietness  and  modesty  other  than  was  looked 
for/  but  submit  they  would  not.1  As  an  immediate  con- 
sequence, foreseen  by  every  one  but  the  Queen,  the 
most  frequented  of  the  London  churches  either  became 
the  scenes  of  scandal  and  riot  or  were  left  without 
service.  When  the  Archbishop  sent  his  chaplains  to 
officiate,  the  congregation  forcibly  expelled  them.  The 
doors  of  one  church  were  locked,  and  six  hundred 
citizens  *  who  came  to  communion '  were  left  at  the 
doors  unable  to  find  entrance  ;  at  another,  an  Anglican 
priest,  of  high  church  tendencies,  who  was  sent  to  take 
the  place  of  the  deposed  minister,  produced  a  wafer 
at  the  sacrament ;  the  parishioners,  when  he  was  reading 
the  prayer  of  consecration,  removed  it  from  the  table 
'  because  it  was  not  common  bread/  At  a  third  church 
the  churchwardens  refused  to  provide  surplices.  The 


Parker  to  Cecil,  March  26 :  Lansdownc  MSti.  8. 


260 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  43. 


April, 


Bishop  of  London  was  besieged  in  his  house  at  St  Paul's 
by  mobs  of  raging  women  whom  he  vainly  entreated  to 
go  away  and  send  their  husbands  instead.  Unable  to 
escape  from  the  hands  of  these  Amazons  he  was  about 
'  to  pray  aid  of  some  magistrate '  to  deliver  him ;  and 
was  rescued  only  by  one  of  the  suspended  clergy  who 
persuaded  them  to  go  away  quietly — '  yet  so  as  with 
tears  they  moved  at  some  hands  compassion/ 1  Every- 
where ( the  precise  Protestants '  '  offered  their  goods  and 
bodies  to  prison  rather  than  they  would  relent/ 

Simultaneously  and  obviously  on  purpose 
Elizabeth  forced  upon  the  people  the  most 
alarming  construction  of  the  persecution.  On  Good 
Friday,  her  almoner  Guest,  the  high  church  Bishop  of 
Rochester,  preached  a  sermon  in  the  Chapel  Royal  on 
the  famous  Hoc  est  corpus  memn.  He  assured  his  con- 
gregation again  and  again  '  that  the  bread  at  the 
sacrament  was  the  very  body,  the  very  same  body 
which  had  been  crucified/  'and  that  the  Christian 
must  so  take  it  and  so  believe  of  it/  and  an  enthusi- 
astic Catholic  in  the  audience  was  so  delighted  to  hear 
the  old  doctrine  once  more  in  the  Sovereign's  presence, 
that  he  shouted  out — '  That  is  true,  and  he  that  denies 
it  let  him  be  burnt/ 

On  Easter  Tuesday  Elizabeth  in  stiff  black  velvet 
and  with  all  solemnity  and  devotion  publicly  washed 
the  feet  of  a  poor  woman ;  and  the  washing  business 


V  Parker  to  Cecil,  March  26, 
March  28,  April  3,  April  12 :  Lana- 
iowm  MM.  Griudal  to  Cecil,  May 


4 :  Domestic  MS8.t  Elizabeth,  vol. 
xxxix..  Rolls  House. 


1565.] 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  STLVA. 


261 


over,  with  slow  deliberation  she  had  a  large  crucifix 
brought  to  her  which  she  piously  kissed.1  In  part  per- 
haps she  was  but  a  politic  hypocrite,  and  desired  to 
deceive  de  Silva  and  Philip ;  but  the  world  took  her  at 
her  word  and  believed  that  she  was  openly  making  pro- 
fession of  Catholicism  while  she  was  compelling  the 
Protestants  to  be  their  own  destroyers/ 

Once  more  Parker  poured  out  to  Cecil  his  despair 
and  distraction.2 

Zambeth,  April  28. 

'  SIR, — The  Queen's  Majesty  willed  my  Lord  of  York 
to  declare  her  pleasure  determinately  to  have  the  orders 
go  forward.  I  trust  her  Highness  hath  devised  how  it 
may  be  performed.  I  utterly  despair  therein  as  of  my- 
self and  therefore  must  sit  still  as  I  have  now  done, 
always  waiting  either  for  toleration  or  else  further  aid. 
Mr  Secretary,  can  it  be  thought  that  I  alone,  having  sun 
and  moon  against  me,  can  compass  this  difficulty  ?  if 
you  of  her  Majesty's  council  provide  no  otherwise  for 
this  matter  than  as  it  appeareth  openly,  what  the  sequel 
will  be  horresco  vel  reminiscendo  cogitare.  In  King 
Edward's  days  the  whole  body  of  the  council  travailed 
in  Hooper's  attempt ;  my  predecessor  Cranmer  of  blessed 
memory,3  labouring  in  vain  with  Bishop  Ferrars,  the 


1  *  Acabando  de  lavar  el  pie  a  la 
pobre,  hacia  de  mucho  espacio  una 
cruz  muy  larga  y  bien  hecha  para 
besar  en  ella  de  que  pesaba  a 
muchos  de  los  que  alii  estaban.' — 
De  Silva  to  Philip,  April  21 :  M8. 
flimancas. 


2  Archbishop  Parker  to  Cecil : 
Lansdowne  MSS.  9. 

3  Parker's  words  are  '  ray  prede- 
cessor D.  Cranraer  labouring  in  vain,' 
&c.    D.  is  Divus,  and  the  expres- 
sion in  the  text  is  its  nearest  Eng- 
lish equivalent. 


262  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [cif.  43. 

council  took  it  in  hand ;  and  shall  I  hope  to  do  that 
which  the  Queen's  Majesty  will  have  done  ?  What  I 
hear  and  see,  what  complaints  he  brought  to  me,  I  shall 
not  report,  [or]  how  I  am  used  of  many  men's  hands. 
I  commit  all  to  God.  If  I  die  in  this  cause — malice  so 
far  prevailing — I  shall  commit  my  soul  to  God  in  a  good 
conscience.  If  the  Queen's  Majesty  he  no  more  con- 
sidered, I  shall  not  marvel  what  he  done  or  said  to  me. 
If  you  hear  and  see  so  manifestly  as  may  be  seen,  and 
will  not  consult  in  time  to  prevent  so  many  miseries,  I 
have  and  do  by  these  presents  discharge  my  duty  and 
conscience  to  you  in  such  place  as  ye  be.  I  can  promise 
to  do  nothing  but  hold  me  in  silence  within  my  own 
conscience,  and  make  my  complaints  to  God  ut  exsurgat 
Deus  et  judicet  causam  istam,  ille,  ille,  qui  comprehendit 
sapientes  in  astutia  eorum.1  God  be  with  your  honour. 

'  Your  honour's  in  Christ, 
'i£  'MATT.  CANTTJAR.' 

The  alarm  produced  by  Elizabeth's  attitude  was  not 
confined  to  the  English  Protestants.  Adam  Loftus, 
titular  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  bewailed  to  Cecil  the 
malice  of  the  crafty  '  devil  and  subtle  Satan  '  who  was 
'  turmoiling  and  turning  things  topsy-turvy,  bringing  in 
'  a  mingled  religion,  neither  wholly  with  nor  wholly 
against  God's  word.'  Such  a  religion  was  '  the  more 
dangerous,'  the  Irish  primate  thought,  'as  it  was  ac- 
counted good  and  comely  ; '  but  for  himself  he  would 

1  *  That  God  may  arise,  and  may  judge  in  this  caiise, — Ho — lie— who 
taketh  the  wise  in  their  own  craftiness.' 


i  SOS-1 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA. 


261 


rather  see  God  followed  wholly  or  Baal  followed  wholly  ; 
'  it  was  dangerous  to  urge  a  necessity  in  things  which 
God's  word  did  set  at  liberty.'1 

Far  worse  was  the  effect  in  Scotland.  The  rigid  Cal- 
vinists,  who  had  long  watched  Elizabeth  with  jealous 
eyes,  clamoured  that  she  was  showing  herself  at  last  in 
her  true  colours.  {  Posts  and  packets  flying  daily  in  the 
air,'  brought  such  news  as  lost  her  and  lost  England 
'  the  hearts  of  all  the  godly.'  No  imagination  was  too 
extravagant  to  receive  credit.  The  two  Queens  were 
supposed  to  be  in  a  secret  league  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
truth,  and  Darnley's  return  was  interpreted  as  part  of  an 
insidious  policy — at  once  '  to  match  the  Queen  of  Scots 
meanly  and  poorly,'  and  to  confirm  her  in  her  evil  ways 
1  by  marrying  her  to  a  Papist.'  The  '  godly '  exclaimed  in 
anguish  '  that  no  hope  was  left  of  any  sure  establishment 
of  Christ's  religion,  but  all  was  turned  to  confusion.' 
*  The  evil  effect '  on  men's  minds  was  described  '  as  be-* 
yond  measure  infinite  ; '  and  Mary  Stuart's  desire  to 
obtain  liberty  of  conscience  for  the  Catholics  and  tl^e 
increasing  favour  which  she  showed  to  Darnley,  were 
alike  set  down  to  Elizabeth. 

The  Leicester  scandals  were  revived  with  new  anec- 
dotes to  confirm  them.2  The  Protestants,  goaded  into, 


1  The  Archbishop  of  Armagh  to 
Cecil,     1565:    Irish     MSS.  Rolls 


2  'It  is  in  every  man's  mouth 
that  lately  the  Duke  of  Norfolk's 
Grace  and  my  Lord  of  Leicester 
playing  at  tennis,  the  Queen 


beholding  them,  and  my  Lord  Ro- 
bert, being  very  hot  and  sweating, 
took  the  Queen's  napkin  out  of  her 
hand  and  wiped  his  face,  which  the 
Duke  seeing  said  he  was  too  saucy, 
and  swore  he  would  lay  his  racket 
upon  his  face.  Hereupon  arose  a 


264 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  43- 


fear  and  fury,  swore  that  the  priests  at  Holyrood  should 
be  hanged,  and  '  idolatry  '  be  no  more  suffered.  Mary 
Stuart  being  on  a  visit  at  Lundy  in  Fife,  the  Laird — '  a 
grave  antient  man  with  a  white  head  and  a  white  beard  ' 
— led  his  seven  sons  before  her,  all  tall  and  stalwart  men. 
They  knelt  together  at  her  feet.  '  The  house/  the  laird 
said,  '  was  hers  and  all  that  was  in  it,  and  he  and  his 
boys  would  serve  her  truly  till  death  ; '  '  but  he  prayed 
that  while  she  remained  no  mass  should  be  said  there.' 
She  asked  why.  He  said  it  was  '  worse  than  the  mickle 
de'il.'1 

Remonstrance  did  not  rest  in  words.  A  priest  in 
Edinburgh,  taking  courage  from  the  reports  which  were 
in  the  air,  said  mass  at  Easter  at  a  private  house. 
He  was  denounced,  caught,  hurried  before  the  town 
magistrates,  and  having  confessed,  was  fastened  hand 
and  foot  to  the  market  cross.  There  from  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  till  six  he  stood  exposed,  while  'ten 
thousand  eggs '  were  broken  upon  his  face  and  body ;  and 
the  hungry  mob  howled  round  his  feet  and  threatened 
to  dash  his  brains  out  with  their  clubs  as  soon  as 
he  was  taken  down.  The  Provost,  who  had  gone  con- 
tentedly home  to  supper,  was  obliged  to  return  with  the 
city  guard  to  bring  him  off  in  safety ;  and  the  miserable 
wretch  pasted  with  slime  and  filth  was  carried  senseless 


tumult,  and  the  Queen  offended  sore 
with  the  Duke.  This  tale  is  told  by 
the  Earl  of  Athol.  Whatsoever  is 
most  secret  among  you  is  sooner  at 
this  Queen's  ears  than  some  would 
think  it.  I  would  your  doing 


better,  or  many  of  your  tattling 
tongues  shorter.'  —  Randolph  to 
Throgmorton,  March  31  :  Scotch 
MSS.  Rolls  Home. 

1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  March  27: 
MS.  Ibid. 


I56S-1 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  S1LVA. 


265 


into  the  Tolbodth  and  there  made  fast  in  irons  with  two 
of  his  congregation  at  his  side.1 

The  Queen  of  Scots,  who  was  at  Stirling  when  she 
heard  of  this  cowardly  outrage,  sent  for  the  Provost, 
and  ordered  him  to  release  his  prisoner  ;  '  not  however/ 
wrote  an  unknown  correspondent  in  relating  the  story  to 
Randolph,2  '  without  great  offence  of  the  whole  people ; ' 
'  whereby/  he  said,  '  I  trust  whenever  the  like  occurs 
again,  and  there  be  knowledge  gotten,  execution  will  be 
made  in  another  manner  of  sort  without  seeking  of  fur- 
ther justice  at  the  magistrate's  hands ;  I  assure  you 
there  is  greater  rage  now  amongst  the  faithful  nor  ever 
I  saw  since  her  Grace  came  to  Scotland/ 

Meantime  Mary  Stuart,  weary  of  the  mask  which  she 
had  so  long  worn,  and  unable  to  endure  any  longer  these 
wild  insults  to  her  creed  and  herself,  determined  to  run 
the  chance  of  dividing  Scotland,  to  throw  herself  on  the 
loyalty  of  the  Catholic  party  in  her  own  country,  in 
England,  and  abroad,  to  marry  Darnley  and  dare  the 
worst  which  Elizabeth  could  do.  Whether  she  had  re- 
ceived any  encouraging  answer  from  Philip  before  she 
made  up  her  mind  does  not  appear.  It  is  most  likely 
however  that  she  had  learnt  from  the  Government  in  the 
Netherlands  what  the  answer  would  be  when  it  arrived ; 
and  the  opinions  of  the  Spanish  ministers,  when  made 


1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  April,  1565 : 
Rolls  House  MS. 

3  One  of  a  number  of  letters  to 
Randolph,  in  the  Rolls  House,  writ- 
ten in  the  same  hand,  and  signed 
'  You  know  who.'  To  this  person, 


whoever  he  was,  Randolph  was  in- 
debted for  much  of  his  secret  in- 
formation. The  hand  partly  resem- 
bles that  of  Kirkaldy  of  Grange ; 
partly,  though  not  to  the  same  de 
gree,  that  of  Knox. 


.266  REIGN  OF  RUZABETIT.  [cir.  43. 

known  at  last,  were  decisively  favourable.  After  a  consult- 
ation at  the  Escurial  the  Duke  of  Alva  and  the  Count 
de  Feria  recommended  Philip  by  all  means  to  support  the 
Queen  of  Scots  in  taking  a  Catholic  husband  who  by 
blood  was  so  near  the  English  crown ;  and  Philip  sent 
her  word,  and  through  de  Silva  sent  word  to  the  English 
Catholics,  that  she  and  they  might  rely  on  him  to  bear 
them  through.1 

Tired  of  waiting,  and  anticipating  with  justifiable 
confidence  that  Philip  would  approve,  the  Queen  of 
Scots  in  the  middle  of  April  came  to  a  fixed  resolution 
As  Darnley  was  an  English  subject  it  was  necessary  to 
go  through  the  form  of  consulting  the  English  sove- 
reign ;  and  Maitland,  who  to  the  last  moment  had  be- 
lieved that  he  had  been  successful  in  dissuading  his 
mistress  from  so  rash  a  step,  was  the  person  chosen  to 
inform  Elizabeth  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  had  made  her 
choice,  and  to  request  her  consent. 

With  but  faint  hopes  of  success — for  he  knew  too 
much  to  share  the  illusions  of  his  countrymen — Mait- 
land left  Edinburgh  on  the  i5th  of  April,  taking  Ran- 
dolph with  him  as  far  as  Berwick.  Three  days  later  he 
reached  London.  Mary  Stuart  still  trusted  Maitland 
with  her  secrets,  in  the  belief  that  although  he  might 
disapprove  of  what  she  was  doing  he  would  remain  true 
to  her.  He  carried  with  him  private  messages  to  de 
Silva  and  Lady  Lennox,  and  was  thoroughly  aware  of 
all  that,  she  intended.  It  is  certain  however  from  Mait-? 


1  MS.  Simancaii. 


15650 


THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA. 


267 


land's  subsequent  conduct  that  although  ready  to  go 
with  his  mistress  to  the  edge  of  a  rupture  with  Eliza- 
beth he  was  not  prepared  for  open  defiance.  Elizabeth's 
conduct  had  been  so  strange  and  uncertain  that  it  was 
possible  that  she  might  make  no  difficulty.  Even  the 
Spanish  ambassador  believed  that  although  she  would 
prefer  Leicester,  yet  sooner  than  quarrel  with  the  Queen, 
of  Scots  she  would  agree  to  the  marriage  with  Darnley ; 
and  with  a  faint  impression  that  it  might  be  so  Mait- 
land  had  accepted  the  commission.  Yet  either  Mait- 
land  betrayed  his  trust,  or  Elizabeth  already  knew  all 
that  he  had  to  tell  her :  immediately  after  his  arrival 
de  Silva  reported  that  the  Queen  of  England  'had 
changed  her  mind ; ' 1  while  Mary  Stuart,  as  soon  as  she 
was  freed  from  the  restraint  of  Maitland's  presence,  no 
longer  concealed  that  she  had  made  up  her  mind  irre- 
vocably whether  Elizabeth  consented  or  refused. 

Letters  from  Randolph  followed  close  behind  Mait- 
land  to  say  that  the  marriage  was  openly  declared ; 
Lady  Lennox  even  told  de  Silva  that  she  believed  it 
had  secretly  taken  place  ;  and  amidsi^the  exultation  of^ 
the  Catholics  a  general  expectation  spread  through 
England  that  'the  good  time  was  at  hand  when  the 
King  of  Spain  and  the  Queen  of  Scots  would  give  them 
back  their  own  again/  2 

Nor  were   their  hopes  without   sound   foundation. 
Mary  Stuart,  as  soon  as  her  resolution  was  taken,  de- 


1  '  A  lo  que  he  podido  en  tender  esta  Reyna  se  ha  mncho  alterado  de  este 
negocio.'— Do  Silva  to  Philip,  April  25  :   MS.  Simnncas. 
•  Ibid. 


268  RETGN  OF  RLI7.ARRTTL  [CH.  43. 

spatched  a  messenger  post  haste  to  Spain  to  acquaint 
Philip  with  it  and  to  tell  him  that  she  depended  on  his 
support.  The  messenger  met  the  Duke  of  Alva  at 
Bayonne,  where  the  Duke  answered  for  his  master  in 
terms  which  corresponded  to  her  warmest  hopes. 

'  I  replied/  wrote  Alva  in  a  despatch  to  Philip,  'that 
I  had  your  Majesty's  instructions  to  inform  the  Queen 
of  Scots  of  your  Majesty's  interest  in  her  welfare ;  I  said 
that  your  Majesty  earnestly  desired  to  see  her  in  the 
great  position  to  which  she  aspired  ;  and  you  were  as- 
sured that  both  for  herself  and  for  the  realm  she  could 
not  do  better  than  marry  the  young  Lennox. 

'Your  Majesty,  I  continued,  recommended  her  to 
conduct  herself  with  great  caution  and  dissimulation  to- 
wards the  Queen  of  England,  and  for  the  present  espe- 
cially to  refrain  from  pressing  her  in  the  matter  of  the 
succession.  The  Queen  of  England  might  in  that  case 
do  something  prejudicial  to  the  Queen  of  Scots'  interests, 
and  either  declare  war  against  her  or  else  listen  to  the 
proposals  of  the  Queen-mother  of  France  and  marry  the 
young  King.  If  the  Queen  of -Scots  would  follow  your 
Majesty's  advice  your  Majesty  would  so  direct  and  sup- 
port her  that  when  she  least  expected  it  she  would  find 
herself  in  possession  of  all  that  she  desired.'  * 

The  messenger  flung  himself  at  Alva's  feet  and 
wept  for  joy.  His  mistress,  he  said,  had  never  in  her 
life  received  such  happy  news  as  these  words  would 
convey  to  her;  and  he  promised  that  she  would  act 


1  Alva  to  Philip,  June  ;  TKULET,  vol.  v. 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  269 

in  every  particular  as  the  King  of   Spain  advised. 

Although  this  conversation  took  place  two  months 
after  Maitland's  despatch  to  England,  yet  it  spoke  of  a 
foregone  conclusion  which  Elizabeth  too  surely  antici- 
pated. In  the  first  flurry  of  excitement  she  sent  Lady 
Lennox  to  the  Tower ;  and  uncertain  whether  she 
might  not  be  too  late,  she  proposed  to  send  Sir  Nicholas 
Throgmortoii  on  the  spot  to  Scotland,  to  say  that  '  if 
the  Queen  of  Scots  would  accept  Leicester,  she  should 
be  accounted  and  allowed  next  heir  to  the  crown  as 
though  she  were  her  own  born  daughter ; '  but  '  as  this 
was  certain  and  true  on  one  side,  so  was  it  also  certain 
on  the  other  that  she  would  not  do  the  like  with  any 
other  person.'1 

The  situation  however  was  too  serious  to  allow 
Elizabeth  to  persist  in  the  Leicester  foible.  The  narrow 
and  irritating  offer  was  suspended  till  it  could  be  more 
maturely  considered;  and  on  the  1st  of  May 
the  fitness  or  unfitness  of  the  marriage  of  the 
Queen  of  Scots  and  Lord  Darnley  was  discussed  '  with 
long  deliberation  and  argument '  in  the  English  coun- 
cil. The  result  was  a  unanimous  conclusion  '  that  the 
marriage  with  the  Lord  Darnley,  being  attended  with 
such  circumstances  as  did  appear,  was  unmeet,  unpro- 
fitable, directly  prejudicial  to  the  amity  between  the 
two  Queens,  and  perilous  to  the  concord  of  the  realm.' 
But  so  little  desirable  did  it  seem  to  restrict  the  Queen 
of  Scots'  choice  unnecessarily,  so  unjust  it  seemed  to 

1  First  draft  of  instructions  to  Sir  S.  Throgmorton,  April  24  ;  /Scotch 
Mtiti.  Holls  House. 


270  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

force  upon  her  the  scoundrel  object  of  Elizabeth's  own 
affections,  that  Cecil  and  his  friends  urged  the  necessity 
of  meeting  freely  and  cordially  her  demand  for  recog- 
nition ;  and  they  advised  their  mistress  to  offer  the 
Queen  of  Scots  '  a  free  election  of  any  other  of  the 
nobility,  either  in  the  whole  realm  or  isle  or  any  other 
place/  Tor  themselves/  the  council,  'thinking  the 
like  of  the  rest  of  the  nobility  and  sage  men  of  the 
realm,  did  for  their  parts  humbly  offer  to  her  Majesty 
that  whatever  could  be  devised  for  the  satisfaction  of 
the  Queen  of  Scots  with  some  other  meeter  marriage 
should  be  allowed  with  their  advice  and  furthered  with 
their  services  when  her  Majesty  should  command  them.' 1 
With  these  more  generous  instructions,  Sir  N. 
Throgmorton  started  for  Scotland  on  the  4th  of  May. 
Maitland,  whom,  in  order  to  prolong  his  absence  from 
Edinburgh,  Mary  Stuart  had  directed  to  go  on  to 
France,  returned  with  the  English  ambassador  in  loyal 
disobedience,  to  add  his  own  persuasions :  he  still  hoped 
that  the  Queen  of  Scots  might  be  tempted  by  the  pro- 
spect of  immediate  recognition  to  accept  either  Arundel, 
Norfolk,  or  the  Prince  of  Conde.  If  she  would  consent 
to  marry  either  of  these  three,  the  English  Government 
would  do  for  her  'more  than  she  had  asked  or  even 
could  expect.' 2 


1  Determination  of  the  council 
on  the  Queen  of  Scot's  marriage, 
signed  Winchester,  Norfolk,  Derby, 
Pembroke,  Clinton,  W.  Howard,  Ed. 
llogers,  Fr.  Knolles,  W.  Cecil,  Ab. 
Cave,  "W.  1'etre,  John  Mason,  R. 
Sackvillo.—  Cotton.  MSti.  CALIU. 


B.  10.  Endorsed,  '  This  is  a  copy 
of  the  paper  delivered  to  Sir  N. 
Throgmorton.' 

2  Paul  de  Foix  to  the  Quecu- 
mother,  May  2,  May  10  :  TEULET 
vol.  ii 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  271 

But  neither  these  offers,  tempting  as  they  would 
have  been  a  few  weeks  before,  nor  the  admonitory  cau- 
tions of  the  Duke  of  Alva,  came  in  time  to  save  Mary 
from  the  rash  course  into  which  she  was  plunging.  The 
presence  of  Lennox  and  Darnley  had  lashed  the  Scottish 
factions  into  fury,  and  Queen  and  Court  were  within 
the  influence  of  a  whirlpool  from  which  they  could  no 
longer  extricate  themselves.  The  lords  on  all  sides 
were  calling  their  retainers  under  arms.  The  Earl  of 
Murray,  at  the  expense  of  forfeiting  the  last  remains  of 
his  influence  over  his  sister,  had  summoned  Bothwell 
to  answer  at  Edinburgh  a  charge  of  high  treason. 
Bothwell  would  have  defied  him  had  he  dared;  but 
Murray  appeared  accompanied  by  Argyle  and  7000 
men  on  the  day  fixed  for  the  trial ;  and  the  Hepburn 
was  once  more  obliged  to  fly.  On  the  other  hand, 
Mary  was  lavishing  on  Darnley  the  most  extravagant 
demonstrations  of  affection.  He  was  ill,  and  with  con- 
fiding carelessness  she  installed  herself  as  his  nurse  at 
his  bedside.  She  accused  her  brother,  when  he  remon- 
strated, of  '  seeking  to  set  the  crown  on  his  own  head/ 
Argyle  and  Murray  durst  not  appear  together  at  the 
Court,  '  that  if  need  were  the  one  might  relieve  the 
other/  The  miserable  Chatelherault  could  only  mutter 
his  feeble  hope  that  he  might  die  in  his  bed;  while 
Lennox  boasted  openly,  e  that  he  was  sure  of  the  great- 
est part  of  England,  and  that  the  King  of  Spain  would 
be  his  friend.' 

Lennox's  men  went  openly  to  mass,  and  '  such  pride 
was  noted  in  the  father  and  the  son '  that  they  would 


272  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

scarcely  speak  to  any  common  nobleman.  '  My  young 
lord  lying  sick  in  his  bed  boasted  the  Duke  that  he 
would  knock  his  pate  when  he  was  whole ; '  while  '  the 
preachers  looked  daily  to  have  their  lives  taken  from 
them/  and  '  the  country  was  so  far  broken  that  there 
was  daily  slaughter  without  redress,  stealing  on  all 
hands,  and  justice  almost  nowhere/  1 

Although  the  report  of  the  completion  of  the  mar- 
riage was  premature,  yet  the  arrangements  for  it  had 
been  pushed  forward  with  eager  precipitancy.  Mary 
Stuart's  friends  in  England  had  informed  her  of  the 
resolution  of  the  council ;  she  despatched  one  of  the 
Betons  to  delay  Throgmorton  at  Berwick;  and  the 
leading  lords  were  sent  for  one  by  one  to  Stirling, 
where  the  Court  was  staying,  and  were  requested  to 
sign  a  paper  recommending  Darnley  as  a  fitting  person 
to  be  the  Queen's  husband.  Murray's  signature  could 
be  ill  dispensed  with.  He  was  invited  among  the  rest, 
and  overwhelmed  with  courtesies — Mary,  Lennox,  and 
Darnley  contending  with  each  other  in  their  professions 
of  regard.  Murray  however  was  the  first  to  refuse. 
'He  had  no  liking  thereof/  The  Earl  of  Morton  had 
been  gained  over  by  a  release  from  Lady  Lennox  of  her 
claims  on  Angus  ;  and  if  Murray  would  have  complied 
he  might  have  had  the  lands  of  three  counties  for  his 
reward;  but  in  vain  Mary  pleaded,  in  vain  Mary 
threatened.  She  took  her  brother  into  a  room  apart ; 
she  placed  the  paper  in  his  hand,  and  required  him  to 


Randolph  to  Cecil,  May  3 :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  STLVA.  273 

sign  it  on  his  allegiance.  He  asked  for  time  :  she  said 
no  time  could  be  allowed  because  others  were  waiting 
for  his  example. 

Murray's  character,  so  much  debated  among  histo- 
rians, was,  in  the  eye  of  those  who  knew  him,  a  very 
simple  one.  He  was  true,  faithful,  honourable,  earnest, 
stout  both  for  the  defence  of  God's  glory  and  to  save  his 
sovereign's  honour ;  and  he  was  fearful  that  her  doings 
might  make  a  breach  of  amity  between  the  two  realms. l 
For  five  years  he  had  laboured  to  reconcile  two  oppos- 
ing duties :  he  was  a  zealous  Protestant,  but  he  had 
saved  his  sister  from  persecution,  and  had  quarrelled 
with  his  friends  in  her  defence  ;  he  had  maintained  her 
claims  on  the  English  succession  with  the  loyalty  of  a 
Scot ;  he  had  united  his  special  patriotism  with  as  noble 
an  anxiety  for  the  spiritual  freedom  of  the  united  realms. 
Few  men  had  resisted  more  temptations  to  play  a  selfish 
game  than  Murray  ;  none  had  carried  themselves  with 
more  conspicuous  uprightness  in  a  difficult  and  most 
trying  service.  To  the  last,  and  long  after  he  had 
known  the  direction  in  which  his  sister's  aims  were 
tending,  he  had  shielded  her  with  his  name,  he  had  as- 
sisted her  with  his  counsels,  he  had  striven  hard  to  save 
her  from  the  sinister  and  dangerous  advisers  to  whom 
she  was  secretly  listening:  but  he  could  hesitate  no 
longer  ;  under  the  miserable  influence  of  Rizzio  and  her 
foreign  correspondents,  she  was  bringing  revolution  and 
civil  war  upon  Scotland,  and  the  choice  was  forced  upon 


1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  May  21  •   Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 

VOL.    VII.  18 


274  RETGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

him  between  his  countr^^iid'-4riH--pe¥SQiial  aft'ec- 
tiojnu 

He  implored  the  Queen  to  pause.  She  reproached 
him  with  being  a  slave  to  England.  He  said  '  that  he 
could  not  consent  to  her  marriage  with  one  who  he 
could  not  assure  himself  would  set  forth  Christ's  true 
religion/  She  told  him  scornfully  'it  was  well  known 
from  whom  he  had  received  that  lesson/  '  He  answered 
with  humility,  but  he  would  not  sign  ; '  and  Mary  was 
left  to  act  alone  or  with  her  own  and  Darnley's  friends, 
and  to  endeavour  to  rid  herself  of  Murray  by  such  other 
means  as  might  offer  themselves.1 

Her  messenger  meanwhile  had  sped  fast  upon  his 
way  to  England,  and  encountered  Throgmorton  at 
Newark.  Mary  Stuart,  concealing  her  resentment  at 
Maitland's  disobedience,  sent  him  by  Beton's  hands 
'  the  sweetest  letter  that  ever  subject  received  from 
sovereign/  wanting  neither  love,  eloquence,  despite, 
anger,  nor  passion  ;  she  bade  him  "go  back  and  tell 
Elizabeth  .that  she  had  been  trifled  with  too  long,  and 
that  she  would  now  follow  her  own  mind  and  choice  ; 
with  the  advice  of  her  nobles  she  would  take  such  an 
one  as  she  thought  good,  and  she  would  no  longer  be 
fed  with  yea  and  nay,  and  depend  on  such  uncertain 
dealing. 

But  she  had  far  mistaken  Maitland  if  she  believed 
that  he  would  travel  with  her  on  the  road  into  which 
she  had  been  tempted  by  Rizzio.  So  desperate  it  seemed 


Randolph  to  Cecil,  May  8 :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  Souse. 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  275 

to  him  that  he  would  have  had  her  dragged  back  from 
it  by  force. 

'  I  never  saw  Lidington  in  such  perplexity  and  pas- 
sion/ wrote  Throgrnorton  ;  '  I  could  not  have  believed 
he  could  have  been  so  moved ;  he  wishes  I  had  brought 
with  me  authority  to  declare  war  if  the  Queen  of  Scots 
persist,  as  the  last  refuge  to  stay  her  from  this  unad- 
vised act.' 

Mary  Stuart's  orders  to  Maitland  to  return  to  London 
were  so  distinct  that  he  hesitated  before  he  again  dis- 
obeyed ;  he  remained  at  Newark  for  a  few  hours  after 
Throgmorton  had  gone  forward ;  but  the  extremity  was 
so  serious  that  he  ran  all  risks  and  overtook  the  ambas- 
sador at  Alnwick.  At  the  Border  they  heard  the  alarm- 
ing news  that  Chatelherault  had  been  bribed  into  com- 
pliance with  the  marriage  ' by  a  written  promise  to  enjoy 
his  own/  '  Let  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  be  stayed 
in  London/  Throgmorton  wrote  back  to  Leicester : 
'  from  what  I  hear  it  is  very  necessary.  Examine  ^Sir 
Richard  Cholmondley,  and  look  well  and  sharp  to  the 
doings  of  that  party.'  /The  Papists  in  these  parts  do 
rouse  themselves.'  '  Look  to  yourselves  and  her  Ma- 
jesty's safety.'  '  Sir  Henry  Percy  is  dangerous.' 1 

Time  pressed.  On  the  I5th  Lord  Darnley  was  to  be 
created  Earl  of  Ross  at  Stirling;  when,  being  an  English 
subject,  he  would  swear  allegiance  to  the  Queen  of  Scots 
without  leave  sought  or  obtained  from  his  own  sovereign. 
A  dukedom  had  been  first  intended  for  him ;  the  higher 

1  Throgmorton  to  Leicester  and  Cecil,  from  Berwick,  May  n  and  12 
Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  Home. 


276  RETON  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  43. 

title  had  been  suspended',  and  the  foolish  boy  struck 
with  his  dagger  at  the  justice-clerk  who  was  sent  to  tell 
him  of  the  unwelcome  change.  But  whether  earl  or 
duke  he  would  alike  p.oTrmm'ttrftagnTi  to  Elizabeth,  and 
Throgmorton  hurried  forward  to  be  in  time  if  possible 
to  prevent  a  catastrophe  which  would  make  reconciliation 
hopeless.  A  message  from  the  Queen  of  Scots  met  him 
at  Edinburgh  that  he  should  have  his  audience  when  the 
creation  was  over,  and  that  he  must  remain  where  he 
was  till  she  sent  for  him.  So  well  he  wished  to  Mary 
that  he  would  not  obey ;  he  pushed  right  on  to  Stirling 
and  reached  the  castle  on  the  morning  of  the  fatal  day. 
But  the  gates  were  locked  in  his  face ;  and  it  was  not 
till  toward  evening  that  he  received  an  intimation  that 
the  Queen  would  receive  him. 

When  he  was  at  last  admitted  into  her  presence  the 
creation  was  over ;  the  oath  had  been  sworn ;  and  the 
Queen  of  Scots  stood  triumphant,  her  eyes  flashing  pride 
and  defiance,  surrounded  by  half  the  northern  lords. 
Sir  Nicholas  Throgmorton  and  Mary  Stuart  had  last 
met  on  the  eve  of  her  departure  from  France,  when  he 
had  vainly  entreated  her  to  ratify  the  Treaty  of  Edin- 
burgh. He  was  now  witnessing  another  act  of  the 
same  drama. 

In  England  he  had  been  a  warm  advocate  of  her  re- 
cognition, and  she  received  him  with  gracious  kindness. 
He  presented  his  despatches ;  he  then  said  that  he  was 
sent  by  the  Queen  of  England  to  express  '  her  surprise 
at  the  hasty  proceedings  with  the  Lord  Darnley,  seeing 
how  he  and  his  father  had  failed,  of  their  dutv  in  enter- 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  S1LVA.  277 

prising  such  a  matter  without  her  Majesty's  knowledge 
and  consent.' 

Mary  Stuart,  affecting  the  utmost  surprise,  in  turn 
professed  herself  at  a  loss  to  understand  Elizabeth's 
meaning.  It  was  not  to  be  supposed,  she  said,  that  she 
would  remain  always  unmarried;  the  foreign  princes 
who  had  proposed  for  her  had  been  unwelcome  to  the 
Queen  of  England,  and  she  had  imagined  that  in  taking 
an  English  nobleman  who  was  equally  acceptable  to 
both  realms,  she  would  have  met  her  sister's  wishes 
most  exactly. 

The  truth  sprung  to  Throgmorton's  lips ;  he  had  been 
a  true  friend  to  her  and  he  would  speak  plainly. 

He  told  her  that  she  knew  very  well  what  the  Queen 
of  England  had  desired ;  and  she  knew  also  that  she  was 
doing  the  very  thing  which  was  not  desired.  The  Queen 
of  England  had  wished  her  to  take  some  one  '  who  would 
maintain  the  amity  between  the  two  nations ; '  and  by 
Lord  Darnley  that  amity  would  not  be  maintained. 

Argument  was  of  course  unavailing.  The  Queen  of 
Scots  had  on  her  side  the  letter  of  Elizabeth's  words — 
for  Darnley  was  the  nominee  of  the  English  Catholics ; 
and  the  Catholics  outnumbered  the  Protestants.  After 
some  discussion  she  promised  to  suspend  the  celebration 
of  the  marriage  for  three  months,  in  the  hope  that  in 
the  interval  Elizabeth  would  look  more  favourably  on  it ; 
but  Throgmorton  saw  that  she  was  determined ;  and  he 
doubted  whether  she  would  adhere  to  the  small  conces- 
sion which  she  had  made. 

'  The  mutter  is  irrevocable/  he  reported  to  Elizabeth  • 


278  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

'I  do  find  this  Queen  so  captivate  either  by  love  or 
cunning — or  rather  to  say  truly  by  boasting  or  folly — 
that  she  is  not  able  to  keep  promise  with  herself,  and 
therefore  not  able  to  keep  promise  with  your  Majesty  in 
these  matters/1 

Anticipating  an  immediate  insurrection  in  Northum- 
berland and  Yorkshire,  he  begged  that  Bedford,  who  had 
gone  to  London,  might  return  to  Berwick  without  an 
hour's  delay ;  and  that  the  troops  there  might  be  largely 
reinforced.  He  returned  at  his  leisure  through  York, 
to  inform  the  council  there  of  the  names  of  dangerous 
persons  which  he  had  learnt  in  Scotland ;  and  mean- 
while he  sketched  a  course  of  action  to  Leicester  and 
Cecil  which  would  either  prevent  the  marriage  or  cripple 
it  with  conditions  which  would  deprive  it  of  its  danger. 

Elizabeth  he  thought  should  immediately  make  pub- 
lic '  the  indignity '  which  had  been  offered  her  by  the 
Queen  of  Scots,  and  should  declare  without  ambiguity 
her  intention  of  '  chastising  the  arrogancy  '  of  subjects 
who  had  disowned  their  allegiance.  He  recommended 
the  arrest  of  the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  the  detention 
of  Lady  Lennox  *  in  close  and  separate  confinement/  and 
the  adoption  of  prompt  measures  to  disabuse  'the  Papists' 
of  their  belief  'that  they  were  themselves  in  credit  and 
estimation.'  An  eye  should  be  kept  on  the  Spanish 
ambassador — '  there  the  matter  imported  much ' — and 
favour  should  be  shown  to  Lady  Catherine  Grey,  who, 
though  fast  sinking  under  hard  usage,  still  survived. 


1  Throgmortou  to  Elizabeth,  May  21  :  Scotch  MSS.  Soils  Rome. 


1565-]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  279 

The  English  Government  should  avoid  differences  with 
France  and  Spain ;  and  then  '  either  a  breach  of  the 
matter  would  follow  or  else  a  good  composition.' l 

Randolph,  after  Throgmorton's  departure,  continued 
at  his  post,  and  sent  up  accounts  from  week  to  week  of 
the  position  of  parties  and  of  the  progress  of  the 
crisis. 

He  described  Darnley  as  a  conceited,  arrogant,  intol- 
erable fool ;  he  spoke  of  Murray  as  true  to  his  mistress 
in  the  highest  sense,  and  still  labouring  to  save  her  from 
herself — of  Maitland  '  as  more  honest  than  many  looked 
for ' — of  Argyle  and  the  Lords  of  the  old  Congregation 
as  true  to  their  principles,  and  working  all  together — of 
the  Earl  of  Ruthven  alone  '  as  to  his  shame  stirring  coals 
to  bring  the  marriage  to  effect/  '  Of  the  poor  Queen 
herself  he  knew  not  what  to  say,  'so  pitiful  her  condition 
seemed  to  him ; '  '  he  had  esteemed  her  before/  he  said, 
'  so  worthy,  so  wise,  so  honourable  in  all  her  doings ; ' 
and  he  '  found  her  so  altered  with  affection  towards  Lord 
Darnley  that  she  had  brought  her  honour  in  question, 
her  estate  in  hazard,  her  country  torn  to  pieces/2 

Affection  it  might  be,  or  else,  as  Maitland  thought, 
'  the  foundation  of  the  matter  might  have  been  anger 
and  despite  : '  so  far  from  loving  the  weak  idiot  whom 
she  had  chosen,  she  was  more  likely  already  shuddering 
at  the  sacrifice  which  her  ambition  and  revenge  had  de- 
manded ;  Lord  Darnley  had  few  qualities  to  command 
either  love  or  respect  from  Mary  Stuart. 

1  Throgmorton  to  Cecil  and  Leicester,  May  21 :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
'*  Randolph  to  Leicester  and  Cecil,  May  21  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House 


280  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

'  David  Rizzio/  continued  Randolph  in  a 
later  letter,  '  is  he  that  now  worketh  all,  chief 
secretary  to  the  Queen  and  only  governor  to  her  good 
man.  The  bruits  here  are  wonderful,  men's  talk  very 
strange,  the  hatred  towards  Lord  Darnley  and  his  house 
marvellous  great,  his  pride  intolerable,  his  words  not  to 
be  borne,  but  where  no  man  dare  speak  again.  He 
spareth  not  also  in  token  of  his  manhood  to  let  blows 
fly  where  he  knows  they  will  be  taken.  When  men 
have  said  all  and  thought  what  they  can,  they  find  no- 
thing but  that  God  must  send  him  a  short  end  or 
themselves  a  miserable  life.  They  do  not  now  look  for 
help  from  England.  Whatsoever  I  speak  is  counted  but 
wind.  If  her  Majesty  will  not  use  force  let  her  spend 
three  or  four  thousand  pounds.  It  is  worth  the  expense 
of  so  much  money  to  cut  off  the  suspicion  that  men 
make  of  her  Majesty  that  she  never  liked  thing  in  her 
life  better  than  to  see  this  Queen  so  meanly  matched. 
She  is  now  so  much  altered  from  that  which  lately  she 
was  known  to  be,  that  who  now  beholdeth  her  doth  not 
think  her  to  be  the  same.  Her  Majesty  is  laid  aside ; 
her  wits  not  such  as  they  were ;  her  beauty  other  than 
it  was;  her  cheer  and  countenance  changed  into  I 
wot  not  what — a  woman  more  to  be  pitied  than  any 
that  ever  I  saw.  The  Lord  Darnley  has  said  that  if 
there  were  war  to-morrow  between  England  and  Scot- 
land, this  Queen  should  find  more  friends  in  England 
than  the  Queen's  Majesty's  self/1 


Randolph  to  Leicester    ad  Cecil,  Juno  3  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1565-]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  281 

Maitland  continued  to  write  confidentially  to  Cecil, 
promising  to  do  his  best  to  prevent  a  collision  between 
the  two  countries,  and  entreating  Cecil  to  assist  him. 
Randolph,  distracted  by  the  suspicions  of  Elizabeth's 
motives  which  he  saw  round  him,  advised  that  '  unless 
the  Queen  of  Scots  was  to  be  allowed  to  take  her  will/ 
an  English  army  should  advance  to  the  Border,  and 
that  he  should  be  himself  empowered  to  promise  the 
Congregation  distinct  and  open  support.  In  that  case 
all  would  be  well.  '  The  Papists  should  be  bridled  at 
home,  and  all  intelligence  cut  oif  between  them  and  the 
Scots  :  and  either  Mary  Stuart  would  be  put  to  the 
hardest  shift  that  ever  prince  was  at,  or  such  a  stir  in 
Scotland  that  what  part  soever  was  strongest  should  be 
the  longer  liver.'1 

The  agitation  in  England  after  Throgmorton's  return 
was  almost  as  great.  A  series  of  remarkable  documents 
remain  to  illustrate  the  alarm  with  which  the  crisis  was 
regarded,  and  to  reveal  many  unexpected  features  in  the 
condition  of  the  country. 

First  is  a  paper  in  Cecil^hand,  dated  the  2nd  of  June, 
entitled  '  The  perils  and  troubles  that  may  presently 
ensue  and  in  time  to  come  follow  upon  the  marriage  of 
the  Queen  of  Scots  with  the  Lord  Darnley.' 

'  The  minds/  thus  this  paper  runs,  '  of  all  such  as  be 
affected  to  the  Queen  of  Scots  either  for  herself,  or  for 
the  opinion  of  her  pretences  to  this  crown,  or  for  the 
desire  to  have  a  change  in  the  form  of  religion  in  this 


Randolph  to  Cecil,  June  12:  Ibid. 


282  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

realm,  or  for  the  discontentation  they  have  of  the 
Queen's  Majesty  or  her  successors  or  of  the  succession 
of  any  other  besides  the  Queen  of  Scots,  shall  be  by  this 
marriage  erected,  comforted,  and  induced  to  devise  and 
labour  how  to  bring  their  desires  to  pass  ;  and  to  make 
some  estimate  what  persons  these  are,  to  the  intent  the 
quantity  of  the  peril  may  be  weighed,  the  same  may  be 
composed  in  these  sorts  either  within  the  realm  or 
without. 

*  The  first  are  such  as  are  especially  devoted  to  the 
Queen  of  Scots  or  the  Lord  Darnley  by  bond  of  blood 
and  alliance — as  all  the  House  of  Lorraine  and  Guise 
for  her  part,  and  the  Earl  of  Lennox  and  his  wife  with 
all  such  in  Scotland  as  be  of  their  blood  there  and  have 
received  displeasure  by  the  Duke  of  Chatelherault  and 
the  Hamiltons. 

*  The  second  are  all  manner  of  persons  both  in  this 
realm  and  in  other  countries  that  are  devoted  to  the 
authority  of  Rome  and  mislike  of  the  religion  here  re- 
ceived ;  and  in  these  two  sorts  are  the  substance  of  them 
comprehended  that  shall  take  comfort  in  this  marriage. 

'  Next  therefore  is  to  be  considered  what  perils  and 
troubles  these  kind  of  men  shall  intend  to  this  realm. 

1  The  general  scope  and  mark  of  all  their  designs  is 
and  always  shall  be  to  bring  the  Queen  of  Scots  to  have 
the  royal  crown  of  this  realm ;  and  therefore  though 
their  devices  may  vary  amongst  themselves  for  the  com- 
passing hereof,  according  to  the  accidents  of  the  times, 
and  according  to  the  impediments  which  they  shall  find 
by  means  of  the  Queen's  Majesty's  actions  and  govern- 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  283 

ment,  yet  all  their  purposes  shall  wholly  and  only  tend 
to  make  the  Queen  of  Scots  Queen  of  this  realm  and  to 
deprive  our  sovereign  lady  thereof.  And  in  these  their 
proceedings  there  are  two  manner  of  things  to  be  con- 
sidered, the  one  of  which  is  far  worse  than  the  other. 
The  one  is  intended  by  them  that,  either  for  malicious 
blindness  in  religion  or  for  natural  -affection  to  the 
Queen  of  Scots  or  the  Lord  Darnley,  do  persuade  them- 
selves that  the  said  Queen  of  Scots  hath  presently  more 
right  to  the  crown  than  our  sovereign  the  Queen,  of 
which  sort  be  all  their  kindred  of  both  sides  and  all  such 
as  are  devoted  to  the  Papacy  either  in  England,  Scotland, 
Ireland,  or  elsewhere.  The  other  is  meant  of  them 
which  less  maliciously  are  persuaded  that  the  Queen  of 
Scots  hath  only  right  to  be  the  next  heir  to  succeed  the 
Queen's  Majesty  and  her  issue,  of  which  sort  few  are 
without  the  realm  but  here  within  ;  and  yet  of  them  not 
so  many  as  are  of  the  contrary.  And  from  these  two 
sorts  shall  the  devices  and  practices  proceed. 

'  From  the  first  are  to  be  looked  for  these  perils.  It 
is  to  be  doubted  that  the  devil  will  infect  some  of  them 
to  imagine  the  hindrance  of  our  dearest  sovereign  lady 
by  such  means  as  the  devil  will  suggest  to  them; 
although  it  is  to  be  assuredly  hoped  that  Almighty  God 
will — as  hitherto  He  hath — graciously  protect  and  pre- 
serve her  from  such  dangers. 

'  There  will  be  attempted  by  persuasions,  by  bruits 
and  rumours  and  such  like,  to  alienate  the  minds  of  good 
subjects  from  the  Queen's  Majesty,  and  to  conciliate 
them  to  the  Queen  of  Scots,  and  in  this  behalf  the 


284  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  43. 

frontier  and  the  north  will  be  much  solicited  and 
laboured.  There  will  be  attempted  tumults  and  rebel- 
lions, specially  in  the  north  towards  Scotland,  so  as 
thereupon  may  follow  some  open  extremity  by  violence. 
There  will  be  by  the  said  Queen's  council  and  friends 
a  new  league  made  with  France  or  Spain  that  shall  be 
offensive  to  this  ^realm  and  a  furtherance  to  their  title ; 
and  it  is  also  likely  they  will  set  on  foot  as  many  prac- 
tices as  they  can  both  upon  the  frontier  and  in  Ireland 
to  occasion  the  Queen's  Majesty  to  continue  her  charges, 
thereby  to  retain  her  from  being  wealthy  or  potent. 
From  the  second  is  not  much  to  be  feared ;  but  they 
will  content  themselves  to  serve  notedly  the  Queen 's 
Majesty  and  so  to  impeach  her  not  to  marry ;  but  to 
hope  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  shall  have  issue,  which 
they  will  think  to  be  more  plausible  to  all  men  because 
thereby  the  Houses  of  England  and  Scotland  shall  be 
united  in  one,  and  thereby  the  occasions  of  war  shall 
cease;  with  which  persuasions  many  people  may  be 
seduced  and  abused  to  incline  themselves  to  the  Queen 
of  Scots.'1 

The  several  points  thus  prepared  by  Cecil  for  the 
consideration  of  the  council  were  enlarged  in  the  dis- 
cussion which  ensued  on  them. 

'  By  some  it  was  thought  plainly  that  the  peril  was 
greater  by  the  marriage  with  the  Lord  Darnley  than 
with  the  mightiest  prince  abroad ; '  a  stranger  would 
have  few  friends  in  England ;  the  Lord  Darnley  being 


Cotton.  Mtiti.  CAUG.  13.  10. 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  STLVA.  285 

an  English  subject,  ' whatever  power  he  could  make  by 
the  faction  of  the  Papists  or  other  discontented  persons 
would  be  so  much  deducted  from  the  power  of  the 
realm/  'A  small  faction  of  adversaries  at  home  was 
more  dangerous  than  thrice  their  number  abroad ; '  and 
it  was  remembered  that '  foreign  powers  had  never  pre- 
vailed in  England  but  with  the  help  of  some  at  home/ 
It  '  had  been  observed  and  manifestly  seen  before 
this  attempt  at  marriage,  that  in  every  corner  of  the 
realm,  the  factions  that  most  favoured  the  Scottish  title 
had  grown  stout  and  bold ; '  '  they  had  shown  them- 
selves in  the  very  Court  itself ; '  and  unless  checked 
promptly  '  they  would  grow  so  great  and  dangerous  as 
redress  would  be  almost  desperate/  '  Scarcely  a  third 
of  the  population  were  assured  to  be  trusted  in  the  mat- 
ter of  religion,  upon  which  only  string  the  Queen  of 
Scots'  title  did  hang  ; '  and  '  comfort  had  been  given  to 
the  adversaries  of  religion  in  the  realm  to  hope  for 
change/  '  by  means  that  the  bishops  had  dealt  straightly 
with  some  persons  of  good  religion  because  they  had 
forborne  to  wear  certain  apparel  and  such  like  things 
— being  more  of  form  and  accident  than  any  substance/ 
'  The  pride  and  arrogancy  of  the  Catholics  had  been  in- 
creased '  by  the  persecution  of  the  Protestants  ;  while  if 
the  bishops  attempted  to  enforce  conformity  on  the  other 
side  '  the  judges  and  lawyers  in  the  realm,  being  not  the 
best  affected  in  religion,  did  threaten  them  with  pre- 
munire,  and  in  many  cases  letted  not  to  punish  and  de- 
fame them,'  '  so  that  they  dared  not  execute  the  ecclesi- 
astical laws/ 


286  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.43.' 

For  much  of  all  this  the  Queen  was  responsible. 
She  it  was  who  more  than  any  other  person  had  nursed 
the  Scottish  faction  '  at  the  Court.  If  the  bishops  had 
been  too  eager  to  persecute  the  Catholics,  it  was  she  who 
had  compelled  Parker  to  suspend  the  ablest  of  the  Pro- 
testant ministers.  '  But  the  sum  of  the  perils  was  made 
so  apparent  as  no  one  of  the  council  could  deny  them  to 
be  both  many  and  very  dangerous.'  They  were  agreed 
every  one  of  them  that  the  Queen  must  for  the  present 
relinquish  her  zeal  for  uniformity,  and  that  the  prosecu- 
tions of  the  clergy  must  cease  till  the  question  could  be 
reconsidered  by  Parliament ;  they  determined  to  require 
the  oath  of  allegiance  of  the  judges,  '  so  that  they  should 
for  conscience'  sake  maintain  the  Queen's  authority/  to 
replace  the  nonjuring  bishops  in  the  Tower,  to  declare 
forfeited  all  benefices  held  by  ecclesiastics  who  were  re- 
siding abroad,  and  to  drive  out  a  number  of  seditious 
monks  and  friars  who  had  fled  across  the  Border  from 
Scotland  and  were  serving  as  curates  in  the  northern 
churches.  Bedford  meanwhile  should  go  down  to  Ber- 
wick taking  additional  troops  with  him ;  the  '  powers 
of  the  Border '  should  be  held  in  readiness  to  move  at 
an  hour's  notice ;  and  a  reserve  be  raised  in  London  to 
march  north  in  case  of  war.  Lennox  and  Darnley 
might  then  be  required  to  return  to  England  on  their 
allegiance.  If  they  refused  they  would  be  declared 
traitors  and  their  extradition  demanded  of  the  Queen  of 
Scots  under  the  treaties. 

So  far  the  council  was  unanimous.      As  to  what 
should  be  done  if  the  Queen  of  Scots  refused  to  sur- 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  287 

render  them  opinions  were  divided.  The  bolder  party 
were  for  declaring  immediate  war  and  sending  an  army 
to  Edinburgh ;  others  preferred  to  wait  till  events  had 
shaped  themselves  more  distinctly ;  all  however  agreed 
on  the  necessity  of  vigour,  speed,  and  resolution.  '  No 
persons  deserving  of  mistrust  were  to  be  suffered  to 
have  any  rule  of  her  Majesty's  subjects  or  lands  in  the 
north ; '  they  might  '  retain  their  fees/  '  but  more 
trusty  persons  should  have  the  rule  of  their  people/ 
The  Earl  of  Murray  and  his  friends  should  be  com- 
forted and  supported  ;  and  '  considering  the  faction  and 
title  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  had  for  a  long  time  received 
great  countenance  by  the  Queen's  Majesty's  favour 
shown  to  the  said  Queen  and  her  ministers,'  the  council 
found  themselves  compelled  to  desire  her  Majesty  '  by 
some  exterior  act  to  show  some  remission  of  her  dis- 
pleasure to  the  Lady  Catherine  and  the  Earl  of  Hert- 
ford/ 

Further — for  it  was  time  to  speak  distinctly,  and 
her  Majesty's  mode  of  dealing  in  such  matters  being 
better  known  than  appreciated  —  she  was  requested, 
after  considering  these  advices,  to  choose  which  of  them 
she  liked,  and  put  them  in  execution  in  deeds  and  not 
pass  them  over  in  consultations  and  speeches.1 

Nor  did  the  council  separate  without  returning  once 
more  to  the  vexed  question  of  the  Queen's  marriage. 


1  The  words  in  italics  are  under- 
lined in  the  original. 

Summary  of  consultations  and 
advices  given  to  her  Majesty,  June, 


1565  :  Cotton.  MSS.  CALIG.  B.  10. 
Debates  in  Council,  June  4,  1565: 
Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


288  RETCN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  43. 

So  long  as  she  remained  single  they  represented  gravely 
that  '  no  surety  could  be  devised  to  ascertain  any  per- 
son of  continuance  of  their  families  and  posterities.' 
The  French  affair  had  dragged  on.  Elizabeth  had 
coquetted  with  it  as  a  kitten  plays  with  a  ball.  The 
French  ambassador,  De  Foix,  on  the  2nd  of  May  made 
an  effort  to  force  an  answer  from  her  one  way  or  the 
other.  '  The  world/  he  said,  '  had  been  made  in  six 
days,  and  she  had  already  spent  eighty  and  was  still  un- 
decided.' Elizabeth  had  endeavoured  to  escape  by  say- 
ing that  the  world  '  had  been  made  by  a  greater  artist 
than  herself;  that  she  was  constitutionally  irresolute, 
and  had  lost  many  fair  opportunities  by  a  want  of 
promptitude  in  seizing  them/  Four  days  later  on  the 
receipt  of  bad  news  from  Scotland  she  wavered  towards 
acceptance  :  she  wrote  to  Catherine  de  Medici  to  say 
'  that  she  could  not  decline  an  offer  so  generously  made ; 
she  would  call  Parliament  immediately,  and  if  her  sub- 
jects approved  she  was  willing  to  abide  by  their  resolu- 
tion.' l 

A  parliamentary  discussion  could  not  be  despatched 
in  a  moment.  The  Queen-mother  on  receiving  Eliza- 
beth's letter  asked  how  soon  she  might  expect  an  an- 
swer; and  when  Sir  T.  Smith  told  her  that  perhaps 
four  months  would  elapse  first,  she  affected  astonish- 
ment at  the  necessity  of  so  much  ceremony.  If  the 
Queen  of  England  was  herself  satisfied  she  thought  it- 
was  enough. 


La  response  de  la  Reyne,'  May  6 :  French  MSB.  Rolls  ITmtse. 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SILVA.  289 

'Madam,'  replied  Smith,  'her  people  be  not  like 
your  people  ;  they  must  be  trained  by  doulceur  and 
persuasion,  not  by  rigour  and  violence.  There  is  no 
realm  in  Christendom  better  governed,  better  policied, 
and  in  more  felicity  of  quiet  and  good  order  than  is  the 
realm  of  England  ;  and  in  case  my  sovereign  should  go 
to  work  as  ye  say,  Grod  knows  what  would  come  of  it : 
you  have  an  opinion  that  her  Majesty  is  wise  ;  her 
answer  is  very  much  in  a  little  space  and  containeth 
more  substance  of  matter  than  multitude  of  words.' l 

Catherine  de  Medici  but  half  accepted  the  excuse, 
regarding  it  only  as  a  pretext  for  delay.  Yet  Elizabeth 
was  probably  serious,  and  had  the  English  council  been 
in  favour  of  the  marriage,  in  her  desperation  at  the 
attitude  of  Mary  Stuart  she  might  have  felt  herself 
compelled  to  make  a  sacrifice  which  would  insure  for 
her  the  alliance  of  France.  Paul  de  Foix  one  day  at  the 
end  of  May  found  her  in  her  room  playing  chess. 

'  Madam/  he  said  to  her,  '  you  have  before  you  the 
game  of  life.  You  lose  a  pawn  ;  it  seems  a  small  mat- 
ter ;  but  with  the  pawn  you  lose  the  game/ 

'*  I  see  your  meaning/  she  answered.  '  Lord  Darn- 
ley  is  but  a  pawn,  but  unless  I  look  to  it  I  shall  be 
checkmated/ 

She  rose  from  her  seat,  led  the  ambassador  apart,  and 
said  bitterly  she  would  make  Lennox  and  his  son  smart 
for  their  insolence. 

De  Foix  admitted  and  made  the  most  of  the  danger; 


1   Smith  to  Elizabeth,  May,  1565  :  French  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
VOL.  vn.  19 


290  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.43. 

'  her  enemies/  he  allowed,  '  all  over  the  world  were 
wishing  to  see  Mary  Stuart  and  Darnley  married/  and 
unfortunately  there  were  also  clearsighted,  able  English 
statesmen  who  desired  it  as  well,  as  a  means  of  uniting 
the  crowns.  '  But  your  Majesty/  he  added,  '  has  in 
your  hands  both  your  own  safety  and  your  rival's  ruin. 
France  has  been  the  shield  of  Scotland  in  its  English 
wars.  Take  that  shield  for  yourself.  The  world  is 
dangerous,  the  strongest  will  fare  the  best,  and  your 
Majesty  knows  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  dreads  no  one 
thing  so  much  as  your  marriage  with  the  most  Christ- 
ian King/ 

With  mournful  irony  Elizabeth  replied  that  she  did 
not  deserve  so  much  happiness.1  The  English  council 
in  pressing  her  to  take  a  husband  was  thinking  less  of 
a  foreign  alliance  than  of  an  heir  to  the  crown ;  and 
the  most  Christian  King  was  unwelcome  to  her  advisers 
for  the  reason  perhaps  for  which  she  would  have  pre- 
ferred him  to  any  other  suitor.  The  full-grown,  able- 
bodied  Archduke  Charles  was  the  person  on  whom  the 
hearts  of  the  truest  of  her  statesmen  had  long  been 
fixed.  The  Queen  referred  de  Foix  to  the  council ; 
and  th°  council,  on  the  2nd  of  June,  informed  him 
\  *  that  on  mature  consideration  and  with  a  full  appreciation 
\of  the  greatness  of  the  oifer,  the  age  of  the  King  of 
\France,  the  uncertainty  of  the  English  succession,  and 
the  unlikelihood  of  children  from  that  marriage,  for 


1  Paul  dc  Foix  to  the  Quccn-motber,  June  3  ;  TEULET,  vol.  ii. 


1565.]  THE  EMBASSY  OF  DE  SlLVA.  291 

several  years  at  least,  obliged  them  to  advise  their  mis* 
tress  to  decline  his  proposals.' x 

The  next  day  Elizabeth  sent  for  the  ambassador  of 
the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg  who  was  acting  in  England 
in  behalf  of  Maximilian.  She  told  him  that  she  had 
once  resolved  to  live  and  die  a  maiden  Queen  ;  but  she 
deferred  to  the  remonstrances  of  her  subjects,  and  she 
desired  him  to  tell  the  Emperor  that  she  had  at  last 
made  up  her  mind  to  marry.2  She  had  inquired  of  the 
Spanish  ambassador  whether  the  King  of  Spain  still 
wished  to  see  her  the  wife  of  his  cousin.  The  ambas- 
sador had  assured  her  that  the  King  could  not  be  more 
anxious  if  the  Archduke  had  been  a  child  of  his  own. 
She  said  that  she  could  not  bind  herself  to  accept  a 
person  whom  she  had  never  seen ;  but  she  expressed 
her  earnest  wish  that  the  Archduke  should  come  to 
England. 

The  minister  of  Wurtemberg  in  writing  to  Maxi- 
milian added  his  own  entreaties  to  those  of  the  Queen ; 
he  said  that '  there  was  no  fear  for  the  Archduke's  hon- 
our ;  the  Queen's  situation  was  so  critical  that  if  the 
Archduke  would  consent  to  come  she  could  not  dare  to 
affront  the  Imperial  family  by  afterwards  refusing  his 
hand/' Sl 


1  MIGNET'S  Mary  Stuart,  vol.  i.  p.  146. 

5  '  Se  constituisse  mine  nwbere.' 
3  Adam  Schetowitz  to  Maximilian,  June  4,  1565  :  BurghUy  Papers^  vol.  i 


2Q2 


CHAPTER  XL1V. 

\ 

THE    DARNLEY    MARRIAGE. 

THE  two  Queens  were  again  standing  in  the  same 
relative  positions  which  had  led  to  the  crisis  of  1560. 
Mary  Stuart  was  once  more  stretching  out  her  hand  to 
grasp  Elizabeth's  crown.  From  her  recognition  as  heir- 
presumptive,  the  step  to  a  Catholic  revolution  was  imme- 
diate and  certain  ;  and  Elizabeth's  affectation  of  Catholic 
practices  would  avail  little  to  save  her.  Again,  as  before, 
the  stability  of  the  English  Government  appeared  to 
depend  on  the  maintenance  of  the  Protestants  in  Scot- 
land; and  again  the  Protestants  were  too  weak  to  protect 
themselves  without  help  from  abroad.  The  House  of 
Hamilton  was  in  danger  from  the  restitution  of  Lennox 
and  the  approaching  elevation  of  Darnley ;  the  Earl  of 
Lennox  claimed  the  second  place  in  the  Scotch  succes- 
sion in  opposition  to  the  Duke  of  Chatelherault ;  and  the 
Queen  of  Scots  had  avowed  her  intention  of  entailing  her 
crown  in  the  line  of  the  Stuarts.  Thus  there  were  the 
same  parties  and  the  same  divisions.  But  the  Protestants 
Were  split  among  themselves  among  the  counter-influ- 
ences of  hereditary  alliance  and  passion.  The  cession  of 


1565.]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  293 

her  claims  011  the  lands  of  Angus  by  Lady  Margaret, 
had  won  to  Darnley's  side  the  powerful  and  dangerous 
Earl  of  Morton,  and  had  alienated  from  Murray  the 
kindred  houses  of  Ruth  veil  and  Lindsay.  There  was  no 
longer  an  Ar ran  marriage  to  cajole  the  patriotism  of  the 
many  noblemen  to  whom  the  glory  of  Scotland  was 
dearer  than  their  creed  ;  and  all  those  whose  hearts  were 
set  on  winning  for  a  Scotch  prince  or  princess  the 
English  succession  were  now  devoted  to  their  Queen. 
Thus  the  Duke  of  Chatelherault  with  the  original  group 
who  had  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  Congregation — 
Murray,  Argyle,  Gleiicairn,  Boyd,  and  Ochiltree — 
found  themselves  alone  against  the  whole  power  of  their 
country. 

Secure  oil  the  side  of  France,  Elizabeth  would  have 
been  less  uneasy  at  the  weakness  of  the  Protestants,  had 
the  loyalty  of  her  own  subjects  been  open  to  no  sus- 
picion ;  but  the  state  of  England  was  hardly  more  satis- 
factory than  that  of  Scotland.  In  1560  the  recent  loss 
of  Calais  and  the  danger  of  foreign  invasion  had  united 
the  nation  in  defence  of  its  independence.  Two-thirds 
of  the  peers  were  opposed  at  heart  to  Cecil's  policy ;  but 
the  menaces  of  France  had  roused  the  patriotism  of  the 
nation.  Spain  was  then  perplexed  and  neutral ;  and  the 
Catholics  had  for  a  time  been  paralyzed  by  the  recent 
memories  of  the  Marian  persecution. 

Xow,  although  the  dangers  were  the  same,  Elizabeth's 
embarrassments  were  incomparably  greater.  T^e  studied 
trifling  with  which  she  had  disregarded  the  general 
anxiety  for  her  marriage  had  created  a  party  for  the 


494  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.44. 

Queen  of  Scots  amidst  the  most  influential  classes  of  the 
people.  The  settlement  of  the  succession  was  a  passion 
among  them  which  amounted  to  a  disease ;  while  tho 
union  of  the  crowns  was  an  object  of  rational  desire  to 
every  thoughtful  English  statesman.  The  Protestants 
were  disheartened ;  they  had  gained  no  wisdom  by 
suffering ;  the  most  sincere  among  them  were  as  wild 
and  intolerant  as  those  who  had  made  the  reign  of 
Edward  a  by- word  of  mismanagement ;  the  Queen  was 
as  unreasonable  with  them  on  her  side  as  they  were  TX- 
travagant  on  theirs ;  while  Catholicism,  recovering  from 
its  temporary  paralysis,  was  reasserting  the  superiority 
which  the  matured  creed  of  centuries  has  a  right  to 
claim  over  the  half- shaped  theories  of  revolution.  Had 
Mary  Stuart  followed  the  advice  which  Alva  gave  to  her 
messenger  at  Bayonne,  had  she  been  prudent  and  for- 
bearing and  trusted  her  cause  to  time  till  Philip  had 
disposed  of  the  Turks  and  was  at  leisure  to  give  her  his 
avowed  support,  the  game  was  in  her  hands.  Her  choice 
of  Darnley,  sanctioned  as  it  was  by  Spain,  had  united  in 
her  favour  the  Conservative  strength  of  England ;  and 
either  Elizabeth  must  have  allowed  the  marriage  and 
accepted  the  Queen  of  Scots  as  her  successor,  or  she  must 
have  herself  yielded  to  pressure,  fulfilled  her  promises  at 
last,  and  married  the  Archduke  Charles. 

This  possibility  and  this  alone  created  Mary's  diffi- 
culties. She  knew  what  Philip's  engagements  meant ; 
she  knew  that  Spain  desired  as  little  as  France  to  see 
England  and  Scotland  a  united  and  powerful  kingdom  ; 
and  that  if  Elizabeth  could  be  recalled  out  of  her  evil 


1565-]  THE  DARN  LEY  MARRIAGE,  295 

ways  by  a  Catholic  alliance,  the  cabinet  of  Madrid 
would  think  no  more  of  Darnley  or  herself.  She  would 
have  to  exchange  an  immediate  and  splendid  triumph 
for  the  doubtful  prospect  of  the  eventual  succession 
should  her  rival  die  without  a  child. 

Nor  did  Elizabeth  herself  misunderstand  the  necessity 
to  which  she  would  be  driven,  unless  Mary  Stuart  saved 
her  by  some  false  move.  She  had  played  so  often  with 
the  Archduke's  name  that  her  words  had  ceased  to 
command  belief;  but  at  last  she  was  thinking  of  him 
seriously — the  more  seriously  perhaps  because  many 
Englishmen  who  had  before  been  most  eager  to  provide 
her  with  a  husband  were  now  as  well  or  better  satisfied 
with  the  prospect  of  the  succession  of  the  Queen  of 
Scots. 

'  The  Queen,'  de  Silva  wrote  on  the  8th  of  June  to 
Philip,  'has  taken  alarm  at  the  divisions  among  her 
subjects.  A  great  many  of  them  she  is  well  aware  are 
in  favour  of  Lord  Darnley  and  Mary  Stuart.  Several 
of  the  most  powerful  noblemen  in  England  have  long 
withdrawn  from  the  Court  and  are  looking  to  this  mar- 
riage for  the  union  of  the  two  crowns.  The  Queen 
must  now  come  to  a  resolution  about  the  Archduke 
Charles.  She  understands  fully  that  a  marriage  with 
him  is  the  sole  means  left  to  her  of  preserving  her 
alliance  with  your  Majesty,  of  resisting  her  enemies, 
and  of  preventing  a  rebellion.  She  detests  the  thought 
of  it ;  and  yet  so  strange  is  her  position  that  she  dares 
not  encounter  Parliament  for  fear  her  excuses  may  be 
Accepted.  The  people  have  ceased  to  care  whether  she 


296  REIGN  OP  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44- 

marries  or  remains  single ;  they  are  ready  to  entail  the 
crown  on  the  King  and  Queen  of  Scotland. 

'  Her  hope  at  present  is  to  throw  Scotland  into  con- 
fusion with  the  help  of  the  Duke  of  Chatelherault,  who 
cannot  endure  that  the  House  of  Lennox  should  he  pre- 
ferred to  the  Hamiltons.  She  is  frightening  the  Hugue- 
nots in  France  by  telling  them  that  if  the  Queen  oi 
Scots  obtains  the  English  crown  she  will  avenge  her 
uncle's  death  and  assist  the  Catholics  to  extirpate  them. 
She  will  temporize  till  she  see  how  her  tricks  succeed. 
If  she  can  save  herself  by  any  other  means  she  will  not 
marry/ l 

The  two  players  were  not  ill-matched,  though  for 
the  present  the  Queen  of  Scots  had  the  advantage. 
*  The  matter/  said  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  '  was  not  so  sud- 
denly done  as  suddenly  it  did  break  out ;  the  practice 
was  of  an  elder  time.  It  was  finely  handled  to  make  the 
Queen's  Majesty  a  labourer  for  the  restitution  of  the 
father  and  a  sender  in  of  the  son.' 2  Elizabeth  had  been 
outmanoeuvred  and  had  placed  herself  in  a  perilous 
dilemma.  Half  the  council  had  advised  her  to  demand 
the  extradition  of  Darnley  and  Lennox  and  declare  war 
if  it  was  refused.  She  had  rejected  the  bolder  part  of 
the  advice ;  but  she  had  allowed  Throgmorton  to  pro- 
mise Murray  and  his  friends  that  if  they  interfered  by 
force  to  prevent  the  marriage  they  should  be  supported 
by  England ;  and  if  they  rose  in  arms  and  failed,  and 
if  they  called  upon  her  to  fulfil  her  engagements, 

4  For  las  Cartas  de  Londrcs,  de  viii.  Junio,  1565.' — MS.  Simancas. 
3  Sin  ith  to  Cecil,  July  3 :  French  JM'.S'.  Rnfl*  Home. 


I5C5-J  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  297 

she  would  have  to  comply  and  run  all  hazards,  or  she 
would  justify  the  worst  suspicions  which  the  Scotch 
Protestants  already  entertained  of  her  sincerity,  and 
convert  into  enemies  the  only  friends  that  she  possessed 
among  Mary  Stuart's  subjects. 

In  the  first  outburst  of  her  anger  she  seemed  pre- 
pared to  dare  everything.  After  the  departure  of 
Throgmorton  from  Scotland  the  Queen  of  Scots  sent 
Hay  of  Balmerinoch  with  a  letter  in  which  she  protested 
with  the  most  innocent  simplicity  that  in  all  which  she 
had  done  she  had  been  actuated  only  by  the  purest 
desire  to  meet  her  dear  sister's  wishes ;  that  she  was 
alike  astonished  and  grieved  to  hear  that  she  had  done 
wrong ;  but  that  as  Elizabeth  was  dissatisfied  she  would 
refer  the  question  once  more  to  a  commission;  and  on 
her  own  side  she  proposed  the  unsuspicious  names  of 
Murray,  Maitland,  Morton,  and  Glencairn.1 

Had  Elizabeth  complied  with  this  suggestion  she 
would  have  committed  herself  to  an  admission  that  a  < 

question  existed,  and  that  the  Darnley  marriage  was  not       .  j 
wholly  intolerable.     She  had  no  intention  of  admitting  ^    j& 
anything  of  the  kind.     She  replied  with  requiring  Len-  ^   >\P" 
nox  and  Darnley  on  their  allegiance  to  return  immedi-  ^ 
ately  to  England ;  and  the  Queen  of  Scots'  letter  she 
answered  only  with  a  request  that  they  might  be  sent 
home  without  delay. 

Neither  Lennox  nor  Mary  expected  such  peremptory 
dealing.  The  order  of  return  was  short  of  a  declaration 


The  Queen  of  Scots  to  the  Queen  of  England,  June  14  :  KEITH. 


298 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  44. 


of  war,  and  some  of  those  who  knew  Elizabeth  best  did 
not  believe  that  war  was  coming ; *  but  Mary  Stuart 
knew  too  well  her  own  intentions  to  escape  misgivings 
that  the  Queen  of  England  might  be  as  resolute  as  her- 
self. When  Randolph  presented  the  letter  with  the 
message  which  accompanied  it,  she  burst  into  tears ; 
Lennox  was  silent  with  dismay;  Darnley  alone,  too 
foolish  to  comprehend  the  danger,  remained  careless  and 
defiant,2  and  said  shortly  '  he  had  no  mind  to  return.' 
Mary  Stuart  as  soon  as  she  could  collect  herself  said  she 
trusted  that  her  good  sister  did  not  mean  what  she  had 
written.  Randolph  replied  that  she  most  certainly  did 
mean  it ;  and  speaking  plainly,  as  his  habit  was,  he  add- 
ed '  that  if  they  refused  to  return  and  her  Grace  com- 
forted them  in  so  doing,  the  Queen  his  mistress  had  both 
power  and  will  to  be  revenged  on  them,  being  her  sub- 
jects/ 

From  the  Court  Randolph  went  to  Argyle  and 
Murray,  who  had  ascertained  meanwhile  that  there  was 
no  time  to  lose  ;  the  Bishop  of  Dunblane  had  been  sent 


1  Paul  de  Foix  to  Catherine  de 
Medici,  June  18:  TEULET,  vol.  ii. 

2  A  sad  and  singular  horoscope 
had  already  been  cast  for  Darnley. 
4  His  behaviour,'  Randolph  wrote  to 
Cecil,  '  is  such  that  he  is  come  in 
open  contempt  of  all  men  that  were 
his  chief  friends.   What  shall  become 
of  him  I  know  not ;  but  it  is  greatly 
to  be  feared  he  can  have  no  long  life 
amongst   this  people.     The  Queen, 


being  of  better  understanding,  seek- 
eth  to  frame  and  fashion  him  to  the 
nature  of  her  subjects  ;  but  no  per- 
suasion can  alter  that  which  custom 
hath  made  in  him.  He  is  counted 
proud,  disdainful,  and  suspicious, 
which  kind  of  men  this  soil  of  any 
other  can  least  bear.' — Randolph 
to  Cecil,  July  2:  Cotton.  MSS. 
CALIG.  B.  10.  Printed  in  KEITH. 


1565.]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIA  GE.  299 

to  the  Pope ;  Mary  Stuart  had  obtained  money  from 
Flanders  ;  she  had  again  sent  for  Both  well,  and  she 
meant  immediate  mischief.  The  two  Earls  expressed 
their  belief  that  '  the  time  was  come  to  put  to  a  remedy.' 
( They  saw  their  sovereign  determined  to  overthrow 
religion  received,  and  sore  bent  against  those  that  de- 
sired the  amity  with  England  to  be  continued,  which 
twp_j3OLnts  they  were  bound  in  conscience  to  maintain 
and  defend.'  They  had  resolved  therefore  '  to  withstand 
such  attempts  with  all  their  power,  and  to  provide  for 
their  sovereign's  estate  better  than  she  could  at  that 
time  consider  for  herself/  They  intended  to  do  nothing 
which  was  not  for  their  mistress's  real  advantage ;  Sir 
Nicholas  Throgmorton  had  assured  them  of  the  Queen 
of  England's  '  godly  and  friendly  offer  to  concur  with 
and  assist  them ; '  the  Queen  of  England's  interest  was 
as  much  concerned  as  their  own ;  and  they  '  humbly 
desired  the  performance  of  her  Majesty's  promises  : ' 
they  did  not  ask  for  an  English  army ;  if  her  Majesty 
would  give  them  three  thousand  pounds  they  could 
hold  their  followers  together,  and  would  undertake  the 
rest  for  themselves  ;  Lennox  and  Darnley  could  be 
seized  and  '  delivered  into  Berwick/  if  her  Majesty 
would  receive  them. 

To  these  communications  Randolph  replied 
with  renewed  assurances  that  Elizabeth  would 
send   them   whatever   assistance   they   required.      He 
gave  them  the  warmest  encouragement  to  persevere 
and  as  to  the  father  and  son  whom  they  proposed  to 


<oo  KK1GN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  44. 

kidnap,  the  English  Government,  lie  said,  'could  not 
and  would  not  refuse  their  own  in  what  sort  soever  they 
came.' l 

The  Queen  of  Scots  was  not  long  in  receiving  intelli- 
gence of  what  the  lords  intended  against  her.  She 
sent  a  message  to  her  brother  requesting  that  he  would 
meet  her  at  Perth.  As  he  was  mounting  his  horse  a 
hint  was  given  him  that  if  he  went  he  would  not  return 
alive,  and  that  Parnley  and  Rizzio  had  formed  a  plan 
to  kill  him.  He  withdrew  to  his  mother's  castle  at 
Lochleven  and  published  the  occasion  of  his  disobedi- 
ence. Mary  Stuart  replied  with  a  countercharge  that 
jhe  Earl  of  Murray  had  proposed  to  take  her  prisoner 
ftnd  carry  off  Darnley  to  England.  Both  stories  were 
probably  true  :  Murray's  offer  to  Randolph  is  sufficient 
evidence  against  himself.  Lord  Darnley's  conspiracy 
against  the  Earl  was  no  more  than  legitimate  retalia- 
tion. Civil  war  was  fast  approaching ;  and  it  is  im- 
possible to  acquit  ElizabettTof  having  done  her_best  to 
foster  jt. Afraid  to  takean  open  part  lest  she  should 
!  have  an  insurrection  on  her  own  hands  at  home,  she 
was  ready  to  employ  to  the  uttermost  the  assistance  of 
the  Queen  of  Scots'  own  subjects,  and  she  trusted  to 
diplomacy  or  accident  to  extricate  herself  from  the  con- 
sequences. 

On  receiving  Randolph's  letter,  which  explained 
with  sufficient  clearness  the  intentions  of  the  Protestant 
noblemen,  she  not  only  did  not  find  fault  with  the  en- 

1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  July  2  and  July  4  :  Cotton.  MSS.  CAI.IG.  B.  id. 
Printed  in  KEITH. 


1565.]  77/7:  DA  RNLE  Y  MARRIA  Gh.  301 

gagements  to  which  he  had  committed  her,  but  she 
directed  him  under  her  own  hand  to  assure  them  of  her 
perfect  satisfaction  with  the  course  which  they  were 
preparing  to  pursue.  She  could  have  entertained  no 
sort  of  doubt  that  they  would  use  violence  ;  yet  she  did 
not  even  conceal  her  approbation  under  ambiguous  or 
uncertain  phrases.  She  said  that  they  should  find  her 
'  in  all  their  just  and  honourable  causes  regard  their 
state  and  continuance  ; '  '  if  by  malice  or  practice  they 
were  forced  to  any  inconveiiiency  they  should  find  no 
lack  in  her ; '  she  desired  merely  that  in  carrying  out 
their  enterprise  they  would  '  spend  no  more  money  than 
their  security  made  necessary,  nor  less  which  might 
bring  danger/  1 

As  the  collision  drjew_near  both  parties  prepared  for 
it  by  endeavouring  to  put  themselves  right  with  the 
country.  No  sooner  was  it  generally  known  in  Scot- 
land that  the  Queen  intended  to  marry  a  Catholic  than 
the  General  Assembly  rushed  together  at  Edinburgh. 
The  extreme  Protestants  were  able  to  appeal  to  the  ful- 
filment of  their  predictions  of  evil  when  Mary  Stuart 
was  permitted  the  free  exercise  of  her  own  religion. 
Like  the  children  of  Israel  on  their  entrance  into 
Canaan,  they  had  made  terms  with  wickedness  :  they 
had  sown  the  wind  of  a  carnal  policy  and  were  now 
reaping  the  whirlwind.  A  resolution  was  passed — to 
which  Murray,  though  he  was  present,  no  longer 
raised  his  voice  in  opposition — that  the  sovereign  was 


Elizabeth  to  Randolph,  July  10  :  Printed  in  KEITH. 


*v 

-V 


302  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH,  [en.  44. 

not  exempt  from  obedience  to  the  law  of  the  land,  that 
the  mass  should  be  put  utterly  away,  and  the  reformed 
service  take  the  place  of  it  in  the  royal  chapel. 

Mary  Stuart  had  been  described  by  Randolph  as  so 
much  changed  that  those  who  had  known  her  when 
she  was  under  Murray's  and  Maitland's  tutelage  were 
astonished  at  the  alteration ;  manner,  words,  features, 
all  were  different ;  in  mind  and  body  she  was  said  to  be 
swollen  and  disfigured  by  the  tumultuous  working  of 
her  passions. 

So  perhaps  she  may  have  appeared  in  Randolph's 
eyes ;  and  yet  the  change  may  have  been  more  in  Ran- 
dolph's power  of  insight  than  in  the  object  at  which  he 
looked.  Never  certainly  did  she  show  herself  cooler  or 
more  adroit  than  in  her  present  emergency.  She  re* 
plied  to  the  Assembly  with  returning  from  Perth  to 
Edinburgh ;  and  as  a  first  step  towards  recovering 
their  confidence  she  attended  a  Protestant  sermon.  To 
the  resolution  of  the  General  Assembly  she  delayed  her 
answer,  but  she  issued  circulars  protesting  that  neither 
then  nor  at  any  past  time  had  she  entertained  a  thought 
of  interfering  with  her  subjects'  religion ;  the  tolera- 
tion which  she  had  requested  for  herself  she  desired 
only  to  extend  to  others;  her  utmost  wish  had  been 
that  her  subjects  might  worship  God  freely  in  the  form 
which  each  most  approved.1 

A  Catholic  sovereign  sincerely  pleading  to  a  Pro- 
testant Assembly  for  liberty  of  conscience  might  have 


1  Circular  by  the  Queen,  July  17. 


i565.] 


THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIA  GE. 


3<>3 


been  a  lesson  to  the  bigotry  of  mankind ;  but  Mary 
Stuart  was  not  sincere ;  and  could  the  Assembly  have 
believed  her  they  would  have  thought  her  French 
teaching  was  bearing  fruits  more  deadly  than  Popery 
itself.  The  Protestant  respected  the  Catholic  as  an 
honest  WQjjhi^per_QXsQmething,  though  that  something 
might  be_the_ jLevil.  '  Liberty  of  conscie^e '  was  the 
crime  of  the  Laodiceans,  which  hell  and  heaven  alike 


The  attendance  of  Mary  Stuart  at  sermon  produced 
as  little  effect  on  the  Congregation  as  Elizabeth's 
candles  and  crucifixes  on  the  hatred  of  the  English 
Papists.  The  elders  of  the  Church  dispersed ;  Argyle, 
Murray,  and  their  friends  withdrew  to  Stirling ;  and 
on  the  i8th  of  July  they  despatched  a  messenger  to 
Elizabeth  with  a  bond  in  which  they  pledged  them-  p  jj  . 
selves  to  resist  all  attempts  either  to  restore  the  Catholic  e 

ritual  or  to  dissolve  the  English  alliance.  From  their 
own  sovereign  they  professed  to  hope  for  nothing  but 
evil.  They  looked  to  the  Queen  of  England  '  as  under 
.Grod  protectress  most  special  of  the  professors  of  re- 
ligion ; '  and  they  thanked  her  warmly  for  the  promises 
of  help  on  which  it  was  evident  that  they  entirely 
relied.1 

They  relied  on  those  promises ;  and  to  have  doubted 


0 


1  '  Understanding  by  your  High- 
ness's  ambassador,  Sir  N.  Throg- 
morton,  and  also  by  the  information 
of  your  Majesty's  servant  Master 
Randolph,  the  good  and  gracious 
mind  which  your  Majesty  with  con- 


tinuance beareth  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  Gospel  and  us  that  profess 
the  same,'  &c.  —The  Lords  in  Stir- 
ling to  the  Queen  of  England,  July 
1 8  :  KEITH,  vol.  ii.  p.  329. 


304  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.44. 

them  would  have  been  nothing  less  than  a  studied  in- 
sult. The  English  ambassador  was  ordered  a  second 
time,  and  more  imperiously,  to  command  Lennox  and 
Darnley  to  go  back  to  England ;  while  avowedly  by  the 
direct  instructions  of  his  mistress  he  laid  her  thanks 
and  wishes  before  the  lords  in  a  formal  and  written 
address.1 

RANDOLPH    TO    THE    LORDS    OF    SCOTLAND.2 

July,  1565. 

'  Right  Honourable  and  my  very  good  Lords, — It 
is  not  out  of  your  remembrance  that  Sir  Nicholas 
Throgmorton  being  at  Stirling  ambassador  for  the 
Queen's  Majesty  my  mistress  to  the  Queen's  Majesty 
your  sovereign,  it  was  declared  at  good  length  both  to 
her  Grace's  self  and  also  to  you  of  her  honourable 
council,  what  mi  silking  the  Queen  my  mistress  hath 
that  the  Lord  t)amley  should  join  marriage  with  the 
Queen  you!'  sovereign,  for  divers  and  weighty  reasons  ; 
of  which  some  were  there  presently  rehearsed,  others 
for  great  and  weighty  respects  left  unspoken  until  occa- 
sion better  serve  to  utter  her  Majesty's  griefs  for  the 
strange  manner  of  dealing  that  hath  been  used  towards 
her  divers  ways  and  by  divers  persons  contrary  to  that 
expectation  she  had.  The  Queen  your  sovereign  hav- 
ing answered  that  she  would  in  no  wise  alter  her  deter- 
mination, the  Queen  my  mistress  commanded  this 


1  It  is  necessary,  at  the  risk  of 
being  tedious,  to  dwell  on  these 
particulars  of  Elizabeth's  conduct. 
Each  separate  promise  was  as  a  nail 


which  left  a  rent  in  her  reputation 
when  she  endeavoured  to  free  her- 
self. 

2  Lansdvivne  JlfSS.  8. 


1565.]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  305 

resolution  and  answer  to  be  propounded  in  council,  aud 
to  be  considered  according  to  the  weight  thereof,  being 
touched  thereby  as  well  in  honour  as  that  it  was 
against  the  repose  and  tranquillity  of  her  Majesty's 
realm.  And  her  Majesty's  council  remaining  in  that 
mind  that  before  they  were  of — which  is  that  divers 
ways  it  must  needs  be  prejudicial  to  the  amity  of  the 
two  countries,  that  it  tendoth  greatly  to  the  subversion 
of  Christ's  true  religion  received  and  established  in 
them  both,  they  have  not  only  received  that  with  con- 
tent which  your  lordships  have  subscribed  with  your 
hands,  but  also  have  become  suitors  to  your  Majesty 
that  she  will  provide  for  her  own  surety  and  the  surety 
of  the  realm  against  all  practices  and  devices,  from 
wheresoever  they  be  intended. 

'  And  forasmuch  as  nothing  is  more  needful  for  both 
the  realms  than  the  continuance  of  a  good  and  perfect 
amity  between  them  and  those  whose  hearts  God  hath 
united  in  one  true  and  perfect  doctrine,  they  have  also 
desired  that  it  will  please  her  Majesty  that  she  will 
have  consideration  of  the  Protestants  and  true  pro- 
fessors of  religion  in  this  realm  of  Scotland,  that  Christ's 
holy  word  may  be  continued  amongst  them,  and  the 
amity  remain  betwixt  both  the  countries.  And  because 
of  all  the  apparent  troubles  that  may  ensue,  as  well  for 
the  subversion  of  Christ's  word  in  both  the  countries  as 
also  for  the  breach  of  amity,  the  Earl  of  Lennox  and 
his  son,  the  Lord  Darnley,  are  known  to  be  the  authors, 
and  many  of  their  practices,  as  well  in  England,  Scot- 
land, and  further  parts,  to  that  end  discovered,  it  pleased 

VOL.  vii.  20 


306  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

the  Queen  my  mistress  to  begin  at  the  root  and  ground 
of  all  these  mischiefs,  and  thereof  hath  presently  sent 
her  express  commandment  to  them  both,  charging  them 
to  leave  the  realm  of  Scotland,  and  repair  unto  her 
presence  as  they  will  avoid  her  Majesty's  indignation ; 
in  refusing  of  which  they  shall  give  further  occasion 
for  her  to  proceed  against  them  and  their  assisters  than 
willingly  she  would. 

'  And  to  the  intent  it  may  be  further  known  what 
the  Queen's  my  mistress's  purpose  is  if  they  do  con- 
trary to  this  charge  of  her  Majesty,  I  am  commanded 
to  assure  all  persons  here  that  the  Queen  my  mistress 
meaneth  to  let  the  Queen  your  sovereign  well  under- 
stand by  her  deeds  how  she  can  measure  this  dishonour- 
able kind  of  dealing  and  manner  of  proceeding ;  and 
according  to  the  effect  of  such  answers  as  shall  be  given 
unto  me,  as  well  from  the  Queen's  Majesty  your  sove- 
reign as  from  the  Earl  of  Lennox  and  his  son,  and 
what  thereof  shall  follow,  her  Majesty  meaneth  to  let  it 
manifestly  appear  unto  the  world  how  to  use  her  towards 
such  as  so  far  forget  themselves. 

'  To  give  also  declaration  of  the  tender  care  and 
good  consideration  the  Queen  my  sovereign  has  over 
all  those  of  this  nation  that  mind  to  keep  the  realm 
without  alteration  of  the  religion  received,  and  will  not 
neglect  her  Majesty's  friendship,  I  am  commanded  to 
assure  all  such  as  persist  therein  that  it  is  fully  resolved 
and  determined  to  concur  with  them  and  assist  them  as 
either  need  or  occasion  shall  press  them. 

'This,  my  lords,  being  the  effect  of  that  which  I 


1565.]  'I HE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  307 

know  to  be  my  mistress's  will  and  express  command- 
ment given  unto  me  to  communicate  unto  your  lord- 
ships as  I  saw  cause,  and  knowing  now  the  time  most 
fit  for  that  purpose,  I  thought  good  to  send  this  same 
to  you  in  writing.' 

In  strict  conformity  with  these  promises,  the  Earl 
of  Bedford  returned  to  his  charge  on  the  Border :  the 
Earl  himself  was  under  the  impression  that  if  the  lords 
were  in  extremity  he  was  to  enter  Scotland ;  and  so 
satisfied  and  so  confident  was  Murray,  that  he  wrote  to 
Bedford  on  the  22nd  of  July  '  as  to  one  to  whom  God 
had  granted  to  know  the  subtle  devices  of  Satan/  tell- 
ing him  that  the  force  on  which  the  Qjieen__of  Scots 
most  relied  lay  among  the  Maxwells, /the  Humes7)and 
the  Kers  of  the  Border,  and  begging  him,  as  if  he  was 
already  an  auxiliary  in  the  field,  '  to  stay  off  their 
power/  l 

Randolph  presented  his  second  demand  for  the  re- 
turn of  the  two  noblemen  to  England.  He  spoke  first 
to  Mary  Stuart,  who,  half  frightened,  half  defiant, 
found  herself  on  the  edge  of  a  conflict  to  which  her  own 
resources  were  manifestly  inadequate,  while  she  could 
not  but  feel  some  uncertainty  after  all  how  far  she  could 
rely  on  the  secret  promises  of  her  English  friends.  She 
complained  passionately  that  she  had  been  trifled  with  ; 
she  spoke  of  Henry  the  Eighth's  will,  which  she  dared 
Elizabeth  to  produce,  in  obvious  ignorance  that  had 
Elizabeth  consented,  her  hopes  of  a  peaceable  succession 

1  Murray  to  Bedford,  July  22  :  KETT»J. 


308  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  44. 

would  be  gone  for  ever.  Randolph  told  her  she  was 
'  abused.'  She  threatened  that  if  the  English  Parlia- 
ment meddled  with  the  rights  either  of  herself  or  of 
Darnley,  she  would  (  seek  friends  elsewhere/  and  would 
not  fail  to  find  them. 

Randolph  knew  Mary  well  and  knew  her  manner. 
He  saw  that  she  was  hesitating,  and  he  once  more 
attempted  expostulation.  *  The  Queen  of  England/ 
he  truly  said,  '  had  been  her  kindest  friend.  She  might 
have  compelled  her  to  ratify  the  Treaty  of  Edinburgh  : 
but  she  had  passed  it  over  ;  she  had  defended  her  claims 
when  the  Scotch  succession  had  not  another  supporter  ; 
unless  she  had  taken  the  crown  from  off  her  own  head 
and  given  it  to  her,  she  could  have  done  no  more  than 
she  had  done/ 

Mary  appeared  to  be  moved.  She  asked  if  nothing 
could  induce  Elizabeth  toJJ.a 


Darnley.  Randolph  replied  that  after  the  attitude 
which  she  had  assumed,  the  conditions  would  be  strin- 
gent. A  declaration  would  have  to  be  made  by  herself 
and  the  Scotch  Parliament  that  she  made  no  preten- 
sions to  the  English  crown  during  the  life  of  Eliza- 
beth or  her  children  ;  she  must  restore  to  her  council 
the  Protestant  noblemen  with  whom  she  had  quarrelled  ; 
and  she  must  conform  l  to  the  religion  established  by 
law  in  Scotland.2 


1  It  is  interesting  to  observe  how 
the  current  of  the  Reformation  had 
wept  Elizabeth  forward  in  spite  of 
uerself. 

2  '  Qu'elle  entretienne  la  religion 


qui  est  aujourdhuy  aii  Royaulme,  et 
en  ce  faysant  recoyve,  en  sa  bonne 
grace,  et  en  leur  premier  estat  cenlx 
qu'elle  a  aliene  d'elle  ;  etqu'elle  luy 
face  declaration,  autorisee  par  son 


r 565  -J  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIA  GE.  309 

It  was  to  ask  Mary  Stuart  to  sacrifice  ambition, 
pride,  revenge — every  object  for  which  she  was  mating 
herself  with  the  paltry  boy  who  was  the  cause  of  the 
disturbance.  She  said  '  she  would  make  no  merchandise 
of  her  conscience/  Randolph  requested  in  Elizabeth's 
name  that  she  would  do  no  injury  to  the  Protestant 
lords  who  were  her  '  good  subjects/  She  replied  that 
Elizabeth  might  call  them  '  good  subjects ; '  she  had 
found  them  bad  subjects,  and  as  such  she  meant  to  treat 
them. 

The  turn  of  Lennox  and  Darnley  came  next.  The 
ambassador  communicated  Elizabeth's  commands  to 
them,  and  demanded  a  distinct  answer  whether  they 
would  obey  or  not.  Lennox,  to  whom  age  had  taught 
some  lessons  of  moderation,  replied  that  he  was  sorry  to 
offend ;  but  that  he  might  not  and  durst  not  go.  He 
with  some  justice  might  plead  a  right  to  remain ;  for  he 
was  a  born  Scot  and  was  living  under  his  first  allegiance. 
Darnley,  like  a  child  who  has  drifted  from  the  shore  in 
a  tiny  pleasure  boat,  his  sails  puffed  out  with  vanity, 
and  little  dreaming  how  soon  he  would  be  gazing  back  on 
England  with  passionate  and  despairing  eyes,  replied 
'  that  he  acknowledged  no  duty  or  obedience  save  to  the 
Queen  of  Scots/  whom  he  served  and  honoured ;  '  and 
seeing/  he  continued,  *  that  the  other  your  mistress  is  so 
envious  of  my  good  fortune,  I  doubt  not  but  she  may 
•also  have  need  of  me,  as  you  shall  know  within  few  days  ; 


Parlement  qu'elle  ne  pretend  rien  au 
Koyaulme  d'elle,  ne  de  sa  posterite.' 
— Analyse  d'uuc  depeche  de  M.  de 


Foix  au  Hoy,  August  12  :  TEULET, 


310  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

wherefore  to  return  I  intend  not ;  I  find  myself  very 
well  where  I  am,  and  so  I  purpose  to  keep  me ;  and  this 
shall  be  for  your  answer.' 

'  You  have  much  forgotten  your  duty,  sir,  in  such 
despiteful  words/  Randolph  answered ;  '  it  is  neither 
discreetly  spoken  of  you  nor  otherwise  to  be  answered 
by  me  than  that  I  trust  to  see  the  wreck  and  overthrow 
of  as  many  as  are  of  the  same  mind.' 

So  saying,  the  stout  servant  of  Elizabeth  turned  on 
his  heel  '  without  reverence  or  farewell.'1 

Elizabeth's  attitude  and  Randolph's  language  were  as 
menacing  as  possible.  But  experience  had  taught  Mary 
Stuart  that  between  the  threats  and  the  actions  of  the 
Queen  of  England  there  was  always  a  period  of  irresolu- 
tion ;  and  that  with  prompt  celerity  she  might  crush  the 
disaffection  of  Scotland  while  her  more  dangerous  enemy 
was  making  up  her  mind.  She  filled  Edinburgh  with  the 
retainers  of  Lennox  and  Huntly ;  she  summoned  Murray 
to  appear  and  prove  his  accusations  against  Darnley  under 
pain  of  being  declared  a  traitor ;  she  sent  a  message 
through  de  Silva  to  Philip  that  her  subjects  had  risen 
in  insurrection  against  her  with  the  support  of  the 
Queen  of  England  to  force  her  to  change  her  religion  ; 2 
and  interpreting  the  promise  of  three  months'  delay, 
which  she  had  made  to  Throgmorton  as  meaning  a  delay 
into  the  third  month,  she  resolved  to  close  one  element 
of  the  controversy  and  place  the  marriage  itself  beyond 
debate.  On  the  evening  of  the  28th  of  July  Edinburgh 


1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  July  21 :  Cotton.  MSS.  CALIG.  B.  10. 
J  De  Silva  to  Philip,  July  28  :  M8.  Simancas. 


THE  DARNLE  Y  MARK  I  A  GE. 


311 


was  informed  by  trumpet  and  proclamation  that  the 
Queen  of  Scots  having  determined  to  take  to  herself  as 
her  husband  Henry  Earl  of  Hoss  and  Albany,  the  said 
Henry  was  thenceforth  to  be  designated  King  of  Scot- 
land, and  in  all  acts  and  deeds  his  name  would  be  asso- 
ciated with  her  own.1  The  crowd  listened  in  silence.  A 
single  voice  cried  '  God  save  his  Grace  ! '  but  the  speaker 
was  Lennox.  ^ — — ____^^ 

The  next  da}|^July_t^29th^bemg  Sunday,  while  the 
drowsy  citizens  of  Edinburgh  were  still  in  their  morning 
sleep,  Mary  Stuart  became  the  wife  of  Darnley.  The 
ceremony  took  place  in  the  royal  chapel  just  after  sun- 
rise. It  was  performed  by  a  Catholic  priest,  and  with 
the  usual  Catholic  rites  ;  the  Queen  for  some  strange 
reason  appearing  at  the  altar  in  a  mourning  dress  of 
black  velvet,  '  such  as  she  wore  the  doleful  day  of  the 
burial  of  her  husband.'  Whether  it  was  an  accident — 
whether  the  doom  of  the  House  of  Stuart  haunted  her  at 
that  hour  with  its  fatal  f or eshado wings — or  whether 
simply  for  a  great  political  purpose  she  was  doing  an  act 
which  in  itself  she  loathed,  it  is  impossible  to  tell ;  but 
that  black  drapery  struck  the  spectators  with  a  cold 
uneasy  awe. 

But  such  dreamy  vanities  were  soon  forgotten.  The 
deed  was  done  which  Elizabeth  had  forbidden.  It  re- 


1  The  title  was  a  mere  sound. 
The  crown  matrimonial  could  be 
conferred  only  by  Act  of  Parliament ; 
nor  would  Mary  Stuart  share  the 
reality  of  her  power  with  a  raw  boy 
whose  character  she  imperfectly 


knew.  But  Darnley  was  impatient 
for  the  name  of  king ;  '  He  would 
in  no  case  have  it  deferred  a  day,' 
and  the  Queen  was  contented  to 
humour  him. 


3.i2  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

mained  to  be  seen  to  what  extremity  Elizabeth  in  her 
resentment  would  be  provoked.  The  lords  had  been 
long  waiting  at  Stirling  for  a  sign  from  Berwick  ;  but 
no  sign  came,  and  when  the  moment  of  extremity  arrived 
Bedford  had  no  definite  orders.  They  remembered  1 559, 
when  they  had  been  encouraged  by  similar  promises  to 
rebel,  and  when  Elizabeth  had  trifled  with  her  engage- 
ments so  long  and  so  dangerously.  Elizabeth  had  given 
her  word ;  but  it  was  an  imperfect  security ;  and  the 
uncertainty  produced  its  inevitable  effect  in  dishearten- 
ing and  dividing  them.  '  Though  your  intent  be  never 
so  good  to  us/  Randolph  wrote  to  Leicester  on  the 
3  ist  of  July,  'yet  we  fear  your  delay  that  our  ruin  shall 
prevent  your  support ;  when  council  is  once  taken 
nothing  is  so  needful  as  speedy  execution  :  upon  this  we 
wholly  depend  ;  in  her  Majesty's  hands  it  standeth  to 
save  our  lives  or  suffer  us  to  perish  ;  greater  honour  her 
Majesty  cannot  have  than  that  which  lieth  in  her  power 
to  do  for  us/1 

While  the  Congregation  were  thus  held  in  suspense, 
Mary  Stuart  was  all  fire,  energy,  and  resolution.  She 
understood  at  once  that  Elizabeth  was  hesitating  ;  she 
knew  that  she  had  little  to  fear  from  Argyle  and  Murray 
until  they  were  supported  in  force  from  England  ;  and 
leaving  no  time  for  faction  to  disintegrate  her  own  sup- 
porters or  for  the  Queen  of  England  to  make  up  her  mind, 
she  sent  letters  to  the  noblemen  on  whom  she  could  rely, 

desiring  them  to  meet  her  in  arms  at  Edinburgh 

on  the  9th  of  August. 


WRIGHT'S  Elizabeth,  vol.  i. 


1565.]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  313 

Elizabeth  as  post  after  post  came  in  from  Scotland 
lost  her  breath  at  the  rapidity  of  the  Queen  of  Scots* 
movements ;  and  resolution  became  more  impossible^ 
as  the  need-jxf  it  became  more  pressing.  On  receiving 
the  news  that  the  marriage  was  actually  completed 
she  despatched  Tarn  worth,  a  gentleman  of  the  bed- 
chamber, to  assure  the  Queen  of  Scots  that  what- 
ever might  be  pretended  to  the  contrary  she  had 
throughout  been  sincerely  anxious  to  support  her  in- 
terests. The  Queen  of  Scots  had  not  given  her  the 
credit  which  she  deserved,  and  was  now  '  imagining 
something  else  in  England  to  content  her  fancy,  as  vain 
persons  sometimes  would/  Leaving  much  to  Tain- 
worth's  discretion,  she  bade  him  nevertheless  let  the 
Queen  of  Scots  see  that  her  present  intentions  were 
thoroughly  understood.  '  She  was  following  the  advice 
of  those  who  were  labouring  to  extirpate  out  of  Scotland 
the  religion  received  there  ; '  the  Protestants  among  her 
own  subjects  were  to  be  destroyed  'to  gain  the  favour  of 
the  Papists  in  England  ; '  '  so  as  with  the  aid  that  they 
would  hope  to  have  of  some  prince  abroad  and  from 
Home  also  upon  pretence  of  reformation  in  religion,  she 
might  when  she  should  see  time  attempt  the  same  that 
she  did  when  she  was  married  to  France/  It  was  not 
for  Elizabeth  to  say  what  might  happen  in  Scotland ; 
'  but  for  any  other  device  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  might 
be  fed  withal,  she  might  be  assured  before  God  she  would 
find  all  designs,  consultations,  intelligences,  and  advices, 
from  wherever  they  might  come  to  her,  far  or  near,  to  be 
vain  and  deceitful.'  Let  her  relinquish  these  idle  ima- 
ginings, let  her  restore  Murray  to  the  council  and  un- 


314  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  44. 

del-take  to  enter  into  no  foreign  alliance  prejudicial  to 
English  interests,  and  she  might  yet  regain  the  confid- 
ence of  her  true  friends. 

Had  Tamworth's  instructions  gone  no  further  they 
would  have  been  useless  without  being  mischievous  ; 

but  a  fijjjJTgrjriPHsagft  hftf.rnyprl  fh 


which  Elizabeth  was  yielding.  A  fortnight  previously 
she  had  required  the  Queen  of  Scots  to  abandon  her 
own  creed  ;  she  now  condescended  to  entreat  that  if  her 
other  requests  were  rejected  the  Scotch  Protestants 
might  at  least  be  permitted  to  use  their  own  religion 
without  molestation.1  She  might  have  frightened  Mary 
by  a  demonstration  of  force  as  prompt  as  her  own.  To 
show  that  she  saw  through  her  schemes,  yet  at  the  same 
time  that  she  dared  not  venture  beyond  a  feeble  and 
hesitating  protest,  could  but  make  the  Queen  of  Scots 
desperate  of  further  concealment,  and  encourage  her  to 
go  forward  more  fearlessly  than  ever. 

'  Mary  Stuart/  when  Tamworth  came  into  her  pre- 
sence, '  gave  him  words  that  bit  to  the  quick/  To  the 
Queen  of  England's  suspicions  she  said  she  would  reply 
with  her  '  own  lawful  demands.'  '  The  Queen  of  Eng- 
land spoke  of  imaginations  and  fancies;'  'she  was  sorry 
her  good  sister  thought  so  disdainfully  of  her  as  she 
would  meddle  with  simple  devices.  If  things  went  so 
that  she  was  driven  to  extremities  and  practices,  she 
would  make  it  appear  to  the  world  that  her  devices 
were  not  to  be  set  at  so  small  a  price/  Playing  on 


1  Instructions  to  Turn  worth,  August  I  :  MS.  lioils  House. 


1565.]  THE  DARNLKY  MARRIAGE  315 

Elizabeth's  words  with  a  straightforward  but  irritating 
irony,  she  said  '  that  by  Grod's  grace  it  should  appear 
to  the  world  that  her  designs,  consultations,  and  in- 
telligences would  prove  as  substantial  and  no  more 
vain  and  deceitful  than  such  as  her  neighbours  them- 
selves had  at  any  time  taken  in  hand ; '  while  as  to 
Murray's  restoration,  she  had  never  yet  meddled  be- 
tween the  Queen  of  England  and  her  subjects ;  but  now, 
'  induced  by  her  good  sister's  example/  '  she  would  re- 
quest most  earnestly  for  the  release  and  restoration  to 
favour'  of  her  mother-in-law  the  Lady  Margaret, 
Countess  of  Lennox.1 

Had  Philip  of  Spain  been  at  Mary's  shoulder  he 
would  have  advised  her  to  spare  her  sarcasms  till  an 
armada  was  in  the  Channel  or  till  Elizabeth  was  a 
prisoner  at  her  feet.  As  soon  as  she  had  made  sure  of 
Darnley  he  would  have  recommended  her  to  omit  no 
efforts  for  conciliation.  She  need  not  have  relin- 
quished one  emotion  of  hatred  or  one  aspiration  for  re- 
venge ;  but  she  would  have  been  taught  to  wait  upon 
time  to  soothe  down  the  irritation  which  she  had  roused, 
to  cajole  with  promises,  and  to  compel  Elizabeth  by  the 
steady  if  slow  pressure  of  circumstances  to  give  way 
step  by  step. 

But  Mary  Stuart  was  young  and  was  a  woman.  Her 
tongue  was__ready  and  her  passions^  strong^^Philip 
cared  sincerely  for  Romanis^mjJElizabeth  cared  for  Eng- 
lish liberty,  the  Earl  of  Murray  cared  for  the  doctriner 


1  Answer  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  to  Tarn  worth  :  Printed  in  KEITH. 


316  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44, 

of  the  Reformation  ;  Mary  Stuart  was  chiefly  interested 
in  herself,  and  she  was  without  the  strength  of  self- 
command  which  is  taught  only  by  devotion  to  a  cause. 
So  confident  was  she  that  in  imagination  she  had  already 
seated  herself  on  Elizabeth's  throne.  To  the  conditions 
of  friendship  offered  by  Tamworth,  she  replied  in  lan- 
guage which  could  scarcely  have  been  more  peremptory 
had  she  entered  London  at  the  head  of  a  victorious 
army.  Not  condescending  to  notice  what  was  demanded 
of  herself,  she  required  Elizabeth  immediately  to  de- 
clare her  by  Act  of  Parliament  next  in  the  succession ; 
and  failing  herself  and  her  children,  to  entail  the  crown 
on  Lady  Margaret  Lennox  and  her  children  'as  the  per- 
sons by  the  law  of  God  and  nature  next  inheritable/ 
The  Queen  of  England  should  bind  herself  '  neither  to 
do  nor  suffer  to  be  done  either  by  law  or  otherwise ' 
anything  prejudicial  to  the  Scottish  title ;  to  abstain 
in  future  from  all  practices  with  subjects  of  the  Scottish 
Crown ;  to  enter  no  league  and  contract  110  alliance 
which  could  affect  the  Queen  of  Scots'  fortunes  unfa- 
vourably. On  these  terms,  but  on  these  alone,  she  would 
consent  to  leave  Elizabeth  in  undisturbed  possession 
during  her  own  or  her  children's  lifetime ;  she  would 
abstain  from  encouraging  the  English  Catholics  to  rise 
in  rebellion  in  her  behalf,  and  from  inviting  an  inva- 
sion from  Spain  or  France;1  and  she  condescended  to 
promise — to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the  Protestants 
in  both  countries — although  she  was  receiving  the  sup- 

1  Offer  of  the  King  and  Queen  of  Scotland,  by  Mr  Tamworth,  August, 
1 565  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1565-]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  317 

port  of  the  Pope  and  seeking  the  support  of  the  King  of 
Spain  in  the  sole  interests  of  Romanism — that  in  the 
event  of  herself  and  her  husband  succeeding  to  the 
throne  of  England,  the  religion  established  there  by  law 
should  not  be  interfered  with. 

An  answer,  every  sentence  of  which  must  have  stung 
Elizabeth  like  a  whip-lash,  might  have  for  the  moment 
satisfied  Mary  Stuart's  passion ;  but  her  hatred  of  hej 
sister  of  England  was  passing  into  contempt,  and  she 
believed  she  might  trample  upon  her  with  impunity. 

Tamworth  having  received  his  message  desired  to 
return  with  it  to  England.  He  applied  for  a  passport, 
which  was  given  him  signed  by  Darnley  as  King  of 
Scotland ;  and  Elizabeth  had  forbidden  him  to  recog- 
nize Darnley  in  any  capacity  but  that  of  the  Queen' 
husband.  He  desired  that  the  wording  might  be  changed : 
his  request  was  refused.  He  requested  that  a  guard 
might  escort  him  to  the  Border :  it  could  not  be  grant- 
ed. He  set  out  without  attendance  and  without  a  safe- 
conduct  :  he  was  arrested  and  carried  prisoner  to  Hume 
Castle. 

The  lords  at  Stirling  had  been  already  so  perplexed 
by  E1iKRhfijlv[H_^jj'iJyj;Sat.  they  had  broken  upland 
dispersed.  Argyle  and  Murray  retired  to  the  western 
Highlands,  and  sent  an  earnest  message  that  unless  they 
could  be  immediately  relieved  they  would  be  over- 
thrown.1 The  arrest  of  Tamworth  added  to  their  dis- 
may. Yet  in  spite  of  past  experience  they  could  not 

1  Tamworth  to  Cecil  and  Leicester,  August  10 :  Scotch  MSS.,  Rolls 
House 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  44. 


believe  Elizabeth  capable  of  breaking  promises  so  em- 
phatically and  so  repeatedly  made  to  them.  They  wrote 
through  Randolph  that  they  were  still  at  the  Queen  of 
England's  devotion.  They  would  hold  out  as  long  as 
their  strength  lasted ;  but  it  was  already  tasked  to  the 
uttermost,  and  if  left  to  themselves  they  would  have  to 
yield  to  superior  force. 

The  catastrophe  came  quicker  than  they  anticipated . 
The  friends  of  the  Congregation  were  invited  by  cir- 
culars to  meet  at  Ayr  on  the  24th  of  August.  On  the 
2^th  the  Queen  of  Scots — after  a  tempestuous  interview 
\vith  Randolph,  who  had  demanded  Tarn  worth's  release 
— mounted  her  horse  and  rode  out  of  Edinburgh  at  the 
head  of  5000  men  to  meet  her  enemies  in  the  field. 
Darnley,  in  gilt  armour,  was  at  her  side.  She  herself 
carried  pistols  in  hand  and  pistols  at  her  saddlebow. 
Her  one  peculiar  hope  was  to  encounter  and  destroy 
her  brother,  against  whom,  above  and  beyond  his  poli- 
tical opposition,  she  bore  an  especial  and  unexplained 
animosity.1 


1  '  I  never  heard  more  outrage- 
ous words  than  she  spoke  against 
my  Lord  of  Murray.  She  said  she 
would  rather  lose  her  crown  than 
not  be  revenged  upon  him.  She  has 
some  further  cause  of  quarrel  with 
him  than  she  cares  to  avow.' — Ran- 
dolph to  Cecil,  August  27:  MS. 
Rolls  House.  Shortly  after,  Ran- 
dolph imagined  that  he  had  dis- 
covered the  '  further  cause.'  '  The 
batred  conceived  against  my  Lord  of 
Murray  is  neither  for  his  religion 


nor  yet  for  that  she  now  speaketh — 
that  he  would  take  the  crown  from 
her,  as  she  said  lately  to  myself — but 
that  she  knoweth  that  he  knoweth 
some  such  secret  fact,  not  to  be 
named  for  reverence  sake,  that  stand  - 
eth  not  with  her  honour,  which  he 
so  much  detesteth,  being  her  brother, 
that  neither  can  he  show  himself  as 
he  hatli  done,  nor  she  think  of  him 
but  as  of  one  whom  she  mortally 
hateth.  Here  is  the  mischief,  this 
is  the  grief;  and  how  this  may  be 


565-] 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE. 


319 


With  the  money  sent  her  from  abroad  she  had  con- 
trived to  raise  six  hundred  '  harquebussmen/  whom  the 
half- armed  retainers  of  the  lords  could  not  hope  to  en- 
gage successfully.  Passing  Linlithgow  and  Stirling  she 
swept  swiftly  round  to  Glasgow,  and  cut  off  the  retreat 
of  the  Protestants  into  the  western  hills.  A  fight  was 
looked  for  at  Hamilton,  where  '  a  hundred  gentlemen  of 
her  party  determined  to  set  on  Murray  in  the  battle,  and 
either  slay  him  or  tarry  behind  lifeless.' l 

Outnumbered — for  they  had  in  all  but  1300  horse — 
and  outmanoauvred  by  the  rapid  movements  of  the 
Queen,  the  Protestants  fell  back  on  Edinburgh,  where 
they  expected  the  citizens  to  declare  for  them.  On  the 
last  of  August,  six  days  after  Mary  Stuart  had  left 


solved  and  repaired  it  passeth  man's 
wit  to  consider.  This  reverence,  for 
all  that  he  hath  to  his  sovereign, 
that  I  am  sure  there  are  very  few 
that  know  this  grief;  and  to  have 
this  obloquy  and  reproach  of  her  re- 
moved, I  believe  he  would  quit  his 
country  for  all  the  days  of  his  life.' 
—Randolph  to  Cecil,  October  13 : 
MS.  Ibid. 

The  mystery  alluded  to  was  ap- 
parently the  intimacy  of  Mary  Stu- 
art with  Rizzio,  which  was  already 
so  close  and  confidential  as  to  pro- 
voke calumny.  In  the  face  of  Ran- 
dolph's language  it  is  difficult  to  say 
for  certain  that  Mary  Stuart  had 
never  transgressed  the  permitted 
limits  of  propriety  ;  yet  it  is  more 
likely  that  a  person  so  careless  of 
the  opinions  of  others,  and  so  warm 
and  true  in  her  friendships,  should 


have  laid  herself  open  to  remark 
through  some  indiscretion,  than  that 
she  should  have  seriously  compro- 
mised her  character.  It  seems  cer- 
tain that  Murray  intended  to  have 
hanged  Rizzio.  Paul  de  Foix  asked 
Elizabeth  for  an  explanation  of  the 
Queen  of  Scots'  animosity  against 
her  brother : — 

*  Elle  s'estant  ung  peu  teue,  et 
secoue  sa  teste,  me  respondit  que 
c'estoit  pour  ce  quo  la  Royne  d'Es- 
cosse  avoit  este  informee  que  le 
Comte  de  Murray  avoit  voullu 
pendre  ung  Italien  nomine  David 
qu'elle  aymoit  et  favorisoit,  luy  don- 
nant  plus  de  credit  que  ses  affaires 
et  honneur  ne  devoient.' — Paul  de 
Foix  au  Roy  :  TEULET,  vol.  ii. 

1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  September 
4  :  MS.  Rolls  House. 


320  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

Holyrood,  Chatelherault,  Murray,  Glencairn,  Rothes, 
Boyd,  Kirkaldy,  and  a  few  more  gentlemen,  rode  with 
their  servants  into  the  West  Port,  and  sending  a  courier 
to  Berwick  with  a  pressing  entreaty  for  help,  they  pre- 
pared to  defend  themselves.  But  the  Calvinist  shop- 
keepers who  could  be  so  brave  against  a  miserable  priest 
had  no  stomach  for  a  fight  with  armed  men.  The 
Queen  was  coming  fast  behind  them  like  an  avenging 
fury ;  and  Erskine,  who  was  inclining  to  the  royal  side, 
began  to  fire  on  the  lords  from  the  castle.  '  In  the  town 
they  could  find  neither  help  nor  support  from  any  one/ 
and  the  terrified  inhabitants  could  only  entreat  and 
even  insist  that  they  should  depart.  A  fortnight  before, 
a  little  money  and  a  few  distinct  words  from  England 
would  have  sufficed  to  save  them.  Mary  Stuart's  cour- 
age and  Elizabeth's  remissness  had  by  this  time  so 
strengthened  the  party  of  the  Queen  that  '  little  good 
could  now  be  done  without  greater  support  than  could 
be  in  readiness  in  any  short  time/  The  lords  could  only 
retire  towards  the  Border  and  wait  Elizabeth's  pleasure. 
'  What  was  promised/  Randolph  passionately  wrote  to 
Cecil,  'your  honour  knoweth.  Oh  that  her  Majesty's 
mind  was  known  !  If  the  Earl  of  Bedford  have  only 
commission  to  act  in  this  matter  both  Queens  may  be  in 
one  country  before  long.  In  the  whole  world  if  there 
be  a  more  malicious  heart  towards  the  Queen  my 
sovereign  than  hers  that  here  now  reigneth,  let  me  be 
hanged  at  my  home-coming  or  counted  a  villain  for 


Randolph  to  Cecil,  September  4  ;  MS.  Rolls  Roust 


1565.]  THE  DA RX LEY  MARRIAGE.  321 

Mary    meanwhile   had    re-entered   Edin- 

Scptcmber. 

burgh,  breathing  nothing  but  anger  and  de- 
fiance. Argyle  was  in  his  own  Highlands  wasting  the 
adjoining  lands  of  Athol  and  Lennox  ;  but  she  scarcely 
noticed  or  cared  for  Argyle.  The  affection,  of  a  sister 
for  a  brother  was  curdled  into  a  hatred  the  more  ma- 
lignant because  it  was  unnatural.  Her  whole  passion 
was  concentrated  on  Murray,  and  after  Murray  on 
Elizabeth. 

The  day  before  she  had  left  Holy  rood  for  the  west  an 
Englishman  named  Yaxlee  had  arrived  there  from 
Flanders.  This  person,  who  has  been  already  mentioned 
as  in  the  service  of  Lady  Lennox,  had  been  emplo}Ted 
by  her  as  the  special  agent  of  her  correspondence  with 
the  continental  Courts.  Lady  Lennox  being  now  in  the 
Tower,  Yaxlee  followed  the  fortunes  of  her  son,  and 
came  to  Scotland  to  place  himself  at  the  disposal  of  Mary 
Stuart.  He  was  a  conspirator  of  the  kind  most  danger- 
ous to  his  employers,  vain,  loud,  and  confident,  fond  of 
boasting  of  his  acquaintance  with  kings  and  princes, 
and  '  promising  to  bring  to  a  good  end  whatsoever 
should  be  committed  to  him/  '  The  wiser  sort'  soon 
understood  and  avoided  him.  The  Queen  of  Scots 
however  allowed  herself  to  be  persuaded  by  her  hus- 
band, and  placed  herself  in  Yaxlee's  power.  She  told 
him  all  her  schemes  at  home  and  all  the  promises 
which  had  been  made  to  her  abroad.  The  Bishop  of 
Dunblane  at  Rome  had  requested  the  Pope  to  lend 
her  twelve  thousand  men,  and  the  Pope  was  waiting 
only  for  Philip's  sanction  and  co-operation  to  send 

VOL.    VII.  21 


322  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.44. 

them.1  She  selected  Yaxlee  to  go  on.  a  mission  to 
Spain  to  explain  her  position,  and  to  '  remit  her  claims, 
prospects,  and  the  manner  of  the  prosecution  thereof 
to  Philip's  judgment  and  direction. 

Yain  of  the  trust  reposed  in  him,  the  foolish  creature 
was  unable  to  keep  his  counsel.  His  babbling  tongue 
revealed  all  that  he  knew  and  all  that  he  was  commis- 
sioned to  do  ;  and  the  report  of  it  was  soon  in  Cecil's 
hands.2 

Philip  would  no  doubt  be  unwilling  to  move. 
Philip,  like  Elizabeth,  was  fond  of  encouraging  others  to 
run  into  difficulties  by  promises  which  he  repudiated  if 
they  were  inconvenient ;  and  in  this  particular  instance 
Mary  Stuart  had  gone  beyond  his  advice  and  had  placed 
herself  in  a  position  against  which  the  Duke  of  Alva 
had  pointedly  warned  her.  But  the  fears  of  the  Spaniards 
for  the  safety  of  the  Low  Countries  were  every  day  in- 
creasing ;  they  regarded  England  as  the  fountain  from 
which  the  heresies  of  the  continent  were  fed  ;  and  they 
looked  to  the  recovery  of  it  to  the  Church  as  the  only 
means  of  restormg^order  injtheir  own  provinces.3 


1  Capitulo  de  Cartas  del  Cardinal 
Pacheco  a  su  Magd.,  2  September, 
1565  :  MS.  Simancas. 

2  '  Memoir  of  tile  proceedings  of 
Francis  Yaxlee,'  in    Cecil's   hand- 
writing :    Cotton.  MSS.   CALIG.  B. 
10.     The  name  of  the  person  is  left 
blank  in  Cecil's  manuscript,  but  a 
French    translation  of  the  memoir 
was  found  in  Paris  by  M.  Teulet,  and 
on  the  margin  is  written,   l  Celluy 
qui  est  laisse  en  blanc  c'cst  Yaxlee.' 


3      4 


Esta  materia  de  Escocia  y  de 
aqui  es  de  tanta  importancia  como  se 
puede  considerar ;  porque  si  este 
Reyno  se  reduxiese,  parece  que  se 
quitara  la  fucnte  de  los  hereges  de 
Flanders  y  de  Francia,  y  aun  las 
intelligencias  de  Alemania,  que,  como 
aqui,  hay  necessidad  destas  malas 
ayudas  para  sostenerse.' — De  Silva 
to  Philip,  August  20  MS.  Si- 
mancas. 


1 565 . ]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARR1A  GE.  323 

Elizabeth  was  perfectly  aware  of  the  dangers  which 
were  thickening  round  her,  and  the  effect  was  to  end 
her  uncertainty  and  to  determine  her  to  shake  herself 
clear  from  the  failing  fortunes  of  the  noblemen  whom 
she  had  invited  to  rebel.  They  had  halted  at  Dumfries, 
close  to  the  Border,  where  Murray,  thinking  that  '  no- 
thing worse  could  happen  than  an  agreement  while  the 
Queen  of  Scots  had  the  upper  hand  and  they  without  a 
force  in  the  field/  was  with  difficulty  keeping  together 
the  remnant  of  his  party.  The  Earl  of  Bedford,  weary 
of  waiting  for  instructions  which  never  came,  wrote  at 
last  half  in  earnest  and  half  in  irony  to  Elizabeth  to 
propose  that  she  should  play  over  again  the  part  which 
she  had  played  with  Winter ;  he  would  himself  enter 
Scotland  with  the  Berwick  garrison,  and  '  her  Majesty 
could  afterwards  seem  to  blame  him  for  attempting  such 
things  as  with  the  help  of  others  he  could  bring  about/2 
But  Elizabeth  was  too  much  frightened  to  consent  even 
to  a  vicarious  fulfilment  of  her  promises.  She  replied 
that  if  the  lords  were  in  danger  of  being  taken  the  Earl 
might  cover  their  retreat  into  England ;  she  sent  him 
three  thousand  pounds  which  if  he  pleased  he  might 
place  in  their  hands ;  but  he  must  give  them  to  under- 
stand precisely  that  both  the  one  and  the  other  were  his 
own  acts,  for  which  she  would  accept  neither  thanks 
nor  responsibility.  '  You  shall  make  them  perceive  your 
case  to  be  such/  she  said,  '  as  if  it  should  appear  other- 
wise your  danger  should  be  so  great  as  all  the  friends 

1  Murray    to    Randolph,    Sep-  I        2  Bedford    to    Elizabeth :    JUS, 
tcmber  8  :  MS.  Rolls  Howe.  Ibid. 


324  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.44. 

you  have  could  not  be  able  to  save  you  towards  us.' l 
At  times  she  seemed  to  struggle  with  her  ignominy, 
but  it  was  only  to  flounder  deeper  into  distraction  and 
dishonour.  Once  she  sent  for  the  French  ambassador  : 
she  told  him  that  the  Earl  of  Murray  and  his  friends 
were  in  danger  for  her  sake  and  through  her  means ; 
the  Queen  of  Scots  was  threatening  their  lives ;  and 
she  swore  she  would  aid  them  with  all  the  means  which 
God  had  given,  and  she  would  have  all  men  know  her 
determination.  But  the  next  moment,  as  if  afraid  of 
what  she  had  said,  she  stooped  to  a  deliberate  lie.  De 
Foix  had  heard  of  the  3000^.,  and  had  ascertained  be- 
yond doubt  that  it  had  been  sent  from  the  Treasury  ; 
yet  when  he  questioned  Elizabeth  about  it  she  took  re- 
fuge behind  Bedford,  and  swore  she  had  sent  no  money 
to  the  lords  at  all.2 

'  It  fears  me  not  a  little/  wrote  Murray  on  the  2ist, 
'  that  these  secret  and  covered  pretendings  of  the  Queen's 
Majesty  there,  as  matters  now  stand,  shall  never  put 
this  cause  to  such  end  as  we  both  wish,  but  open  declar- 
ation would  apparently  bring  with  it  no  doubt.'3  '  If 
her  Majesty  will  openly  declare  herself/  said  Bedford, 
*  uncertain  hearts  will  be  determined  again  and  all  will 
go  well.' 4 

Paul  de  Foix  himself,  notwithstanding  his  know- 
ledge of  Elizabeth,  was  unable  to  believe  that  she  would 


1  Elizabeth  to  Bedford,  September  12  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 

2  De  Foix  to  the  Queen-mother,  September  18:  TEULET,  vol.  ii. 

3  Murray  to  Bedford,  September  21  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
*  Bedford  to  Cecil:  MS.  Ibid. 


1565]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  325 

persevere  in  a  course  so  discreditable  and  so  dangerous. 
80  easy  it  would  be  for  her  to  strike  Mary  Stuart  down, 
if  she  had  half  the  promptitude  of  Mary  herself,  that  it 
seemed  impossible  to  him  that  she  would  neglect  the 
opportunity.  As  yet  the  party  of  the  Queen  of  Scots 
had  no  solid  elements  of  strength  :  Bizzio  was  the  chief 
councillor  ;  the  Earl  of  Athol  was  the  General — '  a  youth 
without  judgment  or  experience,  whose  only  merit  was 
a  frenzied  Catholicism.' *  Catherine  de  Medici,  who 
thought  like  de  Foix,  and  desired  to  prevent  Elizabeth 
from  becoming  absolute  mistress  of  Scotland,  sent  over 
Castelnau  de  Mauvissiere  to  mediate  between  the  Queen, 
of  Scots  and  her  subjects.  But  Mary  Stuart  understood 
better  the  temperament  with  which  she  had  to  deal ;  she 
knew  that  Elizabeth  was  thoroughly  cowed  and  jright- 
ened,  and  that  she  had  nothing  to  fear:  She  sent  a 
message  to  Castelnau  that  she  would  allow  neither 
France  nor  England  to  interfere  between  her  and  her 
revolted  subjects;  while  her  rival  could  only  betake 
herself  to  her  single  resource  in  difficulty,  and  propose 
again  to  marry  the  Archduke. 

There  was  something  piteous  as  well  as  laughable  in 
the  perpetual  recurrence  of  this  forlorn  subject.  She 
was  not  wholly  insincere.  When  pushed  to  extremity 
she  believed  that  marriage  might  become  her  duty,  and 
she  imagined  that  she  was  willing  to  encounter  it.  The 
game  was  a  dangerous  one,  for  she  had  almost  exhausted 
the  patience  of  her  subjects,  who  might  compel  her  at 


1  De  Foix  to  the  Queen-mother,  September  18  :  TEULET,  vol.  ii. 


326  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH  [en.  44. 

last  to  fulfil  in  earnest  the  hopes  which  she  had  excited. 
It  would  have  come  to  an  end  long  before  had  it  not 
been  that  Philip,  who  was  irresolute  as  herself,  allowed 
his  wishes  for  the  marriage  to  delude  him  into  believing 
Elizabeth  serious  whenever  it  was  mentioned  ;  while  the 
desirableness  of  the  Austrian  alliance  in  itself,  and  the 
extreme  anxiety  for  it  among  English  statesmen,  kept 
alive  the  jealous  fears  of  the  French.  To  de  Silva  the 
Queen  appeared  a  vain,  capricious  woman,  whose  plea- 
sure it  was  to  see  the  princes  of  Europe  successively  at 
her  feet ;  yet  he  too  had  expected  that  if  her  Scotch 
policy  failed  she  would  take  the  Archduke  in  earnest  at 
last,  and  thus  the  value  of  the  move  was  not  yet  wholly 
played  away,  and  she  could  use  his  name  once  more  to 
hold  her  friends  nrd  her  party  together. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  when  the  Archduke  was  talked 
of  on  one  side  the  French  had  their  candidate  on  the 
other ;  and  Charles  the  Ninth  being  no  longer  in  ques- 
tion, Paul  de  Foix  threw  his  interest  on  the  side  of  Lei- 
cester. While  the  Queen  of  Scots  was  displaying  the 
spirit  of  a  sovereign  and  accomplishing  with  uncommon 
skill  the  first  steps  of  the  Catholic  revolution,  Elizabeth 
was  amusing  herself  once  more  with  balancing  the  attrac- 
tions of  her  lover  and  the  Austrian  prince :  not  indeed 
that  she  any  longer  wished  to  marry  even  the  favoured 
LorTOlobert ;  '  If  she  ever  took  a  husband/  she  said  to 
de  Foix,  *  she  would  give  him  neither  a  share  of  her 
power  nor  the  keys  of  her  treasury  ;  her  subjects  wanted 
a  successor,  and  she  would  use  the  husband's  services  to 
obtain  such  a  thing ;  but  under  any  aspect  the  thought 


1565.] 


THE  DARNLE  Y  MA  RRIA  GE. 


3*7 


of  marriage  was  odious  to  her,  and  when  she  tried  to 
make  up  her  mind  it  was  as  if  her  heart  was  being  toin 
out  of  her  body.' 1 

Yet  Leicester  was  fooled  by  the  French  into  a  brief 
hope  of  success.  He  tried  to  interest  Cecil  in  his  cause 
by  assuring  him  that  the  Queen  would  marry  no  one  but 
himself;  and  Cecil  mocked  him  with  a  courteous  answer, 
and  left  on  record,  in  a  second  table  of  contrasts  with 
the  Archduke,  his  own  intense  conviction  of  Leicester's 
worthlessness.2 

A  ludicrous  Court  calamity  increased  the  troubles  of 
the  Queen  and  with  them  her  unwillingness  to  declare 
war  against  the  Queen  of  Scots.  The  three  daughters  of 
the  Duke  of  Suffolk  had  been  placed  one  after  the  other 
in  the  line  of  succession  by  Henry  the  Eighth.  Lady 
Jane  was  dead ;  Lady  Catherine  was  dying  from  the 
effects  of  her  long  and  cruel  imprisonment ;  the  third, 
Lady  Mary,  had  remained  at  the  Court,  and  one  evening 
in  August  when  the  Scotch  plot  was  thickening  got  her- 
self married  in  the  palace  itself  '  by  an  old  fat  priest  in 
a  short  gown '  to  Thomas  Keys  the  sergeant  porter.3 
Lady  Mary  was  *  the  smallest  woman  in  the  Court/  Keys 


1  She  said  she  was  resolved — 
*Ne  departir  jamais  a  celuy  qui 
seroit  son  mary  ni  de  ses  biens  ni 
forces  ni  raoyens,  ne  voulant  s'ayder 
de  luy  que  pour  laisser  successeur 
<Telle  a  ses  subjectz  ;  mais  quand 
clle  pensoit  de  ce  faire,  il  luy  sem- 
bloit  que  Ton  luy  arrachast  le  cccur 
<lu  ventrc  ;  tnnt  clle  en  estoit  de  son 
naturcl  eslonguec.' — Paul  de  Foix 


to  the  Queen-mother,  August  22: 
TEULET,  vol.  ii. 

2  '  De  Matrimonio  Reginse  An- 
glia3.'     Reasons  against  the  Earl  of 
Leicester  :  Burghley  Papers,  vol.  i. 

3  This  marriage  was  before  men- 
tioned by  me  as  having  taken  place 
at  the  same  time  with  that  of  Lady 
Jane  Grey  and  Guilford  Dudley.     I 
was  misled  by  Dugdale. 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  44. 


was  the  largest  man,  and  that  seemed  to  have  been  the 
chief  bond  of  connection  between  them.  The  lady  was 
perhaps  anxious  for  a  husband  and  knew  that  Elizabeth 
would  keep  her  single  till  she  died.  Discovery  followed 
^before  worse  had  happened  than  the  ceremony.  The 
burly  sergeant  porter  was  sent  to  the  Fleet  to  grow  thin 
on  discipline  and  low  diet ;  the  Lady  Mary  went  into 
private  confinement ;  and  both  were  only  too  eager  to 
release  each  other  and  escape  from  punishment.  The 
bishops  were  set  to  work  by  the  council  to  undo  the 
knot  and  found  it  no  easy  matter.1  Elizabeth  had  a 
fresh  excuse  for  her  detestation  of  the  Greys  and  a  fresh 
topic  on  which  to  descant  in  illustration  of  the  iniquities 
of  matrimony. 

De  Mauvissiere  meanwhile,  undeterred  by  the  Queen 
of  Scots'  message,  had  made  his  way  to  Edinburgh,  but 
only  to  find  that  he  had  come  upon  a  useless  errand. 
The  Earl  of,  Bothwell  had  rejoined  Mary  Stuart  in  tke 
middle  of  her  triumph,  '  a  man/  said  Randolph, '  fit  to  be 
made  a  minister  of  any  shameful  act  against  God  or 
man ; ' 2  and  Both  well's  hatred  for  Murray  drew  him  closer 
than  ever  to  Mary's  side.  In  the  full  confidence  _pf 
success  and  surrounded  by  persons  whose  whole  aim  was 
to  feed  the  fire  of  her  passion,  she  would  listen,  to  no- 
thing which  de  Mauvissiere  could  urge^.  In  vain  he 
warned  her~oTthe  experience  of  France  ;  in  vain  ho  re- 


1  Privy  Council  Register,  Au- 
gust, 1565.  Proceedings  of  council 
on  the  marriage  of  the  Lady  Mary 
Grey:  MS.  Domestic,  L 


Rolls  House.     I  ishop  of  Lone  on  to- 
Cecil :  MS.  Ibid. 

2  Randolph  to  Cecil,  September 
20  :  •'  o'ch  MtS.  Eolls  Hous  : 


THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIAGE. 


329 


minded  her  of  the  siege  of  Leith  and  of  the  madness  of 
risking  a  quarrel  with  her  powerful  and  dangerous  neigh- 
bour. '  Scotland/  she  said,  '  should  not  be  turned  into 
a  republic ;  she  would  sooner  lose  her  crown  than  wear 
it  at  the  pleasure  of  her  revolted  subjects  and  the  Queen 
of  England  ;  instead  of  advising  her  to  make  peace, 
Catherine  de  Medici  should  have  stepped  forward  to  her 
side  and  assisted  her  to  avenge  the  joint  wrongs  of 
France  and  Scotland ;  if  France  failed  her  in  her  ex- 
tremity, grieved  as  she  might  be  to  leave  her  old  allies, 
she  would  take  the  hand  which  was  offered  her  by 
Spain  ;  she  would  submit  to  England — never.' 1 

From  the  moment  when  she  had  first  taken  the  field, 
she  had  given  her  enemies  no  rest;  she  had  swept  Fife, 
the  hotbed  of  the  Protestants,  as  far  as  St  Andrew's. 
The  old  Laird  of  Lundy — he  who  had  called  the  mass 
the  mickle  deil — was  flung  into  prison  and  his  friends 
and  his  family  had  to  fly  for  their  lives.  At  the  end  of 
September  she  was  pausing  to  recover  breath  at  Holy- 
rood  before  she  made  her  last  swoop  upon  the  party  at 
Dumfries.  The  Edinburgh  merchants  found  her  money, 
her  soldiers  with  lighted  matchlocks  assisting  them  to 
unloose  their  purse-strings.  With  October  she  would 
march  to  the  Border,  and  in  her  unguarded  moments 
she  boasted  that  she  would  take  her  next  rest  at  the 
gates  of  London.2 

It  was  now  necessary  for  Elizabeth  to  come  to  some 


1  Castelnau  de  Mativissiere  to 
Paul  do  Foix,  September  :  TEULET, 
vol.  ii. 


2  Paul  de  Foix  to  the  King  of 
France,  September  29 ;  TEULET, 
vol.  ii. 


330  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.44. 

resolution  which  she  could  avow — either  to  interfere  at 
once  or  distinctly  to  declare  that  she  did  not  mean  to 
interfere.  Cecil,  according  to  his  usual  habit,  reviewed 
the  situation  and  drew  out  in  form  its  leading  features. 
The  two  interests  at  stake  were  religion  and  the  succes- 
sion to  the  Crown*  For  religion  '  it  was  doubtful  how 
to  meddle  in  another  prince's  controversy : '  '  so  far  as 
politic  laws  were  devised  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
Gospel  Christian  men  might  defend  it,'  '  yet  the  best 
service  which  men  could  render  to  the  truth  was  to  serve 
God  faithfully  and  procure  by  good  living  the  defence 
thereof  at  His  Almighty  hand/  The  succession  was  at 
once  more  critical  and  more  impossible  to  leave  un- 
touched. The  Queen  of  Scots  appeared  to  intend  to 
exact  her  recognition  as  '  second  person '  at  the  point  of 
the_svvord.  The  unwillingness  of  the  Queen  of  England 
to  marry  had  unsettled  the  minds  of  her  subjects,  who, 
'  beholding  the  state  of  the  Crown  to  depend  only  on  the 
breath  of  one  person/  were  becoming  restless  and  uneasy ; 
and  there  were  symptoms  on  all  sides  which  pointed 
'  towards  a  civil  quarrel  in  the  realm/  The  best  remedy 
would  be  the  fulfilment  of  the  hopes  which  had  been  so 
long  held  out  to  the  nation.  If  the  Queen  would  marry 
all  danger  would  at  once  be  at  an  end.  If  she  could  not 
bring  herself  to  accept  that  alternative,  she  might  make 
the  intrigues  of  the  Scottish  Queen  with  her  Catholic 
subjects,  the  practising  with  Rome,  the  language  of 
Darnley  to  Randolph,  and  the  continued  refusal  to  ratify 
the  Treaty  of  Edinburgh,  a  ground  for  declaring  war.1 

1  Note  in  Cecil's  hand,  September,  1565;  JITS'.  Rolls  House 


4565.]  THE  DARNLEV  MARRIAGE.  331 

Every  member  of  the  council  was  summoned  to  Lon- 
don. The  suspected  Earls  of  Cumberland,  Westmore- 
land, and  Northumberland  were  invited  to  the  Court,  to 
remove  them  from  the  Border  where  they  would  perhaps 
T}e  dangerous ;  and  day  after  day  the  advisers  of  the 
'Crown  sat  in  earnest  and  inconclusive  deliberation.  A 
lucid  statement  was  drawn  up  of  Mary  Stuart's  proceed- 
ings from  the  day  of  Elizabeth's  accession ;  every  aggres- 
sive act  on  her  part,  every  conciliatory  movement  of  the 
'Queen  of  England,  w,ere  laid  out  in  careful  detail  to  assist 
the  council  in  forming  a  judgment ;  the  history  was 
brought  down  to  the  latest  moment,  and  one  only  im- 
portant matter  seems  to  have  been  withheld — the  unfor- 
tunate promises  which  Elizabeth  had  made  to  the  Earl 
of  Murray  and  his  friends  at  a  time  when  she  believed 
that  a  demonstration  in  Scotland  would  be  sufficient  to 
frighten  Mary  Stuart,  and  that  she  would  never  be  called 
on  to  fulfil  them. 

In  favour  of  sending  assistance  to  the  Protestant 
noblemen,  it  was  urged  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  notori- 
ously intended  to  overthrow  the  reformed  religion,  and 
to  make  her  way  to  the  English  throne  ;  the  title  of  the 
Queen  of  England  depended  on  the  Reformation ;  if  the 
Pope's  authority  was  restored  she  would  no  longer  be 
regarded  as  legitimate^.  To  sit  still  in  the  face  of  the 
attitude  which  the  Queen  of  Scots  had  assumed  was  to 
encourage  her  to  continue  her  practices ;  and  it  was 
more  prudent  to  encounter  an  enemy  when  it  could  be 
done  at  small  cost  and  in  her  own  country  than  to  wait 
to  be  overtaken  at  home  by  war  and  rebellion  which 
would  be  a  thousand  times  more  dangerous  and  costly. 


332  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.44," 

Ojt_the_otlier  hand,  to  defend^ the  insurgent  subjects 
of  a  neighbouring  sovereign  was  a  dangerous  precedent. 
If  Elizabeth  was  justified  in  maintaining  the  Scotch  Pro- 
testants, the  King  of  Spain  might  claim  as  fair  a  right 
to  interfere  in  behalf  of  the  English  Catholics.  Tha 
form  which  a  war  would  assume,  and  the  contingencies 
which  might  arise  from  it,  could  not  be  foreseen,  while 
the  peril  and  expense  were  immediate  and  certain. 

The  arguments  on  both  sides  were  so  evenly  balanced 
that  it  was  difficult  to  choose  between?  them.  The  council 
however,  could  it  be  proved  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  was 
in  communication  with  the  Pope  to  further  her  designs 
on  England,  were  ready  to  consider  that  '  a  great  matter.' 
The  name  of  the  Pope  was  detested  in  England  by  men 
who  believed  themselves  to  hold  every  shred  of  Catholic 
doctrine  ;  the  creed  was  an  opinion  ;  the  Pope  was  a  po- 
litical and  most  troublesome  fact,  with  which  under  no 
circumstances  were  moderate  English  gentlemen  inclined 
to  have  any  more  dealings.  The  Pope  turned  the  scale ; 
and  the  council,  after  some  ineffectual  attempts  to  find  a 
middle  course,  resolved  on  immediately  confiscating  the 
estates  of  the  Earl  of  Lennox ;  while  they  recommended 
the~Queen  to  demand  the  ratification  of  the  Treaty  of 
Edinburgh,  to  send  a  fleet  into  the  Forth,  and  to  despatch 
a  few  thousand  men  to  Berwick,  to  be  at  the  disposal  of 
the~EarT  of  Bedford^ 

Had  these  steps  been  taken,  either  Mary  Stuart  must 
have  yielded,  or  there  would  have  been  an  immediate 

1  Notes  of  the  Proceedings  in  Council  at  Westminster,  September  24. 
In  Cecil's  hand :  Cotton.  MtiS.  CALIG.  B.  10.     Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1565.]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  333 

war.  But  the  council,  though  consenting  and  advising 
a  decided  course,  were  still  divided :  Norfolk,  Arundel, 
Winchester,  Mason,  and  Pembroke  were  in  favour  in  the 
main  of  the  Queen  of  Scots'  succession,  and  they  regarded 
Calvinists  and  Calvinism  with  a  most  heartfelt  and  gen- 
uine detestation.  Elizabeth  in  her  heart  resented  the 
necessity  of  identifying  herself  with  the  party  of  John 
Knox,  and her  m^o^^a£i<^^om_  day  to  day.  After 
the  resolution  of  the  council  on  the  24th  she  spoke  at 
length  to  the  French  ambassador  in  praise  of  Murray, 
who,  if  his  sister  could  but  have  known  it,  she  said,  was 
her  truest  friend — a  noble,  generous,  and  good  man  ;  she 
was  fully  aware  of  the  Queen  of  Scots'  designs  against 
her ;  and  when  de  Foix  entreated  her  not  to  break  the 
peace,  she  refused  to  give  him  any  assurances,  and  she 
told  him  that  if  France  assisted  Mary  Stuart  she  should 
receive  it  as  an  act  of  hostility  against  herself.1 

But  her  energy  spent  itself  in  words,  or  rather  both 
the  Queen  and  those  advisers  whom  she  most  trusted, 
•even  Sir  William  Cecil  himself,  oscillated  backwards 
into  a  decision  that  the  risk  of  war  was  too  great  to  be 
encountered.  The  example  might  be  fatal :  the  Catholic 
powers  might  interfere  in  England ;  the  Romanists  at 
home  might  mutiny  ;  while  to  move  an  army  was  '  three 
times  more  chargeable  than  it  was  wont  to  be,  whereof 
the  experience  at  Havre  might  serve  for  example.' 2  Two 
days  after  their  first  resolution  therefore  the  council 


1  Paul  de  Foix  to  the  King  of  France,  September  29  ;  TEULET,  vol.  ii. 

2  '  Causes  that  move  me  not  to  consent  presently  to  war,'  September 
26.     Note  in  Cecil's  hand :  Cotton.  MSS.  CALIG.  B.  10. 


334 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  44. 


assembled  again,  when  Cecil  informed  them  '  that  he 
found  a  lack  of  disposition  in  the  Queen's  Majesty  to 
allow  of  war  or  of  the  charges  thereof;'  she  would  break 
her  word  to  the  lords  whom  she  had  encouraged  into 
insurrection  ;  but  it  was  better  than  to  run  the  risk  of 
a  conflagration  which  might  wrap  all  England  in  its 
flames.  The  idea  of  forcible  interference  was  finally 
abandoned.  De  Mauvissiere  remained  at  Edinburgh 
sincerely  endeavouring  to  keep  Mary  within  bounds; 
and  Cecil  himself  wrote  a  private  letter  of  advice  to  her 
which  he  sent  by  the  hands  of  a  Captain  Cockburn. 
There  were  reasons  for  supposing  that  her  violence 
might  have  begun  to  cool.  Darnley  had  desired  that 
the  command  of  the  army  might  be  given  to  his  father ; 
the  Queen  of  Scots  had  insisted  on  bestowing  it  upon 
Bothwell,1  who  had  won  her  favour  by  promising  to  bring 
in  Murray  dead  or  alive  ; 2  and  Lennox  was  holding  off 
from  the  Court  in  jealous  discontent. 

Cockburn  on  his  arrival  at  Holyrood  placed 
October. 

himself  in  communication  with  de  Mauvis- 
siere. They  waited  on  Mary  together  ;  and,  expatiating 
on  the  ruinous  effect  of  the  religious  wars  of  the  Guises 
which  had  filled  France  with  rage  and  hatred,  they 
entreated  her  for  her  own  sake  to  beware  of  the  miser- 
able example.  The  French  ambassador  told  her  that 
if  she  looked  for  aid  from  abroad  she  was  deceiving  her- 


1  Randolph  speaking  of  Mary 
Stuart's  relation  with  Bothwell  at 
tins  time  says — '  I  have  heard  a 
thing  most  strange,  whereof  I  will 
not  make  mention  till  I  have  better 


assurance  than  now  I  have.' — Ran- 
dolph to  Cecil,  October  13:  MS. 
Rolls  House. 

2  Cockburn  to  Cecil,  October  2  ; 
MS.  Ibid. 


1 565 . ]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MA KRIA  GK.  335 

self ;  France  would  not  help  her  and  would  not  permit 
the  interference  of  Spain  ;  so  that  she  would  bring  her- 
self '  to  a  hard  end/  Cockburn  '  spoke  his  mind  freely 
to  her  to  the  same  effect '  and  '  told  her  she  was  in 
great  danger/  1 

Mary  Stuart  '  wept  wondrous  sore ; '  but,  construing 
Elizabeth's  unwillingness  to  declare  war  into  an  admis- 
sion of  her  own  strength,  she  was  deaf  to  advice  as  she 
had  been  to  menace.  She  disbelieved  de  Mauvissiere 
and  trusted  soon  to  hear  from  Yaxlee  that  the  Spanish 
fleet  was  on  its  way  to  the  English  Channel ;  at  least 
she  would  not  lose  the  chance  of  revenge  upon  her 
brother  :  f  she  said  she  would  hear  of  no  peace  till  she 
had  Murray's  or  Chatelherault's  head.' 2 

A  few  hundred  men  from  Berwick  would  probably 
have  ended  her  power  of  so  gratifying  herself ;  yet  on 
the  other  hand  it  might  have  been  a  spark  to  explode  an 
insurrection  in  England  ;  and  Elizabeth  preferred  to 
hold  aloof  with  her  arm  half  raised — wishing  yet  fearing 
to  strike — and  waiting  for  some  act  of  direct  hostility 
against  herself.  As  far  as  the  peace  of  her  own 
country  was  concerned  her  policy  was  no  d.oubt  a 
prudent  one  ;  but  it  was  pursued  at  the  expense  of  her 
honour^_i^jTiined  for  the  time  her  party  in  Scotland ; 
and  it  was  an  occasion  of  fresh  injury  to  the  fugitives 
at  Dumfries. 

As  soon  as  Murray  with  his  few  dispirited  friends 
had  reached  the  Border,  he  despatched  Sir  Robert  Mel- 

1  Cockburn  to  Cecil,  October  2 :  MS.  Rolls  House. 
~  Bedford  to  Cecil,  October  5  ;  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


336  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.44. 

ville  to  London  to  explain  his  situation  and  to  request 
in  form  the  assistance  which  had  been  promised  him. 
Elizabeth  assured  Melville  that  she  was  sorry  for  their 
condition.  She  bade  him  return  and  tell  Murray  that 
she  would  do  her  very  best  for  himself  and  his  cause ; 
but  she  could  not  support  him  by  arms  without  declar- 
ing war  against  the  Queen  of  Scots,  and  she  could  not 
declare  war  '  without  just  cause/  If  the  Queen  of  Scots 
therefore  were  to  offer  him  '  any  tolerable  conditions ' 
she  would  not  have  him  refuse  ;  'if  on  the  other  hand 
the  indignation  of  the  Queen  was  so  cruelly  intended  as 
he  and  his  companions  could  obtain  no  end  with  preserv- 
ation of  their  lives,  her  Majesty,  both  for  her  private 
love  towards  those  that  were  noblemen  and  of  her 
princely  honour  and  clemency  towards  such  as  were 
tyrannically  persecuted,  would  receive  them  into  her 
protection,  save  their  persons  and  their  lives  from  ruin, 
and  so  far  would  give  them  aid  and  succour  ; '  she  would 
send  a  commissioner  to  Scotland  to  intercede  with  the 
Queen,  '  and  with  him  also  an  army  to  be  used  as  her 
Majesty  should  see  just  occasion  given  to  her/  l 

The  lords  had  become  f  desperate  of  hope  and  as 
men  dismayed ; '  they  had  repented  bitterly  of  '  having 
trusted  so  much  to  England :  ' 2  Chatelherault,  Glen- 
cairn,  Kirkaldy — all  in  fact  save  Murray — desired  to 
make  terms  with  Mary,  and  were  feeling  their  way  to- 
wards recovering  her  favour  at  the  expense  of  the  Queen 
of  England,  whom  they  accused  of  betraying  them. 

1  Answer  to  Robert  Melville,  October  i  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  Hoitse. 
2  Bedford  to  Cecil,  October  5  :  MS.  Ibid. 


1 565 . ]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIA  GE.  337 

When  Melville  returned  with  Elizabeth's  anssver  it  was 
interpreted  into  a  fresh  promise  of  interference  in  their 
behalf,  not  only  by  the  lords,  whom,  anxiety  might  have 
made  sanguine,  but  by  the  bearer  of  the  message  to 
whom  Elizabeth  had  herself  spoken.  They  immediately 
recovered  their  courage,  broke  off  their  communications 
with  the  Queen  of  Scots,  and  prepared  to  continue  their 
resistance. 

Elizabeth  would  have  done  better  if  she  had  spoken 
less  ambiguously.  Mary  Stuart,  who  had  paused  to  as- 
certain what  they  would  do,  set  out  at  once  for  the 
Border  with  Athol,  Both  well,  and  a  motley  force  of 
18,000  men.  She  rode  in  person  at  their  head  in  steel 
bonnet  and  corselet,  '  with  a  dagg  at  her  saddlebow/  l 
declaring  that  '  all  who  held  intercourse  with  England 
should  be  treated  as  enemies  to  the  realm ;  '  while 
Darnley  boasted  that  he  was  about  '  to  be  made  the 
greatest  that  ever  reigned  in  the  isle  of  Britain.'  * 
Hizzio  was  still  the  presiding  spirit  in  Mary's  council, 
chamber.  '  You  may  think/  wrote  Randolph,  '  what 
the  matter  meaneth  that  a  stranger  and  a  varlet  should 
have  the  whole  guiding  of  the  Queen  and  country.' 3 
The  army  was  but  a  confused  crowd :  of  loyal  friends 
the  Queen  could  really  count  on  none  but  Bothwell, 
young  Athol,  and  perhaps  Hun  try;  'fop  rf^t-  were  as 
like  to  turn  against  her  as  stand  by  her/  She  perhaps 
trusted  to  some  demonstration  from  Berwick  to  kindle 


Randolph  to  Cecil,  October  13: 


Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1 8  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
3  MS.  Ibid. 


2  Randolph  to  Leicester,  October 

VOL.  vn.  22 


-338  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  44. 

them  into  enthusiasm  through  their  patriotism  ;  but 
Elizabeth  disappointed  eqmjllyJbQth  her  enemies  and  her 
friends  ;  she  would  give  no  excuse  to  the  Queen  of  Scots 
to  complain  that  England  had  broken  the  peace.  The 
'•  few  hundreds '  with  whose  assistance  the  lords  under- 
took to  drive  their  sovereign  back  to  Edinburgh  were 
not  forthcoming  ;  the  army  more  than  half  promised  to 
Melville  was  a  mere  illusion  ;  and  Bedford  was  confined 
by  his  orders  to  Carlisle,  where  he  was  allowed  only  to 
receive  Murray  and  his  party  as  fugitives  :  they  had 
now  therefore  no  resource  except  to  retreat  into  Eng- 
land ;  the  Queen  of  Scots  following  in  hot  pursuit,  glared 
across  the  frontier  at  her  escaping  prey,  half  tempted  to 
follow  them  and  annihilate  the  petty  guard  of  the  Eng- 
lish commander  : l  but  prudence  for  once  prevailed ;  she1 
halted  and  drew  back. 

So  ended  the  insurrection  which  had  been^  under- 
,  taken  at  Elizabeth's  instigatipnjjind  mainly  in  Eliza- 
beth's interests.  Having  failed  to  prevent  the  catas- 
trophe she  would  gladly  now  have  heard  no  more  of  it ;: 
but  she  was  not  to  escape  so  easily.  Even  among  her  own 
subjects  there  were  some  who  dared  to  speak  unpalatable 
truths  to  her.  Bedford,  who  had  been  sent  to  the  north 
with  an  army  which  he  believed  that  he  was  to  lead 
to  Edinburgh,  wrote  in  plain,  stern  terms  to  the  Queen 
herself  '  that  the  lords,  in  reliance  upon  her  Majesty's 
promise,  had  stood  out  against  their  sovereign,  and  now 


1   ',A    few  hundred   men  would 
have  kept  all  right.  ,  I   fear   they 


she  had  used,  and  we  are  all  unpro- 
vided.'—Bedford  to  Cecil,  October 


\vill  break  with  us  from  words  which  !  13  :   Scotch  MS 8.  Rolls  Home. 


1565.]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  339 

knew  not  what  to  do  ; l  while  to  Cecil,  not  knowing  how 
deeply  Cecil  was  responsible  for  the  Queen's,  conduct,  he 
wrote  in  serious  sorrow.  In  a  previous  letter  he  had 
spoken  of  '  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation/  and  Eliza- 
beth had  taken  offence  at  a  term  which  savoured  of  too 
advanced  a  Protestantism. 

'  The  poor  noblemen/  he  now  said,  '  rest  so  amazed 
and  in  so  great  perplexity  they  know  not  what  to  say, 
do,  or  imagine.  My  terming  them  Lords  of  the  Con- 
gregation was  but  used  by  me  because  I  saw  it  re- 
ceived by  others ;  for  that  it  is  not  plausible,  I  shall 
omit  it  henceforth,  wishing  from  my  heart  the  cause 
was  plausibly  received,  and  then  for  terms  and  names 
it  should  be  no  matter.  The  Earl  of  Murray  I  find 
constant  and  honourable,  though  otherwise  sore  per- 
plexed, poor  gentleman,  the  more  the  pity.  As  her 
Majesty  means  peace  we  must  use  the  necessary  means 
to  maintain  peace ;  albeit  I  know  that  the  Queen  useth 
against  the  Queen's  Majesty  our  sovereign  all  such  re* 
proachful  and  despiteful  words  as  she  can  ;  besides  her 
practices  with  foreign  realms,  which  her  Majesty's 
father  I  am  sure  would  have  thought  much  of.  Yet  as 
her  Majesty  winketh  at  the  same,  I  must  know  what  I 
am  to  do,  whether  in  dealing  with  the  wardens  on  the 
Border  I  am  to  recognize  commissions  signed  by  the 
Lord  Darnley  as  King  of  Scotland.' 2 

Randolph,  ashamed  and  indignant  at  the  deception 
of  which  he  and  Throgmorton  had  been  the  instru- 

1  Bedford  to  the  Queen,  October  13  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
2  Bedford  to  Cecil,  October  13  and  October  26  :  MS.  Ibid. 


340  £EIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.44. 

ni cuts,  insisted  '  that  tlie  Queen  of  Scots  meant  evil 
and  nothing  but  evil/  and  that  however  long  she  was 
borne  with  she  would  have  to  be  brought  to  reason  by 
force  at  last.  'You,  my  lord/  he  wrote  anxiously  to 
Leicester,  '  do  all  you  can  to  move  her  Majesty ;  it  is 
looked  for  at  your  hand,  and  all  worthy  and  godly  men 
of  this  nation  shall  love  and  honour  you  for  ever ;  let  it 
be  handled  so  that  this  Queen  may  know  how  she  has 
been  misguided  and  ill-advised  to  take  so  much  upon 
her — not  only  against  these  noblemen,  but  far  above 
that  if  she  had  power  to  her  will.' l 

But  it  was, from  Murray  himself  that  Elizabeth  had 
to  encounter  the  most  inconvenient  remonstrances.  ~To 
save  .England  from  a  Oatholic  revolution  and  to  save 
England's  Queen  from  the  machinations  of  a  dangerous 
rival,  the  Earl  of  Murray  had  taken  arms  against  his 
sovereign,  and  he  found  himself  a  fugitive  and  an  out- 
law, while  the  sacred  cause  of  the  Reformation  in  his 
own  country  had  been  compromised  by  his  fall.  His 
life  was  safe,,  but  Mary  Stuart,  having  failed  to  take  or 
kill  him,  was  avenging  herself  on  his  wife,  and  the  first 
news  which  he  heard  after  reaching  England  was  that 
Lady  Murray  had  been  driven  from  her  home,  and 
within  a  few  weeks  of  her  confinement  was  wandering 
shelterless  in  the  woods.  Submission  and  soft  speeches 
would  have  been  his  more  prudent  part,  but  Murray,  a 
noble  gentleman  of  stainless  honour,  was  not  a  person 
to  sit  down  patiently  as  the  dupe  of  timidity  or  fraud. 


itaridolph  to  Leicester,  October  18 :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  Home. 


1565.]  THE  DARN  LEY  MARRIAGE.  341 

He  wrote  shortly  to  the  English  council  to  say  that 
in  reliance  on  the  message  brought  him  by  Sir  Robert 
Melville  he  had  encouraged  his  friends  to  persevere  in 
resistance  at  a  time  when  they  could  have  made  their 
peace ;  and  through  *  their  Queen's  cold  dealing '  both 
he  and  they  were  now  forced  to  enter  England.  If 
there  was  an  intention  of  helping  them  he  begged  that 
it  might  be  done  at  once,  and  that  Scotland  might  be 
saved  from  ruin.1 

By  the  same  messenger  he  wrote  more  particularly 
to  Cecil :  '  He  did  not  doubt,'  he  said,  '  that  Cecil  under- 
stood fully  the  motives  both  of  himself  and  his  friends  ; 
they  had  enterprised  their  action  with  full  foresight  of 
their  sovereign's  indignation,  being  moved  thereto  by 
the  Queen  of  England  and  her  council's  hand  writ 
directed  to  them  thereupon  ; '  the  '  extremities '  had 
followed  as  they  expected ;  the  Queen  of  Scots  would 
now  agree  to  110  condition,  relying  on  the  Queen  of 
England's  '  coldness :  '  he  was  told  that  the  Queen's 
Majesty's  conscience  was  not  resolved  to  make  open 
war  without  further  motive  and  occasion ;  the  Queen's 
Majesty  was  perfectly  aware  '  that  he  had  undertaken 
nothing  for  any  particularity  of  his  own,  but  for  good 
affection  to  follow  her  own  counsel ;  her  Majesty  had 
been  the  furtherer  and  the  doer,  and  he  with  the  other 
noblemen  had  assisted  therein  to  their  power.'  2 

Nor  were  the  lords  contented  with  written  protests  : 
they  were  determined  to  hear  from  Elizabeth's  own  lips 

1  Murray  to  the  Council,  October  14  :  Scotch  MSS.  JRolls  House. 
2  Murray  to  Cecil,  October  14:  MS.  Ibid. 


342  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  44- 

an.  explanation  of  their  desertion.  Murray  himself  and 
the  Abbot  of  Kilwinning  were  chosen  as  the  representa- 
tives of  the  rest ;  and  Bedford,  after  an  affectation  of 
opposition  which  he  did  not  carry  beyond  a  form,  sent 
to  the  Queen  on  the  iyth  of  October  to  prepare  for 
their  appearance  in  London.  Pressed  by  the  conse- 
quences of  her  own  faults  Elizabeth  would  have  con- 
cealed her  conduct  if  possible  from  her  own  eyes  ;  least, 
of  all  did  she  desire  to  have  it  thrown  in  her  teeth 
before  all  the  world.  She  had  assured  Paul  de  Foix 
at  last  that  she  would  give  the  lords  no  help,  and 
would  wait  to  be  attacked.  She  wished  to  keep  clear  of 
every  overt  act  which  would  justify  the  Queen  of  Scots 
in  appealing  to  France  and  Spain.  She  had  persuaded 
.herself  that  Mary  Stuart's  army  would  disperse  in  a 
few  days  for  want  of  supplies,  that  the  lords  would  re- 
turn over  the  Border  as  easily  as  they  had  crossed  it ;  l 
and  that  she  could  assist  them  with  money  behind  the 
scenes  without  openly  committing  herself.  These  plans 
and  hopes  would  be  fatally  disconcerted  by  Murray's 
appearance  at  the  Court,  and  she  sent  Bedford's  courier 
flying  back  to  him  with  an  instant  and  angry  command 
to  prevent  so  untoward  a  casualty.  She  had  said  again 
and  again  that  '  she  would  give  no  aid  that  should 
break  the  peace/  The  coming  up  of  the  Earl  of 
Murray  '  would  give  manifest  cause  of  just  complaint 
to  the  Queen  of  Scots ;  J  and  she  added  with  curious 
self- exposure,  '  neither  are  these  kind  of  matters  in 


1  Paul  de  Foix  to  the  King  of  France,  October  16  :  TEULET,  vol.  ii. 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE. 


343 


this  open  sort  to  be  used/  If  Murray  had  not  yet  set 
out  she  required  Bedford  '  to  stay  him  by  his  au- 
thority ;  '  if  he  had  started  he  must  be  sent  after  and 
recalled.1 

The  harshness  of  Elizabeth's  language  was  softened 
by  the  council,  who  expressed  their  regret  '  that  the 
common  cause  had  not  hitherto  had  better  success  ; ' 
they  promised  their  own  support  '  so  far  as  their  power 
and  credit  might  extend  ;  '  but  they  entreated  Murray 
•'  patiently  to  accommodate  himself  to  her  Majesty's  re- 
solution.' 2 

Unluckily  for  Elizabeth,  Murray  had  anticipated 
the  prohibition,  and  had  followed  so  closely  behind  the 
announcement  of  his  approach  that  the  couriers  charged 
with  the  letters  of  the  Queen  and  council  met  him  at 
Ware.  He  opened  the  despatch  which  was  addressed 
to  himself,  and  immediately  sent  on  a  note  to  Cecil  re- 
gretting that  he  had  not  been  sooner  made  aware  of  the 
'Queen's  wishes,  but  saying  that  as  he  had  come  so  far, 
he  should  now  remain  where  he  was  till  he  was  in- 
formed of  her  further  pleasure. 

Embarrassed,  irritated,  and  intending  at  all  hazards 
to  disavow  her  connection  with  the  lords,  Elizabeth, 
since  Murray  had  chosen  to  come  to  her,  resolved  to 
turn  his  presence  to  her  advantage.  When  she  had 
once  made  up  her  mind  to  a  particular  course  she  never 


1  Elizabeth  to  Bedford,  October 
20 :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 

2  The  Council  to  Murray,  October 
20:  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House.    The 


letter  is  signed  by  Norfolk,  Pem- 
broke, Lord  William  Howard,  ami 
Cecil. 


344 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[cir.  44* 


hesitated  on  the  details  whatever  they  might  cost.  The 
Earl  of  Murray  was  told  that  he  would  be  received  ;  he 
went  on  to  London,  and  on  the  night  of  his  arrival 
the  Queen  sent  for  him  and  arranged,  in  a  private  inter- 
view, the  comedy  which  she  was  about  to  enact.1 

The  following  morning,  the  22nd  of  October,  he 
was  admitted  to  an  audience  in  public,  at  which  de 
Foix  and  de  Mauvissiere,  who  had  by  this  time  returned 
from  Scotland,  were  especially  invited  to  be  present. 
De  Silva  describes  what  ensued,  not  as  an  eye-witness, 
but  from  an  account  which  was  given  to  him  by  the 
Queen  herself.2 

Elizabeth  having  taken  her  place  with  the  council 
and  the  ambassadors  at  her  side,  the  Earl  of  Murray 
entered  modestly  dressed  in  black.  Falling  on  one 
knee  he  began  to  speak  in  Scotch,  when  the  Queen  in- 
terrupted him  with  a  request  that  he  would  speak  in 
French,  which  she  said  she  could  better  understand ,. 


Yo  fue  avisado  que  la  noche  |  herself,  and  the  Courts  of  France 


antes  desta  platica  el  de  Murray 
estuvo  con  ella  y  con  el  secretario 
Cecil  buen  rato.  donde  se  debio  con- 
sultar  lo  que  paso  el  dia  siguiente.' — 
De  Silva  to  Philip,  November  5. 
And  again,  'La  Keyna  oyo  al  de 
Murray  la  noche  que  llego  en  se- 
ere  to,  y  oti'O  dia  hizo  aquella  de- 
mostracion  delante  del  Embajador 
de  Francia.'  —  Same  to  the  same, 
November  10:  MS.  Simancas.  A 
report  of  the  proceedings  in  the 
Rolls  House,  which  was  drawn  up 
for  the  inspection  of  Mary  Stuart  i 


and  Spain,  states  that  '  the  Queen 
received  Murray  openly  and  none 
otherwise.'  The  consciousness  that 
she  had  received  him  otherwise  ex- 
plains  words  which  else  might  have 
seemed  superfluous. 

2  The  account  in  Sir  James  Mel 
ville's  Memoirs  is  evidently  takei 
from  the  official  narrative,  with 
which  in  most  points  it  verbally 
agrees.  De  Silva's  is  but  little  dif- 
ferent. The  one  variation  of  im- 
portance will  be  noticed. 


1565]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  345 

Murray  objected  that  he  had  been  so  long  out  of  prac- 
tice that  he  could  not  properly  express  himself  in 
French  ;  and  Elizabeth,  whose  object  was  to  produce 
an  effect  on  de  Foix  and  his  companion,  accepted  his 
excuse  for  himself;  but  she  said  that  although  he  might 
not  be  sufficient  master  of  the  idiom  to  speak  it,  she 
knew  that  he  understood  it  when  he  heard  it  spoken ; 
she  would  therefore  in  her  own  part  of  the  conversa- 
tion make  use  of  that  language. 

She  then  went  on  'to  express  her  astonishment  that, 
being  declared  an  outlaw  as  he  was  by  the  Queen  of 
Scots,  the  Earl  of  Murray  should  have  dared  to  come 
unlicensed  into  her  presence.  The  Queen  of  Scots  had 
been  her  good  sister,  and  such  she  always  hoped  to  find 
her.  There  had  been  differences  between  them  which 
had  made  her  fear  for  their  friendship  ;  but  the  King 
of  France  had  kindly  interposed  his  good  offices  be- 
tween herself,  her  sister,  and  her  sister's  subjects ;  and 
the  two  ministers  who  had  been  his  instruments  in  that 
good  service  being  at  the  moment  at  her  Court,  she  had 
requested  both  them  and  others  to  attend  oil  the  pre- 
sent occasion  to  hear  what  she  was  about  to  say.  She 
wished  it  to  be  generally  understood  that  she  would  do 
nothing  which  would  give  just  offence  to  the  Queen  of 
Scots,  or  which  would  impair  her  own  honour.  The 
world,  she  was  aware,  was  in  the  habit  of  saying  that 
her  realm  was  the  sanctuary  for  the  seditious  subjects  of 
her  neighbours  ;  and  it  was  even  rumoured  that  she 
had  instigated  or  encouraged  the  insurrection  in  Scot- 
land. She  would  not  have  done  such  a  thing  to  be 


346  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.44. 

sovereign  of  the  universe.  God,  who  was  a  just  God, 
she  well  knew  would  punish  her  with  the  like  troubles 
in  her  own  country;  and  if  she  encouraged  the  subjects 
of  another  prince  in  disobedience,  lie  would  stir  her 
own  people  into  insurrection  against  herself.  So  far  as 
she  knew,  there  were  two  causes  for  the  present  dis- 
turbances in  Scotland  ;  the  Queen  of  Scots  had  married 
without  the  consent  of  her  Estates,  and  had  failed  to  ap- 
prize the  princes  her  neighbours  of  her  intentions ;  the 
Earl  of  Murray  had  attempted  to  oppose  her  and  had 
fallen  into  disgrace.  This  was  the  first  cause.  The 
second  was  that  the  Earl  of  Lennox  and  his  house 
were  opposed  to  the  reformed  religion ;  the  Earl 
of  Murray  feared  that  he  would  attempt  to  destroy  it, 
and  with  his  friends  preferred  to  lose  his  life  rather 
than  allow  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth  to  be  over- 
thrown. The  Earl  had  come  to  the  English  Court  to 
request  her  to  intercede  with  his  sovereign  that  he 
might  be  heard  in  his  defence.  There  were  faults 
which  proceeded  of  malice  which  deserved  the  rigour 
of  justice — one  of  these  was  treason  against  the  person 
of  the  sovereign ;  and  were  she  to  understand  that  the 
Earl  of  Murray  had  meditated  treason  she  would 
arrest  and  chastise  him  according  to  his  demerits ;  but 
she  had  known  him  in  times  past  to  be  well-affectioned 
to  his  mistress ;  he  had  loved  her,  she  was  confident, 
with  the  love  which  a  subject  owes  to  his  prince. 
There  were  other  faults — faults  committed  through 
imprudence,  through  ignorance,  or  in  self-defence, 
which  might  be  treated  mercifully.  The  Earl  of  Mur- 


1565.]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARK  I  A  GE.  347 

ray  s  fault  might  be  one  of  these ;  she  bade  him 
therefore  say  for  which  cause  he  had  instigated  the 
late  disturbances/ 

Elizabeth  had  exercised  a  wise  caution  in  preparing 
Murray  for  this  nvgpofitpro1^  "harangue.  He  com- 
manded himself,  and  replied  by  calling  God  to  witness 
of  the  loyalty  with  which  he  had  ever  served  his  sove- 
reign :  she  had  bestowed  lands,  honour,  and  rewards 
upon  him  far  beyond  his  desert ;  he  had  desired 
nothing  less  than  to  offend  her,  and  he  would  have 
stood  by  her  with  life  and  goods  to  the  utmost  of  his 
ability. 

Elizabeth  then  began  again  :  '  She  held  a  balance 
in  her  hand/  she  said ;  '  in  the  one  scale  was  the 
sentence  of  outlawry  pronounced  against  him  by  the 
Queen  of  Scots,  in  the  other  were  the  words  which  he 
had  just  spoken.  But  the  word  of  a  Queen  must  out- 
weigh the  word  of  a  subject  in  the  mind  of  a  sister  sove- 
reign, who  was  bound  to  show  most  favour  to  her  own 
like  and  equal.  The  Earl  had  committed  actions  deserv- 
ing grave  reprehension :  he  had  refused  to  appear 
when  lawfully  summoned ;  he  had  taken  up  arms 
and  had  made  a  league  with  others  like  himself  to  levy 
war  against  his  sovereign.  She  had  been  told  that  he 
was  afraid  of  being  murdered,  but  if  there  had  been  a 
conspiracy  against  him  he  should  have  produced  the 
proofs  of  it  in  his  sovereign's  presence/ 

Murray  replied  in  Scotch,  the  Queen  interpreting  as 
he  went  on.  He  said  that  it  was  true  that  there  had 
been  a  conspiracy  ;  the  condition  of  his  countrv  was 


348  REIGN  OF  ELIZABE  TIL  [en.  44, 

such  that  he  could  not  have  saved  his  life  except  by  the 
means  which  he  had  adopted. 

Elizabeth  had  doubtless  made  it  a  condition  of  her 
further  friendship  that  he  should  say  nothing  by  which 
she  could  herself  be  incriminated ;  and  he  contented 
himself  with  entreating  her  to  intercede  for  him  to  ob- 
tain the  Queen  of  Scots'  forgiveness.  She  affected  to 
hesitate.  The  Queen  of  Scots,  she  said,  had  so  often 
refused  her  mediation  that  s"he  knew  not  how  she  could 
offer  it  again,  but  she  would,  communicate  with  her 
council,  and  when  she  had  ascertained  their  opinions  he 
should  hear  from.  her.  Meanwhile  she  would  have  him 
understand  that  he  was  in  great  danger,  and  that  he 
must  consider  himself  a  prisoner. 

The  Earl  was  then  permitted  to  withdraw.  The 
Queen  went  aside  with  the  Frenchmen,  and  assuring 
them  that  they  might  accept  what  they  had  witnessed 
as  the  exact  truth,  she  begged  that  they  would  commu- 
nicate it  to  the  King  of  France.  To  de  Silva,  when  he 
was  next  admitted  to  an  audience,  she  repeated  the  story 
word  by  word,  and  to  him  as  well  as  to  the  others  she 
protested  that  rebels  against  their  princes  should  receive 
from  her  neither  aid  nor  countenance.1 

So  ended  this  extraordinary  scene.  Sir  James  Mel- 
ville's narrative  carries  the  extravagance  one  point  fur- 
ther. He  describes  Elizabeth  as  extorting  from  Murray 
an  acknowledgment  that  she  had  not  encouraged  the 
rebellion,  and  as  then  bidding  him  depart  from  her 


1  De  Silva  to  Philip,  November  5  :  JUS.  Simancas. 


1565-]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARR1A  GE.  ^49 

presence  an  an  unworthy  traitor.  Sir  James  Melville 
•does  but  follow  an  official  report  which  was  drawn  up 
under  Elizabeth's  eye  and  sanction,  to  be  sent  to  Scot- 
land and  circulated  through  Europe.  It  was  thus  there- 
fore that  she  herself  desired  the  world  to  believe  that 
she  had  spoken  ;  and  one  falsehood  more  or  less  in  a  web 
of  artifice  could  scarcely  add  to  her  discredit.  For 
Murray's  sake  however  it  may  be  hoped  that  he  was 
spared  this  further  ignominy,  and  that  de  Silva's  is  the 
truer  story. 

If  the  Earl  did  not  declare  in  words  however  that 
Elizabeth  was  unconnected  with  the  rebellion,  he  allowed 
her  to  disavow  it  in  silence,  and  by  his  forbearance  cre- 
ated for  himself  and  Scotland  a  claim  upon  her  grati- 
tude. He  was  evidently  no  consenting  party  to  the  de- 
ception ;  and  after  leaving  her  presence  he  wrote  to  her 
in  a  letter  what  he  had  restrained  himself  from  publicly 
•declaring.  'Her  treatment  of  him  would  have  been 
more  easy  to  bear/  he  said,  '  had  he  known  in  what  he 
had  offended ; 9  l  he  had  done  his  uttermost  with  all  his 
power  to  serve  and  gratify  her ; '  and  '  the  more  he  con- 
sidered the  matter  it  was  ever  the  longer  the  more 
grievous  to  him : '  noblemen  who  had  suffered  in  former 
times  for  maintaining  English  interests  in  Scotland, 
4  when  their  cause  was  not  to  be  compared  to  the  pre- 
sent, had  been  well  received  and  liberally  gratified ; ' 
while  he  who  had  '  endeavoured  to  show  a  thankful 
heart  in  her  service  when  any  occasion  was  presented, 
could  in  no  wise  perceive  by  herHighness's  answer  any 
affection  towards  his  present  state ; '  '  her  declaration 


3  50  REIGN  OF  ELIZA  BE  TH.  [c  1 1 .  44. 

had  been  more  grievous  to  him  than  all  his  other 
troubles ; '  he  trusted  that  '  he  might  in  time  receive 
from  her  some  more  comfortable  answer/  1 

It  does  not  appear  that  Elizabeth  saw  Murray  any 
more.  She  was  only  anxious  to  be  rid  of  his  presence, 
which  was  an  intolerable  reproach  to  her ;  and  with 
these  words — the  least  which  the  occasion  required,  yet 
not  without  a  sad  dignity — he  returned  to  his  friends 
who  had  been  sent  on  to  Newcastle,  where  they  were 
ordered  for  the  present  to  remain.  Elizabeth  was  left 
to  play  out  in  character  the  rest  of  her  ignoble  game. 
To  the  ambassadors,  whom  she  intended  to  deceive,  it 
was  a  transparent  farce ;  and  there  was  probably  not  a 
house  in  London,  Catholic  or  Protestant,  where  her  con- 
duct, which  she  regarded  as  a  political  masterpiece,  was 
not  ridiculed  as  it  deserved.  But  it  must  be  allowed  at 
least  the  merit  of  completeness.  An  elaborate  account 
of  the  interview  with  Murray  was  sent  to  Randolph  to- 
be  laid  before  the  Queen  of  Scots;  Elizabeth  accom- 
panied it  with  an  autograph  letter  in  which  she  at- 
tempted to  impose  on  the  keenest-witted  woman  living 
by  telling  her  she  wished  '  she  could  have  been  present 
to  have  heard  the  terms  in  which  she  addressed  her  re- 
bellious subject/  '  So  far  was  she  from  espousing  the 
cause  of  rebels  and  traitors,'  she  said,  '  that  she  should 
hold  herself  disgraced  if  she  had  so  much  as  tacitly 
borne  with  them  ;  '  '  she  wished  her  name  might  be 
blotted  out  from  the  list  of  princes  as  unworthy  to  hold 

1  The  Earl  of  Murray  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  from  "Westminster,  October 
31     Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1565] 


7777s  DARN  LEY  MARRIAGE. 


351 


a  place  among  them/  if  she  had  done  any  such  thing.1 
At  the  same  time  she  wrote  to  Randolph  himself, 
saying  frankly  that  her  first  impulse  on  Murray's  ar- 
rival had  been  to  accept  partially,  if  not  entirely,  the 
conditions  of  peace  which  the  Queen  of  Scots  had  offered 
to  Tarn  worth.  If  the  Queen  of  Scots  would  promise 
not  to  molest  either  herself  or  her  children  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  English  throne,  she  had  been  ready  to 
pledge  her  word  that  nothin'g  should  be  done  in  Eng- 
land in  prejudice  of  the  Queen  of  Scots'  title  to  '  the 
second  place.'  On  reflection  however  it  had  seemed 
imprudent  to  show  excessive  eagerness.  She  had  there- 
fore written  a  letter  which  Randolph  would  deliver ; 
and  he  might  take  the  opportunity  of  saying  that 
although  the  Darnley  marriage  had  interrupted  the 
friendship  which  had  subsisted  between  the  Queen  of 
Scots  and  herself,  yet  that  she  desired  only  to  act  hon- 
ourably and  kindly  towards  her  ;  and  if  the  Queen  of 
Scots  would  undertake  to  keep  the  peace,  and  would 
give  the  promise  which  she  desired,  she  would  send 
commissioners  to  Edinburgh  to  make  a  final  arrange- 
ment.2 


1  'Aussy  je  luy  (Randolph)  q,y 
declare  tout  au  long  le  discours  cntrc 
moy  et  ung  de  voz  subjoctz  lequel 
j'cspere  vous  contentera;  soubhaitant 
-que  voz  oreillez  en  eussent  ete  juges 
pour  y  entendre  et  1'honneur  et 
1' affection  que  je  monstrois  en  vostre 
'endroit ;  tout  au  rebours  de  ce  qu'on 
diet  que  je  defendois  voz  mauvaises 
subjectz  centre  vous ;  laquelle  chose 
82  tiendra  tousjours  tres  eloignee  de- 


mon coeur,  estant  trop  grande  igno- 
minic  pour  une  princesse  a  souffrir, 
non  que  a  faire;  soubhaitant  alors 
qu'on  me  esblouisse  du  rang  des 
princes  comme  estant  indigne  de 
tenir  lieu.' — Elizabeth  to  the  Queen 
of  Scots,  October  29 :  Scotch  MSS. 
Rolls  Home. 

-  Elizabeth  to  Randolph,  October 
29  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  Hottse. 


352  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.44. 

In  a  momentary  recovery  of  dignity  she  added  at 
the  close  of  her  letter,  that  if  the  Queen  of  Scots  refused, 
*  she  would  defend  her  country  and  subjects  from  such 
annoyance  as  might  be  intended,  and  would  finally  use 
all  such  lawful  means  as  God  should  give  her  to  redress 
all  offences  and  injuries  already  done  or  hereafter  to  be 
done  to  her  or  her  subjects.' l  But  an  evil  spirit  of 
trickery  and  imbecility  had  taken  possession  of  Eliza- 
beth's intellect.  The  Queen  of  Scots  naturally  expressed 
the  utmost  readiness  to  receive  commissioners  sent  from 
England  to  concede  'so  much  of  what  she  had  asked. 
By  the  time  Mary's  answer  came,  her  Majesty,  being  no 
longer  in  a  panic,  had  become  sensible  of  the  indignity 
of  her  proposal.  She  therefore  bade  Randolph  '  so  com- 
pass the  matter  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  should  rather 
send  commissioners  to  England,  as  more  honourable  to 
herself; '  and  '  if  the  Queen  of  Scots  said,  as  it  was  like 
she  would,  that  the  Queen  of  England  had  offered  to 
send  a  commission  thither,  he  should  answer  that  he  in- 
deed said  so  and  thought  so,  but  that  he  did  perceive  he 
had  mistaken  her  message.'2 

Elizabeth's  strength,  could  she  only  have  known  it, 
lay  in  the  goodness  of  the  cause  which  she  represented. 
The  essential  interests  both  of  England  and  Scotland 
were  concerned  in  her  success.  She  was  the  champion 
of  liberty,  and  through  her  the  two  nations  were  eman- 
cipating themselves  from  spiritual  tyranny.  By  the 
side  of  the  Jesuits  she  was  but  a  shallow  driveller  in 


Elizabeth  to  Randolph,  October  29  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  Home. 
2  Elizabeth  to  Randolph,  November  26 :  MS.  Ibid. 


1565.]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  353 

the  arts  to  which  she  condescended  ;  and  she  was  about 
to  find  that  after  all  the  paths  of  honour  were  the  paths 
of  safety,  and  that  she  could  liave  chosen  no  weapon 
more  dangerous  to  herself  than  the  chicanery  of  which 
she  considered  herself  so  accomplished  a  mistress.  She 
had  mistaken  the  nature  of  English  and  Scottish  gentle- 
men in  supposing  that  they  would  be  the  instruments 
of  a  disgraceful  policy,  and  she  had  done  her  rival  cruel 
wrong  in  believing  that  she  could  be  duped  with  arti- 
fices so  poor. 

'  Send  as  many  ambassadors  as  you  please  to  our 
Queen/  said  Sir  William  Kirkaldy  to  Bedford  ;  l  they 
shall  receive  a  proud  answer.  She  thinks  to  have  a 
force  as  soon  ready  as  you  do,  besides  the  hope  she  has 
to  have  friendship  in  England.  If  force  of  men  and 
ships  come  not  with  the  ambassadors,  their  coming  and 
travail  shall  be  spent  in  vain/  1 

Even   Cecil    perhaps    now   deplored   the 

.     .  , .  TI  •  November. 

enects  01  his  own  timidity.      I  have  received, 

wrote  Bedford  to  him,  'your  .gentle  and  sorrowful 
letter.  It  grieveth  me  that  things  will  frame  no  better. 
The  evil  news  will  be  the  overthrow  of  three  hundred 
gentlemen  of  Scotland  that  are  zealous  and  serviceable/ 
Too  justly  Bedford  feared  that  the  Scotch  Protestants 
in  their  resentment  would  '  become  the  worst  enemies 
that  England  ever  had ; '  too  clearly  he  saw  that  Eliza- 
beth by  her  miserable  trifling  had  ruined  her  truest 
friends  ;  that  however  anxious  she  might  be  for  peace 


1  Kirkaldy  to  Bedford,  October  31 :  Scotch  MSS.  Bolls  House. 
VOL.  vn.  23 


354  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

'  the  war  would  come  upon  her  when  least  she  looked 
for  it ; '  and  that  Mary  Stuart  now  regarded  her  with 
as  much  contempt  as  hatred.  '  Alas  !  my  lord/  he 
wrote  to  Leicester,  '  is  this  the  end  ?  God  help  us  all 
and  comfort  these  poor  lords.  There  is  by  these  deal- 
ings overthrown  a  good  duke,  some  earls,  many  other 
barons,  lords,  and  gentlemen,  wise,  honest,  religious. 
Above  all  am  I  driven  to  bemoan  the  hard  case  of  the 
Earl  of  Murray  and  the  Laird  of  Grange,  whose  affec- 
tion to  this  whole  realm  your  lordship  knows  right  well. 
I  surely  think  there  came  not  a  greater  overthrow  to 
Scotland  these  many  years  ;  for  the  wisest,  honestest, 
and  godliest  are  discomfited  and  undone.  There  is  now 
no  help  for  them,  unless  God  take  the  matter  in  hand, 
but  to  commit  themselves  to  their  prince's  will  and 
pleasure.  And  what  hath  England  gotten  by  helping 
them  in  this  sort  ?  even  as  many  mortal  enemies  of 
them  as  before  it  had  dear  friends ;  for  otherwise  will 
not  that  Queen  receive  them  to  mercy,  if  she  deal  no 
worse  with  them ;  nor  without  open  and  evident  de- 
monstration of  the  same  cannot  they  assure  themselves 
of  her  favour  ;  and  the  sooner  they  thus  do  the  sooner 
they  shall  have  her  to  conceive  a  good  opinion  of  them, 
and  the  sooner  they  shall  be  restored  to  their  liveli- 
hoods.' l 

'  Greater  account  might  have  been  made  of  the 
lords'  good-will/  wrote  Randolph.  '  If  there  be  living 
a  more  mortal  enemy  to  the  Queen  my  mistress  than 


Bedford  to  Leicester,  November  5 :  Scotch  MSS.  Holla  House. 


1 5 65 . ]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIA  GE.  355 

this  woman  is,  I  desire  never  to  be  reputed  but  the 
vilest  villain  alive/  l  '  The  lords/  concluded  Bedford, 
scornfully,  '  abandoned  by  man  and  turned  over  to  God, 
must  now  do  the  best  they  can  for  themselves.-' 

And  what  that  was,  what  fruit  would  have  grown 
from  those  strokes  of  diplomatic  genius,  had  Mary 
Stuart  been  equal  to  the  occasion,  Elizabeth  would  ere 
long  have  tasted  in  deposition  and  exile  or  death. 
Randolph,  faithful  to  the  end,  might  say  and  unsay, 
might  promise  and  withdraw  his  word,  and  take  on 
himself  the  blame  of  his  mistress's  changing  humour ; 
Bedford,  with  ruin  full  in  view  before  him,  might  pro- 
mise at  all  risks  '  to  obey  her  bidding.'  But  the  lords 
of  Scotland  were  no  subjects  of  England,  to  be  be- 
trayed into  rebellion  in  the  interests  of  a  country  which 
they  loved  with  but  half  their  hearts,  and  when  danger 
came  to  be  coolly  *  turned  over  to  God.'  Murray  might 
forgive,  for  Murray's  noble  nature  had  no  taint  of  self 
in  it ;  but  others  could  resent  for  him  what  he  himself 
could  pardon.  Argyle,  his  brother-in-law,  when  he 
heard  of  that  scene  in  London,  bade  Randolph  tell  his 
mistress  '  he  found  it  very  strange ;  the  Queen  of  Scots 
had  made  him  many  offers,  and  till  that  time  he  had 
refused  them  all ;  if  the  Queen  of  England  would  re- 
consider herself  he  would  stick  to  the  English  cause  and 
fight  for  it  T^ith  lands  and  life ;  but  he  demanded  an 
answer  within  ten  days.  If  she  persisted  he  would 
make  terms  with -his  own  sovereign/  2  The  ten  days 

1  Randolph  to  Leicester,  November  8 :  Ibid. 
2  Randolph  ito  Cecil,  November  19. 


356  KEIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

passed  and  no  answer  came.  Argyle  withdrew  the 
check  which  through  the  Scots  of  the  Isles  he  had  held 
over  Shan  O'Neil,  and  Ireland  blazed  into  fury  and 
madness  ;  while  Argyle  himself  from  that  day  forward 
till  Mary  Stuart's  last  hopes  were  scattered  at  Langside, 
became  the  enemy  of  all  which  till  that  hour  he  had 
most  loved  and  fought  for. 

Nor  was  Argyle  alone  in  his  anger.  Sir  James  Mel- 
ville saw  the  opportunity,  and  urged  on  his  mistress  a 
politic  generosity.  From  the  day  of  her  return  from 
France  he  showed  her  that  she  had  '  laboured  without 
effect  to  sever  her  nobility  from  England/  The  Queen 
of  England  had  now  done  for  her  what  for  herself  she 
could  not  do  ;  and  if  she  would  withdraw  her  prose- 
cutions, pardon  Murray,  pardon  Chatelherault,  pardon 
Kirkaldy  and  Glencairn,  she  might  command  their  de- 
votion for  ever/  l  Melville  found  an  ally  where  he 
could  have  least  looked  for  it  to  repeat  the  same  advice. 
Sir  Nicholas  Throgmorton  had  for  the  last  six  years 
been  at  the  heart  of  every  Protestant  conspiracy  in 
Europe.  He  it  was  of  whose  experienced  skill  Eliza- 
beth had  availed  herself  to  light  the  Scotch  insurrection. 
His  whole  nature  revolted  against  the  paltry  deception 
of  which  he  had  been  made  the  instrument ;  and  now 
throwing  himself  passionately  into  the  interests  of  the 
Queen  of  Scots,  he  advised  the  lords  '  to  sue  for  pardon 
at  their  own  Queen's  hands,  and  engage  never  to  offend 
her  again  for  the  satisfaction  of  any  prince  alive ; ' 


1  MELVILLE'S  Memoirs. 


1565.]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  .357 

while  more  daringly  and  dangerously  he  addressed 
Mary  Stuart  herself. 

'Your  Majesty/ he  said,  'has  in  England  many  friends 
who  favour  your  title  for  divers  respects ;  some  for  con- 
science thinking  you  have  the  right ;  some  from  personal 
regard ;  some  for  religion ;  some  for  faction ;  some  for 
the  ill-will  they  bear  to  Lady  Catherine  your  competitor. 
Your  friends  and  enemies  alike  desire  to  see  the  succes- 
sion settled.  Parliament  must  meet  next  year  at  latest ; 
and  it  must  be  your  business  meanwhile  to  assure  your- 
self of  the  votes  of  the  majority,  which  if  you  will  you 
can  obtain.  You  have  done  wisely  in  marrying  an 
Englishman ;  we  do  not  love  strangers.  Make  no 
foreign  alliance  till  you  have  seen  what  we  can  do  for 
you.  Keep  on  good  terms  with  France  and  Spain,  but 
do  not  draw  too  close  to  them.  Go  on  moderately  in 
religion  as  you  have  hitherto  done,  and  you  will  find 
Catholics  as  well  as  Protestants  on  your  side.  Show 
clemency  to  the  banished  lords.  You  will  thus  win 
many  hearts  in  England.  Be  careful,  be  generous,  and 
you  will  command  us  all.  I  do  not  write  as  '  a  fetch ' 
to  induce  you  to  take  the  lords  back ;  it  is  thought  ex- 
pedient for  your  service  by  many  who  have  no  favour  to 
them  and  are  different  from  them  in  religion 

'  The  Earl  of  Murray  has  offended  you  it  is  true ;  but 
the  Protestants  persuade  themselves  that  his  chief  fault 
in  your  eyes  is  his  religion,  and  on  that  ground  they 
take  his  side.  Pardon  him,  restore  him  to  favour,  and 
win  by  doing  so  all  Protestant  hearts.  The  lords  will 
in  no  wise  if  they  can  eschew  it  be  again  in  the  Queen 


358  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  44- 

of  England's  debt,  neither  by  obtaining  of  any  favour  at 
your  hand  by  her  intervention,  nor  yet  for  any  support 
in  time  of  their  banishment.  Allow  them  their  charges 
out  of  their  own  lands,  and  the  greater  part  even  of  the 
English  bishops  will  declare  for  you.'  l 

Never  had  Elizabeth  been  in  greater  danger  ;  and  the 
worst  features  of  the  peril  were  the  creations  of  her  own 
untruths.  Without  a  fuller  knowledge  of  the  strength 
and  temper  of  the  English  Catholics  than  the  surviving 
evidence  reveals,  her  conduct  cannot  be  judged  with 
entire  fairness.  Undoubtedly  the  utmost  caution  was 
necessary  to  avoid  giving  the  Spaniards  a  pretext  for 
interference  ;  and  it  is  due  to  her  to  admit  that  her  own 
unwillingness  to  act  openly  on  the  side  of  the  northern 
lords  had  been  endorsed  by  that  of  Cecil.  Yet  she_had 
been  driven  intpjyDpsitionjfrom  which^  had  Mary  Stuart 
understood  how  to  use  her  advantage,  she  would  scarcely 
have  eert^  abletoextricate_hersejf.  If  the  Queen  of 


__ 

Scots  had  relied  on  her  own  judgment  she  woul3~pro- 
bably  have  accepted  the  advice  of  Melville  and  Throg- 
morton  and  her  other  English  friends  ;  she  would  have 
declared  an  amnesty,  and  would  have  rallied  all  parties 
except  the  extreme  Calvinistic  fanatics  to  her  side.  But 
such  a  policy  would  have  involved  an  indefinite  prolong- 
ation of  the  yoke  which  she  had  already  found  intoler- 
able ;  she  must  have  concealed  or  suspended  her  intention 
of  making  a  religious  revolution,  and  she  must  have 
continued  to  act  with  a  forbearance  towards  the  Pro- 


1  Letter  from  Sir  N.  Throgmorton  to  the  Queen  of  Scots  :    Printed  by 
Sir  James  Melville  ;  abridged. 


i  565 .]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIA  GE.  359 

testants  which,  her  passionate  temper  found  more  and 
more  difficulty  in  maintaining.     The  counsels  of  David 

Rizzio  were  worth  an  army  to  English  liberty :  she  had 

surrendered  herself  entirely  ajad  exclusively  to  Rizzjo^ 
guidance ;  and  when  Melville  attempted  to  move  the 
dark  and  dangerous  Italian  '  he  evidenced  a  disdain  of 
danger  and  despised  counsel.'  Rizzio,  'the  minion  of 
the  Pope/  preferred  the  more  direct  and  open  road  of 
violence  and  conquest,  which  he  believed,  in  his  ignor- 
ance of  the  people  amongst  whom  he  was  working,  to  be 
equally  safe  for  his  mistress,  while  it  promised  better  for 
other  objects  which  he  had  in  view  for  himself.  Already 
every  petition  addressed  to  the  Crown  was  passing 
through  his  hands,  and  he  was  growing  rich  upon  the 
presents  which  were  heaped  upon  him  to  buy  his  favour. 
He  desired  rank  as  well  as  wealth  ;  and  to  be  made  a 
peer  of  Scotland,  the  reward  which  Mary  Stuart  intended 
for  him,  he  required  a  share  of  the  lands  of  the  banished 
earls,  the  estates  of  Murray  most  especially,  as  food  at 
once  for  his  ambition  and  revenge. 

It  is  time  to  return  to  his  friend  and  emissary,  Francis 
Yaxlee,  who  went  at  the  end  of  August  on  a  mission  to 
Philip. 

The  conditions  under  which  the  King  of  Spain  had 
promised  his  assistance  seemed  to  have  arrived.  Mary 
Stuart  had  married  Lord  Darnley  as  he  advised ;  her 
subjects  had  risen  in  insurrection  with  the  secret  support 
of  the  Queen  of  England,  who  was  threatening  to  send 
an  army  into  Scotland  for  their  support.  She  had  run 
into  danger  in  the  interests  of  the  Church  of  Home,  and 


360  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

she  looked  with  confidence  to  the  most  Catholic  King  to 
declare  for  her  cause.  Yaxlee  found  Philip  at  the  begin- 
ning of  October  at  Segovia.  Elizabeth's  diplomacy  had 
been  so  far  successful  that  the  Emperor  Maximilian  was 
again  dreaming  that  she  would  marry  the  Archduke 
Charles.  He  was  anxious  to  provide  his  brother  with  a 
throne :  he  had  been  wounded  by  Mary  Stuart's  refusal 
to  accept  the  Archduke,  when  his  marriage  with  her  had 
been  arranged  between  himself  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lor- 
raine, with  the  sanction  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  Eliza- 
beth had  played  upon  his  humour,  and  he  had  reverted 
to  the  scheme  which  had  at  one  time  been  so  anxiously 
entertained  by  his  father  and  Philip.1  The  King  of 
Spain's  own  hopes  of  any  such  solution  of  the  English 
difficulty  were  waning ;  yet  he  was  unwilling  to  offend 
the  Emperor,  and  he  would  riot  throw  away  a  card  which 
might  after  all  be  the  successful  one.  It  was  perhaps 
the  suspicion  that  Philip  was  not  acting  towards  her  with 
entire  sincerity  which  urged  Mary  Stuart  into  precipi- 
tancy; or  she  might  have  wished  to  force  Elizabeth  into  a 
position  in  which  it  would  be  impossible  for  any  Catholic 
sovereign  to  countenance  her.  But  Elizabeth,  on  the  one 
hand,  had  been  too  cautious,  and  Philip  on  the  other, 
though  wishing  well  to  the  Queen  of  Scots  and  evidently 


1  A  noche  recibi  una  carta  de 
Chantonnay  del  27  del  pasado  en 
que  me  escribe  que  habiendo  dicho 
al  Emperador  de  parte  de  V.  Md.  que 
si  era  necesario  que,  para  que  se 
hiciese  el  negocio  del  matrimonio 


mano  sobrello,  y  que  el  Empevador 
le  habia  respondiclo  que  no  estaba 
desahuciado  deste  negocio,  y  le  diria 
lo  que  sobrello  habia  de  escribir  & 
V.  Md.  El  deseo  es  grande  que  [el 
Emperador]  tiene  a  este  negocio.' — 


del  Archiduque  con  la  de  Inglaterra,     De  Silva  to  Philip,  November  10 . 
V.  Md.  escribiese  a  la  Reyiia  de  su    MS.  Simancas. 


i565.] 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE. 


believing  that  she  was  the  only  hope  of  the  Catholic 
cause  in  England,  yet  could  not  overcome  his  constitu- 
tional slowness.  He  was  willing  to  help  her,  yet  only 
as  Elizabeth  had  helped  the  Scotch  insurgents,  with  a 
secrecy  which  would  enable  him  to  disavow  what  he  had 
done.  He  was  afraid  of  the  Huguenot  tendencies  of  the 
French  Government ;  he  was  afraid  that  if  he  took  an 
open  part  he  might  set  a  match  to  the  mine  which  was 
about  to  explode  in  the  Low  Countries  :  he  therefore 
repeated  the  cautions  which  Alva  had  given  Beton  at 
Bayonne  ;  he  gave  Yaxlee  a  note  for  twenty  thousand 
crowns  which  would  be  paid  him  by  Grranvelle  at  Brus- 
sels ;  he  promised  if  Elizabeth  declared  war  to  contri- 
bute such  further  sums  as  should  be  necessary ;  but  he 
would  do  it  only  under  shelter  of  the  name  of  the  Pope 
and  through  the  Pope's  hands  ;  in  his  own  person  he 
would  take  no  part  in  the  quarrel;  the  time,  he  said, 
was  not  ripe.  He  insisted  especially  that  Mary  Stuart 
should  betray  no  intention  of  claiming  the  English  throne 
during  Elizabeth's  lifetime.  It  would  exasperate  the 
Queen  of  England  into  decisive  action,  and  justify  her  to 
some  extent  in  an  immediate  appeal  to  arms.1  As  little 
would  he  encourage  the  Queen  of  Scots  to  seek  assistance 
from  her  uncles  in  France.  She  might  accept  money 
wherever  she  could  get  it,  but  to  admit  a  French  army 
into  Scotland  would  create  a  greater  danger  than  it 
would  remove.2 


1  '  Porque  esto  la  escandalizaria 
mucho  y  daria  gran  ocasion  para 
ejecutar  contra  ellos  lo  que  pudiese, 


y  en  alguna  manera  seria  justificar 
su  causa.'— Answer  to  Yaxlee :  MIG- 
NET  vol.  ii.  p.  200.  2  Ibid. 


362  REIGN  OF  ELIZABE  TH  [CH.  44. 

With  this  answer  Yaxlee  was  dismissed  :  and  so 
anxious  was  Philip  that  Mary  Stuart  should  know  his 
opinion  that  he  enclosed  a  duplicate  of  his  reply  to  de 
Silva,  with  directions  that  it  should  be  forwarded  imme- 
diately to  Scotland,  and  with  a  further  credit  for  money 
should  the  Queen  of  Scots  require  it. 

Yet  Philip  was  more  anxious  for  her  success  and  more 
sincere  in  his  desire  to  support  her  than  might  be 
gathered  froin.Jiis_c_autious  language  .toJtifiJiajnhassador  ; 
and  his  real  feelings  may  be  gathered  from  a  letter 
which  he  wrote  after  Yaxlee  had  left  Segovia  to  Cardinal 
Pacheco  his  minister  at  Rome. 

PHILIP    II.    TO    CARDINAL    PACHECO.1 

October  1 6. 

'  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  2nd  of  September, 
containing  the  message  from  his  Holiness  on  the  assist- 
ance to  be  given  to  the  Queen  of  Scots.  As  his  Holiness 
desires  to  know  my  opinion,  you  must  tell  him  first  that 
his  anxiety  to  befriend  and  support  that  most  excellent 
and  most  Christian  princess  in  her  present  straits  is 
worthy  of  the  zeal  which  he  has  ever  shown  for  the  good 
cause,  and  is  what  his  disposition  would  have  led  me  to 
expect.  The  Queen  of  Scots  has  applied  to  myself  as 
well  as  to  his  Holiness  ;  and  possessing  as  I  do  special 
knowledge  of  the  condition  of  that  country,  and  having 
carefully  considered  the  situation  of  affairs  there,  I  have 
arrived  at  the  following  conclusions  : — 


1  MS.  Simancas. 


1565.]  THE  DARN  LEY  MARRIAGE.  363 

'  There  are  three  possibilities — 

'  i.  Either  the  Queen  of  Scots  may  find  herself  at  war 
only  with  her  own  subjects,  and  may  require  assistance 
merely  to  reduce  her  own  country  to  obedience  and  to 
maintain  religion  there  ;  or, 

1  2.  The  Queen  of  England,  afraid  for  her  own  safety, 
may  openly  support  the  rebels  and  heretics  in  their 
insurrection,  and  herself  undisguisedly  declare  war  ;  or, 

'  3.  The  Queen  of  Scots  may  attempt  to  extort  by 
arms  the  recognition  of  her  claims  on  the  English  suc- 
cession. 

*  In  either  or  all  of  these  contingencies  his  Holiness 
will  act  in  a  manner  becoming  his  position  and  his  cha- 
racter if  he  take  part  avowedly  in  her  behalf.  I  myself 
am  unwilling  to  come  prominently  forward,  but  I  am 
ready  to  give  advice  and  assistance,  and  that  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner  : — 

'  Suppose  the  first  case  that  the  Scotch  rebels  find  no 
support  from  any  foreign  prince,  their  strength  cannot 
then  be  great,  and  the  Queen  of  Scots  with  very  little 
aid  from  us  will  be  able  to  put  them  down.  It  will  be 
sufficient  if  we  send  her  money,  which  can  be  managed 
secretly  ;  and  if  his  Holiness  approves  he  will  do  well  to 
send  whatever  sum  he  is  disposed  to  give  without  delay. 
I  shall  myself  do  the  same,  and  indeed  I  have  already 
sent  a  credit  to  my  ambassador  in  England  for  the  Queen 
of  Scot's  use. 

'  If  the  Queen  of  England  takes  an  open  part,  more 
will  be  required  of  us,  and  secrecy  will  hardly  be  possible 
even  if  we  still  confine  ourselves  to  sending  money. 


364  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

Whatever  be  done,  however,  it  is  ray  desire  that  it  be 
done  entirely  in  his  Holiness's  name.  I  will  contribute 
in  my  full  proportion  ;  his  Holiness  shall  have  the  fame 
and  the  honour. 

'  The  last  alternative  is  far  more  difficult.  I  foresee 
so  many  inconveniences  as  likely  to  arise  from  it  that 
the  most  careful  consideration  is  required  before  any  step 
is  taken.  Nothing  must  be  done  prematurely  ;  and  his 
Holiness  I  think  should  write  to  the  Queen  of  Scots  and 
caution  her  how  she  proceeds.  A  false  move  may  ruin 
all,  while  if  she  abide  her  time  she  cannot  fail  to  succeed. 
Her  present  care  should  be  to  attach  her  English  friends 
to  herself  more  firmly,  and  wherever  possible  to  increase 
their  number  ;  but  above  all  she  should  avoid  creating  a 
suspicion  that  she  aims  at  anything  while  the  Queen  of 
England  is  alive.  The  question  of  her  right  to  the  suc- 
cession must  be  continually  agitated,  but  no  resolution 
should  be  pressed  for  until  success  is  certain.  If  she 
grasp  at  the  crown  too  soon  she  will  lose  it  altogether. 
Let  her  bide  her  time  before  she  disclose  herself:  and 
meanwhile  I  will  see  in  what  form  we  can  best  inter- 
fere. The  cause  is  the  cause  of  God,  of  whom  the  Queen 
of  Scots  is  the  champion.  We  now  know  assuredly  that 
she  is  the  sole  gate  through  which  religion  can  be 
restored  in  England  ;  all  the  rest  are  closed.' 

The  unfortunate  Yaxlee,  having  received  his  money  in 
Flanders,  was  hurrying  back  to  his  mistress  when  he  was 
caught  in  the  Channel  by  a  November  gale,  and  was 
flung  up  on  the  coast  of  Northumberland  a  mangled 
bo.ty,  recognizable  only  by  the  despatches  found  upon 


1565.]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  365 

his  person.  They  told  Elizabeth  little  which  she  did  not 
know  already.  She  was  perhaps  relieved  from  the  fear 
of  an  iminediate  interposition  from  Rpg.inj  the  expecta- 
tion of  which,  as  much  as  any  other  cause,  had  led  to  the 
strangeness  of  her  conduct.  But  she  knew  herself  to  be 
surrounded  with  pitfalls  into  which  a  false  step  might  at 
any  moment  precipitate  her ;  and  she  could  resolve  on 
nothing.  One  day  she  thought  of  trying  to  persuade 
the  Queen  of  Scots  to  establish  '  religion '  on  the  English 
model ;  '  or  if  that  could  not  be  obtained  that  there 
might  be  liberty  of  conscience,  that  the  Protestants 
might  serve  God  their  own  way  without  molestation/1 
Then  again  in  a  feeble  effort  to  preserve  her  dignity  she 
would  once  more  attempt  to  entrap  the  Queen  of  Scots 
into  sending  commissioners  to  England  to  sue  for  a  settle- 
ment of  the  succession,  which  naturally  did  but  increase 
Mary  Stuart's  exasperation.2  Bothwell  made  a  raid  on 
the  Borders  and  carried  off  five  or  six  English  prisoners. 
The  Earl  of  Bedford  made  reprisals,  in  the  faint  hope 
that  it  might  force  Elizabeth  into  a  more  courageous 
attitude.  She  first  blamed  Bedford  ;  then,  stung  by  an 
insolent  letter  from  the  Queen  of  Scots,  she  flashed  up 
with  momentary  pride  and  became  conscious  of  her  in- 
justice to  Murray. 

The  Scotch  Parliament  was  summoned  for 

December, 
the  ensuing  February,  when  Murray  and  his 

friends  would  be  required  to  appear,  and  if  they  failed 

1  Instructions  to  Commissioners  going  to  Scotland,  November,  1565 
Cotton.  MSS.  CALIQ.  B.  10. 

2  Randolph  to  Cecil,  December  15  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


366  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  44. 

to  present  themselves  would  be  proceeded  against  for 
high  treason.  The  Queen  of  Scots,  at  Rizzio's  instiga- 
tion, was  determined  to  carry  an  Act  of  Attainder  and 
forfeiture  against  them,  which  Elizabeth  felt  herself 
bound  in  honour  to  make  an  effort  to  prevent.  So 
anxious  she  had  been  for  the  first  two  months  after 
they  had  come  to  England  to  disclaim  connection  with 
them  that  she  had  almost  allowed  them  to  starve ; 
and  Randolph,  on  Christmas-day,  wrote  to  Cecil  that 
Murray  'had  not  at  that  time  two  crowns  in  the 
world.' *  But  this  neglect  was  less  the  result  of  de- 
liberate carelessness  than  of  temporary  panic  ;  and  as 
the  alarm  cooled  down  she  recovered  some  percep- 
tion of  the  obligations  under  which  she  lay. 

At  length  therefore  she  consented  for  herself  to 
name  two  commissioners  if  the  Queen  of  Scots  would 
name  two  others ;  and  in  writing  on  the  subject  to 
Randolph,  under  her  first  and  more  generous  impulse, 
she  said  that  '  her  chief  intention  in  their  meeting  was, 
if  it  might  be,  that  some  good  might  be  done  for  the 
Earl  of  Murray/  Her  timidity  came  back  upon  her 
before  she  had  finished  her  letter  ;  she  scored  out  the 
words  and  wrote  instead  '  the  chief  intention  of  this 
meeting  on  our  part  is,  covertly  though  not  manifestly,  to 
procure  that  some  good  might  be  done  for  the  Earl/2 
More  painful  evidence  she  could  scarcely  have  given  of 
her  perplexity  and  alarm. 

Bedford  and  Sir  John  Foster  were  named  to  repre- 

1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  December  25  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
2  Elizabeth  to  Eandplph,  January  10:   Ibid. 


1565.]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIAGE.  367 

sent  England.  The  Queen  of  Scots,  as  if  in  deliberate 
insult,  named  Bothwell  as  a  fit  person  to  meet  with 
them ;  and  even  this,  though  wounded  to  the  quick, 
Elizabeth  endured,  lest  a  refusal  might  '  increase  her 
malice.'1 

So  the  winter  months  passed  away  ;  and  the  time 
was  fast  approaching  for  the  meeting  of  the  Scottish 
Parliament.  The  Queen  of  Scots  was  by  this  time 
pregnant.  Her  popularity  in  England  was  instantly 
tenfold  increased  ;  while  from  every  part  of  Europe 
warnings  came  thicker  and  thicker  that  mischief  was 
in  the  wind.  '  The  young  King  and  Queen  of  Scots,' 
wrote  Sir  Thomas  Smith  from  Paris,  'do  look  for  a 
further  and  a  bigger  crown,  and  have  more  intelligence 
and  practice  in  England  and  in  other  realms  than  you 
think  for.  Both  the  Pope's  and  the  King  of  Spain's 
hands  be  in  that  dish  further  and  deeper  than  I  think 
you  know.  The  ambassadors  of  Spain,  Scotland,  and 
the  .Cardinal  of  Lorraine  be  too  great  in  their  devices 
for  me  to  like.  The  Bishop  of  Glasgow  looks  to  be  a 
cardinal,  and  to  bring  in  Popery  ere  it  be  long,  not 
only  into  Scotland  but  into  England.  I  have  cause  to 
say  to  you  vigilate ! ' ' 

1  It  is  written/  Randolph  reported  to  Leicester, 
'  that  this  Queen's  faction  increaseth  greatly  among 
you.  I  commend  you  for  that ;  for  so  shall  you  have 
religion  overthrown,  your  country  torn  in  pieces,  and 
never  an  honest  man  left  alive  that  is  good  or  godly. 

1  Elizabeth  to  Randolph,  February  2 :  Lamdowne  MSS.  8. 
2  Sir  T.  Smith  to  Cecil,  March  1565-6 :  French  MSS.  Roll*  House. 


368  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

Woe  is  me  for  you  when  David's  (Rizzio's")  son  shall  be 
a  king  of  England/  l 

j^66  At  length  a  darker  secret  stole  abroad,  that 

January.     piug  the  Fiftllj  wllQ  had  just  succeeded  to  the 

Papal  chair,  had  drawn  away  Catherine  de  Medici  from 
the  freer  and  nobler  part  of  the  French  people ;  that 

she  had  entered  on  the  dark  course  which  found  its 

• 

outcome  on  the  day  of  St  Bartholomew ;  and  that  a 
secret  league  had  been  formed  between  the  Pope  and 
the  King  of  France  and  the  Guises  for  the  uprooting  of 
the  reformed  faith  out  of  France  by  fair  means  or  foul. 
Nor  was  the  conspiracy  confined  to  the  Continent ;  a 
copy  of  the  bond  had  been  sent  across  to  Scotland, 
which  Randolph  ascertained  that  Mary  Stuart  had 
signed.2  At  the  moment  when  it  arrived  she  had  been 
moved  in  some  slight  degree  by  Melville's  persuasions, 
and  perhaps,  finding  that  Philip  also  advised  modera- 
tion, she  was  hesitating  whether  she  should  not  pardon 
the  lords  after  all.  But  the  Queen-mother's  messenger, 
M.  de  Yillemont,  entreated  that  she  would  under  no 
circumstances  whatever  permit  men  to  return  to  Scot- 
land who  had  so  long  thwarted  and  obstructed  her. 
The  jun^xpectftrl  siippm^^ftm-Jgra.rip.e  blew  her  passion 
into  flame  again  ; 3  and  she  looked  only  to  the  meeting 
of  the  Parliament,  from  which  the  strength  of  the 
Protestants  would  now  be  absent,  not  only  to  gratify  her 
own  and  Rizzio's  revenge  but  to  commence  her  larger 


1  Randolph  to  Leicester,  January  29  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
2  Randolph  to  Cecil,  February  7  :  Ibid. 


3  MELVILLE'S  Memoirs. 


1566.]      .  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  369 

and  long-cherished  projects.  She  Determined  to  make 
an  effort  to  induce  the^  Estates  to  re-establish  Catholic- 
ism  as  the  relig^n^of^Scotland^J-eaving  the  Protestants 
for  the  present  with  liberty  of  conapjfmnftj  1-mf.  with 
small  prospect  of  retaining  long  a  privilege  which  when 
in  power  they  had  rafnagdj;o  their  opponents. 

The  defeat  of  the  lords  and  the  humiliating  exhibi- 
tion of  Elizabeth's  fears  had  left  Mary  Stuart  to  out- 
ward appearance  mistress  of  the  situation.  There  was 
no  power  in  Scotland  which  seemed  capable  of  resisting 
her.  She  wrote  to  Pius  to  congratulate  him  on  her 
triumph  over  the  enemies  of  the  faith,  and  to  assure 
him  that  '  with  the  help  of  God  and  his  Holiness  she 
would  leap  over  the  wall.'1  Bedford  and  Randolph 
ceased  to  hope  ;  and  Murray,  in  a  letter  modestly  and 
mournfully  beautiful,  told  Cecil  that  unless  Elizabeth 
interfered,  of  which  he  had  now  small  expectation, '  for 
anything  that  he  could  judge  '  he  and  his  friends  were 
wrecked  for  ever.2 

Suddenly,  and  from  a  quarter  least  expect- 
--•— — -i- — i — _— C—        February. 

edxj^ little  cloud  rose  over  the  halcyon  pros- 
pects of  the  Queen  of  Scots,_wrapped  the  heavens  in 
blackness,  and  burst  over  her  head  in  a  tornado.  On 
the  political  stage  Mary  Stuart  was  but  a  great  actress. 
The  '  woman  '  had  a  drama  of  her  own  going  on  behind 
the  scenes  ;  the  theatre  caught  fire  ;  the  mock  heroics  of 
the  Catholic  crusade  burnt  into  ashes ;  and  a  tremendous 


1  Mary  Stuart  to  the  Pope,  January  21,  1566 :  MIGNET. 

2  Murray  to  Cecil,  January  9  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House 
VOL.  vn.  24 


370  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44- 

domestic  tragedy  was  revealed  before  the  astonished 
eyes  of  Europe. 

Towards  the  close  of  1565  rumours  went  abroad  in 
Edinburgh,  coupled  with  the  news  that  the  Queen  was 
enceinte,  that  she  was  less  happy  in  her  marriage  than 
she  had  anticipated.  Shp  Tmd  expected  Darnley  to  be 
passive  in  her  handstand  she  was  findingj;hatjie  was 
too  foolish  to  be  controlled :  a  proud,  ignorant,  self- 
willed  boy  was  aT  the  best  an  indifferent  companion  to 
an  accomplished  woman  of  the  world ;  and  when  he 
took  upon  himself  the  airs  of  a  king,  when  he  affected 
to  rule  the  country  and  still  more  to  rule  the  Queen,  he 
very  soon  became  intolerable.  The  first  open  difference 
between  them  arose  from  the  appointment  of  Bothwell 
as  lieutenant-general  in  preference  to  Lennox.  The 
Lennox  clan  and  kindred,  the  Douglases,  the  Euthvens, 
the  Lindsays,  who  were  linked  together  in  feudal 
affinity,  took  the  affront  to  themselves ;  and  Darnley, 
supported  by  his  friends,  showed  his  resentment  by  ab- 
senting himself  from  the  Court. 

'  The  Lord  Darnley/  wrote  Randolph  on  the  2oth 
of  December,1  'followeth  his  pastimes  more  than  the 
Queen  is  content  withal ;  what  it  will  breed  hereafter  I 
cannot  say,  but  in  the  mean  time  there  is  some  mislik- 
iiig  between  them/ 

It  was  seen  how  Darnley,  at  the  time  of  his 
marriage,  grasped  at  the  title  of  King.  As  he  found 
his  wishes  thwarted  he  became  anxious,  and  his  kins- 


1  Scotch  MSS.  Bolls  House. 


1566.3 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE. 


37' 


men  with  him,; that  the  name  should  become  a  reality, 
and  *  the  crown  matrimonial '  be  legally  secured  to  him 
at  the  approaching  Parliament.  But  there  were  signs 
abroad  that  his  wish  would  not  be  acceded  to ;  Mary 
Stuart  was  unwilling  to  part  with  her  power  for  the 
same  reason  that  Darnley  required  it. 

On  Christmas- day  Randolph  wrote  again  of '  strange 
alterations.'  '  A  while  ago/  he  said,1  '  there  was 
nothing  but  King  and  Queen  ;  now  the  Queen's  hus- 
band is  the  common  word.  He  was  wont  in  all  writings 
to  be  first  named ;  now  he  is  placed  in  the  second. 
Lately  there  were  certain  pieces  of  money  coined  with 
their  faces  Heiiricus  et  Maria  ;  these  are  called  in  and 
others  framed.  Some  private  disorders  there  are  among 
themselves  ;  but  because  they  may  be  but  amantium  irce, 
or  '  household  words/  as  poor  men  speak,  it  makes  no 
matter  if  it  grow  no  further.' 

In  January  a  marked  affront  was  passed  on  Darnley. 
M.  Rambouillet  brought  from  Paris  '  the  Order  of  the 
Cockle '  for  him.  A  question  rose  about  his  shield. 
Had  *  the  crown  matrimonial '  been  intended  for  him  he 
would  have  been  allowed  to  bear  the  royal  arms.  The 
Queen  coldly  *  bade  give  him  his  due/  and  he  was  en- 
rolled  as  Duke  of  Rothsay  and  Earl  of  Ross.2  Darnley 
retaliated  with  vulgar  brutality.  He  gave  roistering 
parties  to  the  young  French  noblemen  in  Rambouillet's 
train  and  made  them  drunk.3 


1  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 

2  KNOX  ;  History  of  the  Reform- 
ation. 


8  '  Sick  with  draughts  of  aqua 
composita.' 


372  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  44. 

One  day  he  was  dining  with  the  Queen  at  the  house 
of  a  merchant  in  Edinburgh.  He  was  drinking  hard 
as  usual,  and  when  she  tried  to  check  him  ( he  not  only 
paid  no  attention  to  her  remonstrance,  but  also  gave  her 
such  words  as  she  left  the  place  with  tears.'  Something 
else  happened  also,  described  as  '  vicious,'  the  nature  of 
which  may  be  guessed  at,  at  some  festivity  or  other 
on  '  Inch  Island  ;  ' l  and  as  a  natural  consequence  the 
Queen  '  withdrew  her  company '  from  the  Lord  Barn- 
ley  ;  a  staircase  connected  their  rooms,  but  they  slept 
apart.2 

Side  by  side  with  the  estrangement  from  her  hus- 
band, Mary  Stuart  ad™if,f,pri  "Riggn'o  tn  olnsnr  and  closer 
intimacy.  Signor  David,  as  he  was  called,  became  the 
Queen's  inseparable  companion  in  the  council-room  and 
the  cabinet.  At  all  hours  of  the  day  he  was  to  be 
found  with  her  in  her  apartments.  ^She  kept  late 
hours,  and  he  was  often  alone  with  her  till  midnight. 
He  had  the  control  of  all  the  business  of  the  State ;  as 
Darnley  grew  troublesome  his  presence  was  dispensed 
with  at  the  council,  and  a  signet,  the  duplicate  of  the 
King's,  was  intrusted  to  the  favoured  secretary.  Find- 
ing himself  so  deeply  detested  by  the  adherents  of 
Lennox,  Rizzio  induced  the  Queen  to  show  favour  to 
those  amongthe  banishedjords  who  were  most  hostile 
to  the  King  and  were  least  determined^  in  their  Pro- 

to  return  as  a  support  against  the  Lennox  faction  in 

1  Sir  "William   Drury  to  Cecil,  I  B.  10 :  Printed  in  KEITH. 
February  16  :   Cotton.  MSS.  CALIG.  I        2  RUTHYEN'JJ  Narrative.  KEITH. 


1566.]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  373 

case  of  difficulty  ; 1  while  among  the  Congregation — as 
was  seen  in  one  of  Randolph's  letters — the  worst  con- 
struction was  placed  on  the  relations  between  the  Queen 
and  the  favourite. 

Thus  a  King's  party  and  a  Queen's  party  had 
shaped  themselves  within  six  months  of  the  marriage  : 
Scotland  was  the  natural  home  of  conspiracies,  for  law 
was  powerless  there,  and  social  duty  was  overridden  by 
the  more  sacred  obligation  of  affinity  or  private  bond. 
On  the  J3th  of  February  (the  date  is  important)  Ran- 
dolph thus  wrote  to  Leicester  : — 

'  I  know  now  for  certain  that  this  Queen  repent eth 
her  marriage,  that  she  hateth  the  King  and  all  his  kin; 
I  know  that  he  knoweth  himself  that  he  hath  a  par- 
taker in  play  and  game  with  him  ;  I  know  that  there 
are  practices  in  hand  contrived  between  the  father  and 
the  son  to  come  by  the  crown  against  her  will  ;  I  know 
that  if  that  take  effect  which  is  intended,  David,  with 
the  consent  of  the  King,  shall  have  his  throat  cut 
within  these  ten  days.  Many  things  and  grievouser 
and  worse  are  brought  to  my  ears,  yea  of  things  in- 
tended against  the  Queen's  own  person/ 2 

It  was  observed  on  the  first  return  of  Lennox  that 


1  '  The  Duke  of  Chatelherault, 
finding  so  favourable  address,  hath 
much  displeased  both  the  King  and 


David  and  others.  If  there  should 
between  her  and  the  Lord  Darnley 
arise  such  controversy  as  she  could 


his  father,  who  is  in  great  misliking  not  well  appease,  the  Duke's  aid  she 
of  the  Queen.  She  is  very  weary  of  would  use.' — Drury  to  Cecil,  Febru- 
ary 1 6 :  Cotton.  MSS.  CALIG.  B.  10. 
2  Printed  in  TYTLER  s  History 


him.  Thus  it  is  that  those  that  de- 
pend wholly  on  him  are  not  liked  of 
her,  nor  they  that  follow  her  in  like 
manner  aie  not  liked  of  him,  as  i 


of  Scotland. 


374  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [0*1.44. 

the  enmities  and  friendships  of  his  family  intersected 
and  perplexed  the  leading  division  between  Catholics 
and  Protestants.  Lord  Darnley  had  been  brought  to 
Scotland  as  the  representative  of  the  English  Catholics 
and  as  a  support  to  the  Catholic  faction  ;  but  it  was 
singular  that  the  great  Scottish  families  most  nearly 
connected  with  him  were  Protestants;  while  the 
Gordons,  the  Hamiltons,  the  Betons,  the  relations 
generally  of  Chatelherault,  who  was  Lennox's  principal 
rival,  were  chiefly  on  the  opposite  side.  The  confusion 
hitherto  had  worked  ill  for  the  interests  of  the  Re- 
formers. The  House  of  Douglas  had  preferred  the 
claims  of  blood  to  those  of  religion :  the  Earl  of  Ruth- 
ven,  though  Murray's  friend,  was  Darnley's  uncle,1  and 
had  stood  by  the  Queen  through  the  struggle  of  the 
summer ;  Lindsay,  a  Protestant  to  the  backbone,  had 
married  a  Douglas  and  went  with  the  Earl  of  Morton  ; 
the  desire  to  secure  the  crown  to  a  prince  of  their  own 
blood  and  race  had  overweighed  all  higher  and  nobler 
claims. 

The  desertion  of  so  large  a  section  of  his  friends 
had  been  the  real  cause  of  Murray 's  failure ;  Protest- 
antism was  not  dead  in  Scotland,  but  other  interests 
had  paralyzed  its  vitality,  just  as  four  years  before 
Murray's  eagerness  to  secure  the  English  succession  for 
his  sister  had  led  him  into  his  first  and  fatal  mistake  of 
supporting  her  in  refusing  to  ratify  the  Treaty  of 
Edinburgh.  The 


!  Ruthven  had  married  a  half-sister  of  Lady  Margaret  Lennox. 


r 566.  ]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIA  GE.  3 75 

husband  flung  all  parties  back  into  their  natural 
places ;  Lennox,  who  twenty  years  before  had  been 
brought  in  from  France  in  the  interest  of  Henry  the 
Eighth  as  a  check  on  Cardinal  Beton,  drifted  again 
into  his  old  position  in  the  front  of  tho  Protestant 
league ;  and  Darnley's  demand  for  the  matrimonial 
crown,  though  in  himself  the  mere  clamour  of  dis- 
appointed vanity,  was  maintained  by  powerful  noble- 
men, who  though  they  neither  possessed  nor  deserved 
the  confidence  of  the  Reformers,  yet  were  recognizing 
too  late  that  they  had  mistaken  their  interest  in  leav- 
ing them. 

But  the  matrimonial  crown  it  became  every  day  more 
clear  that  Darnley  was  not  to  have ;  Rizzio  above  all 
others  was  held  responsible  for  the  Queen's  resolution  to 
refuse  it,  and  for  this,  as  for  a  thousand  other  reasons, 
he  was  gathering  hatred  on  his  devoted  head.  A 
foreigner,  who  had  come  to  Scotland  two  years  before  as 
a  wandering  musician,  was  thrusting  himself  into  the 
administration  of  the  country,  and  pushing  from  their 
places  the  fierce  lords  who  had  been  accustomed  to  dic- 
tate to  their  sovereign.  As  a  last  stroke  of  insolence  he 
was  now  aiming  at  the  chancellorship,  of  which  the 
Queen  was  about  to  deprive  in  his  favour  the  great  chief 
of  the  House  of  Douglas.  (  %^\k***^ 

While  their  blood  was  set  on  fire  with  these  real  and 
fancied  indignities  Lord  Darnley,  if  his  word  was  to  be 
believed,  went  one  night  between  twelve  and  one  to  the 
Queen's  room.  Finding  the  door  locked  he  knocked, 
but  could  get  no  answer.  At  length  after  he  had  called 


376 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH  44 


many  times,  and  had  threatened  to  break  the  lock,  the 
Queen  drew  back  the  bolt.  He  entered  and  she  appeared 
to  be  alone,  but  on  searching  he  found  Rizzio  half-dressed 
in  a  closet.1 

Darnley's  word  was  not  a  good  one :  he  was  capable 
of  inventing  such  a  story  to  compass  his  other  purposes, 
or  if  it  was  true  it  might  have  been  innocently  explained. 
The  Queen  of  Scots  frequently  played  cards  with  Kizzio 
late  into  the  night,  and  being  a  person  entirely  careless 
of  appearances  she  might  easily  have  been  alone  with 
him  with  no  guilty  intention  under  the  conditions  which 
Darnley  described.  However  it  was,  he  believed  or  pre- 
tended that  he  had  found  evidence  of  his  dishonour,  and 
communicated  his  discovery  to  Sir  George  Douglas  an- 
other of  his  mother's  brothers,  who  at  Darnley's  desire 
on  the  loth  of  February  informed  the  Earl  of  Ruthven. 

Once  before,  it  appeared,  '  the  nobility  had  given 
Darnley  counsel  suitable  to  his  honour ' — that  is  to  say, 
they  had  intimated  to  him  their  own  views  of  Eizzio's 
proceedings  and  character.  Darnley  had  betrayed  them 
to  the  Queen,  whe  had  of  course  been  exasperated. 
Ruthven  had  been  three  months  ill;  he  was  then 


1  'L'une  cause  de  la  mort  de 
David  est  que  le  Roy  quelques  jours 
auparavant,  environ  une  hcure  apres 
minuict,  seroit  alle  heurter  a,  la 
chambre  de  ladicte  dame,  qui  estoit 
audcssus  de  la  sienne  ;  et  d'aultant 
que  apres  avoir  plusieurs  fois  heurte 
i'on  ne  luy  respoiidoit  point  il  auroit 
apelle  souvent  la  Royne,  la  priant  de 
ouvrir,  et  snfin  }a  menacant  do 


rompre  la  porte ;  a  cause  de  quoy 
elle  lui  auroit  ouvert.  Laquelle 
ledict  Roy  trouva  seule  dedans  ladicte 
chambre  ;  mais  ayant  cberche  par- 
tout  il  auroit  trouve  dedans  son 
cabinet  ledict  David  en  cbemise, 
couvert  seullement  d'une  robbe 
fourree.' — Analyse  d'une  depeche  de 
M.  de  Foix  a  la  Reyne  mere : 
TEULET,  vol.  ii.  p.  267. 


1566.]  THE  DARN1.EY  MARPSAGE.  377 

scarcely  able  to  leave  his  bed  and  was  inclined  at  first 
to  run  into  no  further  trouble  ;  but  pressed  at  length  by 
Darnley's  oaths  and  entreaties,  he  saw  in  what  had  oc- 
curred an  opportunity  for  undoing  his  work  of  the 
summer  and  for  bringing  back  the  banished  lords.  Par- 
liament was  to  meet  in  the  first  week  in  March  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  forfeitures,  so  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost. 
Ruthven  consulted  Argyle,  who  was  ready  to  agree  to 
anything  which  would  save  Murray  from  attainder. 
Maitland,  who  since  his  conduct  about  the  marriage  had 
TifiATn  nnflftr  nn  Ao1ipgA;  gave  his  warm  adhesion ;  and 
swiftly  and  silently  the  links  of  the  scheme  were  welded. 
The  plan  was  to  punish  the  miserable  minion  who,  what- 
ever his  other  offences,  was  notoriously  the  chief  insti- 
gator of  the  Queen's  bitterness  against  her  brother,  and 
to  give  the  coveted  crown  matrimonial  to  Darnley,  pro- 
vided he  on  his  part  l  would  take  the  part  of  the  lords, 
bring  them  back  to  their  old  rooms,  and  establish  reli- 
gion as  it  was  at  the  Queen's  home-coming.' l 

The  conspirators  for  their  mutual  security  drew  a 
'bond,'  to  which  they  required  Darnley's  signature,  that 
he  might  not  afterwards  evade  his  responsibility.  On 
their  side  they  'undertook  to  be  liege  subjects  to  the  said 
Prince  Henry,  to  take  part  with  him  in  all  his  lawful 
actions,  causes,  and  quarrels,  to  be  friends  to  his  friends 
and  enemies  to  his  enemies.'  At  the  Parliament  they 
would  obtain  for  him  '  the  crown  matrimonial  for  his 
life  ; '  and  '  failing  the  succession  of  their  sovereign  they 


Randolph  to  Cecil,  February  20 :  ScoteA  Jf&9  Rolls  Rouse. 


378  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44 

would  maintain  his  right  to  the  crown  of  Scotland  after 
her  death.'  Religion  should  be  '  maintained  and  estab- 
lished as  it  was  on  the  arrival  of  their  sovereign  lady 
in  the  realm.'  '  They  would  spare  neither  life,  lands, 
goods,  nor  possessions  in  setting  forward  all  things  to 
the  advancement  of  the  said  noble  prince,  and  would 
intercede  with  the  Queen  of  England  for  favour  to  be 
shown  both  to  himself  and  to  his  mother.' 

Darnley  promised  in  return  that  the  banished  noble- 
men '  should  have  free  remission  of  all  their  faults '  as 
soon  as  the  possession  of  the  crown  matrimonial  enabled 
him  to  pardon  them,  and  till  he  obtained  it  he  under- 
took to  prevent  their  impeachment.  The  lords  might 
return  at  once  to  Scotland  in  full  possession  of  i  their 
lands,  titles,  and  goods.'  If  they  '  were  meddled  with* 
he  would  stand  by  them  to  the  uttermost,  and  religion 
should  be  established  as  they  desired.1 

Copies  of  these  articles  were  carried  by  swift  messen- 
gers to  Newcastle.  Eizzio's  name  was  not  mentioned ; 
there  was  nothing  in  them  to  show  that  more  was  in- 
tended than  a  forcible  revolution  on  the  meeting  of  Par- 
liament ;  and  such  as  they  were,  they  were  promptly 
signed  by  Murray  and  his  friends.  Argyle  subscribed, 
Maitland  subscribed,  Ruthven  subscribed ;  Morton  hesi- 
tated, but  at  the  crisis  of  his  uncertainty  Mary  Stuart 
innocently  carried  out  her  threat  of  depriving  him  of  the 
chancellorship,  and  he  added  his  name  in  a  paroxysm 
of  anger.  It  need  not  be  supposed  that  the  further 


1   Bond  subscribed  Marcb  6,  1566  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House, 


I566-] 


THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIA  GE. 


379 


secret  was  unknown  to  any  of  them,  but  it  was  unde- 
sirable to  commit  the  darker  features  of  the  plot  to 
formal  writing. 

Meanwhile  the  Queen  of  Scots,  all  unconscious  of  the 
deadly  coil  which  was  gathering  round  her,  had  chosen 
the  moment  to  order  Randolph  to  leave  Scotland.  She 
entertained  not  the  faintest  suspicion  of  the  conspiracy, 
but  she  knew  that  the  English  ambassador  had  shared 
Murray's  secrets,  that  he  had  been  Elizabeth's  instru- 
ment in  keeping  alive  in  Scotland  the  Protestant  faction, 
and  that  so  long  as  he  remained  the  party  whom  she 
most  detested  would  have  a  nucleus  to  gather  round. 
Believing  that  she  could  do  nothing  which  Elizabeth 
would  dare  to  resent,  she  called  him  before  the  council, 
charged  him  with  holding  intercourse  with  her  rebels, 
and  bade  him  begone.1  The  opportunity  was  ill  selected, 
for  Elizabeth  had  been  for  some  time  recovering  her 
firmness  ;  she  had  sent  Murray  money  for  his  private 
necessities  ;  in  the  middle  of  February  she  had  so  far 
overcome  both  her  economy  and  her  timidity,  that  she 
supplied  him  with  a  thousand  pounds  '  to  be  employed 
in  the  common  cause  and  maintenance  of  religion ; ' 2 
and  before  she  heard  of  the  treatment  of  Randolph  she 
had  taken  courage  to  write  with  something  of  her  old 
manner  to  the  Queen  of  Scots  herself. 

1  She  had  not  intended,'  she  said, '  to  have  written  on 


1  The  Queen  of  Scots  to  Eliza- 
l)oth,  February   20:    Scotch  MSS. 
Eolk  House. 

2  Acknowledgment  by  tbe  Earl  of 


Murray  of  the  receipt  of  moneys 
from  tbe  Queen's  Majesty,  February, 
1566:  MS.  Ibid. 


380  RF.IGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

the  subject  again  to  her,  but  bearing  tbat  ber  interces- 
sion bitberto  in  favour  of  tbe  lords  had  been  not  only 
fruitless,  but  tbat  at  tbe  approaching  Parliament  the 
Queen  of  Scots  meant  to  proceed  to  the  worst  extremities, 
she  would  no  longer  forbear  to  speak  ber  mind/  The 
Earl  of  Murray  had  risen  in  arms  against  her  only  to 
prevent  her  marriage  and  for  the  defence  of  his  own  life 
from  tbe  malice  which  was  borne  him ;  he  was  tbe  truest 
and  best  of  her  subjects;  and  therefore,  she  said,  'in 
the  interest  of  both  the  realms  we  are  moved  to  require 
you  to  have  that  regard  that  the  Earl  and  others  with 
him  may  be  received  to  your  grace,  or  if  not  that  you 
will  forbear  proceeding  against  him  and  tbe  others  until 
some  better  opportunity  move  you  to  show  them  favour.' 
In  this  mood  Elizabeth  was  not  inclined  to 
bear  with  patience  the  dismissal  of  her  ambas- 
sador. Proudly  and  coldly  she  replied  to  Mary  Stuart's 
announcement  of  what  she  had  done,  '  that  inasmuch  as 
the  Queen  of  Scots  bad  been  pleased  to  break  the  usages 
of  nations  and  pass  this  affront  upon  her,  as  this  was  the 
fruit  of  the  long  forbearance  which  she  had  herself  shown, 
she  would  be  better  advised  before  she  entered  into  any 
further  correspondence ;  she  would  take  such  measures 
as  might  be  necessary  for  her  own  defence  ;  and  for  the 
Earl  of  Murray,  to  deal  plainly,  she  could  not,  for  her 
honour  and  for  tbe  opinion  she  had  of  his  sincerity  and 
loyalty  towards  his  country,  but  see  him  relieved  in 
England,  whereof  she  thought  it  convenient  to  advertise 

1  Elizabeth  to  the  Queen  of  Scots,   February  24 :   Scotch  M88.  Rolh 
House. 


1566.] 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE. 


the  Queen  of  Scots  ;  if  harm  came  of  it  she  trusted  God 
would  convert  the  evil  to  those  that  were  the  cause  of  it.'  * 

The  first  and  probably  the  second  of  those  letters 
never  reached  their  destination  :  the  events  which  were 
going  forward  in  Scotland  rendered  entreaties  and  threats 
in  behalf  of  Murray  alike  unnecessary.2  Randolph, 
though  ordered  off,  was  unwilling  to  go  till  he  saw  the 
execution  of  the  plot :  he  made  excuses  for  remaining 
till  an  escort  came  to  his  door  with  orders  to  see  him 
over  the  frontiers,  and  he  was  compelled  to  obey.  Both- 
well  met  him  on  the  road  to  Berwick  with  apologies  and 
protests  ;  but  Randolph  said  he  knew  that  Bothwell  and 
one  other — no  doubt  Rizzio — were  those  who  had  advised 
his  expulsion.  They  desired  to  force  Elizabeth  to  de- 
clare war,  when  Bothwell  hoped  'to  win  his  spurs.'3 

Far  enough  was  the  Queen  of  Scots  from  the  triumph- 
ant war  which  she  was  imagining ;  far  enough  was  Both- 
well  from  his  spurs,  and  Rizzio  from  his  chancellorship 
and  the  investiture  of  the  lands  of  Murray.  The  mine 
was  dug,  the  train  was  laid,  the  match  was  lighted,  to 
scatter  them  and  their  projects  all  to  the  winds. 

The  Parliament  was  summoned  for  Monday,  the  nth 
of  March  ;  on  the  T2th  the  Bill  of  Attainder  against 
the  lords  was  to  be  brought  forward  and  pressed  to  imme- 
diate completion.  On  Friday,  the  8th,  the  conspirators 


1  Elizabeth   to    the    Queen    of 
Scots,  March  3  :  Lansdowne  MSS.  8. 

2  '  A  great  business  is  in  hand  in 
Scotland,   which   will   bring  about 
the  recall  of  the  Earl  of  Murray,  so 
that  we  have   forborne  to  forward 


your  Majesty's  letters  in  his  behalf.' 
— Randolph  and  Bedford  to  Eliza- 
beth, March  6  :  Scotch  MSS.  .Rolls 
House. 

3  Randolph  to  Cecil,  March  6 : 
MS.  Ibid. 


382  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [c:u.  44. 

sent  a  safe- conduct,  signed  by  Darnley,  to  bring  Murray 
back  to  Scotland.  m  Lord  Hume  had  been  gained  over, 
and  had  undertaken  to  escort  his  party  through  the 
marches,  and  before  the  Earl  and  his  companions  could 
reach  Edinburgh  all  would  be  over.1 

The  outline  of  the  intended  proceedings  was  sketched 
by  Randolph-  for  Cecil's  information  on  his  arrival  at 
Berwick. 

BEDFORD    AND    RANDOLPH   TO    CECIL.2 

Berwick^  March  6. 

*  The  Lord  Darnley,  weary  of  bearing  the  name  of  a 
king  and  not  having  the  honour  pertaining  to  such  a 
dignity,  is  in  league  with  certain  of  the  lords  for  a  great 
attempt,  whereby  the  noblemen  now  out  of  their  country 
may  without  great  difficulty  be  restored,  and  in  the  end 
tranquillity  ensue  in  that  country.  Somewhat  we  are 
sure  you  have  heard  of  diverse  discords  and  jars  between 
the  Queen  and  her  husband ;  partly  for  that  she  hath 
refused  him  the  crown  matrimonial,  partly  for  that  he 
hath  assured  knowledge  of  such  usage  of  himself  as 
altogether  is  intolerable  to  be  borne,  which,  if  it  were  not 
over- well  known,  we  would  both  be  very  loth  that  it 
could  be  true.  To  take  away  this  occasion  of  slander 
he  is  himself  determined  to  be  at  the  apprehension  and 
execution  of  him  whom  he  is  able  manifestly  .to  charge 
with  the  crime,  and  to  have  done  him  the  most  dishonour 
that  can  be  to  any  man,  much  more  being  as  he  is.  We 


1  Bedford  and  Randolph  to  Cecil  and  Leicester,  March  8 :  Scotch  MSS. 
Rolls  House.  8  MS.  Ibid. 


1566.] 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE, 


383 


need  not  more  plainly  describe  the  person — you  have 
heard  of  the  man  whom  we  mean. 

'The  time  of  execution  and  performance  of  these 
matters  is  before  the  Parliament,  as  near  as  it  is.  To 
this  determination  there  are  privy  in  Scotland  these 
— Argyle,  Morton,  E/uthven,  Boyd,  and  Lidington ;  in 
England  these — Murray,  Grange,  Rothes,  myself  (Bed- 
ford), and  the  writer  hereof  (Randolph). 

'  If  the  Queen  will  not  yield  to  persuasion,  we  know 
not  how  they  propose  to  proceed.  If  she  make  a  power 
at  home  she  will  be  fought  with  ;  if  she  seek  aid  from 
abroad  the  country  will  be  placed  at  the  Queen's  Ma- 
jesty's disposal  to  deal  as  she  think  fit/ 

In  the  blindness  of  confidence,  and  to  prevent  the 
chance  of  failure  in  Parliament,  Mary  Stuart  had  col- 
lected the  surviving  peers  of  the  old  '  spiritual  estate/ 
the  Catholic  bishops  and  abbots,  and  placed  them  '  in 
the  antient  manner/  intending,  as  she  herself  declared,1 
(  to  have  done  some  good  anent  the  restoring  the  auld 
religion,  and  to  have  proceeded  against  the  rebels  ac- 
cording to  their  demerits/  On  Thursday,  the  yth,  she 
presided  in  person  at  the  choice  of  the  Lords  of  the 
Articles,  naming  with  her  own  mouth  '  such  as  would 
say  what  she  thought  expedient  to  the  forfeiture  of  the 
banished  lords  ;2  and  on  Friday  there  was  a  preliminary 


1  The   Queen  of  Scots  to   the 
Archbishop   of  Glasgow,  April   2 : 
KEITH. 

2  RUTHVKN'S  narrative. — 'Who 
those  the  Lords  of  the  Articles  ? ' 


Ruthven  said  to  the  Queen.  'Not 
I,'  said  the  Queen.  '  Saving  your 
presence,'  said  he,  '  you  chose  them 
all,  and  nominated  them.' 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  44. 


meeting  at  the  Tolbooth  to  prepare  the  Bill  of  Attainder. 
The  Lords  of  the  Articles,1  carefully  as  they  had  been 
selected,  at  first  reported  ( that  they  could  find  no  cause 
sufficient  for  so  severe  a  measure/2  The  next  day — 
Saturday — the  Queen  appeared  at  the  Tolbooth  in  per- 
son, and  after  '  great  reasoning  and  opposition '  carried 
her  point.  '  There  was  no  other  way  but  the  lords 
should  be  attainted/3  The  Act  was  drawn,  the  for- 
feiture was  decreed,  and  required  only  the  sanction  of 
the  Estates.4 

The  same  day,  perhaps  at  the  same  hour,  when  Mary 
Stuart  was  exulting  in  the  consciousness  of  triumph,  the 
conspirators  were  completing  their  preparations.  Sun- 
day, the  loth,  had  been  the  day  on  which  they  had  first 
fixed  to  strike  their  blow.  But  Darnley  was  impatient. 
He  swore  that  '  if  the  slaughter  was  not  hasted '  he 
would  stab  David  in  the  Queen's  presence  with  his  own 
hand.  Each  hour  of  delay  was  an  additional  risk  of 
discovery,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  deed  should  be 
done  the  same  evening.  Euthven  proposed  to  seize 
Rizzio  in  his  own  room,  to  try  him  before  an  extempor- 
ized tribunal,  and  to  hang  him  at  the  market  cross.  So 
commonplace  a  proceeding  however  would  not  satisfy 
the  imagination  of  Darnley,  who  desired  a  more  dra- 
matic revenge ;  he  would  have  his  enemy  seized  in  the 


1  The  Lords  of  the  Articles  were 
a  committee  chosen  from  the  Three 
Estates,  and  according  to  law, 
chosen  by  the  Estates,  to  prepare 
the  measures  which  were  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  Parliament. 


2  RUTH  YEN'S  narrative. 

3  KM  ox. 

4  The    Queen   of  Scots  to   the 
Archbishop    of  Glasgow,  April   2 : 
KEITH. 


1 566.]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIA  GE.  385 

Queen's  own.  room,  in  the  very  sanctuary  of  his  inti- 
macy ;  '  where  she  might  be  taunted  in  his  presence  be- 
cause she  had  not  entertained  her  husband  as  she  ought 
of  duty/  The  ill-spirited  boy,  in  retaliation  for  treat- 
ment which  went  it  is  likely  no  further  than  coldness 
and  contempt,  had  betrayed  or  invented  his  own  dis- 
grace, to  lash  his  kindred  into  fury  and  to  break  the 
spirit  of  the  proud  woman  who  had  humbled  him  with 
her  scorn. 

The  Queen's  friends — Huntly,  Athol,  Sutherland,' 
Bothwell,  Livingston,  Fleming,  Sir  James  Balfour,  and 
others — were  in  Edinburgh  for  the  Parliament,  and  had 
rooms  in  Holyrood ;  but  as  none  of  them  dreamt  of 
danger  there  were  no  troops  there  but  the  ordinary 
guard,  which  was  scanty  and  could  be  easily  over- 
powered. It  was  arranged  that  as  soon  as  darkness  had 
closed  in  the  Earl  of  Morton  with  a  party  of  the 
Douglases  and  their  kindred  should  silently  surround 
the  palace :  at  eight  o'clock  the  doors  should  be  sei/cd 
and  no  person  permitted  to  go  out  or  in  ;  while  Morton 
himself  with  a  sufficient  number  of  trusted  friends  should 
take  possession  of  the  staircase  leading  to  the  Queen's 
rooms,  and  cut  off  communication  with  the  rest  of  the 

building.     Meanwhile  the  rest .     But  a  plan  of  the 

rooms  is  necessary  to  make  the  story  intelligible.  The 
suite  of  apartments  occupied  by  Mary  Stuart  were  on 
the  first  floor  in  the  north-west  angle  of  Holyrood 
Palace.  They  communicated  in  the  usual  way  by  a 
staircase  with  the  large  inner  quadrangle.  A  door 
from  the  landing  led  directly  into  the  presence  chamber  ; 

VOL.  vii.  25 


386  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

inside  the  presence  chamber  was  the  bedroom  ;  and  be- 
yond the  bedroom  a  small  cabinet  or  boudoir  not  more 
than  twelve  feet  square,  containing  a  sofa,  a  table,  and 
two  or  three  chairs.  Here  after  the  labours  of  the  day 
the  Queen  gave  her  little  supper  parties.  Darnley's 
rooms  were  immediately  below,  connected  with  the  bed- 
room by  a  narrow  spiral  staircase,  which  opened  close  to 
the  little  door  leading  into  the  cabinet. 

'  Knowing  the  King's  character,  and  that  he  would 
have  a  lusty  princess  afterwards  in  his  arms/  the  con- 
spirators required  his  subscription  to  another  bond,  by 
which  he  declared  that  all  that  was  done  '  was  his  own 
device  and  intention  ; '  and  then  after  an  early  supper 
together,  Huthven,  though  so  ill  that  he  could  hardly 
stand,  with  his  brother  George  Douglas,  Ker  of  Faldon- 
side,  and  one  other,  followed  Darnley  to  his 
room,  and  thence  with  hushed  breath  and 
stealthy  steps  they  ascended  the  winding  stairs.  A 
tapestry  curtain  hung  before  the  cabinet.  Leaving  his 
companions  in  the  bedroom,  Darnley  raised  it  and 
entered.  Supper  was  on  the  table ;  the  Queen  was  sit- 
ting on  the  sofa,  Rizzio  in  a  chair  opposite  to  her,  and 
Murray's  loose  sister,  the  Countess  of  Argyle,  on  one 
side.  Arthur  Erskine  the  equerry,  Lord  Robert  Stuart, 
and  the  Queen's  French  physician  were  in  attendance 
standing. 

Darnley  placed  himself  on  the  sofa  at  his  wife's  side. 
She  asked  him  if  he  had  supped.  He  muttered  some- 
thing, threw  his  arm  round  her  waist,  and  kissed  her. 
As  she  shrank  from  him  half  surprised,  the  curtain  was 


1 566.] 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE, 


387 


again  lifted,  and  against  the  dark  background,  alone, 
his  corslet  glimmering  through  the  folds  of  a  crim- 
son sash,  a  steel  cap  on  his  head,  and  his  face  pale  as 
if  he  had  risen  from  the  grave,  stood  the  figure  of 
Huthven. 

Glaring  for  a  moment  on  Darnley,  and  answering 
his  kiss  with  the  one  word  '  Judas/  Mary  Stuart  con- 
fronted the  awful  apparition,  and  demanded  the  mean- 
ing of  the  intrusion. 

Pointing  to  Bizzio,  and  with  a  voice  sepulchral  as 
his  features,  Huthven  answered  : 

'  Let  yon  man  come  forth ;  he  has  been  here  over 
long/ 

*  "What  has  he  done  ?  '  the  Queen  answered ;  '  he  is 
here  by  my  will.'  '  What  means  this  ?  '  she  said,  turn- 
ning  again  on  Darnley. 

The  caitiff  heart  was  already  flinching.  *  Ce  n'est 
rien  ! '  he  muttered.  '  It  is  nothing  !  ' l  But  those 
whom  he  had  led  into  the  business  would  not  let  it  end 
in  nothing. 

'Madame/  said  Ruthven,  'he  has  offended  your 
honour  ;  he  has  offended  your  husband's  honour ;  he  has 
caused  your  Majesty  to  banish  a  great  part  of  the  no- 
bility that  he  might  be  made  a  lord  ;  he  has  been  the 


1  Bedford  and  Randolph  in  their 
report  from  Berwick,  said  the  King 
answered  '  It  was  against  her  hon- 
our.' But  these  words  were  used 
by  Ruthven.  An  original  report, 
printed  by  TEULET,  vol.  ii.  p.  262, 
compared  with  that  given  by  Mary 


herself  in  the  letter  to  the  Archbishop 
of  Glasgow,  printed  in  KEITH, 
creates  a  belief  that  the  words  in  the 
text  were  those  which  Darnley  really 
used.  They  are  more  in  keeping 
with  his  character. 


388  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

destroyer  of  the  commonwealth,  and  must  learn  his  duty 
better/ 

'  Take  the  Queen  your  wife  to  you/  he  said  to  Darn- 
ley,  as  he  strode  forward  into  the  cabinet. 

The  Queen  started  from  her  seat  '  all  amazed/  and 
threw  herself  in  his  way,  while  Rizzio  cowered  trembling 
behind  her  and  clung  to  her  dress. 

Stuart,  Erskine,  and  the  Frenchman,  recovering  from 
their  astonishment  and  seeing  Ruth ven  apparently  alone, 
1  made  at  him  to  thrust  him  out/ 

'  Lay  no  hands  on  me/  Ruthven  cried,  and  drew  his 
dagger  ;  '  I  will  not  be  handled/  In  another  moment 
Faldonside  and  George  Douglas  were  at  his  side.  Fal- 
donside  held  a  pistol  at  Mary  Stuart's  breast ;  the  bed- 
room door  behind  was  burst  open,  and  the  dark  throng 
of  Morton's  followers  poured  in.  Then  all  was  con- 
fusion ;  the  table  was  upset,  Lady  Argyle  catching  a 
candle  as  it  fell.  Ruthven  thrust  the  Queen  into  Darn- 
ley's  arms  and  bade  him  hold  her  ;  while  Faldonside 
bent  Rizzio's  little  finger  back  till  he  shrieked  with  pain 
and  loosed  the  convulsive  grasp  with  which  he  clung  to 
his  mistress. 

'  Do  not  hurt  him/  Mary  said  faintly.  '  If  he  has 
done  wrong  he  shall  answer  to  justice/ 

'  This  shall  justify  him/  said  the  savage  Faldonside, 
drawing  a  cord  out  of  his  pocket.  He  flung  a  noose 
round  Rizzio's  body,  and  while  George  Douglas  snatch- 
ed the  King's  dagger  from  its  sheath,  the  poor  wretch 
was  dragged  into  the  midst  of  the  scowling  crowd  and 
borne  away  into  the  darkness.  He  caught  Mary's  bed 


1 566. ]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIA  GE.  389 

as  he  passed ;  Faldonside  struck  him  sharply  on  the 
wrist  •  he  let  go  with  a  shriek,  and  as  he  was  hurried 
through  the  anteroom  the  cries  of  his  agony  came  back 
upon  Mary's  ear ;  '  Madame,  madame,  save  me !  save 
me  ! — justice — I  am  a  dead  man  !  spare  my  life  ! ' 

Unhappy  one  !  his  life  would  not  be  spared.  They 
had  intended  to  keep  him  prisoner  through  the  night 
and  hang  him  after  some  form  of  trial ;  but  vengeance 
would  not  wait  for  its  victim.  He  was  borne  alive  as 
far  as  the  stairhead,  when  George  Douglas,  with  the 
words  '  This  is  from  the  King,'  drove  Darnley's  dagger 
into  his  side ;  a  moment  more  and  the  whole  fierce  crew 
were  on  him  like  hounds  upon  a  mangled  wolf ;  he  was 
stabbed  through  and  through  with  a  hate  which  death 
was  not  enough  to  satisfy,  and  was  then  dragged  head 
foremost  down  the  staircase,  and  lay  at  its  foot  with 
sixty  wounds  in  him. 

So  ended  Rizzio,  unmourned  by  living  soul  save  her 
whose  favour  had  been  his  ruin,  unheeded  now  that  he 
was  dead  as  common  carrion,  and  with  no  epitaph  on  his 
remains  except  a  few  brief  words  from  an  old  servant  of 
the  palace,  so  pathetic  because  so  commonplace.  The 
body  was  carried  into  the  lodge  and  flung  upon  a  chest 
to  be  stripped  for  burial.  '  Here  is  his  destiny/  the 
porter  moralized  as  he  stood  by  ;  '  for  on  this  chest  was 
his  first  bed  when  he  came  to  this  place,  and  there  now 
he  lieth  a  very  niggard  and  misknown  knave.' l 

The  Queen  meanwhile,  fearing  the  worst  but  not 


1  RUTHVEN'S  narrative. 


390 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  44. 


knowing  that  Rizzio  actually  was  dead,  had  struggled 
into  her  bedroom,  and  was  there  left  with  Ruthven  and 
her  husband.  Ruthven  had  followed  the  crowd  for  a 
moment,  but  not  caring  to  leave  Darnley  alone  with  her 
had  returned.  She  had  thrown  herself  sobbing  upon  a 
seat ;  the  Earl  bade  her  not  be  afraid,  no  harm  was 
meant  to  her  ;  what  was  done  was  by  the  King's  order. 

'  Yours  !  '  she  said,  turning  on  Darnley  as  on  a 
snake  ;  '  was  this  foul  act  yours  ?  Coward  !  wretch  !  did 
I  raise  you  out  of  the  dust  for  this  ? ' 

Driven  to  bay  he  answered  sullenly  that  he  had  good 
cause ;  and  then  his  foul  nature  rushing  to  his  lips  he 
flung  brutal  taunts  at  her  for  her  intimacy  with  Rizzio, 
and  complaints  as  nauseous  of  her  treatment  of  himself.1 

'Well/  she  said,  'you  have  taken  your  last  of  me 
and  your  farewell ;  I  shall  never  rest  till  I  give  you  as 
sorrowful  a  heart  as  I  have  at  this  present.' 

Ruthven  tried  to  soothe  her,  but  to  no  purpose. 
Could  she  have  trampled  Darnley  into  dust  upon  the 
spot  she  would  have  done  it.  Catching  sight  of  the 


1  The  expressions  themselves  are 
better  unproduced.  The  conversa- 
tion rests  on  the  evidence  of  Euthven, 
which  is  considerably  better  than 
Darnley 's,  and  if  it  was  faithfully 
related  might  justify  Randolph's 
view  of  the  possible  parentage  of 
James  the  Sixth.  But  the  recollec- 
tion of  a  person  who  had  been  just 
concerned  in  so  tremendous  a  scene 
v,«s  not  likely  to  be  very  exact. 
Bedford  and  Randolph  believed  the 
worst :  *  It  is  our  part,'  they  said  in 


a  despatch  to  the  English  council, 
"  rather  to  pass  the  matter  over  in 
silence  than  to  make  any  rehearsal  of 
things  committed  to  us  in  secret; 
but  we  know  to  whom  we  write  ; ' 
and  they  went  on  to  describe  the 
supposed  conversation  word  for  word 
as  Ruthven  related  it.  Those  who 
are  curious  in  Court  scandals  may 
refer  to  this  letter,  which  has  been 
printed  by  Mr  Wright  in  the  first 
volume  of  Elizabeth  and  her  Times. 


1566.]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  391 

empty  scabbard  at  his  side,  she  asked  him  where  his 
dagger  was. 

He  said  he  did  not  know. 

1  It  will  be  known  hereafter/  she  said  ;  'it  shall  be 
dear  blood  to  some  of  you  if  David's  be  'spilt.  Poor 
David ! '  she  cried,  '  good  and  faithful  servant !  may 
God  have  mercy  on  your  soul/ 

Fainting  between  illness  and  excitement,  Ruthven 
with  a  half  apology  sank  into  a  chair  and  called  for 
wine. 

1  Is  this  your  sickness  ?  '  she  said  bitterly.  '  If  I  die 
of  my  child  and  the  commonwealth  come  to  ruin,  there 
are  those  who  will  revenge  me  on  the  Lord  Ruthven. 
Running  over  the  proud  list  of  friends  with  which  she 
had  fooled  her  fancy,  she  threatened  him  with  Philip 
and  Charles  and  Maximilian  and  her  uncles  and  the 
Pope. 

*  Those  are  over- great  persons/  Ruth  veil  answered, 
'  to  meddle  with  so  poor  a  man  as  me.     No  harm  is 
meant  you.      If  aught  has  been  done  to-night  which 
you   mislike,    your   husband    and   none    of  us   is    the 
cause/ 

The  courage  and  strength  with  which  the  Queen 
had  hitherto  borne  up  began  to  give  way. 

*  What — what  have  I  done  to  be  thus  handled  ? '  she 
sobbed. 

'  Ask  your  husband/  said  the  Earl. 

'  No/  she  said,  '  I  will  ask  you.  I  will  set  my  crown 
before  the  Lords  of  the  Articles,  and  if  they  find  I  have 
offended,  let  them  give  it  where  they  please/ 


392  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

'  Wlio  chose  the  Lords  of  the  Articles  ?  '  Ruthven 
answered  with  a  smile,  '  you  chose  them  all.' 

At  this  moment  the  boom  was  heard  of  the  alarm 
bell  in  Edinburgh.  A  page  rushed  in  to  say  that  there 
was  fighting  in  the  quadrangle ;  and  the  Earl,  leaning 
heavily  on  a  servant's  arm,  rose  and  went  down. 
Huntly,  Sutherland,  and  Both  well,  hearing  the  noise 
and  confusion,  had  come  out  of  their  rooms  to  know 
what  it  meant.  Morton's  followers  required  them  to 
surrender :  they  had  called  a  few  servants  about  them 
and  were  defending  themselves  against  heavy  odds  when 
Ruthven  appeared.  Ill  as  he  was  he  thrust  himself 
into  the  melee,  commanded  both  sides  to  drop  their 
arms,  and  by  the  glare  of  a  torch  read  to  them  Darn- 
ley's  bond.  '  The  banished  earls,'  he  said,  '  would  be 
at  Holyrood  in  the  morning,  and  he  prayed  that  all 
feuds  and  passions  might  be  buried  in  the  dead  man's 
grave.' 

The  Queen's  friends,  surprised  and  outnumbered, 
affected  to  be  satisfied  ;  the  leaders  on  both  sides  shook 
hands ;  and  Both  well  and  Huntly  withdrew  to  their 
own  apartments,  forced  open  the  windows,  dropped  to 
the  ground  and  fled. 

This  disturbance  was  scarcely  over  when  the  Pro- 
vost of  Edinburgh  came  out  of  the  Canon  gate  with  four 
hundred  of  the  town  guard,  and  demanded  the  meaning 
of  the  uproar.  The  Provost  was  a  supporter  of  the 
Queen  ;  Mary  dashed  from  her  seat,  wrenched  back  the 
casement,  and  cried  out  for  help. 

'Sit  down,'  some  ruffian  cried.     'If  you  stir  you 


1566.] 


THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE. 


393 


shall  be  cut  in  collops  and  flung  over  the  walls.' J  She 
was  dragged  away,  and  Darnley,  whose  voice  was  well 
known,  called  out  that  the  Queen  was  well,  that  what 
had  been  done  was  done  by  orders  from,  himself,  and 
that  they  might  go  home.  The  citizens  bore  no  good 
will  to  Rizzio :  too  familiar  with  wild  scenes  to  pay 
much  heed  to  them,  they  inquired  no  further,  and  went 
back  to  their  homes,  leaving  eighty  of  their  number  to 
assist  Morton  in  the  guard  of  the  palace. 

Ruthven  returned  for  a  moment,  but  only  to  call 
Darnley  away  and  leave  the  Queen  to  her  rest.  The 
King  withdrew,  and  with  him  all  the  other  actors  in 
the  late  tragedy  who  had  remained  in  the  scene  of  it. 
The  ladies  of  the  Court  were  forbidden  to  enter,  and 
Mary  Stuart  was  locked  alone  into  her  room  amidst  the 
traces  of  the  fray,  to  seek  such  repose  as  she  could  find. 

So  closed  Saturday,  the  pth  of  March,  at  Holyrood. 
The  same  night  another  dark  deed  was  done  in  Edin- 
burgh, which  passed  scarce  noticed  in  the  agitation  of 
the  murder  of  Rizzio.  Mary  of  Lorraine  the  year 
before  her  death  had  a  chaplain  named  Black;  he 
was  a  lax  kind  of  man,  and  after  being  detected  in 
sundry  moral  improprieties,  had  been  banished  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  held  a  cure  in  the  English  Church  near 
Newcastle.  His  old  habits  remained  with  him :  he 
acknowledged  to  Lord  Bedford  one  bad  instance  of  se- 
duction ;  but  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  he  had  merit  of 


1  The  speaker  is  not  known. 
Mary  says  in  her  letter  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Glasgow,  'The  Lords  in 


our  face  declared  that  we  should  b<? 
cut  down.'  It  was  not  Ruthven, 
who  was  still  absent. 


394  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

some  kind,  for  Mary  Stuart,  as  soon  as  she  was  emanci- 
pated from  the  first  thraldom  of  the  Puritans,  recalled 
him,  took  him  into  favour,  and  appointed  him  one  of 
the  Court  preachers.  He  had  better  have  remained  in 
Northumberland.  A  citizen  encountered  him  a  little 
before  Christmas  in  some  room  or  passage  where  he 
should  not  have  been.  He  received  '  two  or  three  blows 
with  a  cudgel  and  one  with  a  dagger/  and  had  been 
since  unable  to  leave  his  bed.  While  Edinburgh  was 
shuddering  over  the  scene  in  the  palace,  a  brother  or 
husband  who  had  matter  against  the  chaplain — the 
same  perhaps  who  had  stabbed  him — finished  his  work, 
and  murdered  the  wounded  wretch  where  he  lay.1 

In  the  morning  at  daybreak  a  proclamation  went 
out  in  the  King's  name  that  the  Parliament  was_  post- 
poned,  and  that  '  all  bishops,  abbots,  and  Papists  should 
depart  the  town7~~  Murray  was  expected  in  a  few 
hours ;  "no  one  knew  how  deep  or  how  far  the  con- 
spiracy had  gone,  and  the  Catholics,  uncertain  what  to 
do,  offered  no  resistance.  What_was  to  be  done  with 
the  Queen  was  the  next  difficulty.  They  had  caged 
their  bird,  but  it  might  be  less  easy  to  hold  her  ;  and 
if  they  believed  the  Queen  was  crushed  or  broken,  the 
conspirators  knew  little  of  the  temper  which  they  had 
undertaken  to  control:  sleeping  behind  jhat_grace  of 
form  and  charm  of  manner  there  lay  a^piritjwhich  no 
misfortune  could  tame— a  nature  like  a  panther's,  mer- 
ciless and  beautiful — and  along  with  it  every  dexterous 


Randolph  to  Cecil,  March  13  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1 566.  ]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIA  GE.  395 

art  by  which  women  can  outwit  the  coarser  intellects  of 
men. 

In  the  silence  and  solitude  of  that  awful  night  she 
nerved  herself  for  the  work  before  her.  With  the  grey 
of  the  twilight  she  saw  Sir  James  Melville  passing  under 
her  window,  and  called  to  him  to  bring  the  city  guard 
and  rescue  her ;  but  Melville  bowed  and  passed  on  ;  at 
that  moment  rescue  was  impossible;  she  had  nothing 
to  depend  upon  but  her  own  courage  and  her  husband's 
folly.  Could  she  escape  her  friends  would  rally  round 
her,  and  her  first  thought  was  to  fly  in  the  disguise  of 
one  of  her  gentlewomen.  But  to  escape  alone,  even  if 
possible,  would  be  to  leave  Darnley  with  the  lords ;  she 
resolved  to  play  a  bolder  game,  to  divide  him  from 
them,  and  carry  him  off,  and  to  leave  them  without  the 
name  of  a  king  to  shield  their  deed. 

In  the  first  agony  of  passion  she  had  been  swept 
away  from  her  self-control,  and  she  had  poured  on  her 
husband  the  full  stream  of  her  hate  and  scorn.  He  re- 
turned to  her  room  on  the  Sunday  morning  to  find  her 
in  appearance  subdued,  composed,  and  affectionate.  To 
Mary  Stuart  it  was  an  easy  matter  to  play  upon  the 
selfish,  cowardly,  and  sensual  nature  of  Darnley.  As 
Ruthven  had  foreseen,  she  worked  upon  him  by  her  ca- 
resses ;  she  persuaded  him  that  he  had  been  fatally  de- 
ceived in  his  supposed  injuries  ;  but  she  affected  to 
imagine  that  he  had  been  imposed  on  by  the  arts  of 
others,  and  when  he  lied  she  pretended  to  believe  him. 
She  uttered  no  word  of  reproach,  but  she  appealed  to 
him  through  the  chiM — his  child — whose  safety  was 


396  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

endangered ;  and  she  prayed  that  at  least,  situated  as 
she  was,  she  might  not  be  left  entirely  among  men, 
and  that  her  ladies  might  be  allowed  to  attend  her. 

Soft  as  the  clay  of  which  he  was  made,  Darnley  ob- 
tained the  reluctant  consent  of  Morton  and  Ruthven. 
The  ladies  of  the  palace  were  admitted  to  assist  at  the 
Queen's  morning  toilet,  and  the  instant  use  she  made  of 
them  was  to  communicate  with  Huntly  and  Bothwell. 
The  next  point  was  to  obtain  larger  liberty  for  herself. 
Towards  the  afternoon  '  she  made  as  though  she  would 
part  with  her  child; '  a  midwife  was  sent  for,  who,  with 
the  French  physician,  insisted  that  she  must  be  removed 
to  a  less  confined  air.  To  Darnley  she  maintained  an 
attitude  of  dependent  tenderness  ;  and  fooled  in  his 
idle  pride  by  the  prayers  of  the  woman  whom  he  be- 
lieved that  he  had  brought  to  his  feet,  he  was  led  on  to 
require  that  the  guard  should  be  removed  from  the 
gate,  and  that  the  exclusive  charge  of  her  should  be 
committed  to  himself. 

The  conspirators,  '  seeing  that  he  was  growing  effem- 
inate, liked  his  proposals  in  no  way  ; '  they  warned  him 
that  if  he  yielded  so  easily  '  both  he  and  they  would 
have  cause  to  repent ; '  and  satisfied  that  the  threat  of 
miscarriage  was  but  '  trick  and  policy/  they  refused  to 
dismiss  a  man  from  his  post,  and  watched  the  palace 
with  unremitting  vigilance. 

So  passed  Sunday.  As  the  dusk  closed  in,  a  troop  of 
horse  appeared  on  the  road  from  Dunbar.  In  a  few 
moments  more  the  Earl  of  Murray  was  at  the  gate. 

It  was  not  thus  that  Mary  Stuart  had  hoped  to  meet 


1 5 66.  ]  THE  DARNLE  Y  MARRIA  GE.  197 

her  brother.  His  head  sent  home  by  Bothwell  from 
the  Border,  or  himself  brought  back  a  living  prisoner, 
with  the  dungeon,  the  scaffold,  and  the  bloody  axe — 
these  were  the  images  which  a  few  weeks  or  days 
before  she  had  associated  with  the  next  appearance  in 
Edinburgh  of  her  father's  son.  Her  feelings  had  un- 
dergone no  change.  He  knew  some  secrets  about  her 
which  she  could  not  pardon  the  possessor,  and  she 
hated  him  with  the  hate  of  hell ;  but  the  more  deep- set 
passion  paled  for  the  moment  before  a  thirst  for  revenge 
*on  Rizzio's  murderers. 

On  alighting  the  Earl  was  conducted  immediately 
to  the  Queen's  presence.  The  accomplished  actress 
threw  herself  sobbing  into  his  arms. 

'  Oh  my  brother/  she  said  as  she  kissed  him, '  if  you 
had  been  here  I  should  not  have  been  so  uncourteously 
handled.' 

Murray  had  '  a  free  and  generous  nature.'  But  a 
few  hours  had  passed  since  she  had  forced  the  unwilling 
Lords  of  the  Articles  to  prepare  a  Bill  of  Attainder 
against  him  ;  but  her  shame,  her  seeming  helplessness, 
and  the  depth  of  her  fall  touched  him,  and  he  shed 
tears. 

The  following  morning  Murray,  Ruthven, 
Morton,   and  the  rest  *of  the  party,   met  to 
consider  the  next  step  which  they  should  take.     Little 
is  known  of  their  deliberations  except  from  the  sus- 
pected source  of  a  letter  from  Mary  Stuart  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Glasgow.     Some,  she  said,  proposed  to  keep 
her  a  perpetual  prisoner,   some  to  put  her  to  death. 


398  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

some  '  that  she  should  be  warded  in  Stirling  Castle  till 
she  had  approved  in  Parliament  what  they  had  done, 
established  their  religion,  and  given  to  the  King  the 
whole  government  of  the  realm/ 

Some  measure  of  this  sort  they  were  without  doubt 
prepared  to  venture ;  it  had  been  implied  in  the  very 
nature  of  their  enterprise  :  yet  to  carry  it  out  they  re- 
quired Darnley's  countenance,  and  fool  and  coward  as 
they  knew  him  to  be  they  had  not  fathomed  the  depth  of 
his  imbecility  and  baseness.  While  the  lords  were  in 
consultation  the  Queen  had  wormed  the  whole  secret 
from  him ;  he  told  her  of  the  plot  for  the  return  of 
Murray  and  his  friends,  with  the  promises  which  had 
been  made  to  himself ;  he  revealed  every  name  that  he 
knew,  concealing  nothing  save  that  the  murder  had 
been  his  own  act  and  design  and  provoked  by  his  accusa- 
tions against  herself;  he  had  forgotten  that  his  own  hand- 
writing could  be  produced  in  deadly  witness  against 
him.  From  that  moment  she  played  upon  him  like  an 
instrument ;  she  showed  him  that  if  he  remained  with 
the  lords  he  would  be  a  tool  in  their  hands;  she  assured 
him  of  the  return  of  her  own  affection  for  him,  and 
flattered  his  fancy  with  visions  of  greatness  which 
might  be  in  store  for  him  if  he  would  take  his  place 
again  at  her  side  ;  she  talked  of  '  his  allies  the  con- 
federate princes,'  who  would  be  displeased  if  he  changed 
his  religion ;  she  appealed  again  to  the  unborn  heir  of 
their  united  greatness,  and  she  bound  him  soul  and 
body  to  do  her  bidding. 

After  possessing  him  with  the  plans  which  she  hud 


1566.]  THE  DARN  LEY  MARRIAGE.  399 

formed  to  escape,  she  sent  him  to  the  lords  to  promise 
in  her  name  that  she  was  ready  to  forget,  the  past,  and 
to  bury  all  unkindness  in  a  general  reconciliation. 
They  felt  instinctively  that  what  they  had  done  could 
never  really  be  pardoned ;  but  Ruth ven,  Morton,  and 
Murray  returned  with  Darnley  to  her  presence,  when 
again,  with  the  seeming  simplicity  of  which  she  was  so 
finished  a  mistress,  she  repeated  the  same  assurances. 
She  was  ready,  she  said,  to  bind  herself  in  writing  if 
they  would  not  trust  her  word  ;  and  while  the  two 
other  noblemen  were  drawing  a  form  for  her  to  sign, 
she  took  Murray  by  the  hand  and  walked  with  him  for 
an  hour.  She  then  retired  to  her  room.  Darnley,  as 
soon  as  the  bond  was  ready,  took  charge  of  it,  promis- 
ing to  return  it  signed  on  the  following  day ;  and 
meanwhile  he  pressed  again  that  after  so  much  conces- 
sion on  her  part  they  were  bound  to  meet  her  with 
corresponding  courtesy,  and  to  spare  her  the  ignominy 
of  being  longer  held  a  prisoner  in  her  own  palace. 

Had  they  refused  to  consent,  an  attempt  would  have 
been  made  that  night  by  Bothwell  to  carry  her  off  by 
force.  But  to  reject  the  request  of  Darnley,  whose 
elevation  to  a  share  of  the  throne  was  the  professed  ob- 
ject of  the  conspiracy,  was  embarrassing  and  perhaps 
dangerous  ;  they  gave  way  after  another  warning ;  the 
guard  was  withdrawn,  Euthven  protesting  as  he 
yielded  that  '  whatever  bloodshed  followed  should  be 
on  the  King's  head. 

The  important  point  gained,  Darnley  would  not 
awake  suspicion  by  returning  to  the  Queen  ;  he  sent  her 


400  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

word  privately  that  '  all  was  well ;  '  and  at  eight  in  the 
evening  Stewart  of  Traquair,  Captain  of  the  Royal 
Gruard,  Arthur  Erskine,  '  whom  she  would  trust  with  a 
thousand  lives/  and  Standen,  a  young  and  gallant  gen- 
tleman, assembled  in  the  Queen's  room  to  arrange  a 
plan  for  the  escape  from  Holyrood.  The  first  question 
was  where  she  was  to  go.  Though  the  gates  were  no 
longer  occupied  the  palace  would  doubtless  be  watched ; 
and  to  attempt  flight  and  to  fail  would  be  certain 
ruin.  In  th<?  Castle  of  Edinburgh  she  would  be  safe 
with  Lord  Erskine,  but  she  could  reach  the  Castle  only 
through  the  streets  which  would  be  beset  with  enemies ; 
and  unfit  as  she  was  for  the  ^xertion,  she_determined  to 
make  for  Dunbar. 

She  stirred  the  blood  of  the  three  youths  with  the 
most  touching  appeal  which  could  be  made  to  the  gen- 
erosity of  man.  Pointing  to  the  child  that  was  in  her 
womb,  she  adjured  them  by  their  loyalty  to  save  the  un- 
born hope  of  Scotland.  So  addressed  they  would  have 
flung  themselves  naked  on  the  pikes  of  Morton's  troopers. 
They  swore  they  would  do  her  bidding  be  it  what  it 
would;  and  then  '  after  her  sweet  manner  and  wise  direc- 
tions, she  dismissed  them  till  midnight  to  put  all  in  order 
as  she  herself  excellently  directed/ 

'  The  rendezvous  appointed  with  the  horses  was  near 
the  broken  tombs  and  demolished  sepultures  in  the 
ruined  Abbey  of  Holyrood/1  A  secret  passage  led 
underground  from  the  palace  to  the  vaults  of  the  abbey ; 


Then  standing  at  the  south-eastern  angle  of  the  Royal  Chapel. 


1566.]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  401 

and  at  midnight  Mary  Stuart,  accompanied  by  one  serv- 
ant and  her  husband — who  had  left  the  lords  under  pre- 
tence of  going  to  bed — '  crawled  through  the  charnel- 
house,  among  the  bones  and  skulls  of  the  antient  kings/ 
and  'came  out  of  the  earth*  where  the  horses  were  shiver- 
ing in  the  March  midnight  air. 

The  moon  was  clear  and  full.  (  The  Queen  with  in- 
credible animosity  was  mounted  en  croup  behind  Sir 
Arthur  Erskine  upon  a  beautiful  English  double  geld- 
ing/ '  the  King  on  a  courser  of  Naples ; '  and  then  away 
— away — past  Restalrig,  past  Sir  Arthur's  Seat,  across 
the  bridge  and  across  the  field  of  Musselburgh,  past  Seton, 
past  Prestonpans,  fast  as  their  horses  could  speed ;  '  six 
in  all — their  Majesties,  Erskine,  Traquair,  and  a  cham- 
berer  of  the  Queen/  In  two  hours  the  heavy  gates  of 
D  unbar  had  closed  behind  them,  and  Mary  Stuart  was 
safe.1 

Whatever  credit  is  due  to  iron  fortitude  and  intel- 
lectual address  must  be  given  without  stint  to  this  extra- 
ordinary woman.  Her  energy  grew  with  exertion  ;  the 
terrible  agitation  of  the  three  preceding  days,  the  wild 
escape,  and  a  midnight  gallop  of  more  than  twenty  miles 
within  three  months  of  her  confinement,  would  have 


1  The  account  of  the  escape  is 
taken  from  a  letter  of  Antony 
Standen,  preserved  among  the  Cecil 
MSS.  at  Hatfield;  the  remaining 
details  of  the  murder  and  the  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  it,  are 
collected  from  RUT fi YEN'S  narrative, 


Bedford  and  Randolph,  printed  by 
WRIGHT  ;  the  two  Italian  accounts 
in  the  seventh  volume  of  LABA- 
NOFF;  C  ALDER  WOOD'S  History; 
Mary  Stuart's  letter  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Glasgow,  and  a  letter  of 
Paul  de  Foix,  printed  by  TEULET. 


printed  in   KEITH  ;    the   letters  of 

VOL.    VII.  26 


402 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  44. 


shaken  the  strength  of  the  least  fragile  of  human  frames, 
but  Mary  Stuart  seemed  not  to  know  the  meaning  of  the 
word  exhaustion  ;  she  had  scarce  alighted  from  her  horse 
than  couriers  were  flying  east,  west,  north,  and  south, 
to  call  the  Catholic  nobles  to  her  side ;  she  wrote  her 
own  story  to  her  minister  at  Paris,  bidding  the  Arch- 
bishop in  a  postscript  anticipate  the  false  rumours  which 
would  be  spread  against  her  honour,  and  tell  the  truth 
— her  version  of  the  truth — to  the  Queen-mother  and 
the  Spanish  ambassador. 

To  Elizabeth  she  wrote  with  her  own  hand,  fierce, 
dauntless,  and  haughty,  as  in  her  highest  prosperity.1 
'  111  at  ease  with  her  escape  from  Holyrood,  and  suffer- 
ing from  the  sickness  of  pregnancy,  she  demanded  to 
know  whether  the  Queen  of  England  intended  to  support 
the  traitors  who  had  slain  her  most  faithful  servant  in 
her  presence.  If  she  listened  to  their  calumnies  and 
upheld  them  in  their  accursed  deeds,  she  was  not  sc 
unprovided  of  friends  as  her  sister  might  dream ;  there 
were  princes  enough  to  take  up  her  quarrel  in  such  a 


cause. 


The  loyalty  of  Scotland  answered  well  its  sovereign's 
summons.  The  faithful  Both  well,  ever  foremost  in  good 
or  evil  in  Mary  Stuart's  service,  brought  in  the  night- 
riders  of  Liddesdale,  the  fiercest  of  the  Border  marauders; 
Huntly  came,  forgetting  his  father  and  brother's  death 
and  his  own  long  imprisonment ;  the  Archbishop  of  St 


1  This  letter  may  be  seen  in  the 
Rolls  House ;  the  strokes  thick  and 
slightly  uneven  from  excitement,  but 


strong,  firm,  and   without  sign   of 
tremulousness. 


1 566.  ]  THE  DA  RNLE  Y  MA  RRIA  GE.  403 

Andrew's — an  evil  omen  to  Darnley — was  followed  by  a 
thousand  Hamiltons ;  Erskine  from  the  Castle  sent 
word  of  his  fidelity ;  and  the  Earl  Marshal,  Athol, 
Caithness,  and  a  hundred  more  hurried  to  Dunbar  with 
every  trooper  that  they  could  raise.  In  four  days  the 

thousandjnen . 

On  the  other  hand  the  conspirators'  plans  were  discon- 
certed hopelessly  by  the  flight  of  the  King.  Perplexed, 
divided,  uncertain  what  to  do  when  the  slightest  hesi- 
tation was  ruin — they  lost  confidence  in  one  another  and 
in  their  cause.  Had  they  held  together  they  could  still 
have  collected  force  enough  to  fight.  The  Western  High- 
lands were  at  the  devotion  of  Argyle,  and  he  at  any  time 
could  command  his  own  terms ;  but  Elizabeth's  behaviour 
in  the  preceding  autumn  had  for  ever  shaken  Argyle' s 
policy.  The  Queen  '  not  venturing,'  as  she  said  herself, 
'  to  have  so  many  at  once  on  her  hands,'  sent  to  say  she 
would  pardon  the  rebellion  of  the  summer  and  would 
receive  into  favour  all  who  had  not  been  present  at  or 
been  concerned  in  the  murder  of  Bizzio.  '  They  seeing 
now  their  liberty  and  restitution  offered  them,  were 
content  to  leave  those  who  were  the  occasion  of  their 
return,  and  took  several  appointments  as  they  could.'1 
G-lencairn  joined  Mary  at  Dunbar;  Eothes  followed; 
and  then  Argyle,  the  central  pillar  of  the  Protestant 
party.  Three  only  of  those  who  had  beenjin  Eng- 
land  refused  to  desert  their  friends— the  stainless  noble 


Randolph  to  Cecil,  March  21. 


4o4  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH  [CH.  44. 

Murray,  Kirkaldy  of  Grange,  and  the  Laird  of  Patarrow. 
'  Tliese  standing  so  much  upon  their  honour  and  promise 
would  not  leave  the  other  without  likelihood  to  do  them 
good/1 

Thus  within  a  week  from  her  flight  Mary  Stuart  was 
able  to  return  in  triumph  to  Edinburgh.  She  had  suc- 
ceeded so  entirely  that  she  was  already  able  to  throw  off 
the  mask  towards  Darnley.  Sir  James  Melville  met  her 
on  the  road :  she  '  lamented  to  him  the  King's  folly  and. 
ingratitude  ; '  and  it  was  to  no  purpose  that  the  old  far- 
sighted  diplomatist  warned  her  against  indulging  this 
new  resentment ;  the  grudge  never  left  her  heart,2  and 
she  had  made  the  object  of  it  already  feel  the  value  of  the 
promises  with  which  she  had  wrought  upon  his  weakness. 
'  The  King  spoke  to  me  of  the  lords/  said  Melville,  '  and 
it  appeared  that  he  was  troubled  that  he  had  deserted 
them,  finding  the  Queen's  favour  but  cold.'3 

The  conspirators,  or  'the  Lords  of  the  new  at- 
teniptate '  as  they  were  called,  made  no  effort  to  resist. 
Erskine  threatened  to  fire  on  them  from  the  Castle,  and 
before  the  Queen  reached  Holyrood, JRuthven,  Morton, 
Maitland,  Lindsay,  Faldonside,  even  Knox,  were  gone 
tKeir  several  ways,  most  of  them  making-  for  the  Border 
to  take  shelter  with  Bedford  at^Berwick.  Murray  too 
lefFTMmburgh  with  them,  and  intended  to  share  their 
fortunes ;  but  Ruthven  and  Morton,  generous  as  him- 
self, wrote  to  beg  him  '  as  the  rest  had  fallen  off,  not  to 
endanger  himself  on  their  account,  but  to  make  his  peace 


'•  Randolph  to  Cecil,  March  21          2  MELVILLE'S  Memoirs         3  Ibid. 


1 566.]  THE  DARNLEY  MARRIAGE.  405 


if  he  was  able  ;  ?1  anc^^urraj^lfeeliDg  that  he  would  do 
more  good  for  them  and  for  his  country  by  remaining  at 
home  than  by  going  with  them  into  a  second   exile, 
returned  to  his  sister"  and  was  received  with  seeming^ 
cordiality 

Bothwell,  whose  estates  had  been  forfeited  for  his 
share  in  the  Arran  conspiracy,  was  rewarded  for  his  serv- 
ices by  '  all  that  had  belonged  to  Lidington.'  The 
unfortunate  King,  '  contemned  and  disesteemed  of  all/ 
was  compelled  to  drain  the  cup  of  dishonour.  He  de- 
clared before  the  council '  that  he  had  never  counselled, 
commanded,  consented  to,  assisted,  or  approved'  the 
murder  of  Eizzio.  His  words  were  taken  down  in 
writing  and  published  at  the  market  cross  of  every 
town  in  Scotland.  The  conspirators  retorted  with  send- 
ing the  Queen  the  bond  which  they  had  exacted  from 
him,  in  which  he  claimed  the  deed  as  exclusively  his 
own ;  while  the  fugitives  at  Berwick  addressed  a  clear, 
brief  statement  of  the  truth  to  the  Government  in 
England : 

MORTON    AND    RUTHVEN    TO    CECIL.2 

Berwick,  March  2J. 

'  The  very  truth  is  this  : — the  King,  having  con 
ceived  a  deadly  hatred  against  David  Rizzio,  an  Italian, 
and  some  others  his  accomplices,  did  a  long  time  ago 
move  unto  his  ally  the  Lord  Ruthven  that  he  might  in 
no  way  endure  the  misbehaviour  and  offence  of  the 
foresaid  David,  and  that  he  might  be  fortified  by  him 

1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  Marcn  21 :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  Souse. 
2  Scotch  MSS.  Molls  Souse. 


406  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  44. 

and  some  others  of  the  nobility  to  see  the  said  David 
executed  according  to  his  demerits ;  and  after  due  de- 
liberation the  said  Lord  Ruthven  communicated  this 
the  King's  mind  to  the  Earl  of  Morton,  with  whom 
having  deeply  considered  the  justice  of  the  King's 
desires  in  respect  of  the  manifold  misbehaviours  and 
misdeeds  of  the  said  David  Rizzio,  tending  so  mani- 
festly to  the  great  danger  of  the  King's  and  Queen's 
Majesties  and  the  whole  estate  of  that  realm  and  com- 
monweal— he  not  ceasing  to  abuse  daily  his  great  estate 
and  credit  to  the  subversion  of  religion  and  the  justice 
of  the  realm,  as  is  notoriously  known  to  all  Scotland 
and  more  particularly  to  us — we,  upon  the  considera- 
tions aforesaid,  found  good  to  follow  the  King's  deter- 
mination anent  the  foresaid  execution ;  and  for  divers 
considerations  we  were  moved  to  haste  the  same,  con- 
sidering the  approaching  Parliament,  wherein  deter- 
mination was  taken  to  have  ruined  the  whole  nobility 
that  then  was  banished ;  whereupon  we  perceived  to 
follow  a  subversion  of  religion  within  the  realm,  and 
consequently  of  the  intelligence  betwixt  the  two  realms 
grounded  upon  'the  religion ;  and  to  the  execution  of 
the  said  enterprise  the  most  honest  and  the  most 
worthy  were  easily  induced  to  approve  and  fortify  the 
King's  deliberation. 

'How  be  it  in  action  and  manner  of  execution, 
more  was  followed  of  the  King's  advice  kindled  by  an 
extreme  choler  than  we  minded  to  have  done. 

'  This  is  the  truth,  whatever  the  King  say  now,  and 
we  are  ready  to  stand  by  it  and  prove  it.' 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

THE    MURDER    OF    DARNLEY. 

THE  murder  of  Eizzio  had  deranged  Mary  Stuari/s 
projects  in  Scotland,  and  had  obliged  her  to  post- 
pone her  intended  restoration  of  Catholicism  ;  but  her 
hold  on  parties  in  England  was  rather  increased  than 
injured  by  the  interruption  of  a  policy  which  would 
have  alarmed  the  moderate  Protestants.  The  extreme 
Puritans  still  desired  to  see  the  succession  decided  in 
favour  of  the  children  of  Lady  Catherine  Grey ;  but 
their  influence  in  the  State  had  been  steadily  diminish- 
ing as  the  Marian  horrors  receded  further  into  the 
distance.  The  majority  of  the  peers,  the  country 
gentlemen,  the  lawyers  and  the  judges,  were  in  favour 
of  the  pretensions  which  were  recommended  at  once  by 
justice  and  by  the  solid  interests  of  the  realm.  The 
union  of  the  crowns  of  Scotland  and  England  was  the 
most  serious  desire  of  the  wisest  of  Elizabeth's  states- 
men, and  the  marriage  of  Mary  Stuart  with  Darnley 
had  removed  the  prejudice  which  had  attached  before 
to  her  alien  birth. 


408  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  45. 

The  difficulty  which  had  hitherto  prevented  her  re- 
cognition,  had  been  the  persistency  with  which  she 
identified  herself  with  the  party  of  revolution  and 
ultramontane  fanaticism.  The  English  people  had  no 
desire  for  a  Puritan  sovereign,  but  as  little  did  they 
wish  to  see  again  the  evil  days  of  Bonner  and  Gardiner. 
They  were  jealous  of  their  national  independence  ;  they 
had  done  once  for  all  with  the  Pope,  and  they  would 
have  no  priesthoods,  Catholic  or  Calvinist,  to  pry  into 
their  opinions  or  meddle  with  their  personal  liberty. 
For  a  creed  they  would  be  best  contented  with  a  some- 
thing which  would  leave  them  in  communion  with 
Christendom  and  preserve  to  them  the  form  of  super- 
stition without  the  power  of  it. 

Had  Elizabeth  allowed  herself  to  be  stayed  by  the 
ultra- Protestants,  Mary  Stuart  would  have  appealed  to 
arms  and  would  have  found  theweiffhtiest portion  of 
the  nation  on  her  side.  Had  the  Queen  of  Scots'  pre- 
tensions been  admitted  so  long  as  her  attitude  to  the 
Reformation  was  that  of  notorious  and  thorough-going 
hostility,  she  would  have  supplied  a  focus  for  disaffec- 
tion. A  prudent  and  reasonable  settlement  would  have 
oeen  then  made  impossible;  and  England  sooner  or 
later  would  have  become  the  scene  of  a  savage  civil  war 
like  that  which  had  lacerated  France. 

Elizabeth,  with  the  best  of  her  advisers,  expected 
that  as  she  grew  older  Mary  Stuart  would  consent  to 
guarantee  the  liberties  which  England  essentially 
valued,  and  that  bound  by  conditions  which  need  not 
have  infringed  her  own  liberty  of  creed,  she  could  be 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  409 

accepted  as  the  future  Queen  of  the  united  island.  It 
was  with  this  view  that  the  reversion  of  the  crown  had 
been  held  before  Mary  Stuart's  eyes  coupled  with  the 
terms  on  which  it  might  be  hers,  while  the  Puritans 
had  been  forbidden  to  do  anything  which  might  have 
driven  her  to  the  ultimatum  of  force. 

The  intrigues  with  Spain,  the  Darnley  marriage,  and 
the  attitude  which  the  Queen  of  Scots  had  assume-d 
in  connection  with  it,  had  almost  precipitated  a  crisis. 
Elizabeth  had  been  driven  in  despair  to  throw  herself  on 
the  fanaticism  of  the  Congregation,  to  endorse  the  de- 
mands of  Knox  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  should  abjure 
her  own  religion,  and  afterwards  to  retreat  from  her 
position  with  ignominious  and  dishonourable  evasions. 
Yet  the  perplexit}r  of  a  sovereign  whose  chief  duty  at 
such  a  time  was'  to  prevent^  a  civil  war,  deserves _or_  de- 
mands a  lenient  consideration.  Had  Elizabeth  declared 
war  in  the  interest  of  Murray  and  the  Protestants,  she 
would  have  saved  her  honour,  but  she  would  have  pro- 
voked a  bloody  insurrection  ;  while  it  would  have  be- 
come more  difficult  than  ever  to  recognize  the  Queen  of 
Scots,  more  hopeless  than  ever  to  persuade  her  into 
moderation  and  good  sense.  If  Elizabeth's  conduct  in 
its  details  had  been__alike_jiinjgTincipled  and  unwise,  the 
broader  bearjrigs  jrf  Jhex._^  and 

commendable  ;  her  caprice  and  vacillation  arose  from 
her  consciousness  of  the  difficulties  by  which  she  was  on 
every  side  surrounded.  The  Queen  of  Scots  herself  had 
so  far  shown  in  favourable  contrast  with  her  sister  of 
England :  she  had  deceived  her  enemies,  but  she  had 


4to  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  |CH.  45, 

never  betrayed  a  friend.  The  greater  simplicity  of  her 
conduct  however  was  not  wholly  a  virtue  :  it  had  been 
produced  by  the  absence  of  all  high  and  generous  con- 
sideration. Ambition  for  herself  and  zeal  for  a_creed 
which  suited  her  habitsjwere  motives  of  action  which 
involved  and  required  no  inconsistencies.  From  the 

(  day  onTwhich  she  set  foot  in  Scotland  she  had  kept  her 
eye  on  Elizabeth's  throne,  and  she  had  determined  to 
Restore  Catholicism  ;  but  her  public  schemes  were  but 
mirrors  in  which  she  could  see  the  reflection  of  her  own 
greatness,  and  her  creed  was  but  the  form  of  conviction 
which  least  interfered  with  her  self-indulgence :  the 
passions  which  were  blended  with  her  policy  made  her 
incapable  of  the  restraint  which  was  necessary  for  her 
success ;  .while  her  French  training  had  taught  her  les- 
sons of  the  pleasantness  of  pleasure,  for  which  she  was 

/  at  any  time  capable  of  forgetting  every  other  consider- 

'  ation.  Elizabeth  forgot  the  woman  in  the  Queen,  and 
after  her  first  mortification  about  Leicester  preserved 
little  of  her  sex  but  its  caprices.  Mary  Stuart  when 

lunder  the  spell  of  an  absorbing  inclination  could  fling 
jher  crown  into  the  dust  and  be  woman  all. 

Could  she  have  submitted  to  the  advice  so  consist- 
ently pressed  upon  her  by  Philip,  Alva,  Melville,  Throg- 
morton,  by  every  wise  friend  that  she  possessed,  the 
impatience  of  the  English  for  a  settlement  of  the  suc- 
cession would  have  rendered  her  victory  certain.  She 
had  only  to  avoid  giving  occasion  for  just  complaint  or 
suspicion,  and  the  choice  of  the  country  notwithstand- 
ing her  creed — or  secretly  perhaps  in  consequence  of  it 


1566.] 


THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLE  Y. 


— would  have  inevitably  at  no  distant  time  have  been 
determined  in  her  favour.  Elizabeth  she  knew  to  be 
more  for  her  than  against  her.  The  Conservative 
weight  of  the  country  party  would  have  far  outbalanced 
the  Puritanism  of  the  large  towns. 

But  a  recognition  of  her  right  to  an  eventual  in-  • 
heritance  was  not  at  all  the  object  of  Mary  Stuart's  am- 
bition ;  nor  in  succeeding  to  the  English  throne  did  she 
intend  to  submit  to  trammels  like  those  under  which 
she  had  chafed  in  Scotland.  She  had  spoken  of  herself 
not  as  the  prospective  but  as  the  actual  Queen  of  Eng- 
land/; 1  she  had  told  the  lords  who  had  followed  her  to 
Dumfries  that  she  would  lead  them  to  the  gates  of  Lon- 
don ;  she  would  not  wait ;  she  would  make  no  com- 
promise ;  she  woujd  jsyjcfijach  the  sceptre  out  of_Eliza-; 
beth's  hands  with  a  Catholic  army  at  her  back  as  the 
firsiTstep  of  a  Catholic  revolution.  Even  here — so  far 
had" fortune  favoured  her — she  might  have  succeeded 
could  she  but  have  kept  Scotland  united,  could  she  but 
have  availed  herself  skilfully  of  the  exasperation  of  the 
Lords  of  the  Congregation  when  they  found  themselves 
betrayed  and  deserted,  could  she  have  remained  on  good 
terms  with  her  husband  and  his  father,  and  kept  the 
friends  of  the  House  of  Lennox  in  both  countries  true 


1  '  That  Queen  the  other  day  was 
in  a  merchant's  house  in  Edinburgh 
where  was  a  picture  of  the  Queen's 
Majesty ,  when  some  had  said  their 
opinions  how  like  or  unlike  it  was  to 
the  Queen's  Majesty  of  England, 
'No,'  said  she,  'it  is  not  like,  for  I 


am  Queen  of  England. '  These  high 
words,  together  with  the  rest  of  her 
doings  and  meanings  towards  this 
realm,  I  refer  to  others  to  consider.' 
— Bedford  to  Leicester,  February  14, 
1566.  PEPYSIAN  MSS.  Cambridge. 


4i2  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [01.45. 

to  her  cause.  That  opportunity  she  had  allowed  to 
escape.  It  remained  to  be  seen  whether  she  had  learnt 
prudence  fronTlhe  catastrophe  from  which  she  had  so 
narrowly"  escaped ;  whether  she  would  now  abandon  her 
more  dangerous  courses,  and  Jail  back  on  moderation ; 
or  whether  if  she  persisted  in  trying  the  more  ventur- 
ous game  she  could  bring  herself  to  forego  the  indulgence 
of  those  personal  inclinations  and  antipathies  which  had 
caused  the  tragedy  at  Holyrood.  If  she  could  forget 
her  injuries,  if  she  could  renounce  with  Rizzio's  life  her 
desire  to  revenge  his  murder,  if  she  avoided  giving 
open  scandal  to  the  Catholic  friends  of  Darnley  and  his 
mother,  her  prospects  of  an  heir  would  more  than  re- 
establish her  in  the  vantage-ground  from  which  she  had 
been  momentarily  shaken. 

Elizabeth,  either  through  fear  or  policy,  seemed  as 
anxious  as  ever  to  disconnect  herself  from  the  Congre- 
gation. The  English  Government  had  been  hiformed 
a  month  beforehand  of  the  formation  of  the  plot ;  they 
had  allowed  it  to  be  carried  into  execution  without  re- 
monstrance ;  but  when  the  thing  was  done  and  Murray 
was  restored  the  Quegnjnadejhaste  to  clear_herself  of 
the  suspicion  of  having  favoured  it.  Sir  Robert  Mel- 
ville was  residing  in  London,  and  was  occupied  notori- 
ously in  gaining  friends  for  the  Scotch  succession. 
Elizabeth  sent  for  him,  and  when  it  was  too  late  to  save 
Rizzio  she  revealed  to  him  the  secret  information  which 
had  been  supplied  by  Randolph  ;  nay,  in  one  of  the 
many  moods  into  which  she  drifted  in  her  perplexities, 
she  even  spoke  of  Argyle  and  Murray  as  '  rebels  pre- 


1566.]  THE  MURD ER  OF  DA  RNLE  Y.  413 

tending  reformation  of  religion/  There  were  too  many 
persons  in  England  and  Scotland  who  were  interested 
in  dividing  the  Protestant  noblemen  from  the  English 
Court.  The  Queen's  words  were  carried  round  to  rend 
still  further  what  remained  of  the  old  alliance ;  and 
Randolph,  discredited  on  all  sides,  could  but  protest  to 
Cecil  against  the  enormous  mischief  which  Elizabeth's 
want  of  caution  was  producing.1 

It  appeared  as_i£~the  .Quem  had  veered 

.     x,       """I r~          April. 

round  once  more  ana  was  again  throwing  her- 
self wholly  into  Mary  Hliinrt'a  interests.  She  replied  to 
the  letter  which  the  Queen  of  Scots  addressed  to  her 
from  Dunbar  by  sending  Melville  to  Scotland  with 
assurances  of  sympathy  and  help  ;  she  wrote  to  Darnley 
advising  him  '  to  please  the  Queen  of  Scots  in  all  things/ 
and  telling  him  that  she  would  take  it  as  an  injury  to 
herself  if  he  offended  her  again ;  she  advised  Murray 
1  to  be  faithful  to  the  Queen  his  sovereign  '  under  pain 
of  her  own  displeasure.2  As  to  the  second  set  of  fugi- 
tives who  had  taken  shelter  in  England — Morton, 
Ruthven,  and  the  rest — she  told  Bedford  that  she  would 
neither  acquit  nor  condemn  them  till  she  was  more  fully 
informed  of  their  conduct,  and  that  for  the  present  they 
might  remain  under  his  protection ; 3  but  she  insisted 
that  they  must  move  to  a  distance  from  the  frontier, 
and  Melville  was  allowed  to  promise  Mary  Stuart  '  that 
they  should  meet  with  nothing  but  rigour/ 


1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  June  17. 
The  letter  is  addressed  significantly 
'To  Mr  Secretary's  self,  and  only 
for  himself.'  — Burghley  Papcrs^'ol.  i. 


2  Sir  R.   Melville  to  Elizabeth, 
April  I  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 

3  Elizabeth  to  Bedford,  A»ril  2  : 
MS.  Ibid. 


4i4  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

De  Silva  informed  Philip  that  the  terror  of  the  scene 
through  which  she  had  passed  had  destroyed  the  hope 
which  the  Queen  of  Scots  had  entertained  of  combining 
her  subjects  against  the  Queen  of  England.  'She  had 
found  them  a  people  fierce,  strange,  and  changeable;  she 
could  trust  none  of  them ; l  and  she  had  therefore  re- 
sponded graciously  to  the  tone  which  Elizabeth  assumed 
towards  her/  In  an  autograph  letter  of  passionate  gra- 
titude Mary  Stuart  placed  herself  as  it  were  under  her 
sister's  protection ;  she  told  her  that  in  tracing  the  history 
of  the  late  conspiracy  she  had  found  that  the  lords  had 
intended  to  imprison  her  for  life,  and  if  England  or 
France  came  to  her  assistance  they  had  meant  to  kill 
her ;  she  implored  Elizabeth  to  shut  her  ears  to  the 
calumnies  which  they  would  spread  against  her,  and  with 
engaging  frankness  she  begged  that  the  past  might  be 
forgotten ;  she  had  experienced  too  deeply  the  ingratitude 
of  those  by  whom  she  was  surrounded  to  allow  herself  to 
be  tempted  any  more  into  dangerous  enterprises  ;  for  her 
own  part  she  was  resolved  never  to  give  offence  to  her 
good  sister  again  ;  nothing  should  be  wanting  to  restore 
the  happy  relations  which  had  once  existed  between  them; 
and  should  she  recover  safely  from  her  confinement  she 
hoped  that  in  the  summer  Elizabeth  would  make  a  pro- 
gress to  the  north,  and  that  at  last  she  might  have  an 
opportunity  of  thanking  her  in  person  for  her  kindness 
and  forbearance/  2 


1  De  Silva  to  Philip :  MS.  Simancas. 

2  The  Queen  of  Scots  to  Elizabeth,  April  4 :  Scotch  MSS.    Printed  by 
LABANGFF,  vol.  vii.  p.  300. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  415 

This  letter  was  sent  by  the  hands  of  a  certain 
Thornton,  a  confidential  agent  of  Mary  Stuart,  who  had 
been  employed  on  messages  to  Kome.  'A  very  evil 
and  naughty  person,  whom  I  pray  you  not  to  believe/ 
was  Bedford's  credential  for  him  in  a  letter  of  the  1st  of 
April  to  Cecil.  He  was  on  his  way  to  Home  again  on  this 
present  occasion.  The  public  in  Scotland  supposed  that 
b  ?  was  sent  to  consult  the  Pope  on  the  possibility  of 
divorcing  Darnley;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  Queen 
of  Scots  at  the  close  of  her  own  letter  desired  Elizabeth  to 
give  credit  to  him  on  some  secret  matter  which  he  would 
communicate  to  her.  She  perhaps  hoped  that  Elizabeth 
would  now  assist  her  in  the  dissolution  of  a  marriage 
which  she  had  been  so  anxious  to  prevent. 

It  was  not  till  her  return  to  Edinburgh  that  the  whole 
circumstances  became  known  to  her  which  preceded1  the 
murder  ;  and — whether  she  had  lost  in  Rizzio  a  favoured 
lover,  or  whether  the  charge  against  her  had  been  in- 
vented by  Darnley  to  heat  the  blood  of  his  kindred — in 
either  case  his  offence  against  the  Queen  was  irreparable 
and  deadly,  and  every  fresh  act  of  baseness  into  which 
he  plunged  increased  the  loathing  with  which  she  re- 
garded him.  The  poor  creature  laboured  to  earn  his 
pardon  by  denouncing  accomplice  after  accomplice. 
Maitland's  complicity  was  unsuspected  till  it  was  re- 
vealed by  Darnley.  He  gave  up  the  names  of  three  other 
gentlemen  '  whom  only  he  and  no  man  else  knew  to  be 
privy.'  *  Maitland's  lands  were  seized,  and  he  had  him- 


1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  April  2  :  Scotch  MSS.  Soils  House. 


4i6 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  45 


self  to  fly  into  the  Highlands.  One  of  the  three  gentle- 
men was  executed ;  but  the  Queen  while  she  used  his 
information  repaid  his  baseness  with  deserved  scorn. 
The  bond  which  he  had  signed  was  under  her  eyes ;  and 
the  stories  which  he  had  told  against  her  were  brought 
forward  by  the  lords  in  their  own  justification.  While 
distrust  and  fear  and  suspicion  divided  home  from  home 
and  friend  from  friend>  the  contempt  and  hate  of  all  alike 
was  centred  on  the  unhappy  caitiff  wjio  had  betrayed 
both  parties^  in_turnj  and  Darnley,  who  was  so  lately 
dreaming  of  himself  as  sovereign  of  England  n.nd  Scot- 
land, was  left  towander  alone  about  the  country  as  if 
the  curse  of  Cain  was  clinging  to  him.1 

Meanwhile  Elizabeth  was  reaping  a 'harvest 
of  inconveniences  from  her  exaggerated  demon- 
strations of  friendliness.  The  Queen  of  Scots  taking  her  at 
her  word  demanded  that  Morton  and  Ruthven  should  be 
either  surrendered  into  her  hands,  or  at  least  should  not 
be  permitted  to  remain  in  England.  Elizabeth  would 
have  consented  if  she  had  dared,  but  Argyle  and  Murray 
identified  their  cause  with  that  of  their  friends.  Murray 
was  so  anxious  that  they  should  do  well  that  'he 
wished  himself  banished  for  them  to  have  them  as  they 
were/  Though  they  had  generously  begged  him  to  run 
no  risks  in  their  interest,  he  had  told  his  sister  '  that 
they  had  incurred  their  present  danger  only  on  his 


May. 


1  'He  is  neither  accompanied 
nor  looked  upon  by  any  nobleman  ; 
attended  by  certain  of  bis  own  serv- 
ants and  six  or  eight  of  his  guard, 


he  is  at  liberty  to  do  or  go  what  or 
where  he  will.' — Eandolph  to  Cecil, 
April  25  :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


:566.] 


77i£  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY. 


417 


account ; '  while  Argyle  sent  word  to  Elizabeth  that  if 
she  listened  to  the  Queen  of  Scots'  demands  he  would 
join  Shan  O'lSTeil.1  Yainly  Elizabeth  struggled  to  ex- 
tricate herself  from  her  dilemma ;  resentment  was  still 
pursuing  her  for  her  treachery  in  the  past  autumn. 
She  dared  not  shelter  the  conspirators,  for  the  Queen 
of  Scots  would  no  longer  believe  her  fair  speeches,  and 
de  Silva  was  watching  her  with  keen  and  jealous 
eyes  ; 2  she  dared  not  surrender  or  expel  them  lest  the 
last  Englishman  in  Ireland  should  be  flung  into  the  sea. 
She  could  but  shuffle  and  equivocate  in  a  manner  which 
had  become  too  characteristic.  Ruthven  was  beyond 
the  reach  of  human  vengeance  :  he  had  risen  from  his 
sick  bed  to  enact  his  part  in  Holyrood,  he  had  sunk 
back  upon  it  to  die.  To  Morton  she  sent  an  order,  a 
copy  of  which  could  be  shown  to  the  Queen  of  Scots,  to 
leave  the  country ;  but  she  sent  with  it  a  private  hint 
that  England  was  wide,  and  that  those  who  cared  to 
conceal  themselves  could  not  always  be  found.3  Argyle 
she  tried  to  soothe  and  work  upon,  and  she  directed 
Randolph  to  '  deal  with  him.'  She  understood,  she  said, 
'  that  there  was  a  diminution  of  his  good  will  towards 
her  service,  and  specially  in  the  matter  of  Ireland/  and 
that  '  he  alleged  a  lack  of  her  favour  in  time  of  his  need.' 


1  Randolph  to  Cecil,  May  1 3  and 
May  23 :  MS.  Ibid. 

2  '  Con  todas  las  promesas  y  de- 
mostraciones    que    esta  Reyna    ha 
hecho  a  la  de  Escocia  al  presente  de 
la  promoter  ayuda  y  serle  amiga  y 
no  consentir  estos  ultimos  conspira- 

VOL.    VII. 


dores  en  su  Reyno,  como  oygo  estan 
en  Newcastle.' — De  Silva  to  Philip, 
May  18:  MS.  Simancas. 

3  Morton  to  Cecil,  May  16 ;  Lei- 
cester to  Cecil,  July  n:  Scotch 
MSS.  Rolls  House. 

27 


418  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.45. 

'  She  had  been  right  sorry  for  the  trouble  both  of  him 
and  his  friends ;  she  had  done  all  that  in  honour  she 
could  do,  omitting  nothing  for  the  Earl  of  Murray's 
preservation  but  open  hostility;  she  trusted  therefore 
that  he  would  alter  his  mind  and  withdraw  him  from 
the  favouring  of  that  principal  rebel  being  sworn  cruel 
adversary  to  the  state  of  all  true  religion.'  If  possible 
Randolph  was  to  move  Argyle  by  reasoning  and  remon- 
strance; if  he  failed,  '  sooner  than  O'Neil  should  receive 
any  aid  from  thence  she  would  be  content  to  have  some 
portion  of  money  bestowed  secretly  by  way  of  reward 
to  the  hindrance  of  it.'  And  yet,  she  said — her  thrifty 
nature  coming  up  again — the  money  was  not  to  be  pro- 
mised if  the  Earl  could  be  prevailed  on  otherwise  ;  '  of 
the  matter  of  money  she  rather  made  mention  as  of  a 
thing  for  Randolph  to  think  upon  until  he  heard  farther 
from  her  than  that  he  should  deal  with  any  person 
therein.' l 

But  Elizabeth  was  not  to  escape  so  easily, 
and  Ar gyle's  resentment  had  reached  a  heat 
which  a  more  open  hand  than  Elizabeth's  would  have 
failed.to  cool.  Murray  was  ready  to  forget  his  own  wrongs, 
but  Argyle  would  not  forget  them  for  him,  and  would 
not  forget  his  other  friends.  c  If  the  Queen  of  England/ 
the  proud  M'Callum-More  replied,  '  would  interfere  in 
behalf  of  the  banished  lords,  and  would  undertake  that 
in  Scotland  there  should  be  no  change  of  religion,'  he 
on  his  part  '  would  become  O'Neil's  enemy,  and  hinder 

1  Elizabeth  to  Randolph,  May  23:  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House,  and 
Lansdowne  MSS.  9. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  419 

what  he  could  the  practices  between  the  Queen  his 
sovereign  and  the  Papists  of  England/1  But  Eliza- 
beth must  accept  his  terms  ;  it  was  a  matter  with  which 
money,  in  whatever  quantity,  had  nothing  to  do.  The 
practices  with  the  English  Catholics  had  begun  again, 
or  rather,  in  spite  of  Mary  Stuart's  promises  to  abstain 
from  such  transactions  for  the  future,  they  had  never 
ceased  ;  and  a  curious  discovery  was  about  to  be  made 
in  connection  with  them.  A  report  had  been  sent  by 
Murray  to  Cecil  that  there  was  an  Englishman  about 
the  Court  at  Holyrood  who  was  supposed  to  have  come 
there  on  no  good  errand ;  he  was  one  of  the  Rokebys 
of  Yorkshire,  and  was  closely  connected  with  the  great 
Catholic  families  there.  But  Cecil  it  seems  knew  more 
of  Hokeby's  doings  than  Murray  knew.  He  had  gone 
across  the  Border  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  the  bailiffs ; 
and  Cecil,  who  suspected  that  Mary  Stuart  was  still 
playing  her  old  game,  and  had  before  been  well  ac- 
quainted with  Hokeby,  sent  him  word  l  that  he  might 
purchase  pardon  and  help  if  he  would  use  his  acquaint- 
ance in  Scotland  to  the  contentation  of  the  Queen's 
Majesty/  in  other  words,  if  he  would  do  service  as  a 
spy.  Rokeby,  who  wanted  money  and  had  probably  no 
honour  to  lose,  made  little  objection.  His  brother-in- 
law,  Lascelles,  who  was  one  of  Mary  Stuart's  stanchest 
friends  and  correspondents,  gave  him  letters  of  introduc- 
tion, and  with  these  he  hastened  to  Edinburgh,  and  was 
introduced  by  Sir  James  Melville  to  the  Queen. 


Randolph  to  Cecil,  June  13  :  Scotch  HISS.  Ibid. 


420  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  45. 

In  a  letter  to  Cecil  he  thus  describes  his  reception : — 
'  In  the  evening,  after  ten  o'clock,  I  was  sent  for  in 
secret  manner,  and  being  carried  into  a  little  closet  in 
Edinburgh  Castle  the  Queen  came  to  me ;  and  so  doing 
the  duty  belonging  to  a  prince,  I  did  offer  my  service, 
and  with  great  courtesy  she  did  receive  me,  and  said  I 
should  be  very  welcome  to  her,  and  so  began  to  ask  me 
many  questions  of  news  from  the  Court  of  England  and 
of  the  Queen  and  of  the  Lord  Robert.  I  could  say  but 
little  ;  so  being  very  late,  she  said  she  would  next  day 
confer  with  me  in  other  causes,  and  willed  me  take  my 
ease  for  the  night. 

'  The  next  night  after  I  was  sent  for  again,  and  was 
brought  to  the  same  place,  where  the  Queen  came  to  me, 
she  sitting  down  on  a  little  coffer  without  a  cushion  and 
I  kneeling  beside.  She  began  to  talk  of  her  father,  Las- 
celles,  and  how  much  she  was  beholden  to  him,  and  how 
she  trusted  to  find  many  friends  in  England,  whensoever 
time  did  serve ;  and  did  name  Mr  Stanley,  Herbert,  and 
Dacres,  from  whom  she  had  received  letters,  and  by 
means  she  did  make  account  to  win  friendship  of  many 
of  the  nobility — as  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  the  Earls  of 
Derby,  Shrewsbury,  Northumberland,  Westmoreland, 
and  Cumberland.  She  had  better  hopes  of  them  for  that 
she  thought  them  all  to  be  of  the  old  religion,  which  she 
meant  to  restore  again  with  all  expedition,  and  thereby 
win  the  hearts  of  the  common  people.  Besides  this  she 
practised  to  have  two  of  the  worshipful  of  every  shire  of 
England,  and  such  as  were  of  her  religion,  to  be  made  her 
friends,  and  sought  of  me  to  know  the  names  of  such  as 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  421 

were  meet  for  that  purpose.  I  answered  and  said  I  had 
little  acquaintance  in  any  shire  of  England  but  only 
Yorkshire,  and  there  were  great  plenty  of  Papists.  She 
told  me  she  had  written  a  number  of  letters  to  Christo- 
pher Lascelles  with  blank  superscriptions;  and  he  to 
direct  them  to  such  as  he  thought  meet  for  that  purpose. 
She  told  me  she  had  received  friendly  letters  from  di- 
verse, naming  Sir  Thomas  Stanley  and  one  Herbert,  and 
Dacres  with  the  crooked  back — thus  meaning  that  after 
she  had  friended  herself  in  every  shire  in  England  with 
some  of  the  worshipful  or  of  the  best  countenance  of  the 
country,  she  meant  to  cause  wars  to  be  stirred  in  Ireland, 
whereby  England  might  be  kept  occupied ;  then  she 
would  have  an  army  in  readiness,  and  herself  with  her 
army  to  enter  England — and  the  day  that  she  should 
enter  her  title  to  be  read,  and  she  proclaimed  Queen. 
And  for  the  better  furniture  of  this  purpose  she  had 
before  travailed  with  Spain,  with  France,  and  with  the 
Pope  for  aid ;  and  had  received  fair  promises  with  some 
money  from  the  Pope,  and  more  looked  for.' l 

Such  a  revelation  as  this  might  have  satisfied  Eliza- 
beth that  it  was  but  waste  of  labour  to  attempt  any  more 
to  return  to  cordiality  and  confidence  with  the  Queen  of 
Scots ;  yet,  either  from  timidity,  or  because  she  would  not 
part  with  the  hope  that  Mary  Stuart  might  eventually 
shake  off  her  dreams  and  qualify  herself  for  the  succession 
by  prudence  and  good  sense,  she  would  not  submit  to  the 
conditions  on  which  Argyle  offered  to  remain  her  friend. 

1  Christopher  Bokeby  to  Cecil,  June  1566  :  Hatfield  MSS.    Printed  in 
the  Burghley  Papers,  vol.  i. 


422  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45, 

She  could  not  conceal  that  she  was  aware  of  Mary  Stuart's 
intrigues  with  her  subjects ;  but  she  chose  to  content 
herself  with  reading  her  a  lecture,  as  excellent  as,  it  was 
useless,  on  the  evil  of  her  ways.  Messengers  were 
passing  and  repassing  continually  between  the  Court  at 
Holyrood  and  Shan  O'Neil.  Other  and  more  sincere 
English  Catholics  than  Rokeby  were  coming  day  after 
day  to  Holyrood  to  offer  their  swords  and  to  be  admitted 
to  confidence.  Elizabeth,  in  the  middle  of  June,  sent 
Sir  Henry  Killigrew  to  remonstrate,  and  '  to  demand 
such  present  answer  as  should  seem  satisfactory,'1  while 
to  his  public  instructions  she  added  a  private  letter  of 
her  own. 

1  Madam/  she  wrote  to  the  Queen  of  Scots,  '  I  am 
informed  that  open  rebels  against  my  authority  are  re- 
ceiving countenance  and  favour  from  yourself  and  your 
councillors.  The  news,  madam,  I  must  tell  you  with 
your  pardon  do  much  displease  us.  Remove  these  briars, 
I  pray  you,  lest  some  thorn  prick  the  hand  of  those  who 
are  to  blame  in  this.  Such  matters  hurt  to  the  quick. 
It  is  not  by  such  ways  as  these  that  you  will  attain  the 
object  of  your  wishes.  These  be  the  by-paths  which 
those  follow  who  fear  the  open  road.  I  say  not  this  for 
any  dread  I  feel  of  harm  that  you  may  do  me.  My  trust 
is  in  Him  who  governs  all  things  by  His  justice,  and 
with  this  faith  I  know  no  alarm.  The  stone  recoils  often 
on  the  head  of  the  thrower,  and  you  will  hurt  yourself 
— you  have  already  hurt  yourself — more  than  you  can 

1  Instructions  to  Sir  H.  Killigrew,  sent  to  the  Queen  of  Scots,  June  15. 
Cecil's  hand :  Scotch  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  423 

hurt  me.  Your  actions  towards  me  are  as  full  of  venom 
as  your  words  of  honey.  I  have  but  to  tell  my  subjects 
what  you  are,  and  I  well  know  the  opinion  which  they 
will  form  of  you.  Judge  you  of  your  own  prudence — 
you  can  better  understand  these  things  than  I  can  write 
them.  Assure  me  under  your  own  hand  of  your  good 
meaning,  that  I  may  satisfy  those  who  are  more  inclined 
than  I  am  to  doubt  you.  If  you  are  amusing  yourself  at 
my  expense,  do  not  think  so  poorly  of  me  that  I  will 
suffer  such  wrong  without  avenging  it.  Hemember,  my 
dear  sister,  that  if  you  desire  my  affection  you  must  learn 
to  deserve  it.' l 

Essentially  Elizabeth  was  acting  with  the  truest 
regard  for  the  Queen  of  Scots'  interests,  and  was  in  fact 
behaving  with  extraordinary  forbearance.  It  was  un- 
fortunate that  petty  accidents  should  have  so  perpetually 
given  her  rival  a  temporary  advantage  and  an  excuse 
for  believing  herself  the  injured  party.  Among  the 
Catholics  of  whose  presence  at  her  Court  Sir  H.  Killi- 
grew  was  instructed  to  complain,  the  spy  of  Cecil  had 
been  especially  named.  Already  the  Queen  of  Scots  had 
been  warned  to  beware  how  she  trusted  Rokeby ;  and 
at  once,  with  an  affected  anxiety  to  meet  Elizabeth's 
wishes,  she  ordered  his  arrest  and  the  seizure  of  his 
papers.  Cecil's  letters  to  him  were  discovered  in  his 
correspondence,  and  the  evidence  of  the  underplot  was 
too  plain  to  permit  Elizabeth  to  return  upon  so  doubt- 
ful a  ground.2 

1  Elizabeth  to  the  Queen  of  Scots,  June  13 :  Scotch  HfSS.  Rolls  House. 
-  Killigi-ew  to  Cecil,  July  4 :  MS,  Ibid. 


424  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.45. 

These  however  and  all  subsidiary  questions  were  soon 
merged  in  the  great  event  of  the  summer.  On  the  I9th 
of  June,  in  Edinburgh  Castle,  between  nine  and  ten  in 
the  morning,  was  born  James  StuarLheir-presumptive  to 
the  united  crowns  of  England  and  Scotland.  Better 
worth  to  Mary  Stuart's  ambition  was  this  child  than  all 
the  legions  of  Spain  and  all  the  money  of  the  Vatican ; 
the  cradle  in  which  he  lay,  to  the  fevered  and  anxious 
glance  of  English  politicians,  was  as  a  Pharos  behind 
which  lay  the  calm  waters  of  an  undisturbed  succession 
and  the  perpetual  union  of  the  too  long  divided  realms. 
Here  if  the  occasion  was  rightly  used  lay  the  cure  for  a 
thousand  evils ;  where  all  differences  might  be  forgotten, 
all  feuds  be  laid  at  rest,  and  the  political  fortunes  of 
Great  Britain  be  started  afresh  on  a  newer  and  brighter 
career. 

Scarcely  even  in  her  better  mind  could  the  birth  of 
the  Prince  of  Scotland  be  less  than  a  mortification  to 
Elizabeth — knowing,  as  she  could  not  fail  to  know,  the 
effect  which  it  would  produce  upon  her  subjects.  Parlia- 
ment was  to  have  met  in  the  spring,  and  she  had  at- 
tempted to  force  herself  into  a  resolution  upon  her  own 
marriage,  which  would  enable  her  to  encounter  the 
House  of  Commons.  In  the  middle  of  February  she 
believed  that  she  had  made  up  her  mind  to  the  Arch- 
duke. Sir  Richard  Sackville  had  been  selected  as  a 
commissioner  to  arrange  preliminaries  at  Vienna ;  and 
she  had  gone  so  far  as  to  arrange  in  detail  the  con- 
ditions on  which  her  intended  husband  was  to  reside  in 
England. 


I566.] 


THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLE  Y. 


425 


'  I  do  understand  this  to  be  the  state  of  his  [Sack- 
ville's]  despatch/  wrote  Sir  N.  Throgmorton  to  Lei- 
cester.1 'Her  Majesty  will  tolerate  the  public  contract 
for  the  exercise  of  the  Archduke's  Roman  religion,  so 
as  he  will  promise  secretly  to  her  Majesty  to  alter  the 
said  religion  hereafter.  She  doth  farther  say  that  if 
the  Archduke  will  come  to  England  she  promiseth  to 
marry  him  unless  there  be  some  apparent  impediment. 
She  maketh  the  greatest  difficulty  to  accord  unto  him 
some  large  provision  to  entertain  him  at  her  and  the 
realm's  cost  as  he  demandeth.' 

So  far  had  her  purpose  advanced — even  to  a  haggling 
over  the  terms  of  maintenance ;  yet  at  the  last  moment 
the  thought  of  losing  Leicester  for  ever  became  unbear- 
able. He  was  absent  from  the  Court,  and  Elizabeth 
determined  to  see  him  once  more  before  the  fatal  step 
was  taken. 

'After  this  was  written/  Throgmorton  concluded, 
'I  did  understand  her  Majesty  had  deferred  the  signing 
of  Sackville's  despatch  until  your  Lordship's  coming/ 

Cecil  at  the  same  time  wrote  to  inform  Leicester  of 
the  Queen's  resolution ;  and  either  the  Earl  believed  that 
it  was  his  policy  to  appear  to  consent,  or  else,  if  he  may 
be  credited  with  any  interval  of  patriotism,  he  was  ready 
for  the  moment  to  forget  his  own  ambition  in  the  inter- 
est of  England.2 


1  February,  1566,  endorsed,  in 
Leicester's  hand — 'A  very  consider- 
able letter.'— PEPYSIAN  MSS.  Mag- 
dalen College,  Cambridge. 

2  '  I  heartily  thank  you,  Mr  Se- 


cretary, for  your  gentle  and  friendly 
letter,  wherein  I  perceive  how  far 
her  Majesty  hath  resolved  touching 
the  matter  she  dealt  in  on  my  com- 
ing away.  I  pray  God  her  Highness 


426 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  45 


As  however  it  had  been  Mary  Stuart's  first  success 
after  her  marriage  with  Darnley  which  had  driven  Eliza- 
beth towards  a  sacrifice  which  she  abhorred;  so  Rizzio's 
murder,  the  return  of  Murray  and  his  friends,  and  the 
recovered  vitality  of  the  Protestants  in  Scotland,  gave 
her  again  a  respite.  As  Mary  Stuart's  power  to  hurt 
her  grew  fainter,  the  Archduke  once  more  ceased  to 
appear  indispensable  ;  and  when  Leicester  came  back  to 
the  Court  Sackville's  mission  was  again  put  off.  Again 
the  Queen  began  to  nourish  convulsive  hopes  that  she 
could  marry  her  favourite  after  all.  Again  Cecil  had 
to  interfere  with  a  table  of  damning  contrasts  between 
the  respective  merits  of  the  Austrian  Prince  and  the 
English  Earl ; l  and  again,  when  remonstrance  seemed 


may  so  proceed  therein  as  may  bring 
but  contentation  to  berself  and  com- 
fort to  all  that  be  hers.  Surely 
there  can  be  nothing  that  shall  so 
well  settle  her  in  good  estate  as  that 
way — I  mean  her  marriage — when- 
soever it  shall  please  God  to  put  her 
in  mind  to  like  and  to  conclude.  I 
know  her  Majesty  hath  heard  enough 
thereof,  and  I  wish  to  God  she  did 
hear  that  more  that  here  abroad  is 
wished  and  prayed  for.  Good  will 
it  doth  move  in  many,  and  truly  it 
may  easily  appear  necessity  doth  re- 
qjuire  of  all.  We  hear  ourselves 


methinks  it  is  good  sometimes  that 
some  that  be  there  should  be  abroad, 
for  that  is  sooner  believed  that  is 
seen  than  heard;  and  in  hope,  Mr 
Secretary,  that  her  Majesty  will  now 
earnestly  intend  that  which  she  hath 
of  long  time  not  yet  minded,  and 
delay  no  longer  her  time,  which  can- 
not be  won  again  for  any  gift,  I  will 
leave  that  with  trust  of  happiest 
success,  for  that  God  hath  left  it  the 
only  means  to  redeem  us  in  this 
world.' — Leicester  to  Cecil,  Febru- 
ary 20, 1566 :  Domestic  MSS.,  Eliza- 
beth, vol.  xxxix.,  Rolls  House. 


much  also  when  we  be  there,  but 

1  DE  MATRIMONIO  REGINJE  ANGLUE  CUM  EXTERO  PRINCIPE. 

April,  1566. 
Reasons  to  move  the  Queen  to  accept  Reasons  against  the  Earl  of 


Charles. 


his  birth. 


'Besides  his  person 

t    '  She  shall  not  diminish  the 


Leicester 


[.  '  Nothinjr  is  increased  by  mar- 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  427 

to  fail,  the  pale  shadow  of  Lady  Dudley  was  called  up 


honour  of  a  prince  to  match  with  a 
prince. 

2.  '  When  she  shall  receive  mes- 
sages from  kings,  her  husband  shall 
have  of  himself  by  birth  and  coun- 
tenances to  receive  them. 

3  'Whatsoever  he  shall  bring 
to  the  realm  he  shall  spend  it  here 
in  the  realm. 


4.  '  He  shall  have  no  regard  to 
any  person  but  to  please  the  Queen. 

5.  'He  shall  have  no  opportunity 
nor  occasion  to  tempt  him  to  seek 
the  crown  after  the  Queen,  because 
he  is  a  stranger,  and  hath  no  friends 
in  the  realm  to  assist  him. 

6.  'By  marriage  with   him  the 
Queen  shall  have  the  friendship  of 


riage  of  him,  either  in  riches,  esti- 
mation, or  power. 

2.  '  It  will  be  thought  that  the 
slanderous  speeches  of  the   Queen 
with  the  JEarl  have  been  true. 

3.  '  He  shall  study  nothing  but 
to  enhance  his  own  particular  friends 
to  wealth,  to  office,  to  lands,  and  to 
offend  others — 

7   Sir  H.  Sidney.       Leighton. 
7    Earl  Warwick.       Christmas. 

Sir  James  Crofts.  Middleton. 

Henry  Dudley.       Middlemore. 

John  Dudley.         Colshill. 

Foster.  Wiseman. 

Sir  F.  Jobson.        Killigrew. 

Appleyard.  Molyneux.  t— 

Horsey. 

4.  '  He  is  infamed  by  the  death 
of  his  wife. 

5.  '  He  is  far  in  debt. 


6.  '  He  is  like  to  prove  unkind, 
or  jealous  of  the  Queen's  Majesty. 


King  Philip,  which  is  necessary,  con- 
sidering the  likelihood  of  falling  out 
with  France. 

7.  '  No  Prince  of  England  ever  remained  without  good  amity  of  the 
House  of  Burgundy,  and  no  prince  ever  had  less  alliance  than  the  Queen 
of  England  hath,  nor  any  prince  ever  had  more  cause  to  have  friendship 
and  power  to  assist  her  estate. 

8.  '  The  French  King  will  keep  Calais  against  his  pact. 

9.  '  The  Queen  of  Scots  pretendeth  title  to  the  crown  of  England,  and 
so  did  never  foreign  prince  since  the  Conquest. 

10.  '  The  Pope  also,  and  all  his  parties,  are  watching  adversaries  to 
this  crown.' — Bun/hley  Papers,  vol.  i.  p.  444. 


428 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  45 


out  of  the  tomb  and  waved  the  lovers  once  more  asun- 
der.1 

Thus  the  season  passed  on ;  summer  came,  and 
James's  birth  found  Elizabeth  as  far  from  marriage  as 
ever ;  Parliament  had  been  once  more  postponed,  but 
the  public  service  could  be  conducted  no  longer  without 
a  subsidy,  and  a  meeting  at  Michaelmas  was  inevitable. 

Scarcely  was  Mary  Stuart  delivered  and  the  child's 
sex  made  known,  than  Sir  James  Melville  was  in  the 
saddle.  The  night  of  the  I9th  he  slept  at  Berwick;  on 
the  evening  of  the  22nd  he  rode  into  London.  A  grand 
party  was  going  forward  at  Greenwich :  the  Queen  was 
in  full  force  and  spirit,  and  the  Court  in  its  summer 
splendour.  A  messenger  glided  through  the  crowd  and 
spoke  to  Cecil;  Cecil  whispered  to  his  mistress,  and 
Elizabeth  flung  herself  into  a  seat,  dropped  her  head 
upon  her  hand,  and  exclaimed  '  The  Queen  of  Scots  is 
the  mother  of  a  fair  son,  and  I  am  but  a  barren  stock.' 
Bitter  words!- — how  bitter  those  only  knew  who  had 
watched  her  in  the  seven  years'  struggle  between  pas- 
sion and  duty. 

She  could  have  borne  it  better  perhaps  had  her  own 
scheme  been  carried  out  for  a  more  complete  self-sacri- 
fice, and  had  Leicester  been  the  father  of  the  future 
king.  Then  at  least  she  would  have  seen  her  darling 
honoured  and  great ;  then  she  would  have  felt  secure  of 


1  It  was  probably  at  this  time 
Appleyard  made  his  confession  that 
'  he  had  covered  his  sister's  murder,' 
and  that  Sir  Thomas  Blount  was 
secretly  examined  by  the  council. 


There  is  little  room  for  doubt  that   <" 
the  menace  of  exposure  was  the  in- 
strument made   use  of  to  prevent 
Elizabeth  from  ruining  herself.-— 
See  cap.  39. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  429 

her  rival's  loyalty  and  of  the  triumph  of  tnose  great 
principles  of  English  freedom  for  which  she  had  fought 
her  long,  and  as  it  now  seemed,  her  losing  battle.  The 
Queen  of  S(^is_.]iaji_£halLeiigejl  her  crown,  intrigued 
wit£  her  subjects,  slighted  her  councils,  and  defied  her 
menaces,  and  this. was  the  result. 

But  Elizabeth  had  been  apprenticed  in  self-control. 
By  morning  she  had  overcome  her  agitation  and  was 
able  to  give  Melville  an  audience. 

The  ambassador  entered  her  presence  radiant  with 
triumph.  The  Queen  affected,  perhaps  she  forced  her- 
self to  feel,  an  interest  in  his  news,  and  she  allowed 
him  to  jest  upon  the  difficulty  with  which  the  prince 
had  been  brought  into  the  world.  '  I  told  her/  he  re- 
ported afterwards,1  '  that  the  Queen  of  Scots  had  dearly 
bought  her  child,  being  so  sore  handled  that  she  wished 
she  had  never  been  married.  This  I  said  by  the  way 
to  give  her  a  scare  from  marriage  and  from  Charles  of 
Austria.'  Elizabeth  smiled  painfully  and  spoke  as 
graciously  as  she  could,  though  Melville  believed  that 
at  heart  she  was  burning  with  envy  and  disappointment. 
The  trial  was  doubtless  frightful,  and  the  struggle  to 
brave  it  may  have  been  but  half  successful ;  yet  when 
he  pressed  her  to  delay  the  recognition  no  longer  she 
seemed  to  feel  that  she  could  not  refuse,  and  she  pro- 
mised to  take  the  opinion  of  the  lawyers  without  fur- 
ther hesitation.  So  great  indeed  had  been  the  dis- 
appointment of  English  statesmen  at  the  last  trifling 

1  MELVILLE'S  Memoirs. 


430  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  45. 

ttdth  the  Archduke  that  they  had  abandoned  hope. 
The  Scottish  Prince  was  the  soleohject_of  their  interest, 
and  all  tEe"  motives  winch  before  had  recommended 
Mary  Stuart  were  working  with  irresistible  force. 
Whatever  might  be  the  Queen's  personal  reluctance, 
Melville  was  able  to  feel  that  it  would  avail  little ;  the 
cause  of  his  mistress,  if  her  game  was  now  played  with 
tolerable  skill,  was  virtually  won.  Norfolk  declared 
for  her,  Pembroke  declared  for  her,  no  longer  caring  to 
conceal  their  feelings ;  even  Leicester,  now  that  his  own 
chances  were  over,  became  '  the  Queen  of  Scots'  avowed 
friend/  and  pressed  her  claims  upon  Elizabeth,  '  alleg- 
ing that  to  acknowledge  them  would  be  her  greatest 
security,  and  that  Cecil  would  undo  all.' 1  All  that 
Melville  found  necessary  was  to  give  his  mistress  a  few 
slight  warnings  and  cautions. 

Her  recognition  as  second  person  he  knew 
that  she  regarded  as  but  a  step  to  the  de- 
thronement of  Elizabethj  nor  did  he  advise  her  to 
abandon  her  ambition.  He  did  not  wish  her  to  slacken 
her  correspondence  with  the  Catholics ;  she  need  not 
cease  '  to  entertain  O'Neil ; '  but  he  required  her  only 
to  be  prudent  and  secret.  '  Seeing  the  great  mark  her 
Majesty  shot  at,  she  should  be  careful  and  circumspect, 
that  her  desires  being  so  near  to  be  obtained  should  not 
be  overthrown  for  lack  of  management.' 2 

Schooled  for  once  by  advice,  Mary  Stuart 
August. 

wrote  from  her  sick  bed  to  Melville's  brother 


1  MELVILLE'S  Memoirs.  2  Ibid. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  431 

Robert.  The  letter  appeared  to  be  meant  only  for  him- 
self, but  it  was  designed  to  be  shown  among  the  Pro- 
testant nobility  of  England.  She  declared  in  it  that 
she  meant  nothing  but  toleration  in  religion,  nothing 
but  good  in  all  ways ;  she  protested  that  she  had  no 
concealed  designs,  no  una vowed  wishes ;  her  highesv 
ambition  went  no  farther  than  to  be  recognized  by 
Parliament,  with  the  consent  of  her  dear  sister. 

With  these  words  in  their  hands  the  Melvilles  mad* 
swift  progress  in  England.  Elizabeth's  uncertainties 
and  changes  had  shaken  her  truest  friends ;  and  evei\ 
before  the  Parliament  some  popular  demonstrations  were 
looked  for. 

'  There  are  threats  of  disturbance/  de  Silva  wrote  in 
August,  '  and  trouble  is  looked  for  before  the  meeting 
of  Parliament.  For  the  present  we  are  reassured,  but 
it  is  likely  enough  that  something  will  happen.  The 
Queen  is  out  of  favour  with  all  sides  :  the  Catholics 
hate  her  because  she  is  not  a  Papist,  the  Protestants 
because  she  is  less  furious  and  violent  in  heresy  than 
they  would  like  to  see  her  ;  while  the  courtiers  complain 
of  her  parsimony/ l  James  Melville  was  soon  able  to 
send  the  gratifying  assurance  to  the  Queen  of  Scots, 
that  should  Elizabeth  continue  the  old  excuses  and  de- 
lays '  her  friends  were  so  increased  that  many  whole 
shires  were  ready  to  rebel,  and  their  captains  already 
named  by  election  of  the  nobility.' 2 

In  such  a  world  and  with  such  humours  abroad  the 


1  De  Silva  to  Philip,  August  23,  1566  :  MS.  Simancas. 
-  Mi  LVILLE'S  Memoirs. 


432  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  45. 

approaching  session  could  not  fail  to  be  a  stormy  one ; 
and  Elizabeth  knew,  though  others  might  affect  to  be 
ignorant,  that  if  sheW  as  forced  into  a  recognition  of 
MgT^_Stuart__a  OatholiftjrgvfJTjLtjnTi  won]r[jnnj^  hft  many 
months...distant. 

At  the  beginning  of  August,  to  gather  strength  and 
spirit  for  the  struggle,  she  went  on  progress,  not  to  the 
northern  counties  where  the  Queen  of  Scots  had  hoped 
to  meet  her,  but  first  to  Stamford  on  a  visit  to  Cecil, 
thence  round  to  Woodstock,  her  old  prison  in  the  peril- 
ous days  of  her  sister,  and  finally,  on  the  evening  of  the 
3 1st,  she  paid  Oxford  the  honour  which  two  years  before 
she  had  conferred  on  the  sister  University.  The  pre- 
parations for  her  visit  were  less  gorgeous,  the  recep- 
tion itself  far  less  imposing,  yet  the  fairest  of  her  cities 
in  its  autumnal  robe  of  sad  and  mellow  loveliness,  suited 
the  Queen's  humour,  and  her  stay  there  had  a  peculiar 
interest. 

She  travelled  in  a  carriage.  At  Wolvercot,  three 
miles  out  on  the  Woodstock  road,  she  was  met  by  the 
heads  of  houses  in  their  gowns  and  hoods.  The  approach 
was  by  the  long  north  avenue  leading  to  the  north  gate ; 
and  as  she  drove  along  it  she  saw  in  front  of  her  the 
black  tower  of  Bocardo,  where  Cranmer  had  been  long 
a  prisoner,  and  the  ditch  where  with  his  brother  martyrs 
he  had  given  his  life  for  the  sins  of  the  people.  The 
scene  was  changed  from  that  chill,  sleety  morning,  and 
the  soft  glow  of  the  August  sunset  was  no  unfitting 
symbol  of  the  change  of  times  ;  yet  how  soon  such 
another  season  might  tread  upon  the  heels  of  the  de- 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  433 

parting  summer  none  knew  better  than  Elizabeth.  She 
went  on  under  the  archway  and  up  the  corn- market  be- 
tween rows  of  shouting  students.  The  students  cried 
in  Latin  *  Yivat  Regina/  Elizabeth  amidst  bows  and 
smiles  answered  in  Latin  also,  *  Grratias  ago,  gratias 
ago/ 

At  Carfax,  where  Bishop  Long-lands  forty  years  be- 
fore had  burnt  Tyndal's  Testaments,  a  professor  greeted 
her  with  a  Greek  speech,  to  which  with  unlooked-for 
readiness  she  replied  again  in  the  same  language.  A 
few  more  steps  brought  her  down  to  the  great  gate  of 
Christ  Church,  the  splendid  monument  of  Wolsey  and 
of  the  glory  of  the  age  that  was  gone.  She  left  the  car- 
riage, and  with  de  Silva  at  her  side  she  walked  under  a 
canopy  across  the  magnificent  quadrangle  to  the  Cathe- 
dral. The  dean  after  evening  service  entertained  her 
at  his  house. 

The  days  of  her  stay  were  spent  as  at  Cambridge — 
in  hearing  plays  or  in  attending  the  exercises  of  the 
University.  The  subjects  chosen  for  disputation  in  the 
schools  mark  the  balance  of  the  two  streams  of  ancient 
and  modern  thought,  and  show  the  matter  with  which 
the  rising  mind  of  England  was  beginning  to  occupy 
itself.  There  were  discussions  on  the  tides — whether  or 
how  far  they  were  caused  by  the  attraction  of  the  moon. 
There  were  arguments  on  the  currency — whether  a  debt 
contracted  when  the  coin  was  pure  could  be  liquidated 
by  the  payment  of  debased  money  of  the  same  nominal 
value.  The  keener  intellects  were  climbing  the  stairs  of 
the  temple  of  Modern  Science,  though  as  yet  they  were 

VOL.  vn.  28 


434  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

few  and  feeble  and  they  were  looked  upon  askance  with 
orthodox  suspicion.  At  their  side  the  descendants  of 
the  schoolmen  were  working  on  the  old  safe  methods, 
proving  paradoxes  by  laws  of  logic  amidst  universal  ap- 
plause. The  Professor  of  Medicine  maintained  in  the 
Queen's  presence  that  it  was  not  the  province  of  the 
physician  to  cure  disease,  because  diseases  were  infinite, 
and  the  infinite  was  beyond  the  reach  of  art ;  or  again, 
because  medicine  could  not  retard  age,  and  age  ended 
in  death.,  and  therefore  medicine  could  not  preserve  life. 
"With  trifles  such  as  these  the  second  childhood  of  the 
authorities  was  content  to  drowse  away  the  hours.  More 
interesting  than  either  science  or  logic  were  perilous 
questions  of  politics,  which  Elizabeth  permitted  to  be 
agitated  before  her. 

The  Puritan  formula  that  it  was  lawful  to  take  arms 
against  a  bad  sovereign  was  argued  by  examples  from  the 
Bible  and  from  the  stories  of  the  patriot  tyrannicides  of 
Greece  and  Home.  Doctor  Humfrey  deserted  his  friends 
to  gain  favour  with  the  Queen,  and  protested  his  horror 
of  rebellion  ;  but  the  defenders  of  the  rights  of  the 
people  held  their  ground,  and  remained  in  possession  of 
it.  Pursuing  the  question  into  the  subtleties  of  theology, 
they  even  ventured  to  say  that  God  himself  might  in- 
stigate a  regicide,  when  Bishop  Jewel,  who  was  present, 
stepped  down  into  the  dangerous  arena  and  closed  the 
discussion  with  a  vindication  of  the  divine  right  of  kings. 

More  critically — even  in  that  quiet  haven  of  peaceful 
thought — the  great  subject  of  the  day,  which  Elizabeth 
called  her  death-knell,  still  pursued  Her.  An  eloquent 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLE  Y.  435 

student  discoursed  on  the  perils  to  which  a  nation  was 
exposed  when  the  sovereign  died  with  no  successor  de- 
clared. The  comparative  advantages  were  argued  of 
elective  and  hereditary  monarchy.  Each  side  had  its 
hot  defenders  ;  and  though  the  votes  of  the  University 
were  in  favour  of  the  natural  laws  of  succession,  the 
champion  of  election  had  the  best  of  the  argument,  and 
apparently  best  pleased  the  Queen.  When  in  the  pero- 
ration of  his  speech  he  said  he  would  maintain  his  opinion 
'with  his  life,  and,  if  need  were,  with  his  death,'1  she 
exclaimed,  '  Excellent — oh,  excellent ! ' 

At  the  close  of  the  exercises  she  made  a  speech  in 
Latin  as  at  Cambridge.  She  spoke  very  simply,  depre- 
cating the  praises  which  had  been  heaped  upon  her.  She 
had  been  educated  well,  she  said,  though  the  seed  had 
fallen  on  a  barren  soil ;  but  she  loved  study  if  she  had 
not  profited  by  it,  and  for  the  Universities  she  would 
do  her  best  that  they  should  flourish  while  she  lived,  and 
after  her  death  continue  long  to  prosper. 

So  five  bright  days  passed  swiftly,  and  on  the  sixth 
she  rode  away  over  Magdalen  Bridge  to  Windsor.  As 
she  crested  Headington  Hill  she  reined  in  her  horse  and 
once  more  looked  back.  There  at  her  feet  lay  the  city 
in  its  beauty,  the  towers  and  spires  springing  from 
amidst  the  clustering  masses  of  the  college  elms ;  there 
wound  beneath  their  shade  the  silvery  lines  of  the  Cher- 
well  and  the  Isis. 

'  Farewell,  Oxford !  '  she  cried ;  '  farewell,  my  good 


'  Hoc  vita  et  si  opus  est  et  morte  comprobabo.' 


436  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  45. 

subjects  there ! — farewell,  my  dear  scholars,  and  may 
God  prosper  your  studies  ! — farewell,  farewell ! ' l 

The  Queen  of  Scots  meanwhile  had  recovered  rapidly 
from  her  confinement,  and  it  seemed  as  if  she  had  now 
but  to  sit  still  and  wait  for  the  fortune  which  time  had 
so  soon  to  bestow ;  yet  Melville,  on  his  return  to  Scot- 
land, found  her  less  contented  than  he  expected.  The 
Pope,  if  it  was  true  that  she  had  desired  a  divorce  from 
her  husband,  had  not  smiled  upon  her  wishes;  and 
Melville's  well-meant  efforts  to  console  her  for  her  do- 
mestic troubles  with  her  prospects  in  England,  failed 
wholly  of  their  effect.  Five  days  after  James's  birth, 
Killigrew  reported  that  although  Darnley  was  in  the 
Castle  and  his  father  in  Edinburgh,  '  small  account  was 
made  of  them;'  Murray,  though  he  continued  at  the 
Court,  '  found  his  credit  small  and  his  state  scarce  better 
than  when  he  looked  daily  for  banishment ; '  Maitland 
was  still  a  fugitive,  and  his  estates,  with  the  splendid 
royalties  of  Dunbar,  were  in  possession  of  Bothwell ; 
-7  '  BothwelPs  credit  with  the  Queen  was  more  than  all  the 
rest  together.'2 

It  seemed  as  if  Mary  Stuart,  brave  as  she  might  be, 

in  that  stormy  sea  of  faction  and  conspiracy  requiredja, 

man's  arm  to  support  hejrj_she  wanted jsome  one  on 

whose  devotion  she  could  depend__to_8hield  her  from  a 

second  night  of  terror,  and  such  a  man  she  had  found  in 

/  Bothwell — tEe  boldest,  the  most  recHess,  the  most  un- 

i  principled  of  all  the  nobles  in  Scotland.     Her  choice 

thouglTTmprudent  was  not  unnatural.     Bothwell  from 

1  NICHOLLS'S  Progresses  of  Elizabeth. 
2  Killigrew  to  Cecil,  June  24. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLE  Y.  437 

his  earliest  manhood  had  been  her  mother's  stanchest 
friend ;  Bothwell,  when  the  English  army  was  before 
Leith — though  untroubled 'with  faith  in  Pope  or  Church 
or  Grod,  had  been  more  loyal  than  the  Catholic  lords  ; 
and  though  at  that  time  but  a  boy  of  twenty- two  he  had 
fought  the  cause  of  France  and  of  Mary  of  Lorraine 
when  Huntly  and  Seton  were  standing  timidly  aloof. 
Afterwards  when  Mary  Stuart  returned,  and  Murray 
and  Maitland  ruled  Scotland,  Bothwell  continued  true 
to  his  old  colours,  and  true  to  the  cause  which  the  Queen 
of  Scots  in  her  heart  was  cherishing.  Hating  England, 
hating  the  Reformers,  hating  Murray  above  all  living 
men,  he  had  early  conceived  projects  of  carrying  off  his 
mistress  by  force  from  their  control — nor  was  she  her- 
self supposed  to  have  been  ignorant  of  his  design.  The 
times  were  then  unripe,  and  Bothwell  had  retired  from 
Scotland  to  spend  his  exile  at  the  French  Court,  in  the 

home  of  Mary  Stuart's  affection  ;  and  when  he 

.  .         July, 

came  back  to  her  out  of  that  polished  and  evil 
atmosphere,  she  found  his  fierce  northern  nature  varn- 
ished with  a  thin  coating  of  Parisian  culture,  saturated 
with  Parisian  villany,  and  the  Earl  himself  with  the 
single  virtue  of  devotion  to  his  mistress,  as  before  he 
had  been  devoted  to  her  mother.  Her  own  nature  was 
altogether  higher  than  BothwelPs;  yet  courage,  strength, 
and  a  readiness  to  face  danger  and  dare  crime  for  their 
sakes,  attract  some  women  more  than  intellect  however 
keen,  or  grace  however  refined.  The  affection  of  the 
Queen  of  Scots  for  Bothwell  is  the  best  evidence  of  her 
innocence  with  Rizzio. 

As  soon  as  she  had  become  strong  enough  to  move 


43S  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

she  left  the  close  hot  atmosphere  of  the  Castle,  and  at 
the  end  of  July,  attended  by  her  cavalier,  she  spent  her 
days  upon  the  sea  or  at  the  Castle  of  Alloa  on  the  Forth. 
She  had  condescended  to  acquaint  Darnley  with  her  in- 
tention of  going,  but  with  no  desire  that  he  should  ac- 
company her;  and  when  he  appeared  uninvited  at  Alloa 
he  was  ordered  back  to  the  place  from  which  he  came. 
'  The  Queen  and  her  husband/  wrote  the  Earl  of  Bed- 
ford on  the  3rd  of  August,  'agree  after  the 
old  manner.  It  cannot  for  modesty  nor  for 
the  honour  of  a  Queen  be  reported  what  she  said  of  him/ l 
Sir  James  Melville,  who  dreaded  the  effect  in  England 
of  the  alienation  of  the  friends  of  Lady  Lennox,  again 
remonstrated  and  attempted  to  cure  the  slight  with 
some  kind  of  attention.  But  Melville  was  made  to  feel 
that  he  was  going  beyond  his  office ;  in  her  violent 
moods  Mary  Stuart  would  not  be  trifled  with,  and  at 
length  he  received  a  distinct  order  '  to  be  no  more  fami- 
liar with  the  Lord  Darnley/  2  Water  parties  and  hunt- 
ing parties  in  the  Highlands  consumed  the  next  few 
weeks.  Though  inexorable  towards  her  husband  the 
Queen,  as  the  summer  went  on,  found  it  necessary, to  take 
Aer Jjr other  inta -favour  again,  and  to  gain  the  confidence 

of^the    TJ/nglish  JPrntpsj^]rf.s   by  flffpp.firLg-a^JCP^rlinAss  to 

be  _guided Jayjiis  advice.  Maitland's  peace  had  been 
made  also,  though  with  more  difficulty.  Bothwell,  who 
was  in  possession  of  his  estates,  refused  to  part  with  them  • 
and  in  a  stormy  scene  in  the  Queen's  presence  Murray 

1  Bedford  to  Cecil,  August  3  :  Cotton.  MSS.  CALIG.  B.  10. 
2  MELVILLE'S  Memoirs. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  439 

told  him  '  that  twenty  as  honest  men  as  he  should  lose 
their  lives  ere  he  reft  Liddington.' 1  The  Queen  felt 
however  that  her  demand  for  recognition  in  England 
would  be  effective  in  proportion  to  the  umrnmTEj "with 
which  she  was  supported  by  her  own  nobility ;  she  felt 
the  want  of  Maitland's  help ;  and  visiting  her  resent- 
ment for  the  death  of  Bizzio  on  her  miserable  husband 
alone,  she  was  ready  to  forget  the  share  which  Maitland 
had  borne  in  it,  and  exerted  herself  to  smooth  down  and 
reconcile  the  factions  at  the  Court.  She  contrived  to 
bring  Maitland,  Murray,  Argyle,  and  Bothwell  secretly 
together  ;  '  the  matter  in  dispute  '  was  talked  over  and 
at  last  amicably  settled.2 

From  Maitland  to  Morton  was  a  short  step.  The 
lords  now  all  combined  to  entreat  his  pardon  from  the 
Queen,  and  in  the  restoration  to  favour  of  the  nobles 
whom  he  had  invited  to  revenge  his  own  imagined 
wrongs,  and  had  thus  deserted  and  betrayed,  the  miser- 
able King  read  his  own  ruin.  One  after  another  he  had 
injured  them  all ;  and  his  best  hope  was  in  their  con- 
tempt. Even  Murray's  face  he  had  good  cause  to 
dread.  He  with  Rizzio  had  before  planned  Murray's 
murder,  and  now  seeing  Murray  at  the  Queen's  side  he 
let  fall  some  wild  passionate  words  as  if  he  would  again 
try  to  kill  him.  So  at  least  the  Queen  reported,  for  it 
was  she  who  carried  the  story  to  Murray, '  and  willed  the 
Earl  to  speer  it  at  the  King ; '  it  was  believed  after- 
wards that  she  desired  to  create  a  quarrel  which  would 

1  Advertisements  out  of  Scotland,  August,  1566  :  MS.  Rolls  House. 
*  Maitland  to  Cecil,  September  20  :  MS.  Ibid, 


4/ro  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

rid  her  of  one  or  both  of  the  two  men  whom  she 
hated  worst  in  Scotland.  But  if  this  was  her  object  she 
had  mistaken  her  brother's  character  ;  Murray  was  not 
a  person  to  trample  on  the  wretched  or  stoop  to  igno- 
ble game ,  he  spoke  to  Darnley  '  very  modestly '  in 
the  Queen's  presence;  and  the  poor  boy  might  have 
yet  been  saved  could  he  have  thrown  himself  on  the 
confidence  of  the  one  noble-hearted  person  within  his 
reach.  He  muttered  only  some  feeble  apology  how- 
ever, and  fled  from  the  Court  'very  grieved/  He  could 
not  bear,  so  some  one  wrote,  '  that  the  Queen  should 
use  familiarity  with  man  or  woman,  especially  the 
Lords  of  Argyle  and  Murray  which  kept  most  company 
with  her.'1 

Lennox,  as  much  neglected  as  his  son,  was 
September.    .  . 

living    privately    at   Glasgow,    and   between 

Glasgow  and  Stirling  the  forlorn  Darnley  wandered  to 
and  fro,  'misliked  of  all,'  helpless  and  complaining, 
and  nursing  vague  impossible  schemes  of  revenge.  He 
had  signed  the  articles  by  which  he  bound  himself  to 
maintain  the  Reformation;  he  now  dreamt  of  taking 
from  Mary  the  defence  of  the  Church.  He  wrote  to 
the  Pope  and  to  Philip  complaining  that  the  Queen  of 
Scots  had  ceased  to  care  for  religion,  and  that  they  must 
look  to  him  only  for  the  restoration  of  Catholicism. 
His  letters,  instead  of  falling  harmless  by  going  where 
they  were  directed,  were  carried  to  Mary,  and  might 
have  aggravated  her  animosity  against  him  had  it  ad- 


Advertisements  out  of  Scotland,  August,  1566  .  MS.  Rolls  House. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  441 

mitted  of  aggravation.  Still  more  terrified,  he  then 
thought  of  flying  from  the  kingdom.  The  Scotch 
council  was  about  to  meet  in  Edinburgh,  in  the  middle 
of  September ;  the  Queen  desired  that  he  would  attend 
the  session  with  her ;  he  refused,  and  as  soon  as  she  was 
gone  he  made  arrangements  to  escape  in  an  English 
vessel  which  was  lying  in  the  Forth.  '  In  a  sort  of 
desperation'  he  communicated  his  project  to  the  French 
ambassador,  du  Croq,  who  had  remained  after  the 
Queen's  departure  at  Stirling.  He  told  him  it  seems 
that  he  should  go  to  the  Scilly  Isles ;  perhaps  like  Sir 
Thomas  Seymour  with  a  notion  of  becoming  a  pirate 
chief  there.  When  du  Croq  questioned  him  on  his  rea- 
sons for  such  a  step,  he  complained  'that  the  Queen 
would  give  him  no  authority ; '  'all  the  lords  had 
abandoned  him,  he  said ;  he  had  no  hope  in  Scotland 
and  he  feared  for  his  life.' 

Better  far  it  would  have  been  had  they  allowed  him 
to  go,  better  for  himself,  better  for  Mary  Stuart,  better 
for  human  history  which  would  have  escaped  the  inky 
stain  which  blots  its  page  ;  yet  his  departure  at  such  a 
time  and  in  such  a  manner  would  attract  inconvenient 
notice  in  England — it  would  be  used  in  Parliament  in 
the  debate  on  the  succession.  Du  Croq  carried  word  to 
Mary  Stuart.  Lennox,  after  endeavouring  in  vain  to 
dissuade  him,  wrote  to  her  also  in  the  hope  that  he 
might  appease  her  by  giving  proofs  of  his  own  loyalty ; 
and  Darnley,  finding  his  purpose  betrayed,  followed  the 
French  ambassador  to  Edinburgh,  and  on  the  evening 
of  the  29th  of  September  presented  himself  at  the  gates 


442  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.45. 

of  Holy  rood.  He  sent  in  word  of  his  arrival — but  he 
said  he  would  not  enter  as  long  as  Murray,  Argyle,  and 
Maitland  were  in  the  palace.  The  Queen  went  out  to 
him,  carried  him  to  her  private  apartments,  and  kept 
him  there  for  the  night.  The  next  morning  the  council 
met  and  he  was  brought  or  led  into  their  presence. 
There  they  sat — a  hard  ring  of  stony  faces :  on  one  side 
the  Lords  of  the  Congregation  who  had  risen  in  insur- 
rection to  prevent  his  marriage  with  the  Queen,  whom 
afterwards  he  had  pledged  his  honour  to  support  and 
whom  he  had  again  betrayed — now,  by  some  inexplic- 
able turn  of,  fortune,  restored  to  honour  while  he  was 
himself  an  outcast ;  on  the  other  side  Huntly,  Caith- 
ness, Bothwell,  Athol,  the  Archbishop  of  St  Andrew's, 
all  Catholics,  all  Bizzio's  friends,  yet  hand  in  hand  now 
with  their  most  bitter  enemies,  united  heart  and  soul  to 
secure  the  English  succession  for  a  Scotch  Princess, 
and  pressing  with  the  weight  of  unanimity  on  the 
English  Parliament ;  yet  he  who  had  been  brought 
among  them  in  the  interest  of  that  very  cause  was  ex- 
cluded from  share  or  concern  in  the  prize  ;  every  noble 
present  had  some  cause  of  mortal  enmity  against  him ; 
and  as  he  stood  before  them  desolate  and  friendless  he 
must  have  felt  how  short  a  shrift  was  allowed  in  Scot- 
land for  a  foe  whose  life  was  inconTenient. 

The  letter  of  the  Earl  of  Lennox  was  read  aloud. 
Mary  Stuart  said  that  she  had  tried  in  vain  to  draw 
from  her  husband  the  occasion  of  his  dissatisfaction ; 
she  trusted  that  he  would  tell  the  lords  what  he  had 
concealed  from  herself;  and  then  turning  to  him  with 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  443 

clasped  hands  like  a  skilled  actress  on  the  stage,  '  Speak/ 
she  said,  '  speak ;  say  what  you  complain  of ;  if  the 
blame  is  with  me  do  not  spare  me/ 

The  lords  followed,  assuring  him  with  icy  polite- 
ness that  if  he  had  any  fault  to  find  they  would  see  it 
remedied. 

Du  Croq  implored  him  to  take  no  step  which  would 
touch  his  own  honour  or  the  Queen's. 

What  could  he  say  ?  Could  he  tell  the  truth  that 
he  believed  his  Royal  Mistress  and  those  honourable 
lords  were  seeking  how  to  rid  the  world  of  him  ?  That 
was  his  fear ;  and  she  and  they  and  he  alike  *  knew  it — 
but  such  thoughts  could  not  be  spoken.  And  yet  he 
had  spirit  enough  to  refuse  to  cringe  or  to  stand  at  the 
bar  to  be  questioned  as  a  prisoner.  He  said  a  few  un- 
meaning words  and  turned  to  go,  and  they  did  not  dare 
detain  him.  '  Adieu,  Madam/  he  said  as  he  left  the 
room,  '  you  will  not  see  my  face  for  a  long  space ;  gen- 
tlemen, adieu/  1 

Four  days  later  they  heard  that  the  ship 

.  J        .  ,    ,       J  ,     October, 

was  ready  in  which  he  was  about  to  sail ;  and 

it  appears  as  if  they  had  resolved  to  let  him  go.  .  But 
in  an  evil  hour  for  himself  he  had  another  interview 
with  the  French  ambassador;  du  Croq,  after  a  long 
conversation,  persuaded  him  that  the  clouds  would  clear 
away  and  that  fortune  would  again  look  beneficently  upon 
him.  The  English  ship  sailed  without  him,  and  Darnley 
remained  behind  to  drift  upon  destruction,  '  hated/  as 

1  Du  Croq  to  the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  October  15  ;  The  Lords  of 
Scotland  to  the  Queen-mother  of  France,  October  8  :  Printed  in  Keith. 


444 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  45. 


du  Croq  admitted,  '  by  all  men  and  by  all  parties — be- 
cause being  what  he  was  he  desired  to  be  as  he  had 
been  and  to  rule  as  a  king.'1  In  him  the  murderers  of 
Rizzio  found  a  scapegoat,  and  the  Queen  accepted  with 
seeming  willingness  the  vicarious  sacrifice.  The__pa- 
litical^elatipns  between  England  and  Scotland  relapsed 
into  their  old  bearings.  Maitland  was  found  again 
corresponding  with  the  English  ministers  on  the  old 
subject  of  the  union  of  the  realms,  while  the  Queen  of 
Scots  herself  wrote  to  Cecil  with  affected  confidence 
and  cordiality,  just  touching — enough  to  show  that  she 
understood  it — on  the  treachery  of  Rokeby,  but  profess- 
ing to  believe  that  Cecil  wished  well  to  her  and  would 
assist  her  to  gain  her  cause.2 

So  stood  the  several  parties  in  the  two  kingdoms 
when  Elizabeth  returned  from  her  progress  and  prepared 
to  meet  her  Parliament.3  Four  years  h.ad  passed  since 


1  Du  Croq  to  the  Queen-mother 
of  France,  October   17:    TEULET, 
vol.  ii. 

2  Maitland  to  Cecil,  October  4 ; 
The  Queen  of  Scots  to  Cecil,  October 
5  :  MS.  Rolls  House. 

3  An  entry  in  the  Privy  Council 
Register  shows  how  anxiously  the 
English  Government  were  still  watch- 
ing the  Queen  of  Scots,  and  how 
little  they  trusted  her  assurances. 

October  8,  1566. 

'A  letter  to  Sir  John  Foster, 
Warden  of  the  Middle  Marches, 
touching  the  intelligence  received  out 
of  Scotland  of  the  sending  of  the 
Earl  of  Argyle  towards  Shan  O'Neil 


with  a  hundred  soldiers  of  those  that 
were  about  the  Scottish  Queen's  own 
person,  with  commission  also  to  levy 
all  his  own  people  and  the  people 
of  the  Isles  to  assist  Shan  against  the- 
Queen's  Majesty.  And  because  the 
understanding  of  the  truth  of  this 
matter  is  of  great  importance,  and 
necessary  to  be  boulted  out  with 
speed,  he  is  required  that  under  pre- 
tence of  some  other  message  he  take 
occasion  to  send  with  convenient 
speed  some  discreet  person  to  the 
Scottish  Court,  to  procure  by  all  the 
best  means  he  may  to  boult  out  the 
very  certainty  hereof.  And  in  case 
he  shall  find  inde£d  that  the  said 


1566.]-  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  445 

the  last  troubled  session  :  spring  after  spring,  autumn 
after  autumn,  notice  of  a  Parliament  had  gone  out ;  but 
ever  at  the  last  moment  Elizabeth  had  flinched,  know- 
ing well  what  lay  before  her.  Further  delay  was  at 
last  impossible :  the  Treasury  was  empty,  the  humour 
of  the  people  was  growing  dangerous.  Thus  at  last  on 
the  3oth  of  September  the  Houses  reassembled.  The 
first  fortnight  was  spent  in  silent  preparations ;  on  the 
T  4th  the  campaign  opened  with  a  petition  from  the 
bishops,  which  was  brought  forward  in  the  form  of  a 
statute  in  the  House  of  Commons.  It  will  be  remem- 
oered  that  after  the  Bill  was  passed  in  the  last  session 
empowering  the  Anglican  prelates  to  tender  the  vote  of 
allegiance  to  their  predecessors  in  the  Tower,  they  had 
been  checked  in  their  first  attempt  to  put  the  law  in 
execution  by  a  denial  of  the  sacredness  of  their  conse- 
cration, and  the  judges  had  confirmed  the  objection. 
To  obviate  this  difficulty  and  to  enable  the  bench  at  last 
to  begin  their  work  of  retaliation,  a  Bill  was  brought  in 
declaring  that  '  inasmuch  as  the  bishops  of  the  Church 
of  England  had  been  nominated  according  to  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Act  of  Henry  the  Eighth,1  and  had  been 
consecrated  according  to  the  form  provided  in  the 
Prayer-book,  they  should  be  held  to  have  been  duly  and 


advertisements  are  true,  then  to  de- 
mand audience  of  the  Scottish  Queen 
and  to  deliver  unto  her  the  Queen's 
Majesty's  letter,*  sent  herewith,  re- 
quiring answer  with  speed  ;  and  in 


case  he  shall  find  the  said  enterprise 
is  intended  only,  and  not  executed, 
then  he   shall  procure  to  stay  the 
same  by  the  best  means  he  may.' 
1  25  Hen.  VIII.  cap.  20. 


Not  found. 


446 


KEIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  45. 


lawfully  appointed,  any  statute,  law,  or  canon  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding/  In  this  form,  untrammelled 
by  further  condition,  the  Act  went  from  the  Commons 
to  the  Lords,  and  had  it  passed  in  its  first  form  there 
would  have  been  an  immediate  renewal  of  the  attempt 
to  persecute.  The  Lords  however  were  better  guardians 
than  the  Commons  of  English  liberties.  Out  of  8 1  peers 
22  were  the  bishops  themselves,  who  as  the  promoters 
of  the  Bill  unquestionably  voted  for  it  in  its  fulness ; 
yet  it  was  sent  back,  perhaps  as  an  intimation  that  there 
had  been  enough  of  spiritual  tyranny,  and  that  the 
Church  of  England  was  not  to  disgrace  itself  with  imi- 
tating the  iniquities  of  Rome.  A  proviso  was  added 
that  the  Act  should  be  retrospective  only  as  it  affected 
the  general  functions  of  the  episcopal  office,1  but  was 
not  to  be  construed  as  giving  validity  to  the  requisition 
of  the  oath  of  allegiance  in  the  episcopal  courts;  or  a*s 
giving  the  bishops  power  over  the  lives  or  lands  of  the 


1  '  Provided  always  that  no  per- 
son or  persons  shall  at  any  time 
hereafter  be  impeached  or  molested 
in  body,  lands,  livings,  or  goods,  by 
occasion  or  means  of  any  certificate 
by  any  Archbishop  or  Bishop  here- 
tofore  made,  or  before  the  last  day  of 
this  present  Session  of  Parliament 
to  be  made  by  authority  of  any  Act 
passed  in  the  first  session  of  this 
present  Parliament,  touching  or  con- 
cerning the  refusal  of  the  oath  de- 
clared and  set  forth  by  Act  of  Par- 
liament in  the  first  year  of  the  reign 
of  our  Sovereign  Lady  the  Queen : 
and  that  all  tenders  of  the  said  oath 


made  by  any  Archbishop  or  Bishop 
aforesaid,  or  before  the  last  day  of 
the  present  Session  to  be  made 
by  authority  of  any  Act  established 
in  the  first  Session  of  this  present 
Parliament,  and  all  refusals  of  the 
same  oath  so  tendered,  or  before  the 
last  day  of  this  present  Session  to  be 
tendered  by  any  Archbishop  or 
Bishop  by  authority  of  any  law 
established  in  the  first  session  of 
this  present  Parliament,  shall  be 
void,  and  of  none  effect  or  validity  in 
the  law.' — Statutes  of  the  Realm,  8 
Elizabeth,  cap.  I. 


I566.] 


THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY. 


447 


prisoners  who  had  refused  to  swear.1  The  Bill,  although 
thus  modified,  left  the  bench  with  powers  which  for  the 
future  they  might  abuse  ;  and  although  there  was  an 
understanding  that  those  powers  were  not  to  be  put  in 
force,  eleven  lay  peers  still  spoke  and  voted  absolutely 
against  admitting  the  episcopal  position  of  men  who  had 
been  thrust  into  already  occupied  sees.2  To  have  thrown 
the  measure  out  altogether  however  would  have  been 
equivalent  to  denying  the  Church  of  England  a  right  to 
exist :  it  passed  with  this  limitation,  and  the  bishops, 
with  a  tacit  intimation  that  they  were  on  their  good 
behaviour,  were  recognized  as  legitimate. 

The  Consecration  Bill  was  however  but  a  preliminary 
skirmish,  preparatory  to  the  great  question  which  both 
Houses,  with  opposite  purposes,  were  determined  to  bring 
forward.  The  House  of  Commons  was  the  same  which 
had  been  elected  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign  in  the 
strength  of  the  Protestant  reaction.  The  oscillation  of 


1  '  La  peticion  que  se  dio  en  el 
Parlaraento  por  parte  de  los  obispos 
Protestantes  acerca  de  su  confirma- 
.  cion  se  paso  por  la  Camara  baja 
sin  contradicion.  En  la  alta  tuvo 
once  contradiciones,  pero  pasose  ;  no 
confirmandolo  ellos  sino  a  lo  que 
hasta  aqui  se  habia  hecho  en  el 
ejercicio  de  su  officio  ;  con  tanto  que 
no  se  entendiese  la  confirmacion 
contra  lo  que  hubiesen  hecho  ni 
podrian  hacer  en  materia  de  sangre 
ni  de  bienes  temporales.  Lo  de  la 
sangre  se  entiende  por  el  juramento 
que  pcdian  a  Bonner  el  bucn  Obispo 
de  Londres,  y  a  otros,  acerca  de  lo  de 


la  religion,  que  es  por  lo  que  princi- 
palmente  dicen  que  pedian  la  confir- 
macion; aunque  daban  a  entender 
que  por  otros  fines  lo  de  bienes  tem- 
porales ban  sentido;  pero  no  fue 
segun  entiendo  este  el  intento  ;  sino 
que  obviar  a  que  no  les  pierdan  los, 
que  no  querian  hacer  el  juramento.' 
— De  Silva  to  the  King,  November 
II,  1566:  MS.  Simancas. 

2  Non-contents — Earls  Northum- 
berland, "Westmoreland,  Worcester, 
and  Sussex;  Lords  Montague,  Mor- 
ley,  Dudley,  Darcy,  Mountcagle, 
Cromwell,  and  Mordaunt. 


448  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH,  [CH.  45. 

public  feeling  had  left  the  majority  of  the  members  un- 
affected ;  they  were  still  anxious  to  secure  the  reversion 
of  the  crown  to  the  dying  Lady  Catherine  and  her  child- 
ren ;  and  the  tendencies  of  the  country,  generally  in 
favour  of  the  Scotch  succession,  made  them  more  desirous 
than  ever  not  to  let  the  occasion  pass  through  their 
hands.  The  House  of  Lords  was  in  the  interest  of  Mary 
Stuart,  but  some  divisions  had  been  already  created  by 
her  quarrel  with  Darnley.  The  Commons  perhaps 
thought  that  although  the  peers  might  prefer  the  Queen 
of  Scots,  they  would  acquiesce  in  the  wife  of  Lord  Hert- 
ford sooner  than  endure  any  more  uncertainty  ;  the 
Peers  may  have  hoped  the  same  in  favour  of  their  own 
candidate  :  they  may  have  felt  assured  that  when  the 
question  came  once  to  be  discussed,  the  superior  right  of 
the  Queen  of  Scots,  the  known  opinions  of  the  lawyers 
in  her  favour,  the  scarcely  concealed  preference  of  the 
great  body  of  English  gentlemen,  with  the  political  ad- 
vantages which  would  follow  on  the  union  of  the  crowns, 
must  inevitably  turn  the  scale  for  Mary  Stuart,  whatever 
the  Commons  might  will.  Both  Houses  at  all  events 
were  determined  to  bear  Elizabeth's  vacillation  no  longer, 
to  believe  no  more  in  promises  which  were  made  only  to 
be  broken,  and  either  to  decide  once  for  all  the  future 
fortunes  of  England,  or  lay  such  a  pressure  on  the  Queen 
that  she  should  be  forbidden  to  trifle  any  more  with  her 
subjects'  anxiety  for  her  marriage. 

On  the  17th  of  October  Cecil  brought  forward  in  the 
Lower  House  a  statement  of  the  expenses  of  the  French 
and  Irish  wars.  On  the  1 8th  Mr  Molyneux,  a  barrister, 


1566.]  TUE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  449 

proposed  at  once,  amidst  universal  approbation,  'to  revive 
the  suit  for  the  succession/  and  to  consider  the  demands 
of  the  exchequer  only  in  connection  with  the  determina- 
tion of  an  heir  to  the  throne.1 

Elizabeth's  first  desire  was  to  stifle  the  discussion  at 
its  commencement.  Sir  Ralph  Sadler  rose  when  Moly- 
neux  sat  down,  and  '  after  divers  propositions '  '  declared 
that  he  had  heard  the  Queen  say  in  the  presence  of  the 
nobility  that  her  Highness  minded  to  marry.*  Sadler 
possessed  the  confidence  of  the  Protestants,  and  from  him, 
if  from  any  one,  they  would  have  accepted  a  declara- 
tion with  which  so  steady  an  opponent  of  the  Queen  of 
Scots  was  satisfied ;  but  the  disappointment  of  the  two 
previous  sessions  had  taught  them  the  meaning  of  words 
of  this  kind ;  a  report  of  something  said  elsewhere  to 
'  the  nobility '  would  not  meet  the  present  irritation  ; 
'  their  mind  was  to  continue  their  suit,  and  to  know  her 
Highness' s  answer.' 

Elizabeth  found  it  necessary  to  be  more  specific.  The 
next  day,  first  Cecil,  then  Sir  Francis  Knowles,  then  Sir 
Ambrose  Cave,  declared  formally  that  the  (  Queen  by 
God's  special  providence  was  moved  to  marry,  that  she 
minded  for  the  wealth  of  the  commons  to  prosecute  the 
same,  and  persuaded  to  see  the  sequel  of  that  before 
further  suit  touching  the  succession.'2  Cecil  and  Cave 
were  good  Protestants,  Knowles  was  an  advanced  Puritan, 


1  'October  18. — Motion  made  by 
Mr  Molyneux  for  the  reviving  of 
the  suit  for  the  succession,  and  to 


proceed  with  the  subsidy,  was  very 

VOL.  vii.  29 


well  allowed  by  the  House.' — Com- 
mons' Journals,  8  Elizabeth. 

2  Commons'  Journals,  8  Elizabeth. 


450 


KE1GN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[en.  45- 


yet  they  were  no  more  successful  than  Sadler  ;  '  the  law- 
yers '  still  insisted ;  the  House  went  with  them  in  de- 
clining to  endure  any  longer  a  future  which  depended  011 
the  possible  *  movements'  of  the  Queen's  mind;  and  a  vote 
was  carried  to  press  the  question  to  an  issue  and  to  invite 
the  Lords  to  a  conference.  The  Lords,  as  eager  as  the 
Commons,  instantly  acquiesced.  Public  business  was 
suspended,  and  committees  of  the  two  Houses  sat  daily 
for  a  fortnight,  preparing  an  address  to  the  Crown.1 


1  Cecil,  who  was  a  member  of  the 
Commons'  Committee,  has  left  a 
paper  of  notes  touching  the  main 
points  of  the  situation : — 

<  October,  1556. 

*  To  require  both  marriage  and 
the  stablishing  of  the  succession  is 
the  uttermost  that  can  be  desired. 

*  To   deny  both,  the  uttermost 
that  can  be  denied. 

'To  require  marriage  is  most 
natural,  most  easy,  most  plausible  to 
the  Queen's  Majesty. 

*  To  require  certainty  of  succes- 
sion is  most  plausible  to  all  people. 

'  To  require  the  succession  is 
hardest  to  be  obtained,  both  for  the 
difficulty  to  discuss  the  right  and 
the  loathsomeness  of  the  Queen's 
Majesty  to  consent  thereto. 

*  The  difficulty  to  discuss  it  is  by 
reason  of — 

1.  '  The  uncertainty  of  indiffer- 
ency  in  the  parties  that  shall  discuss 
it. 

2.  '  The  uncertainty  of  the  right 
pretended. 

'The  loathsomeness  to  grant  it 
is  by  reason  of  natural  suspicion 


against  a  successor  that  nuth  right 
by  law  to  succeed. 

*  Corollarium. 

4  The  mean  betwixt  them  is  to 
determine  effectually  to  marry,  and 
if  it  succeed  not,  then  proceed  to  dis- 
cussion of  the  right  of  succession.' 
—Domestic  MSS.,  Elizabeth,  vol.  xl. 

Another  paper,  also  in  Cecil's 
hand,  contains  apparently  a  rough 
sketch  for  the  address  to  the 
Crown  : — 

'  That  the  marriage  may  proceed 
effectually. 

'  That  it  may  be  declared  how 
necessary  it  is  to  have  the  succession 
stablished  for  sundry  causes. 

'Surety  and  quietness  of  the 
Queen's  Majesty,  that  no  person  may 
attempt  anything  to  the  furtherance 
of  any  supposed  title  when  it  shall 
be  manifest  how  the  right  is  settled. 
Whereunto  may  also  be  added  sun- 
dry devices  to  stay  every  person  in 
his  duty,  so  as  her  Majesty  may 
reign  assuredly. 

'The  comfort  of  all  good  sub- 
jects that  may  remain  assured,  how 
and  whom  to  obey  lawfully,  and  how 


1566.] 


THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY. 


45 11 


In  spite  of  her  struggles  the  Queen  saw  the  net  closing 
round  her.  Fair  speeches  were  to  serve  her  turn  no 
longer,  and  either  she  would  have  to  endure  some  husband 
whom  she  detested  the  very  thought  of,  or  submit  to  a 
settlement  the  result  of  which  it  was  easy  to  foresee. 
Into  her  feelings,  or  into  such  aspect  of  them  as  she 
chose  to  exhibit,  we  once  more  gain  curious  insight 
through  a  letter  of  de  Silva.  So  distinctly  was  Eliza- 
beth's marriage  the  object  of  the  present  move  of  the 
House  of  Commons  that  the  Queen  of  Scots,  in  dread  of 
it,  was  contented  to  withdraw  the  pressure  for  a  deter- 
mination in  her  own  favour,  and  consented  to  bide 
her  time* 


GUZMAN    DE    SILVA    TO    PHILIP    II.1 

October  26. 

'  The  Parliament  is  in  full  debate  on  the  succession. 
The  Queen  is  furious  about  it ;  she  is  advised  that  if  the 
question  come  to  a  vote  in  the  Lower  House  the  greatest 
number  of  voices  will  be  for  the  Lady  Catherine.  This 


to  avoid  all  errors  in  disobedience, 
whereby  civil  wars  may  be  avoided. 

'And  because  presently  it  seem- 
eth  very  uncomfortable  to  the  Queen's 
Majesty  to  hear  of  this  at  this  time, 
and  that  it  is  hoped  that  God  will 
direct  her  heart  to  think  more  com- 
fortably hereof,  it  may  be  required 
that  her  marriage  may  proceed  with 
all  convenient  speed;  and  that  if 
her  Majesty  cannot  condescend  to 
enter  into  the  disquisition  and  stab- 
lishing  of  the  succession  in  this  Ses- 


sion, that  yet  for  the  satisfaction  of 
her  people  she  will  prorogue  this 
Parliament  until  another  short  time, 
within  which  it  may  be  seen  what 
God  will  dispose  of  her  marriage, 
and  then  to  begin  her  Parliament 
again,  and  to  proceed  in  such  sort 
as  shall  seem  meetest  then  for  the 
matter  of  succession,  which  may  with 
more  satisfaction  be  done  to  her  Ma- 
jesty if  she  shall  then  be  married.'  — 
Domestic  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
1  MS.  Simancas. 


452  -KEIGN  OF  ELIZABE TIL  [CH.  45. 

lady  and  her  husband  Lord  Hertford  are  Protestants  ; 
c*nd  a  large  number,  probably  an  actual  majority  of  the 
Commons,  being  heretics  also,  will  declare  for  her  in 
self-defence. 

'  I  have  never  ceased  to  urge  upon  the  Queen  the  in- 
convenience and  danger  to  which  she  will  be  exposed  if 
a  successor  is  declared,  and  on  the  other  hand  her  perfect 
security  as  soon  as  she  has  children  of  her  own.  She 
understands  all  this  fully,  and  she  told  me  three  days 
ago  that  she  would  never  consent.  The  Parliament,  she 
said,  had  offered  her  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
pounds  as  the  price  of  her  acquiescence ;  but  she  had 
refused  to  accept  anything  on  conditions.  She  had  re- 
quested a  subsidy  for  the  public  service  in  Ireland  and 
elsewhere,  and  it  should  be  given  freely  and  graciously 
or  not  at  all.  She  says  she  will  not  yield  one  jot  to 
them  let  them  do  what  they  will ;  she  means  to  dis- 
semble with  them  and  hear  what  they  have  to  say,  so 
that  she  may  know  their  views,  and  the  lady  which  each 
declares  for1 — meaning  the  Queen  of  Scots  and  Lady 
Catherine.  I  told  her  that  if  she  would  but  marry,  all 
this  worry  would  be  at  an  end.  She  assured  me  she 
would  send  this  very  week  to  the  Emperor  and  settle 
everything ;  and  yet  I  learn  from  Sir  Thomas  Heneage, 
who  is  the  person  hitherto  most  concerned  in  the  Arch- 
duke affair,  that  she  has  grown  much  cooler  about  it. 

'  The  members  of  the  Lower  House  are  almost  all 
Protestants,  and  seeing  the  Queen  in  such  a  rage  at 


'  For  conocer  las  voluntaries  y  saber  la  dama  de  cada  uno.' 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  4^3 

them,  I  took  occasion  to  point  out  to  her  the  true 
character  of  this  new  religion,  which  will  endure  no  rule 
and  will  have  everything  at  its  own  pleasure  without 
regard  to  the  sovereign  authority;  it  was  time  for  her 
to  see  to  these  things,  and  I  bade  her  observe  the 
contrast  between  these  turbulent  heretics  and  the  quiet 
and  obedience  of  her  Catholic  subjects.  She  said  she 
could  not  tell  what  those  devils  were  after.1  They 
want  liberty,  madam,  I  replied,  and  if  princes  do  not 
look  to  themselves  and  work  in  concert  to  put  them  down, 
they  will  find  before  long  what  all  this  is  coming  to.2 

1  She  could  not  but  agree  with  me :  she  attempted 
a  defence  of  her  own  subjects,  as  if  there  was  some 
justice  in  their  complaints  of  the  uncertainty  of  the  suc- 
cession; but  she  knows  at  heart  what  it  really  means, 
and  by  and  by  when  she  finds  them  obstinate  she  will 
understand  it  better.  I  told  her  before  that  I  knew  they 
would  press  her,  and  she  would  not  believe  me. 

'  Melville,  the  agent  of  the  Queen  of  Scots,  was  with 
me  yesterday.  That  Queen's  disagreement  with  her 
husband  is  doing  her  much  mischief  here  ;  yet  she  has  so 
much  credit  with  the  good  all  over  the-  realm  that  the 


1  '  Respondiome  que  no  sabia  que 
querian  estos  demonios.' 

2  Elizabeth  had  before  affected  to 
be  alarmed  at  the  revolutionary  ten- 
dencies of  Protestantism.     On  the 
1 5th  of  the  preceding  July,  de  Silva 
wrote  — 

4  The  Queen  must  be  growing 
anxious.     She  often  says  to  me  that 


jects  now-a-days  to  anarchy  and  re- 
volution. I  invariably  reply  that 
this  is  the  beginning,  middle,  and 
end  of  the  inventors  of  new  religions. 
They  have  an  eye  only  to  their  own 
interests ;  they  care  neither  for  God 
nor  law,  as  they  show  by  their  works; 
and  princes  ought  to  take  order 
among  themselves  and  unite  to  chas- 


she  wonders  at  the  tendency  of  sub-  j  tise  their  excesses.'— MS.  Simancas* 


454  REIGX  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

blame  is  chiefly  laid  on  the  Lord  Darnley.  I  have  told 
Melville  to  urge  upon  them  the  necessity  of  reconcilia- 
tion ;  and  I  have  written  to  the  Commendador  Mayor  of 
Castile  at  Rome  to  speak  to  the  Pope  about  it,  and  to 
desire  his  Holiness  to  send  them  his  advice  to  the  same 
effect.  Melville  tells  me  the  lords  there  are  working 
together  wonderfully  well.  He  has  given  this  Queen  to 
understand  that  since  she  is  reluctant  to  have  the  suc- 
cession discussed,  his  mistress  is  so  anxious  to  please  her 
that  she  will  not  press  for  it ;  she  will  only  ask  that  if 
the  question  is  forced  forward  after  all,  she  may  have 
notice  in  time  that  she  may  send  some  one  to  plead  in 
her  behalf. 

*  This  Queen  is  full  of  gratitude  for  her  forbearance ; 
she  has  told  her  that  her  present  resolution  is  to  keep 
the  matter  quiet ;  should  her  endeavours  be  unsuccessful 
however,  the  Queen  of  Scots  shall  have  all  the  informa- 
tion and  all  the  help  which  she  herself  can  give. 

'  Melville  learns  from  a  private  source  that  this  Queen 
will  fail  in  her  object.  The  question  will  be  forced  in 
the  Queen  of  Scots'  interest,  and  with  the  best  inten- 
tions. Her  friends  are  very  numerous ;  we  shall  soon 
see  how  things  go.' 

Melville's  information  was  right.  Having  failed  in 
full  Parliament,  Elizabeth  tried  next  to  work  on  the  com- 
mittee. The  Marquis  of  "Winchester  was  put  forward  to 
prevent  the  intended  address.  He  brought  to  bear  the 
weight  of  an  experience  which  was  older  than  the  field 
of  Bosworth  ;  but  he  was  listened  to  with  impatience ; 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  455 

not  a  single  voice  either  from  Peers  or  Commons  was 
found  to  second  him.  Unable  to  do  anything  through 
others,  the  Queen  sent  for  the  principal  noblemen  con- 
cerned to  remonstrate  with  them  herself  in  private. 

The  Duke  of  Norfolk  was  the  first  called,  and  rumour 
said,  though  she  herself  afterwards  denied  the  words, 
that  she  called  him  traitor  and  conspirator.  Leicester, 
Pembroke,  Northampton,  and  Lord  William  Howard 
came  next.  Norfolk  had  complained  of  his  treatment  to 
Pembroke :  Pembroke  told  her  that  the  Duke  was  a 
good  friend  both  to  the  realm  and  to  herself;  if  she  would 
not  listen  to  advice  and  do  what  the  service  of  the  com- 
monwealth required,  they  must  do  it  themselves. 

She  was  too  angry  to  argue ;  she  told  Pembroke  he 
spoke  like  a  foolish  soldier,  and  knew  not  what  he  was 
saying.  Then  seeing  Leicester  at  his  side,  '  You,  my 
lord/  she  said,  'you!  If  all  the  world  forsook  me  I 
thought  that  you  would  be  true ! ' 

1  Madam/  Leicester  said,  '  I  am  ready  to  die  at  your 
feet ! ' 

'  What  has  that  to  do  with  it  ? '  she  answered. 

'  And  you,  my  Lord  Northampton/  she  went  on — 
turning  from  one  to  the  other ;  '  you  who  when  you  had 
a  wife  of  your  own  already  could  quote  Scripture  texts 
to  help  you  to  another ; 1  you  forsooth  must  meddle  with 
marriages  for  me  !  You  might  employ  yourself  better  I 
think.' 

She  could  make  nothing  of  them  nor  they  of  her. 

1  Northampton's  divorce  and  second  marriage  had  been  one  of  the  great 
scandals  of  the  days  of  Edward. 


456  REIGN  OF  ELIZABEHT.  [CH.  4s 

Botli  Queen  and  lords  carried  their  complaints  to  de 
Silva ;  the  lords  urging  him  to  use  his  influence  to  force 
her  into  taking  the  Archduke;  Elizabeth  complaining  of 
their  insolence  and  especially  of  the  ingratitude  of 
Leicester.  Her  very  honour,  she  said,  had  suffered  for 
the  favour  which  she  had  shown  to  Leicester ;  and  now 
she  would  send  him  to  his  house  in  the  country,  and  the 
Archduke  should  have  nothing  to  be  jealous  of.1 

The  committee-  went  on  with  the  work. 
'  On  the  2nd  of  November  the  form  of  the  ad- 
dress was  still  undetermined ;  they  were  undecided 
whether  to  insist  most  on  the  marriage,  or  on  the  nom- 
ination, or  on  both.  In  some  shape  or  other  however  a 
petition  of  a  serious  kind  would  unquestionably  be  pre- 
sented, and  Elizabeth  prepared  to  receive  it  with  as 
much  self-restraint  as  she  could  command.  Three  days 
later  she  understood  that  the  deliberations  were  con- 
cluded. To  have  the  interview  over  as  soon  as  possible 
Elizabeth  sent  for  the  committee  at  once ;  and  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  5th  of  November,  '  by  her  Highnesses 
special  commandment/  twenty-five  lay  Peers,  the 
Bishops  of  Durham  and  London,  and  thirty  members 
of  the  Lower  House  presented  themselves  at  the  palace 
at  Westminster. 

The  address  was  read  by  Bacon. 

After  grateful  acknowledgments  of  the  general  go 
vernment  of  the  Queen  the  two  Houses  desired,  first,  to 
express  their  wish  that  her  Highness  would  be  pleased 


1  De  Silva  to  Philip,  November  4  :  MS.  Simancas. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  457 

to  marry  '  where  it  should  please  her,  with  whom  it  should 
please  her,  and  as  soon  as  it  should  please  her/ 

Further,  as  it  was  possible  that  her  Highness  might 
die  without  children,  her  faithful  subjects  were  anxious 
to  know  more  particularly  the  future  prospects  of  the 
realm.  Much  as  they  wished  to  see  her  married,  the 
settlement  of  the  succession  was  even  more  important, 
'  carrying  with  it  such  necessity  that  without  it  they 
could  not  see  how  the  safety  of  her  royal  person  or  the 
preservation  of  her  Imperial  crown  and  realm  could  be  or 
should  be  sufficiently  and  certainly  provided  for/  '  Her 
late  illness  (the  Queen  had  been  unwell  again),  the 
amazedness  that  most  men  of  understanding  were  by 
fruit  of  that  sickness  brought  unto/  and  the  opportunity 
of  making  a  definite  arrangement  while  Parliament  was 
sitting,  were  the  motives  which  induced  them  to  be  more 
urgent  than  they  would  otherwise  hav,e  cared  to  be. 
History  and  precedent  alike  recommended  a  speedy  de- 
cision. They  hoped  that  she  might  live  to  have  a  child 
of  her  own  ;  but  she  was  mortal,  and  should  she  die  be- 
fore her  subjects  knew  to  whom  their  allegiance  was 
due,  a  civil  war  stared  them  in  the  face.  The  decease  ot 
a  prince  leaving  the  realm  without  a  government  was 
the  most  frightful  disaster  which  could  befall  the  com- 
monwealth ;  with  the  vacancy  of  the  throne  all  writs 
were  suspended,  all  commissions  were  void,  law  itself  was 
dead.  Her  Majesty  was  not  ignorant  of  these  things. 
If  she  refused  to  provide  a  remedy '  it  would  be  a  danger- 
ous burden  before  God  upon  her  Majesty ! '  They  had 
therefore  felt  it  to  be  their  duty  to  present  this  address ; 


458  REIGN  Ofi 'ELIZABETH.  LCH.  45. 

and  on  their  knees  they  implored  her  to  consider  it  and 
to  give  them  an  answer  before  the  session  closed.1 

Elizabeth  had  prepared  her  answer ;  as  soon  as  Bacon 
ceased,  she  drew  herself  up  and  spoke  as  follows : — 

*  If  the  order  of  your  cause  had  matched  the  weight 
of  your  matter,  the  one  might  well  have  craved  reward, 
and  the  other  much  the  sooner  be  satisfied.  But  when 
I  call  to  mind  how  far  from  dutiful  care,  yea  rather  how 
nigh  a  traitorous  trick,  this  tumbling  cast  did  spring,  I 
muse  how  men  of  wit  can  so  hardly  use  that  gift  they 
hold.  I  marvel  not  much  that  bridleless  colts  do  not 
know  their  rider's  hand,  whom  bit  of  kingly  rein  did 
never  snaffle  yet.  Whether  it  was  fit  that  so  great  a 
cause  as  this  should  have  had  this  beginning  in  such  a 
public  place  as  that,  let  it  be  well  weighed.  Must  all 
evil  bodings  that  might  be  recited  be  found  little  enough 
to  hap  to  my  share  ?  Was  it  well  meant,  think  you, 
that  those  that  knew  not  how  fit  this  matter  was  to  be 
granted  by  the  Prince,  would  prejudicate  their  Prince  in 
aggravating  the  matter  ?  so  all  their  arguments  tended 
to  my  careless  care  of  this  my  dear  realm/ 

So  far  she  spoke  from  a  form  which  remains  in  her 
own  handwriting.2  She  continued  perhaps  in  the  same 
style  ;  but  her  words  remain  only  in  the  Spanish  of  de 
Silva. 

1  She  was  not  surprised  at  the  Commons/  she  said ; 
*  they  had  small  experience  and  had  acted  like  boys ; 


1  D'EwES*  Journals,  8  Elizabeth.     MSS.,   Elizabeth,   vol.  xli.      Roll* 
*  Answer  to  the  Parliament  by    House 


by 
the  Queen ;    Autograph  :    Domestic 


I566.] 


THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY. 


459 


but  that  the  Lords  should  haA^e  gone  along  with  them  she 
confessed  had  filled  her  with  wonder.  There  were  some 
among  them  who  had  placed  their  swords  at  her  disposal 
when  her  sister  was  on  the  throne,  and  had  invited  her 
to  seize  the  crown ; l  she  knew  but  too  well  that  if  she 
allowed  a  successor  to  be  named,  there  would  be  found 
men  who  would  approach  him  or  her  with  the  same  en- 
couragement to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  realm.  If  she 
pleased  she  could  name  the  persons  to  whom  she  alluded. 
When  time  and  circumstances  would  allow  she  would 
see  to  the  matter  of  their  petition  before  they  asked  her ; 
she  would  be  sorry  to  be  forced  into  doing  anything 
which  in  reason  and  justice  she  was  bound  to  do  ;  and 
she  concluded  with  a  request  that  her  words  should  not 
oe  misinterpreted/ 

So  long  as  she  was  speaking  to  the  lay  Peers  she 
controlled  her  temper ;  but  her  passion  required  a  safety- 
valve,  and  she  rarely  lost  an  opportunity  of  affronting 
and  insulting  her  bishops. 

Turning  sharp  round  where  Grindal  and  Pilkington 
were  standing — 

'  And  you  doctors/  she  said — it  was  her  pleasure  to 
ignore  their  right  to  a  higher  title  ;2  '  you,  I  understand, 


1  '  Entre  los  cuales  habia  habido 
algunos  que  reynando  su  hermana  le 
ofrecian  a  ella  ayuda  y  la  querian 
mover  a  que  quisicse  procurar  en  su 
vida  la  corona.' — De  Silva  al  Rey, 
II  November,  1566:  MS.  Siman- 
cas..  It  is  tolerably  certain  that  the 
Queen  used  these  words.  De  Silva 


heard  them  first  from  the  Queen  her- 
self, and  afterwards  from  the  Lords 
who  were  present. 

2  'Volviendose  a  los  obispos 
que  se  hallaron  presentes  a  la  pla- 
tica,  dij6,  Vosotros  doctores,  no  le* 
llamando  obispos,  que  haceis  muchas 
oraciones/  &c. 


4ta  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  45. 

make  long  prayers  about  this  business.  One  of  you 
dared  to  say,  in  times  past,  that  I  and  my  sister  were 
bastards ;  and  you  must  needs  be  interfering  in  what 
does  not  concern  you.  Go  home  and  amend  your  own 
lives,  and  set  an  honest  example  in  your  families.  The 
Lords  in  Parliament  should  have  taught  you  to  know 
your  places ;  but  if  they  have  forgotten  their  duty  I 
will  not  forget  mine.  Bid  I  so  choose  I  might  make  the 
impertinence  of  the  whole  set  of  you  an  excuse  to  with- 
draw my  promise  to  marry ;  but  for  the  realm's  sake,  T 
am  resolved  that  I  will  marry  ;  and  I  will  take  a  husband 
that  will  not  be  to  the  taste  of  some  of  you.  I  have  not 
married  hitherto  out  of  consideration  for  you,  but  it 
shall  be  done  now,  and  you  who  have  been  so  urgent 
with  me  will  find  the  effects  of  it  to  your  cost.  Think 
you  the  prince  who  will  be  my  consort  will  feel  himself 
safe  with  such  as  you,  who  thus  dare  to  thwart  and  cross 
your  natural  Queen  ? ' 

She  turned  on  her  heel  and  sailed  out  of  the  hall  of 
audience,  vouchsafing  no  other  word.  At  once  she  sent  for 
de  Silva,  and  after  profuse  thanks  to  himself  and  Philip 
for  their  long  and  steady  kindness,  swelling  with  anger 
as  she  was,  she  gave  him  to  understand  that  her  course 
was  chosen  at  last  and  for  ever ;  she  would  accept  the 
Archduke  and  would  be  all  which  Spain  could  desire. 

Many  of  the  peers  came  to  her  in  the  evening  to 
make  their  excuses :  they  said  that  they  had  been  mis- 
led by  the  council,  who  had  been  the  most  in  favour  of 
the  address ;  and  they  had  believed  themselves  to  be 
acting  as  she  had  herself  desired.  The  Upper  House 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  461 

she  might  have  succeeded  in  controlling ;  but  the 
Commons  were  in  a  more  dangerous  humour.  They 
were  prepared  for  a  storm  when  they  commenced  the 
debate  ;  and  they  were  not  disposed  to  be  lectured  into 
submission.  The  next  day  Cecil  rose  in  his  place  :  the 
Queen,  he  said,  had  desired  him  to  tell  them  that  she 
was  displeased,  first,  that  the  succession  question  should 
have  been  raised  in  that  House  without  her  consent 
having  been  first  asked ;  and  secondly,  because  '  by 
the  publication  abroad  of  the  necessity  of  the  matter/ 
and  the  danger  to  the  realm  if  it  was  left  longer  un- 
decided, the  responsibility  of  the  refusal  was  thrown 
entirely  upon  her  Majesty.  The  '  error/  she  was  ready 
to  believe,  had  risen  chiefly  from  want  of  thought,  and 
she  was  ready  to  overlook  it.  For  the  matter  itself  her 
Highness  thought  that  by  her  promises  to  marry  she 
had  rather  deserved  thanks  than  to  be  troubled  with 
any  new  petition.  '  The  word  of  a  prince  spoken  in  a 
public  place'  should  have  been  taken  as  seriously 
meant;  and  if  her  Majesty  had  before  told  them  that 
she  was  unwilling,  they  should  have  been  more  ready 
to  believe  her  when  she  said  that  she  had  made  up  her 
mind.  Time  and  opportunity  would  prove  her  Majesty's 
sincerity,  and  it  was  unkind  to  suppose  that  she  would 
fail  in  producing  children.  Loyal  subjects  should 
hope  the  best.  Her  Majesty  had  confidence  in  God's 
goodness  ;  and  except  for  the  assurance  that  she  would 
have  an  heir,  she  would  not  marry  at  all.  On  this 
point  she  required  the  Houses  to  accept  her  word.  For 
the  succession  she  was  not  surprised  at  their  uneasiness ; 


462  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.45. 

she  was  as  conscious  as  they  could  be  of  the  desirable- 
ness of  a  settlement.  At  the  present  moment  how- 
ever, and  in  the  existing  state  of  parties  in  the  realm, 
the  thing  was  impossible,  and  she  would  hear  no  more 
of  it.1 

The  Queen  expected  that  after  so  positive  a  declar- 
ation she  would  escape  further  annoyance;  but  times 
were  changing,  and  the  relations  with  them  between 
sovereigns  and  subjects.  The  House  listened  in  silence, 
not  caring  to  conceal  its  dissatisfaction.  The  Friday 
following,  being  the  8th  of  November,  l  Mr  Lambert 
began  a  learned  oration  for  iteration  of  the  suit  to  the 
Queen  on  the  succession.' 2 

Whether  they  were  terrified  by  the  spectre  of  a 
second  York  and  Lancaster  war,  or  whether  they  were 
bent  on  making  an  effort  for  Lady  Hertford  before  they 
were  dissolved  and  another  House  was  elected  in  the 
Scottish  interest,  or  whether  they  disbelieved  Elizabeth's 
promises  to  marry,  notwithstanding  the  vehemence  of 
her  asseverations,  the  Commons  seemed  resolute  at  all 
hazards  to  persevere.  Other  speeches  followed  on  the 
same  side,  expressing  all  of  them  the  same  fixed  deter- 
mination ;  and  matters  were  now  growing  serious.  The 
Spanish  ambassador  never  lost  a  chance  of  irritating 
the  Queen  against  the  Protestant  party ;  and  on  Satur- 
day, stimulated  by  de  Silva's  invectives,  and  convinced, 
perhaps  with  justice,  that  she  was  herself  essentially 
right,  Elizabeth  sent  down  an  order  that  the  subject 

1  Report  made  to  the  Commons'  I  MSS.  Rolls  Home. 
House  by  Mr  Secretary :  Domestic  I        2  Cbmwons'  Journal*. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  463 

should  be  approached  no  further  on  pain  of  her  dis- 
pleasure. The  same  night  a  note  was  flung  into  the 
presence-chamber  saying  that  the  debate  on  the  suc- 
cession had  been  undertaken  because  the  commonwealth 
required  it,  and  that  if  the  Queen  interfered  it  might 
be  the  worse  for  her.1 

In  the  most  critical  period  of  the  reign  of  Henry 
the  Eighth,  speech  in  Parliament  had  been  ostenta- 
tiously free  ;  the  Act  of  Appeals  had  been  under  dis- 
cussion for  two  years  and  more,  Catholic  and  Protestant 
had  spoken  their  minds  without  restraint ;  yet  among 
the  many  strained  applications  of  the  treason  law  no 
peer  or  commoner  had  been  called  to  answer  for  words 
spoken  by  him  in  his  place  in  the  legislature.  The 
Queen's  injunction  of  silence  had  poured  oil  into  the 
fire,  and  raised  a.  fresh  and  more  dangerous  question  of 
privilege.  As  soon  as  the  House  met  again  on  Monday 
morning  Mr  Paul  Wentworth  rose  to  know  whether 
such  an  order  '  was  not  against  the  liberties  '  of  Par- 
liament.2 He  and  other  members  inquired  whether  a 
message  sent  by  a  public  officer  was  authority  sufficient 
to  bind  the  House,  or  if  neither  the  message  itself  nor 
the  manner  in  which  it  was  delivered  was  a  breach  of 
privilege,  *  what  offence  it  was  for  any  of  the  House  to 
declare  his  opinion  to  be  otherwise/  3  The  debate  lasted 


1  '  A  noche  echaron  en  la  camera 
de  presencia  un  escrito  que  contenia 
en  sustancia  que  se  habia  tratado  en 
el  Parlamento  de  la  sucesion  porque 
convenia  al  bien  del  Reyno,  y  que  si 
la  Reyna  no  consentia  que  se  tratase 
dello  que  veria  alguuas  cosas  que  no 


le  placerian.' — De  Silva  to  Philip, 
November  1 1 :  MS.  Simancas. 

2  Commons'  Journals,  8  Elizabeth. 

8  Note  of  Proceedings  in  Parlia. 
ment,  November  1 1 :  Domestic  MSS , 
Elizabeth,  vol.  xli. 


464 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH. 


five  hours,  and  (a  rare  if  not  unprecedented  occurrence) 
was  adjourned. 

Elizabeth,  more  angry  than  ever,  sent  for  the  Speaker ; 
she  insisted '  that  there  should  be  no  further  argument ; ' 
if  any  member  of  either  House  was  dissatisfied  he 
must  give  his  opinion  before  the  council. 

The  Commons  having  gone  so  far  had  no  intention 
of  yielding ;  and  de  Silva  watched  the  crisis  with  a 
malicious  hope  of  a  collision  between  the  two  Houses 
and  of  both  with  the  Queen.  The  Lower  House,  he  said, 
was  determined  to  name  a  successor,  and  was  all  but 
unanimous  for  Lady  Catherine ;  the  Peers  were  as  decided 
for  the  Queen  of  Scots.1  A  dissolution  would  leave  the 
Treasury  without  a  subsidy,  and  could  not  be  thought 
of  cave  at  the  last  extremity.  On%  the  return  of  the 
Speaker  the  Commons  named  a  committee  to  draw  up 
an  answer,  which,  though  in  form  studiously  courteous, 
was  in  substance  as  deliberately  firm.2  The  finishing 
touch  was  given  to  it  by  Cecil,  and  the  sentences  added 
in  his  hand  were  those  which  insisted  most  on  the 
liberty  of  Parliament,  and  most  justified  the  attitude 
which  the  Commons  had  assumed. 

After  thanking  the  Queen  for  her  promise  to  marry, 
and  assuring  her  that  whatever  she  might  think  to  the 


1  'Ellos  pretenden  libertad  de 
proceder  a  lo  del  nombramiento  de 
la  sucesion  en  la  qual  en  la  camara 
superior  tendra  mucha  parte  la  de 
Escocia ;  se  tiene  por  cicrto  y  assi  lo 
creo  que  Caterina  tendra  casi  todos 
los  de  la  Camara  baja,  y  assi  parece 


que  inclina  todo  a  emocion.' — De 
Silva  to  Philip,  November  13:  MS. 
Simancas. 

2  Draft  of  an  Address  to  the 
Queen,  submitted  to  the  Committee 
of  the  Commons'  House :  Domestic 
MSS.t  Elizabeth,  vol.  xli. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  465 

contrary  they  meant  nothing  but  what  became  them  as 
loyal  subjects,  they  said  that  they  submitted  reluctantly 
to  her  resolution  to  postpone  the  settlement  of  the  suc- 
cession, being  most  sorry  that  any  manner  of  impediment 
had  appeared  to  her  Majesty  so  great  as  to  stay  her  from 
proceeding  in  the  same.'1  They  had  however  received  a 
message  implying  '  that  they  had  deserved  to  be  de- 
prived, or  at  least  sequestrated,  much  to  their  discomfort 
and  infamy,2  from  their  ancient  and  laudable  custom, 
always  from  the  beginning  necessarily  annexed  to  their 
assembly,  and  by  her  Majesty  always 3  confirmed — that 
is,  a  lawful  sufferance  and  dutiful  liberty  to  treat  and 
devise  matters  honourable  to  her  Majesty  and  profitable 
to  the  realm.'  Before  this  message  reached  them  '  they 
had  made  no  determination  to  deal  in  any  way  to  her 
discontentation  ;  they  therefore  besought  her  of  her 
motherly  love  that  they  might  continue  in  their  course 
of  duty,  honouring  and  serving  her  like  children,  with- 
out any  unnecessary,  unaccustomed*  or  undeserved  yoke 
of  commandment ;  so5  should  her  Majesty  continue  the 
singular  favour  of  her  honour,  wherein  she  did  excel  all 
monarchs,  for  ruling  her  subjects  without  misliking ; 
and  they  also  would  enjoy  the  like  praise  above  all  other 
people  for  obeying  without  constraint — than  the  which 


1  The  words  in  Italics  were  added 
by  Cecil. 

2  Added  in  Cecil's  hand. 

3  The    word    first   written   was 
graciously.'  Cecil  scratched  through 
graciously,'  as  if  it  implied  that  the 


liberties  of  the  House  of  Commons 
depended  on  the  pleasure  of  the  So- 
vereign, and  substituted  '  always.' 

4  Cecil's  hand. 

5  The     conclusion    is     entirely 
Cecil's. 


VOL.   VII.  30 


466  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

no  prince   could  desire   more  earthly  honour,  nor  no 
people  more  earthly  praise/ 

No  one  knew  better  than  Elizabeth  how  to  withdraw 
from  an  indefensible  position,  and  words  so  full  of  firm- 
ness and  dignity  might  perhaps  have  produced  an  effect; 
but  before  the  address  could  be  presented  a  fresh  apple 
of  discord  was  thrown  into  the  arena. 

A  book  had  appeared  in  Paris,  written  by  a  refugee 
Scot  named  Patrick  Adamson.  The  subject  of  it  was 
the  birth  of  James ;  and  the  Queen  of  Scots'  child  was 
described  as  the  heir  of  the  English  throne.  Copies 
had  been  scattered  about  London,  and  Elizabeth  had 
already  directed  Mary  Stuart's  attention  to  the  thing 
'  as  a  matter  strange  and  not  to  be  justified.'1 

On  the  2  ist  of  November,  on  occasion  of  a  measure 
laid  before  the  House  against  the  introduction  of  sedi- 
tious books,  from  abroad,  a  Mr  Daltori  brought  forward 
this  production  of  Adamson  in  the  fiercest  Protestant 
spirit. 

How  say  you,'  he  exclaimed,  '  to  a  libel  set  forth  in 
print  calling  the  Infant  of  Scotland  Prince  of  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland  ?  Prince  of  England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland  !  What  enemy  to  the  peace  and  quietness 
of  the  realm  of  England — what  traitor  to  the  crown  of 
this  realm  hath  devised,  set  forth,  and  published  this 
dishonour  against  the  Queen's  most  excellent  Majesty 
and  the  crown  of  England  ?  Prince  of  England,  and 
Queen  Elizabeth  as  yet  having  no  child  ! — Prince  oi' 


Elizabeth  to  Bedford,  November  13:  Scotch  MSS.  Soils  House. 


i$66.]  Ttffi  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  467 

England,  and  the  Scottish  Queen's  child ! — Prince  of 
Scotland  and  England,  and  Scotland  before  England ! 
who  ever  heard  or  read  that  before  this  time  ?  What 
true  English  heart  may  sustain  to  hear  of  this  villany 
and  reproach  against  the  Queen's  Highness  and  this  hei 
realm  ?  It  is  so  that  it  hath  pleased  her  Highness  at 
this  time  to  bar  our  speech  ;  but  if  our  mouths  shall  be 
stopped,  and  in  the  mean  time  such  despite  shall  happen 
and  pass  without  revenge,  it  will  make  the  heart  of  a 
true  Englishman  break  within  his  breast/ 

With  the  indignity  of  the  matter  being,'  as  he 
afterwards  said,  '  set  on  fire/  Dalton  went  on  to  touch 
on  dangerous  matters,  and  entered  on  the  forbidden 
subject  of  the  Scottish  title.  The  Speaker  gently 
checked  him,  but  not  before  he  had  uttered  words  which 
called  out  the  whole  sympathy  of  the  Commons,  and 
gave  them  an  opportunity  of  showing  how  few  friends 
in  that  House  Mary  Stuart  as  yet  could  count  upon.1 

The  story  was  carried  to  the  Queen  :  she  chose  to 
believe  that  the  House  of  Commons  intended  to  defy 
her ;  she  ordered  Dalton  into  arrest  and  had  him  ex- 
amined before  the  Star  Chamber ;  she  construed  her  own 
orders  into  a  law,  and  seemed  determined  to  govern  the 
House  of  Commons  as  if  it  was  a  debating  society  of 
riotous  boys. 

The  Commons  behaved  with  great  forbearance: 
they  replied  to  the  seizure  of  the  offending  member  by 
requesting  '  to  have  leave  to  confer  upon  the  liberties 

1  Mr  Dalton's  Speech,  according  to  the  Report  :  Domestic  MSS.,  Eliza 
6etht  vol.  xli. 


468  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

of  the  House.  The  original  question  of  the  succession 
was  lost  in  the  larger  one  of  privilege,  and  the  address 
which  they  had  previously  drawn  seemed  no  longer 
distinct  enough  for  the  occasion.  The  council  im- 
plored Elizabeth  to  consider  what  she  was  doing.  As 
soon  as  her  anger  cooled  she  felt  herself  that  she  had 
gone  too  far,  and  not  caring  to  face  a  conference,  '  fore- 
seeing that  thereof  must  needs  have  ensued  more  in- 
convenience than  were  meet/  she  drew  back  with 
temper  not  too  ruffled  to  save  her  dignity  in  giving 
way.  Her  intention  had  been  to  extort  or  demand  the 
sanction  of  the  House  for  the  prosecution  of  Dalton. 
Discovering  in  time  that  if  they  refused  she  had  no 
means  of  compelling  them,  she  would  not  risk  an  open 
rupture.  The  prisoner  was  released  *  without  further 
question  or  trial/  and  on  the  25 th  she  sent  orders  to 
the  Speaker  '  to  relieve  the  House  of  the  burden  of  her 
commandment/  She  had  been  assured,  she  said,  that 
they  had  no  intention  of  molesting  her,  and  that  they 
had  been  '  much  perplexed '  by  the  receipt  of  her 
order  ;  '  she  did  not  mean  to  prejudice  any  part  of  the 
laudable  liberties  heretofore  granted  to  them ;  '  she 
would  therefore  content  herself  with  their  obedient  be- 
haviour, and  she  trusted  only  that  if  any  person  should 
begin  again  to  discuss  any  particular  title,  the  Speaker 
would  compel  him.  to  be  silent.1 

The   Commons  were  prudent  enough  to  make  the 


1  Note  of  the  words  of  the  Queen  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons  :  Domestic  M8S.,  Elizabeth,  vol.  xli.  Leicester  to  Cecil,  November 
27 :  MS.  Ibid. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  469 

Queen's  retreat  an  easy  one.  Having  succeeded  in  re- 
sisting a  dangerous  encroachment  of  the  crown  they 
did  not  press  their  victory.  The  message  sent  through 
the  Speaker  was  received  by  the  House  '  most  joyfully, 
with  most  hearty  prayers  and  thanks  for  the  same/  x 
and  with  the  consent  of  all  parties  the  question  of  Par- 
liamentary privilege  was  allowed  to  drop. 

Yet  while  ready  to  waive  their  right  of  discussing 
further  the  particular  pretensions  of  the  claimants  of 
the  crown,  the  Commons  would  not  let  the  Queen 
believe  that  they  acquiesced  in  being  left  in  uncertainty. 
Two  months  had  passed  since  the  beginning  of  the 
session,  and  the  subsidy  had  not  been  so  much  as 
discussed.  The  succession  quarrel  had  commenced 
with  the  first  motion  for  a  grant  of  money,  and  had 
lasted  with  scarcely  an  interval  ever  since. 

It  was  evident  that  although  Elizabeth's  objection  to 
name  a  successor  was  rested  on  general  grounds,  it  ap- 
plied as  strongly  to  Lady  Catherine  as  to  the  Queen  of 
Scots,1  and  had  arisen  professedly  from  the  Queen's  own 
experience  in  the  lifetime  of  her  sister ;  yet  the  Com- 
mons either  suspected  that  she  was  secretly  working  in 
the  Scottish  interest,  or  they  thought  at  all  events  that 
her  procrastination  served  only  to  strengthen  that 
interest,  and  that  Mary  Stuart's  friends  every  day  grew 
more  numerous. 

The  Money  Bill  was  reintroduced  on  the  27th.  The 
House  was  anxious  to  compensate  by  its  liberality  for 


1    Commons'  Journals,  8  Elizabeth. 


470  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

the  trouble  which  it  had  given  on  other  subjects,  and 
the  Queen  was  privately  informed  that  the  grant  we  uld 
be  made  unusually  large.  Elizabeth,  determined  not  to 
be  outdone,  replied  that  although  for  the  public  service 
she  might  require  all  which  they  were  ready  to  offer, 
'  she  counted  her  subjects,  in  respect  of  their  hearty  good 
will,  her  best  treasurers  ; '  and  '  she  therefore  would 
move  them  to  forbear  at  that  time  extending  their  gift 
as  they  proposed/  The  manner  as  well  as  the  matter 
of  the  message  was  pointedly  gracious,  yet  the  Com- 
mons would  have  preferred  her  taking  the  money  and 
listening  to  their  opinions ;  and  the  bribe  was  as  un- 
successful as  the  menace,  in  keeping  them  silent.  They 
voted  freely  the  sum  which  she  would  consent  to  take. 
It  amounted  in  a  rough  estimate  to  an  income  tax  of 
seven  per  cent,  for  two  years  ;  but  an  attempt  was 
made  to  attach  a  preamble  to  the  Bill  which  would 
commit  the  Queen  in  accepting  it  to  what  she  was 
straining  every  nerve  to  avoid.  Referring  to  the 
promise  which  she  had  made  to  the  Committee,  'the 
Commons  humbly  and  earnestly  besought  her  with  the 
assistance  of  God's  grace,  having  resolved  to  marry,  to 
accelerate  without  more  loss  of  time  all  her  honourable 
actions  tending  thereto  ;  }  while  '  submitting  themselves 
to  the  will  of  Almighty  God,  in  whose  hands  all  power 
and  counsel  did  consist,  they  would  at  the  same  time 
beseech  Him  to  give  her  Majesty  wisdom  well  to  fore- 
see, opportunity  speedily  to  consult,  and  power  with 
assent  of  the  realm  sufficiently  to  fulfil  without  un- 
necessary delay,  all  that  should  be  needful  to  her  sub- 


/S66.] 


THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY. 


471 


jects  and  their  posterity  in  the  stablishing  the  succes- 
sion of  the  crown,  first  in  her  own  person  and  progeny, 
and  next  in  such  persons  as  law  and  justice  should 
peaceably  direct — according  to  the  answer  of  Moses  : 
*  The  Lord  God  of  the  spirit  of  all  flesh  set  one  over, 
this  great  multitude  which  may  go  out  and  in  before 
them,  and  lead  them  out  and  in,  that  the  Lord's  people 
may  not  be  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd/  ' 1 

The   meaning:   of  language   such   as  this 

.  oo  ^  December. 

could  not  be  mistaken.  All  the  political  ad- 
vantages of  the  Scottish  succession  would  not  com- 
pensate to  'the  Lord's  people'  for  such  a  shepherd 
as  the  person  into  whose  hands  they  seemed  to  be 
visibly  drifting.  It  was  a  grave  misfortune  for  the 
Protestants  that  they  could  produce  no  better  can- 
didate than  Lady  Catherine  Grey,  who  had  professed 
herself  a  Catholic  when  Catholicism  seemed  likely  to 
serve  her  turn  ;  and  to  whom,  notwithstanding  her 
legal  claim  through  the  provisions  of  the  will  of  Henry 
the  Eighth,  there  were  so  many  and  so  serious  ob- 
jections. The  friends  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  had  set  in 
circulation  a  list  of  difficulties  in  the  way  of  her  ac- 
knowledgment, the  weight  of  which  fanaticism  itself 
could  not  refuse  to  admit.2 


1  Preamble  for  the  Subsidy  Bill : 
Domestic    MSS.,    vol.    xli.      Rolls 
House. 

2  '  Whatever  be  said,  it  is  no- 
torious that  when  Sir  Charles  Bran- 
don married  the  French  Queen  he 
had  a  wife  already  living. 


'  The  Lady  Katherine  is  therefore 
illegitimate. 

'Even  if  this  were  not  so,  yet 
such  hath  been  her  life  and  beha- 
viour, and  so  much  hath  she  stained 
herself  and  her  issue,  as  she  is  to  be 
thought  unworthy  of  the  crown. 


472 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  45. 


It  is   uncertain    whether   the    preamble   was    ever 
forced  on  Elizabeth's  attention.     The  draft  of  it  alone 


For  she  was  married,  as  you  know, 
to  the  Lord  Herbert ;  the  marriage 
was  performed  and  perfected  by  all 
necessary  circumstances  ;  there  was 
consent  of  parties,  consent  of  parents, 
open  solemnizing,  continuance  till 
lawful  years  of  consent,  and  in  the 
mean  time,  carnal  copulation ;  all 
which,  save  the  last,  are  commonly 
known,  and  the  last,  which  might  be 
most  doubtful,  is  known  by  confes- 
sion of  them  both.  She  herself 
hath  earnestly  acknowledged  the 
same. 

*  A  divorce  was  procured  by  the 
Earl  of  Pembroke  in  Queen  Mary's 
reign,  against  their  wills,  so  that  it 
cannot  be  legal. 

'  Afterwards,  she  by  dalliance  fell 
so  carnal  company  with  the  Earl  of 
Hertford,  which  was  not  descried  till 
the  bigness  of  her  belly  bewrayed  her 
ill  hap.  The  marriage  between  them 
was  declared  unlawful  by  the  Bishop 
who  examined  it. 

'The  mother  wicked  and  lasci- 
~ious ;  the  issue  bastarded. 

'  If  she  were  next  in  the  blood 
royal,  her  fault  is  so  much  the  more 
to  have  so  foully  spotted  the  same. 
She  can  have  no  lawful  children. 
Deut.  xiii.  23  : — It  is  written,  '  a 
bastard  and  unlawful -born  person 
may  not  bear  rule  in  the  church  and 
commonweal :  '  a  law  devised  to 
punish  the  parents  for  their  sins,  so 
that  such  a  mother  ought  in  no  case 
to  be  allowed  to  succeed. 


'  Next  as  to  King  Henry' swill  :— 

4  He  had  no  power  to  bequeath 
the  crown,  except  so  far  as  Parlia- 
ment gave  him  leave  ;  and  Parlia- 
ment could  only  give  him  leave  so 
far  as  the  power  of  Parliament  ex- 
tended. The  words  of  the  statute 
give  him  no  absolute  or  unlimited 
power  to  appoint  an  unfit  person  to 
the  crown,  not  capable  of  the  same 
— as  unto  a  Turk,  an  infidel,  an  in- 
famous or  opprobrious  person,  a  fool 
or  a  madman. 

1  But  again,  he  had  power  to 
order  the  succession,  either  by  Let- 
ters Patent,  or  by  his  will,  signed 
with  his  own  hand. 

'  He  has  not  done  it  by  Letters 
Patent ;  of  that  there  is  no  doubt. 

'  His  will,   there   are   witnesses 

[  sufficient,  and  some   of  them  that 

subscribed  the  same  testament  can 

truly  and  plainly  testify,  that  he  did 

not  subscribe. 

*  The  stamp  might  be  appended 
when  the  King  was  void  of  memory, 
or  else  when  he  was  deceased,  as 
indeed  it  happened,  as  more  mani- 
festly appeared  by  open  declaration 
made  in  Parliament  by  the  late  Lord 
Paget  and  others,  that  the  King  did 
not  sign  it  with  his  own  hand,  and 
as  it  is  plain  and  probable  enough 
by  the  pardon  obtained  for  one  Wil- 
liam Clerke  for  putting  the  stamp  tc 
the  said  will  after  the  King  was  de- 
parted. 

'  As  to  the  enrolment  in  Chancery, 


:566.] 


THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLE  Y. 


473 


remains  to  show  what  the  Commons  intended ;  and 
either  they  despaired  of  prevailing  on  the  Queen  to 
accept  the  grant  while  such  a  prelude  was  linked  to  it, 
and  were  unwilling  to  embarrass  the  public  service  ; 
or  they  preferred  another  expedient  to  which  they 
trusted  less  objection  might  be  raised :  the  preamble 
at  all  events  was  abandoned ;  they  substituted  for  it 
a  general  expression  of  gratitude  for  the  promise  to 
marry,  and  sent  the  Bill  to  the  Lords  on  the  iyth  of 
December. 

Meanwhile  on  the  5th  a  measure  was  introduced 
which,  if  less  effective  in  the  long  run  for  the  protection 
of  the  Reformation  than  the  declaration  of  a  Protestant 
successor,  would  have  ended  at  once  the  ambiguity  of 
the  religious  position  of  Elizabeth.  The  Thirty-nine 
Articles,  strained  and  cracked  by  three  centuries  of  eva- 
sive ingenuity,  scarcely  embarrass  now  the  feeblest  of 
consciences.  The  clergyman  of  the  nineteenth  century 
subscribes  them  with  such  a  smile  as  might  have  been 
worn  by  Samson  when  his  Philistine  mistress  bound  his 
arms  with  the  cords  and  withes.  In  the  first  years  of 
Elizabeth  they  were  the  symbols  by  which  the  orthodox 
Protestant  was  distinguished  from  the  concealed  Catholic. 
The  liturgy  with  purposed  ambiguity  could  be  used  by 


and  the  evidence  on  the  Rolls  that 
the  will  was  accepted  and  acted  on, 
this  is  nothing.  It  was  his  will 
whether  signed  or  not,  and  so  far  as 
legacies,  etc.,  were  concerned,  such 
as  he  had  power  to  make  by  the 
common  law,  so  far  it  might  be 
acted  on.  But  in  so  far  as  the  suc- 


cession was  concerned,  it  was  invalid, 
because  the  form  prescribed  by  the 
empowering  statute,  35  Hen.  VIII., 
had  not  been  observed.' — Answer  to 
Mr  Hales'  Book  of  the  Succession, 
December,  1566:  Domestic  MS., 
Elizabeth,  vol.  xli. 


474  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

those  who  were  Papists  save  in  the  name ;  the  Articles 
affirmed  the  falsehood  of  doctrines  declared  by  the 
Church  to  be  divine,  and  the  Catholic  who  signed  them 
either  passed  over  to  the  new  opinions  or  imperilled  his 
soul  with  perjury.  In  their  anxiety  for  conciliation,  and 
for  the  semblance  of  unanimity,  Elizabeth's  Government 
had  as  yet  held  these  formulas  at  arm's  length :  the 
Convocation  of  1562  had  reimposed  them  so  far  as  their 
powers  extended ;  but  the  decrees  of  Convocation  were 
but  shadows  until  vitalized  by  the  legislature ;  and  both 
Queen  and  Parliament  had  refused  to  give  the  authority 
of  law  to  a  code  of  doctrines  which  might  convulse  the 
kingdom. 

On  the  failure  of  the  suit  for  the  succession,  a  Bill  was 
brought  into  the  Lower  House  to  make  subscription  to 
the  Articles  a  condition  for  the  tenure  of  benefices  in  the 
Church  of  England.  The  move  was  so  sudden  and  the 
Commons  were  so  swift  that  there  was  no  time  for  re- 
sistance. It  was  hurried  through  its  three  readings 
and  given  to  the  bishops  to  carry  through  the  Lords.. 
A  letter  from  de  Silva  to  Philip  shows  the  import- 
ance which  both  Catholic  and  Protestant  attached 
to  it  :— 

DE    SILVA   TO    PHILIP    II. 

December,  1566. 

'  Religion  is  again  under  discussion  here ;  these 
heretic  bishops  are  urging  forward  their  malicious  pre- 
tences ;  they  say  that  it  is  desirable  for  the  realm  to 
profess  an  uniform  belief,  and  they  desire  to  have  their 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  475 

doctrine  enforced  by  temporal  penalties  as  soon  as  it  has 
been  sanctioned  by  Parliament. 

'  The  Catholics  are  in  great  alarm  and  entreat  the 
Queen  to  withhold  her  sanction.  I  spent  some  time  with 
her  yesterday,  and  to  bring  on  the  subject  I  said  that 
the  Subsidy  Bill  having  been  passed  it  would  be  well  if 
she  let  the  Parliament  end.  The  longer  it  lasted  the 
more  annoyance  it  would  cause  to  her ;  and  she  might 
assure  herself  that  these  popular  assemblies  could  not 
fail  to  produce  disquiet,  more  particularly  where  the 
Commons  had  liberty  of  speech  and  were  so  much  in- 
clined to  novelties. 

'  She  agreed  with  me  in  this.  She  said  the  Commons 
had  now  entered  upon  a  subject  which  was  wholly  alien 
to  their  duties ;  they  were  acting  in  contradiction  to 
their  late  professions,  and  she  would  endeavour  to  send 
them  about  their  business  before  Christmas. 

'  I  pointed  out  to  her  the  mischievous  intention  of  the 
men  who  had  brought  these  religious  questions  forward. 
They  had  no  care  for  her  or  for  the  commonwealth,  and 
they  simply  meant  sedition.  She  was  at  peace  so  far 
and  had  lived  and  reigned  in  safety  all  these  years  on 
the  principles  on  which  Cecil  had  carried  on  the  govern- 
ment. If  there  was  now  to  be  a  change,  the  insolence 
of  the  upholders  of  novelties  would  disturb  everything. 
Hitherto  the  Pope  and  the  Catholic  powers  had  ab- 
stained from  declaring  against  her,  in  the  belief  that 
her  subjects  were  equitably  and  wisely  governed,  and 
that  she  would  allow  no  one  to  be  injured  or  offended. 
Should  they  now  see  her  preparing  to  change  her  course 


476  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  JCH.  45 

they  would  perhaps  reconsider  the  situation  and  troubles 
might  ensue,  of  which  I,  as  the  minister  of  your  Majesty 
who  so  ardently  desired  her  well-being,  could  not  but 
give  her  honest  warning. 

'  She  went  into  the  subject  at  some  length.  She  said 
that  those  who  were  engaged  upon  it  had  given  her  to 
understand  that  it  was  for  her  own  good,  and  had  pro- 
mised every  one  of  them  to  stand  by  her  and  defend  her 
against  all  her  enemies. 

'  I  told  her  she  could  not  but  see  that  these  new  re- 
ligionists were  only  frightening  her — in  order  that  they 
might  bring  her  to  declare  more  decisively  for  them  and 
against  the  Catholics.  They  pretended  that  if  she  se- 
parated herself  from  them — if  she  did  not  yield  in  all 
points  to  what  they  wished — she  would  be  in  danger  on 
account  of  the  sentence  which  had  been  given  at  Rome 
in  favour  of  Queen  Catherine.  I  could  assure  her  that 
she  had  but  to  express  a  desire  to  that  effect  and  the 
Pope  would  immediately  remove  the  difficulty ;  I  knew, 
in  fact,  that  he  was  extremely  anxious  to  remove  it. 
Being  her  father's  daughter,  born  in  his  house,  having 
been  named  by  him  with  consent  of  Parliament  to  suc- 
ceed after  her  sister,  and  being  Queen  in  possession,  she 
had  nothing  really  to  fear — she  would  find  powerful 
friends  everywhere. 

'  It  was  true,  she  admitted,  that  the  Pope  had  of- 
fered to  reverse  the  sentence,  but  he  had  made  it  a  con- 
dition that  she  should  submit  to  him  absolutely  and 
unreservedly. 

'  If  his  Holiness  had  done  this,  I  said,  he  was  not 


I566.J  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  477 

actuated  by  any  covetous  ambition,  but  by  the  sincerest 
interest  in  herself  and  the  realm.  In  the  present  Pope 
she  might  feel  the  fullest  confidence ;  and  at  all  events 
there  was  no  more  reason  for  making  innovations  now 
than  there  had  been  at  the  beginning  of  her  reign.  She 
Would  do  better  to  wait  till  time  should  enable  her  to 
see  her  way. 

'  She  said  that  she  thought  as  I  did :  she  believed 
however  that  her  people  were  afraid  if  she  married 
the  Archduke  that  the  old  religion  would  be  brought  in 
again ;  they  were  pressing  forward  these  changes  as  a 
precaution. 

'  A  little  while  ago,  I  said,  her  council  were  most 
afraid  that  she  would  not  marry  at  all. 

'  True,  she  answered ;  that  was  their  fear  or  their 
pretended  fear— and  their  present  conduct  showed  how 
dishonest  they  had  been.  Marry  however  she  would, 
if  it  was  only  to  vex  them.  She  would  have  been  glad, 
she  said,  had  there  been  any  one  in  Parliament  who 
could  have  checked  the  Bill  in  its  progress;  if  it  passed 
the  Lords  she  feared  she  would  be  unable  to  resist  the 
pressure  which  would  be  brought  to  bear  upon  her/ 

Either  Elizabeth  feared  another  quarrel  and  dis- 
trusted her  own  strength,  or  she  wished  to  deceive  de 
Silva  into  believing  her  opposition  to  the  Bill  to  be  more 
sincere  than  it  really  was.  The  remonstrances  of  the 
Catholics  however  and  her  own  better  judgment  prevailed 
at  last.  She  collected  her  courage  and  sent  a  message 
to  the  Peers  desiring  that  the  Bill  of  Religion  should  go 
no  further.  The  bishops  were  the  persons  in  the  Tipper 


REIGN  Off  ELIZABETH. 


.  4$. 


House,  for  whom  alone  the  question  had  much  interest ; 
and  Elizabeth  understood  how  to  manage  them.  The 
Commons  had  resisted  one.  order — the  bishops  thought 
they  could  resist  another.  Their  first  impulse  was  to 
entreat  the  Queen  to  reconsider  her  command — to  let 
the  debate  go  forward,  and  'if  the  Bill  was  found  good 
by  the  Lords  that  she  would  be  pleased  for  the  glory  of 
God  to  give  her  gracious  assent  to  the  same/  l  A  peti- 
tion to  this  effect  was  presented  carrying  the  signatures 
of  the  two  archbishops  and  thirteen  bishops.  The 
Queen  sent  immediately  for  Parker  and  three  or  four 
more,  and  inquired  which  of  them  had  been  the  original 
promoters  of  the  Bill.  Though  it  first  appeared  in  the 
Lower  House,  she  said,  it  must  have  been  set  in  motion 
by  some  one  on  the  Bench;  and  though  she  had  no  ob- 
jection to  the  doctrine  of  the  Articles — '  for  it  was  that 
which  she  did  openly  profess ' — she  objected  seriously 
to  sudden  irregular  action  '  without  her  knowledge  and 
consent*  on  a  question  of  such  magnitude. 

Had  Elizabeth  scolded  in  the  tone  usual  with  her 
towards  the  Church  authorities  she  might  have  found 
them  obstinate ;  but  she  spoke  reasonably  and  they  were 
frightened.  The  archbishops,  though  their  names  headed 
the  signatures  to  the  petition,  disclaimed  eagerly  the 
responsibility  of  the  initiation.  She  bade  them  find 
ou-t  by  whom  it  had  been  done.  The  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  reported  to  Cecil  '  that  most  of  his  brethren 
answered,  as  he  had  done,  that  they  knew  nothing  of 

1  Petition  of  the  Bishops  to  the  Queen,  December,  1566:   Domestic 
MSS.,  Elizabeth,  vol.  xli. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARtfLEY.  4% 

it.'  Having  extracted  a  disavowal  from  the  majority  of 
the  Bench,  Elizabeth  was  able  .to  shield  her  objections 
behind  their  indifference;  she  had  checkmated  them 
and  the  obnoxious  measure  disappeared. 

Thus  gradually  the  storms  of  the  session  were  blow- 
ing over.  The  Queen  seemed  at  last  to  have  really  re- 
solved on  marriage,  and  her  determination  gave  her 
courage  to  encounter  her  other  difficulties  with  an 
increase  of  firmness.  She  promised  the  advocates 
of  the  Scotch  title  that  the  will  of  Henry  the  Eighth 
should  be  examined  immediately  on  the  close  of 
the  session,  and  that  a  fair  legal  opinion  should  be 
taken  on  the  Queen  of  Scots5  claims ; *  and  she  gave 
Mary  Stuart  a  significant  evidence  of  her  good  will  in 
closing  promptly  and  peremptorily  a  discussion  which 
had  commenced  at  Lincoln's  Inn,  in  the  interests  of  the 
rival  candidate.  The  lawyers,  disappointed  of  their 
debate  in  the  House  of  Commons,  began  it  again  in  the 
Inns  of  Court — where  there  was  no  privilege  to  pro- 
tect incautious  speakers.  Mr  Thornton,  an  eloquent 
advocate  of  Lady  Catherine,  was  sent  to  the  Tower  ; 
and  even  Cecil  earned  the  thanks  of  the  Queen  of  Scots 
by  the  energy  with  which  he  seconded  his  mistress 
in  silencing  opposition.2 


1  Do  Silva  to  Philip,  December 
1 6  :  MS.  Simancas. 

2  On  the  5th  of  January,  Murray 
thanked  Cecil  in  his  own  and  the 
Queen's  name  for  '  his  cordial  deal- 
ing.'    'Her  Majesty,'  wrote  Mait- 
land  to  him,  '  is  very  well  satisfied 
with  your  behaviour.    I  praj  you  so 


continue,  not  doubting  but  you  shall 
find  her  a  thankful  princess.'  '  Mel- 
ville,' he  added,  'reports  nothing 
but  good  of  you,  touching  the  repair- 
ing the  injury  done  against  my 
mistress  at  Lincoln's  Inn.' — Scotch 
MSS.  Rolls  House. 

Cecil's  conduct  in  the  succession 


4So 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  45- 


Elizabeth  herself  wrote  to  the  Queen  of  Scots,  no 
longer  insisting  on  the  treaty  of  Leith — no  longer  sti- 


struggle  is  not  easy  to  make  out. 
Neither  memorandum  nor  letter  of 
his  own  remain  to  show  his  real  feel- 
ings ;  but  though  he  might  naturally 
have  been  looked  for  among  the 
supporters  of  Lady  Catherine  Grey, 
he  seems  to  have  given  thorough 
satisfaction  to  the  friends  of  the 
Queen  of  Scots.  He  must  have 
written  to  Maitland  immediately 
after  Elizabeth's  first  answer  to  the 
address  of  the  Houses,  regretting 
her  resolution  to  leave  the  question 
unsettled;  and  he  must  have  led 
Maitland  to  suppose  that  he  had 
wished  Mary  Stuart  to  have  been 
the  person  nominated  ;  for  Maitland, 
answering  his  letter  on  the  nth  of 
November,  gave  him  '  hearty  thanks 
for  the  pains  which  he  had  taken 
in  the  busy  matter  which  he  had 
in  hand,'  and  then  went  on  more 
pointedly — 

*  I  look  not  in  my  time  to  see  the 
matter  in  any  perfection,  for  I  think 
it  is  not  the  pleasure  of  God  to  have 
the  subjects  of  this  isle  thoroughly 
settled  in  their  judgment ;  for  which 
cause  he  doth  keep  things  most  ne- 
cessary undetermined,  so  as  they 
shall  always  have  somewhat  where- 
with to  be  exercised.  The  experi- 
ence I  have  had  of  late  in  my  own 
person  makes  me  the  less  to  marvel 
when  I  hear  your  doings  are  mis- 
construed by  backbiters.  Whoso- 
ever will  meddle  with  public  affairs 
and  princes  must  be  content  to  bear 


that  burden.  I  never  doubted  the 
sincerity  of  your  intentions,  and  I 
doubt  not  time  shall  convince  those 
that  think  the  contrary  even  in  their 
own  conscience,  whenas  themselves 
shall  be  content  to  justify  your 
councils,  whicli  now  are  ignorant  to 
what  scope  they  are  directed.' 

On  the  1 7th  of  November,  Mary 
Stuart  herself  wrote  to  Cucil,  saying 
'  that  the  bruits  were  passed  which 
reported  him  to  be  a  hinderer  to  her 
advancement,  and  that  she  knew 
him  to  be  a  wise  man.' 

On  the  1 8th  Murray  wrote  that 
'he  had  always  found  Cecil  most 
earnest  to  produce  good  feeling  and 
a  sound  understanding  between  Eng- 
land and  Scotland,  and  between  the 
two  Queens :  and  so,'  he  said,  '  my 
trust  is  that  ye  will  continue  favour- 
able to  the  end  in  all  her  Highness's 
affairs,  which  for  my  own  part  I  will 
most  earnestly  crave  of  you,  being 
most  assured  there  is  no  daughter  in 
the  isle  doth  more  reverence  her  na- 
tural mother  nor  my  Sovereign  the 
Queen  your  mistress.  Nor  sure  I  am 
can  she  be  induced  by  any  means  to 
seek  or  procure  that  which  may  in 
any  sort  offend  her  Majesty.' — Scotch 
MSS.  Rolls  House. 

It  is  possible  that  even  Cecil's 
vigilance  had  been  laid  asleep  by  the 
submissive  attitude  which  the  Queen 
of  Scots  had  assumed  towards  Eliza- 
beth, and  by  the  seeming  restoration 
of  Murray  to  her  confidence. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  481 

pulating  for  embarrassing  conditions.  Substantially 
conceding  all  the  points  which  were  in  dispute  between 
them,  she  proposed  that  they  should  mutually  bind 
themselves  by  a  contract  in  which  Mary  Stuart  should 
undertake  to  do  nothing  against  Elizabeth  during  the 
lifetime  of  herself  or  her  children ;  while  Elizabeth 
would  '  engage  never  to  do  or  suffer  anything  to  be 
done  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Queen  of  Scots'  title  and 
interest  as  her  next  cousin/  l 

The  Queen  of  Scots  declared  herself,   in      I567. 
reply,  assured  of  Elizabeth's  '  good  mind  and  January- 
entire  affection  '  towards  her  ;  '  she  did  not  doubt  that 
in  time  her  sister  would  proceed  to  the  perfecting  and 
consideration  of  that  which  she  had  begun  to  utter,  as 
well  to  her  own  people  as  to  other  nations — the  opinion 
which  her  sister  had  of  the  equity  of  her  cause ; '  and 
she  promised  to  send  a  commission  to  London  to  settle 
the  terms  in  which  the  contract  '  might  pass  orderly  to 
both  their  contentments.' 2 

Thus  the  struggle  was  over ;  though  unrecognized 
by  a  formal  Act  of  Parliament  Mary  Stuart  had  won  the 
day  and  was  virtually  regarded  as  the  heir-presumptive 
to  the  English  throne.  Elizabeth's  own  wishes  had 
pointed  throughout  to  this  conclusion,  if  the  Queen  of 
Scots  would  consent  to  seek  her  object  in  any  other 
capacity  than  as  the  representative  of  a  revolution.  The 
reconciliation  of  the  two  factions  in  Scotland  and  the 


1  Elizabeth  to  the  Queen  of 
Scots,  December,  1566:  MS.  Eolls 
Home. 


2  The  Queen  of  Scots  to  Eliza- 
beth, Jan.  3.  1567:  Scotch  M8S. 
Rolls  Home, 


VOL.   VII.  31 


482  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

restoration  of  Murray  and  Maitland  to  confidence  and 
authority  were  accepted  as  an  indication  of  a  changed 
purpose ;  and  harassed  by  her  subjects,  goaded  into  a 
marriage  which  she  detested,  and  exhausted  by  a  strug- 
gle which  threatened  a  dangerous  breach  between  her- 
self and  the  nation,  Elizabeth  closed  the  long  chapter  of 
distrust,  and  yielded  or  prepared  to  yield  all  that  was 
demanded  of  her. 

Having  thus  made  up  her  mind  she  resolved  to  break 
up  the  Parliament  and  to  punish  the  refractory  Hoube 
of  Commons  by  a  dissolution.  After  another  election 
the  Puritans  would  be  in  a  minority.  The  succession 
could  be  legally  established  without  division  or  quarrel, 
guarded  by  such  moderate  guarantees  as  might  secure 
the  mutual  toleration  of  the  two  creeds. 

For  the  first  time  in  parliamentary  history  a  session 
had  been  wasted  in  barren  disputes.  On  the  2nd  of 
January  between  two  and  three  in  the  afternoon  the 
Queen  appeared  in  the  House  of  Lords  to  bring  it  to  an 
end.  The  Commons  were  called  to  the  bar  ;  the 
Speaker,  Mr  Onslow,  read  a  complimentary  address,  in 
which  he  described  the  English  nation  as  happy  in  a 
sovereign  who  understood  her  duties,  who  prevented  her 
subjects  from  injuring  one  another  and  knew  '  how  to 
make  quiet  among  the  ministers  of  religion/  He 
touched  on  the  many  excellences  of  the  constitution,  and 
finally  with  some  imprudence  ventured  an  allusion  to 
the  restrictions  on  the  royal  authority. 

1  There  be/  he  said, '  for  the  prince  provided  princely 
prerogatives  and  royalties,  yet  not  such  as  the  prince 


1567.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  483 

can  take  money  or  other  things  or  do  as  she  will  at  her 
own  pleasure  without  order ;  but  quietly  to  suffer  her 
subjects  to  enjoy  their  own  without  wrongful  oppression  ; 
whereas  other  princes  by  their  liberty  do  take  as  pleaseth 
them/ 

'  Your  Majesty/  he  went  on  turning  to  Elizabeth, 
*  has  not  attempted  to  make  laws  contrary  to  order,  but 
orderly  has  called  this  Parliament,  which  perceived  cer- 
tain wants  and  thereunto  have  put  their  helping  hands, 
and  for  help  of  evil  manners  good  laws  are  brought 
forth.' 

Then  going  to  the  sorest  of  all  sore  and  wounding 
subjects,  he  concluded,  '  we  give  hearty  thanks  to  God 
for  that  your  Highness  has  signified  your  pleasure  of 
your  inclination  to  marriage,  which  afore  you  were  not 
given  unto ;  which  is  done  for  our  safeguard,  that  when 
God  shall  call  you  you  may  leave  of  your  own  body  to 
succeed  you.  Therefore  God  grant  us  that  you  will 
shortly  embrace  the  holy  state  of  matrimony  when  and 
with  whom  God  shall  appoint  and  shall  best  like  your 
Majesty.' 

Elizabeth's  humour,  none  the  happiest  at  the  com- 
mencement, was  not  improved  by  this  fresh  chafing  of 
her  galled  side.  She  had  come  prepared  to  lecture 
others,  not  to  listen  to  a  homily.  She  beckoned  Bacon 
to  her  and  spoke  a  few  words  to  him.  He  then  rose 
and  said  that  the  general  parts  of  the  Speaker's  address 
her  Majesty  liked  well,  and  therefore  he  need  not  touch 
on  them  ;  on  the  latter  and  more  particular  expressions 
used  in  it  a  few  words  were  necessary. 


484  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.45. 

'  Politic  orders/  he  said,  *  be  the  rules  of  all  good 
acts,  and  touching  them  that  you  have  made  to  the  over- 
throwing of  good  laws '  (your  Bill  of  Religion,  with 
which  you  meant  to  tyrannize  over  conscience),  '  these 
deserve  reproof  as  well  as  the  others  deserve  praise.  In 
which  like  cause  you  err  in  bringing  her  Majesty's  pre- 
rogative into  question,  and  for  that  thing  wherein  she 
meant  not  to  hurt  any  of  your  liberties.  Her  Majesty's 
nature  however  is  mild ;  she  will  not  be  austere ;  and 
therefore  though  at  this  time  she  suffer  you  all  to  de- 
part quietly  into  your  counties  for  your  amendment,  yet 
as  it  is  needful  she  hopeth  the  offenders  will  hereafter 
use  themselves  well/ 

The  Acts  of  the  session  were  then  read  out  and  re- 
ceived the  royal  assent ;  all  seemed  over,  and  it  was  by 
this  time  dusk ;  when  Elizabeth  herself  in  the  uncertain 
light  rose  from  the  throne,  stood  forward  in  her  robes, 
and  spoke. 

1  My  Lords  and  other  Commons  of  this  assembly  : 
although  the  Lord  Keeper  hath  according  to  order  very 
well  answered  in  my  name,  yet  as  a  periphrasis  I  have  a 
few  words  further  to  speak  unto  you,  notwithstanding  I 
have  not  been  used  nor  love  to  do  it  in  such  open  assem- 
blies. Yet  now,  not  to  the  end  to  amend  his  talk,  but 
remembering  that  commonly  princes'  own  words  are 
better  printed  in  the  hearers'  memory  than  those  spoken 
by  her  command,  I  mean  to  say  thus  much  unto  you. 

'  I  have  in  this  assembly  found  such  dissimulation 
where  I  always  professed  plainness,  that  I  marvel  thereat ; 
yea  two  faces  under  one  hood,  and  the  body  rotten, 


1567.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARN  LEY.  485 

being  covered  with  the  two  vizors  succession  and  liberty 
— which  they  determined  must  be  either  presently 
granted,  denied,  or  deferred  ;  in  granting  whereof  they 
had  their  desire ;  and  denying  or  deferring  thereof, 
those  things  being  so  plaudable  as  indeed  to  all  men  they 
are,  they  thought  to  work  me  that  mischief  which  never 
foreign  enemy  could  bring  to  pass — which  is  the  hatred 
of  my  Commons. 

'  But  alas  !  they  began  to  pierce  the  vessel  before  the 
wine  was  fined,  and  began  a  thing  not  foreseeing  the 
end,  how  by  this  means  I  have  seen  my  well- wilier s  from 
my  enemies,  and  can  as  meseemeth  very  well  divide  the 
House  into  four  : — 

'  i.  The  broachers  and  workers  thereof,  who  are  in 
the  greatest  fault. 

'  2.  The  speakers,  who  by  eloquent  tales  persuaded 
the  rest,  are  next  in  degree. 

'  3.  The  agreers,  who  being  so  light  of  credit  that  the 
eloquence  of  those  tales  so  overcame  them  that  they  gave 
more  credit  thereunto  than  unto  their  own  wits. 

'  4.  Those  that  sat  still  and  mute  and  meddled  not 
therewith,  but  rather  wondered  disallowing  the  matter ; 
who  in  my  opinion  are  most  to  be  excused. 

'  But  do  you  think  that  either  I  am  so  unmindful  of 
your  surety  by  succession,  wherein  is  all  my  care,  consi- 
dering I  know  myself  to  be  but  mortal  ?  No,  I  warrant 
you.  Or  that  I  went  about  to  break  your  liberties  ? 
No,  it  never  was  in  my  meaning  ;  but  to  stay  you  before 
you  fell  into  the  ditch.  For  all  things  have  their  time  ; 
and  although  perhaps  you  may  have  after  me  a  better- 


486  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  45. 

learned  or  wiser,  yet  I  assure  you,  none  more  careful  over 
you  ;  and  therefore  henceforth,  whether  I  live  to  see  the 
like  assembly  or  no,  or  whoever  it  be,  yet  beware  how 
you  prove  your  prince's  patience  as  you  have  now  done 
mine. 

1  And  now  to  conclude  all  this ;  notwithstanding,  not 
meaning  to  make  a  Lent  of  Christmas,  the  most  part  of 
you  may  assure  yourselves  that  you  depart  in  your 
prince's  grace. 

1  My  Lord  Keeper,  you  will  do  as  I  bid  you.' 

Again  Bacon  rose  and  in  a  loud  voice  said,  '  The 
Queen's  Majesty  doth  dissolve  this  Parliament.  Let 
every  man  depart  at  his  pleasure.' 

Elizabeth  swept  away  in  the  gloom,  passed  to  her 
barge,  and  returned  to  the  palace.  The  Lords  and  Com- 
mons scattered  through  the  English  counties,  and  five 
years  went  by  before  another  Parliament  met  again  at 
Westminster  in  a  changed  world. 

On  that  evening  the  immediate  prospect  before  Eng- 
land was  the  Queen's  marriage  with  an  Austrian  Catholic 
prince,  the  recognition  more  or  less  distant  of  the  Ca- 
tholic Mary  Stuart  as  heir-presumptive,  the  establish- 
ment with  the  support  and  sanction  of  the  Catholic 
powers  of  some  moderate  form  of  Government,  under 
which  the  Catholic  worship  would  be  first  tolerated  and 
then  creep  on  towards  ascendency.  It  might  have 
ended,  had  Elizabeth  been  strong  enough,  in  broad  in- 
tellectual freedom ;  more  likely  it  would  have  ended  in 
the  reappearance  of  the  Marian  fanaticism,  to  be  en- 
countered by  passions  as  fierce  and  irrational  as  itself; 


1567.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  487 

and  to  the  probable  issue  of  that  conflict  conjecture  fails 
to  penetrate. 

But  the  era  of  toleration  was  yet  centuries  distant ; 
and  the  day  of  the  Roman  persecutors  was  gone  never 
more  to  reappear.  Six  weeks  later  a  powder  barrel  ex- 
ploded in  a  house  in  Edinburgh,  and  when  the  smoke 
cleared  away  the  prospects  of  the  Catholics  in  England 
were  scattered  to  all  the  winds. 

The  murder  of  Henry  Stuart  Lord  Darnley  is  one  of 
those  incidents  which  will  remain  till  the  end  of  time 
conspicuous  on  the  page  of  history.  In  itself  the  death 
of  a  single  boy,  prince  or  king  though  he  might  be,  had 
little  in  it  to  startle  the  hard  world  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Even  before  the  folly  and  falsehood  by  which 
Mary  Stuart's  husband  had  earned  the  hatred  of  the 
Scotch  nobility,  it  had  been  foreseen  that  such  a  frail 
and  giddy  summer  pleasure-boat  would  be  soon  wrecked 
in  those  stormy  waters.  Had  Darnley  been  stabbed  in  a 
scuffle  or  helped  to  death  by  a  dose  of  arsenic  in  his  bed, 
the  fair  fame  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  would  have  suffered 
little,  and  the  tongues  that  dared  to  mutter  would  have 
been  easily  silenced.  But  conspiracies  in  Scotland  were"! 
never  managed  with  the  skilful  villany  of  the  Continent ; 
and  when  some  conspicuous  person  was  to  be  removed  I 
out  of  the  way,  the  instruments  of  the  deed  were  either  / 
fanatic  religionists  who  looked  on  themselves  as  the  serv- 
ants of  God,  or  else  they  had  been  wrought  up  to  the 
murder  point  by  some  personal  passion  which  was  not 
contented  with  the  death  of  its  victim,  and  required  a 
fuller  satisfaction  in  the  picturesqueness  of  dramatic  re-  \ 


488  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  45. 

venge.  The  circumstances  under  which  the  obstacle  to 
Mary  Stuart's  peace  was  disposed  of  challenged  the  at- 
tention of  the  whole  civilized  world,  and  no  after  efforts 
availed  in  court,  creed,  or  nation,  to  hide  the  memory  of 
the  scenes  which  were  revealed  in  that  sudden  lightning 
flash. 

The  disorders  of  the  Scots  upon  the  Border  had  long 
been  a  subject  of  remonstrance  from  the  English  Govern- 
ment. The  Queen  of  Scots,  while  the  Parliament  was 
sitting  at  Westminster,  desired  to  give  some  public  proof 
of  her  wish  to  conciliate  ;  and  after  the  strange  appear- 
ance of  Darnley  in  September  at  the  council  at  Edin- 
burgh, she  proposed  to  go  in  person  to  Jedburgh  and 
hear  the  complaints  of  Elizabeth's  wardens.  The  Earl 
of  Both  well  had  taken  command  of  the  North  Marches  : 
he  had  gone  down  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  Queen's 
appearance,  and  on  her  arrival  she  was  greeted  with  the 
news  that  he  had  been  shot  through  the  thigh  in  a 
scuffle  and  was  lying  wounded  in  Hermitage  Castle.  The 
Earl  had  been  her  companion  throughout  the  summer  ; 
her  relations  with  him  at  this  time — whether  innocent  or 
not — were  of  the  closest  intimacy  ;  and  she  had  taken 
into  her  household  a  certain  Lady  Heres,  who  had  once 
been  his  mistress. 

I566  She   heard  of  his   wound  with  the  most 

October.   alarmed  anxiety ;  on  every  ground  she  could 

ill  afford   to   lose  him ; l  and  careless   at  all  times  of 

bodily   fatigue   or  danger,    she   rode,  on   the   I5th   of 

1  '  Ce  ne  luy  eust  pas  este  peu  de  perte  de  le  perdre  ! '  were  the  unsus- 
picious words  of  du  Croq  on  the  I7th  of  October.— TECLET,  vol.  ii.  p.  28q. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARN  LEY.  489 

October,  twenty-five  miles  over  the  moors  to  see  him. 
The  Earl's  state  proved  to  be  more  painful  than  danger- 
ous, and  after  remaining  two  hours  at  his  bed-side  she 
returned  the  same  day  to  Jedburgh.  She  had  not  been 
well :  '  thought  and  displeasure/  which,  as  she  herself 
told  Maitland, l  '  had  their  root  in  the  King/  had 
already  affected  both  her  health  and  spirits.  The  long 
ride,  the  night  air,  and  '  the  great  distress  of  her  mind 
for  the  Earl/  proved  too  much  for  her  ;  and  though  she 
sat  her  horse  till  her  journey 's  end,  she  fainted  when 
she  was  lifted  from  the  saddle,  and  remained  two  hours 
unconscious.  Delirium  followed  with  violent  fever,  and 
in  this  condition  she  continued  for  a  week.  She  was 
frequently  insensible  ;  food  refused  to  remain  upon  her 
stomach ;  yet  for  the  first  few  days  there  seemed  to  be 
(  no  tokens  of  death  ; '  she  slept  tolerably,  and  on  Tues- 
day and  Wednesday  the  2 2nd  and  23rd  she  was  thought 
to  be  improving.  An  express  had  been  sent  to  Glasgow 
for  Darnley,  but  he  did  not  appear.  On  Friday  the 
25th  there  was  a  relapse  ;  shiver  ings  came  on,  the  body 
grew  rigid,  the  eyes  were  closed,  the  mouth  set  and 
motionless ;  she  lost  consciousness  so  entirely  that  she 
was  supposed  to  be  dying  or  dead  ;  and  in  expectation 
of  an  immediate  end  a  menacing  order  to  keep  the 
peace  was  sent  out  by  Murray,  Maitland,  Huntly,  and 
the  other  Lords  who  were  in  attendance  on  her. 

The  physician,  '  Master   Naw/   however,  'aperfyt 
man  of  his  craft/  '  would  not  give  the  matter  over/  He 


1  Maitland  to  the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow :  Printed  in  KEITH. 


490  REIGN1  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.45. 

restored  the  circulation  by  chafing  the  limbs ;  the 
Queen  came  to  herself  at  last,  broke  into  a  profuse  per- 
spiration, and  fell  into  a  natural  sleep.  When  she 
awoke,  the  fever  was  gone,  but  her  strength  was  pros- 
trated. For  the  few  next  days  she  still  believed  herself 
in  danger,  and  with  the  outward  signs,  and  so  far  as  could 
be  seen  with  the  inward  spirit,  of  Catholic  piety,  she 
prepared  to  meet  what  might  be  coming  upon  her. 
The  Bishop  of  Ross  was  ever  on  his  knees  at  her  bed- 
side ;  and  courageous  always,  she  professed  herself 
ready  to  die  if  so  it  was  to  be.  She  recommended  the 
Prince  to  the  lords ;  through  Murray  she  bequeathed 
the  care  of  him  to  Elizabeth — through  du  Croq  to  the 
King  of  France  and  Catherine  de  Medici — and  for 
Scotland  she  implored  them  all  as  her  last  request  '  to 
trouble  no  man  in  his  conscience  that  professed  the 
Catholic  faith/  in  which  she  herself  had  been  brought 
up  and  was  ready  to  die. 

How  much  of  all  this  was  real,  how  much  theatri- 
cal, it  is  needless  to  inquire ;  the  most  ardent  admirer  of 
Mary  Stuart  will  not  claim  for  her  a  character  of  piety, 
in  any  sense  of  the  word  which  connects  it  with  the 
moral  law ;  those  who  regard  her  with  most  suspicion 
will  not  refuse  her  the  credit  of  devotion  to  the  Catholic 
cause. 

In  a  week  all  alarm  was  at  an  end.  At  length,  but 
so  late  that  his  appearance  was  an  affront,  Darnley 
arrived :  he  was  received  with  coldness  ;  but  for  the  in- 
terposition of  Murray  he  would  not  have  been  allowed 
to  remain  a  single  night,  and  the  next  morning  he  was 


1566.] 


THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLE  Y. 


491 


dismissed  to  return  to  his  father.  In  unhappy  contrast 
the  Earl  of  Both  well  was  brought  as  soon  as  he  could  be 
moved  to  Jedburgh ;  and  on  the  loth  of  Novem- 
ber the  Court  broke  up,  and  proceeded  by  slow 
journeys  towards  Edinburgh  for  the  Prince's  baptism. 
At  Kelso  the  Queen  found  a  letter  from  her  husband. 
It  seems  that  he  had  been  again  writing  in  complaint 
of  her  to  the  Pope  and  the  Catholic  powers.1  He  was 
probably  no  less  unwise  in  the  words  which  he  used  to 
herself;  and  she  exclaimed  passionately  in  Murray's 
and  Maitland's  presence  '  that  unless  she  was  freed  of 
him  in  some  way  she  had  no  pleasure  to  live,  and  if  she 
could  find  no  other  remedy  she  would  put  hand  to  it 
herself.' 2 

Leaving  Kelso  and  skirting  the  Border,  she  looked 
from  Halydon  Hill  over  Berwick  and  the  English  lines, 
and  that  fair  vision  of  the  future  where  Darnley  was 
the  single  darkening  image.  A  train  of  knights  and 
gentlemen  came  out  to  do  her  homage  and  attend  her 
to  Ayemouth ;  the  Berwick  batteries  as  she  went  by 
saluted  the  heiress  of  the  English  crown ;  all  through 
Northumberland,  through  Yorkshire,  to  the  very  gates 
of  London^Jiad  she  cared  to  visit  Elizabeth,  Mary 
Stuart  wouldJ£ve  been  then  received  with  all  butjregal 
honours.  The  Earl  of  Bedford — of  all  English  nobles 
the  most  determined  of  her  opponents — was  preparing 


1  De  Silva  in  a  letter,  late  in  the 
winter,  to  Philip,  spoke  of  writing 
to  the  Queen  of  Scots — '  A  cerca  del 
mal  oficio  que  su  marido  hahia  hecho 


contra  ella  con  V.  Md.  y  con  el  Papa 
y  Principes  en  lo  de  su  religion.'  — 
MS.  Simancas. 
2  CALDERWOOD. 


492  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  |CH.  45. 

to  be  present  at  the  approaching  baptism  to  make  his 
peace  as  Elizabeth's  representative.  From  D  unbar  she 
wrote  to  Cecil  and  the  rest  of  the  council  as  to  *  her 
good  friends/  to  whom  she  committed  the  care  of  '  her 
cause/  From  thence  she  passed  on  to  Craigmillar  l  to 
recruit  her  strength  in  the  keen,  breezy  air. 

Some  heavy  weight  still  hung  upon  her  spirits  :  her 
brilliant  prospects  failed  to  cheer  her.  '  The  Queen  is 
at  Craigmillar/  wrote  du  Croq  at  the  end  of  November ; 
'  she  is  still  sick,  and  I  believe  the  principal  part  of  her 
disease  to  consist  of  a  deep  grief  and  sorrow :  nor  can 
she,  it  seems,  forget  the  same ;  again  and  again  she 
says  she  wishes  she  were  dead/  2 

To  the  lords  who  had  attended  her  to  Dalkeith  the 
cause  of  her  trouble  was  but  too  notorious.  Instead  of 
listening  to  her  entreaties  to  relieve  her  of  her  husband, 
the  Pope  had  probably  followed  the  advice  of  de  Silva, 
and  had  urged  her  to  be  reconciled  to  him  :  at  any  rate 
she  must  have  known  the  anxiety  of  her  English  friends, 
and  must  have  felt  more  wearily  than  ever  the  burden 
of  the  chain  with  which  she  had  bound  herself.  Both- 
well,  Murray,  Maitland,  and  Huntly  continued  at  her 
side,  and  at  Craigmillar  they  were  joined  by  Argyle. 

The  lords  and  gentlemen  who  had  been  concerned 
in  Rizzio's  murder  had  by  this  time  most  of  them  re- 
ceived their  pardon  ;  but  the  Queen  had  still  found 
herself  unable  to  forgive  Morton,  who,  with  Lindsay, 
young  Ruthven,  and  Ker,  was  still  in  exile  in  England. 

1  Three  miles  south  of  Edinburgh,  on  the  road  to  Dalkeith 
2  Du  Croq  to  the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow :  KEITH. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  493 

Their  friends  had  never  ceased  to  intercede  for  them. 

One   morning,  while  Argyle  was  still  in 
bed,  Murray  and  Maitland  came  to  his  room ; 
and  Maitland,   beginning  upon   the   subject,  said  that 
the  *  best  way  to  obtain  Morton's  pardon  was  to  promise 
the    Queen  to   find  means  to  divorce    her    from   her 
husband/ 

Argyle  said  he  did  not  know  how  it  could  be  done. 

'  My  Lord/  said  Maitland,  '  care  you  not  for  that, 
we  shall  find  the  means  to  make  her  quit  of  him  well 
enough,  if  you  and  Lord  Huntly  will  look  on  and  not 
take  offence.' 

Scotland  was  still  entangled  in  the  Canon  Law,  and 
some  trick  could  be  made  available  if  the  nobles  agreed 
to  allow  it.  Huntly  entered  as  the  others  were  talking. 
They  offered  him  the  restoration  of  the  Gordon  estates 
if  he  would  consent  to  Morton's  return :  he  took  the 
price,  and  agreed  with  the  rest  to  forward  the  divorce. 

The  four  noblemen  then  went  together  to  Bothwell, 
who  professed  equal  readiness ;  he  accompanied  them  to 
the  Queen ;  and  Maitland  in  the  name  of  the  rest  under- 
took to  deliver  her  from  Darnley  on  condition  that  she 
pardoned  Morton  and  his  companions. 

Mary  Stuart  was  craving  for  release :  she  said  gener- 
ally that  she  would  do  what  they  required ;  but  embar- 
rassed as  she  was  by  her  connection  with  Rome,  she  was 
unable  to  understand  how  a  divorce  could  be  managed, 
or  how,  if  they  succeeded,  they  could  save  the  legitimacy 
of  her  child.  So  obvious  a  difficulty  could  not  have  been 
unforeseen.  Under  the  old  law  of  the  Church  the  dis- 


494 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  45. 


solution  of  marriage  was  so  frequent  and  facile,  that  by 
a  kind  of  tacit  agreement  children  born  from  connec- 
tions assumed  at  the  time  to  be  lawful,  were,  like  Mary 
and  Elizabeth  of  England,  allowed  to  pass  as  legitimate, 
and  to  succeed  to  their  fathers'  estates.  The  Earl  of 
Angus  and  Queen  Margaret  were  divorced,  yet  the  Eng- 
lish council  had  tried  in  vain  to  fix  a  stigma  on  the  birth 
of  Lady  Lennox.  Archbishop  Parker  more  recently  had 
divorced  Hertford  and  Lady  Catherine  Grey,  yet  their 
son  was  still  the  favourite  for  the  succession,  of  the 
English  Protestants.  Both  well  was  ready  with  an  in- 
stance from  his  own  experience.  The  marriage  between 
his  own  father  and  mother  had  been  declared  invalid, 
yet  he  had  inherited  the  earldom  without  challenge. 

The  interests^which^depended^jon  the  _young^  Prince 
of  Scotland  however  were  too  vast  to  be  lightlyjmt  in 
hazard  pthere  was  another  and  a  shorter  road  out  of  the 
difficulty^ 

*  Madam/  said  Maitland^  *  we  are  here  the  chief  of 
your  Grace's  council  and  nobility;  we  shall  find  the 
means  that  your  Majesty  shall  be  quit  of  your  husband 
without  prejudice  of  your  son,  and  albeit  that  my  Lord 
of  Murray  here  present  be  little  less  scrupulous  for  a 
Protestant  than  your  Grace  is  for  a  Papist,  I  am  as- 
sured he  will  look  through  his  fingers  thereto,  and  will 
behold  our  doings,  saying  nothing  to  the  same/ 

The  words  were  scarcely  ambiguous,  yet  Murray  said 
nothing.  Such  subjects  are  not  usually  discussed  in  too 
loud  a  tone,  and  he  may  not  have  heard  them  distinctly. 
He  himself  swore  afterwards  *  that  if  any  man  said  he 


1566.] 


THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY. 


495 


was  present  when  purposes  were  held  in  his  audience 
tending  to  any  unlawful  or  dishonourable  end,  he  spoke 
wickedly  and  untruly.' 1 

But  Mary  herself — how  did  she  receive  the  dark  sug- 
gestion ?  This  part  of  the  story  rests  on  the  evidence  of 
her  own  friends,  and  was  drawn  up  in  her  excuse  and 
defence.  According  to  Argyle  and  Huntly  she  said  she 
'  would  do  nothing  to  touch  her  honour  and  conscience ; ' 
*  they  had  better  leave  it  alone ; '  '  meaning  to  do  her 
good  it  might  turn  to  her  hurt  and  displeasure/2 

She  may  be  credited  with  having  refused  her  consent 
to  the  proposals  then  made  to  her ;  and  yet  that  such 
a  conversation  should  have  passed  in  her  presence  (of 
the  truth  of  the  main  features  of  it  there  is  no  room  for 
doubt)  was  serious  and  significant.  The  secret  was  ill 
kept :  it  reached  the  ears  of  the  Spanish  ambassador, 
who,  though  he  could  not  believe  it  true,  wrote  an  ac- 
count of  it  to  Philip.3  The  Queen  was  perhaps  serious 
in  her  reluctance ;  perhaps  she  desired  not  to  know  what 
was  intended  till  the  deed  was  done. 

'  This  they  should  have  done, 
And  not  have  spoken  of  it.     In  her  'twas  villany ; 
In  them  it  had  been  good  service.' 

Those  among  the  lords,  at  all  events,  who  were  most 


1  Reply  of  Murray  to  the  declar- 
ations of  the  Earls  of  Huntly  and 
Argyle :  KEITH. 

2  Declarations    of    Huntly   and 
Argyle:  KEITH. 

3  'Habia  entendido  que  viendo 
algunos  el  desgusto  que  habia  entre 
estos  Reyes,   habian  ofrecido   a  la 


Reyna  de  hacer  algo  contra  su 
marido,  y  que  ella  no  habia  venido 
en  ello.  Aunque  tuve  este  aviso  de 
buena  parte,  pareciome  cosa  que  no 
se  debia  creer  que  se  hubiese  tratado 
con  la  Reyna  semejante  platica.' — 
De  Silva  to  Philip,  January  iS- 
MS.  Sfmancas. 


496 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[en.  45. 


in  Mary  Stuart's  confidence  concluded  that  if  they  went 
their  own  way  they  had  nothing  to  fear  from  her  resent- 
ment. Four  of  the  party  present — Argyle,  Huntly, 
Maitland,  and  Both  well,  with  a  cousin  of  Bothwell,  Sir 
James  Balfour — signed  a  bond  immediately  afterwards, 
while  the  Court  was  still  at  Craigmillar,  to  the  following 
purpose : — 

1  That  for  sae  meikle  as  it  was  thought  expedient  and 
profitable  for  the  commonweal,  by  the  nobility  and  lords 
underwritten,  that  sic  an  young  fool  and  proud  tyran  (as 
the  King)  should  not  bear  rule  of  them — for  divers 
causes  therefore  they  all  had  concluded  that  he  should 
be  put  forth  by  one  way  or  other — and  whosoever  should 
take  the  deed  in  hand  or  do  it,  they  should  defend  and 
fortify  it,  for  it  should  be  by  every  one  of  them  reckoned 
and  holden  done  by  themselves.'1 

The  curtain  which  was  thus  for  a  moment  drawn  aside 
again  closes.  The  Queen  went  in  the  first  week  of  De- 
cember to  Stirling,  where  Darnley  was  allowed  to  join 
her  ;  and  the  English  Catholics,  who  had  been  alarmed 
at  the  rumours  which  had  gone  abroad,  flattered  them- 
selves into  a  hope  that  all  would  again  go  well.  The 
King  would  make  amends  for  the  past  by  aifection  and 
submission ;  Mary  Stuart  would  in  time  obliterate  the 
painful  feelings  which  her  neglect  of  him  had  aroused.2 


1  Ormeston's    confession:    PIT- 
CAIRN'S  Criminal  Trials  of  Scotland. 

2  '  El  Key  de  Escocia  ha  ya  viente 
dias  que  esta  con  la  Reyna,  y  comen 
juntos;   y  aunque    parece   que  no 
perdera  tan  presto  del  todo  el  des- 


gusto  del  Eey  por  las  cosas  pasadas, 
todavia  piensa  que  el  tiempo,  y  estar 
juntos,  y  el  Key  determinado  de  cora- 
placerle,  hara  mucho  en  la  buena 
reconciliacion.' — De  Silva  to  Philip, 
December  18;  MS.  Simancas. 


1566.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  497 

A  few  days  after,  the  Earl  of  Bedford  arrived  from 
England ;  the  Parliament  was  then  approaching  its  con- 
clusion ;  the  storm  had  subsided,  and  Elizabeth,  free  to 
act  for  herself,  had  commissioned  Bedford  to  tell  the 
Queen  of  Scots  that  her  claims  should  be  investigated  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  '  should  receive  as  much  favour  as 
she  could  desire  to  her  contentation.'1  The  ambassador 
had  brought  with  him  a  magnificent  font  of  gold  weigh- 
ing 330  ozs.,  as  a  splendid  present  to  the  heir  of  the 
English  throne.  The  Prince,  who  was  to  have  been 
dipped  in  it  at  his  baptism,  had  grown  too  large  by  the 
delay  of  the  ceremony ;  but  Elizabeth  suggested  that  it 
might  be  used  for  'the  next  child/2 

The  time  had  been  when  these  things  would  have 
satisfied  Mary  Stuart's  utmost  hopes,  and  have  filled  her 
with  exultation.  Her  thoughts,  interests,  and  anxieties 
were  now  otherwise  occupied.  On  the  I5th,  at  five  in 
the  evening,  the  Prince  was  baptized  by  torch-light  in 
Stirling  Chapel;  the  service  was  that  of  the  Catholic 
Church;  the  Archbishop  of  St  Andrew's,  the  most 
abandoned  of  all  Episcopal  scoundrels,  officiated,  sup- 
ported by  three  of  his  brethren.  The  French  ambas- 
sador carried  the  child  into  the  aisle ;  the  Countess  of 
Argyle,  the  same  who  had  been  present  at  Rizzio's 
murder,  held  him  at  the  font  as  Elizabeth's  representa- 
tive ;  and  three  of  the  Scottish  noblemen — Eglinton, 
Athol,  and  Ross — were  present  at  the  ceremony.  The 
rest,  with  the  English  ambassador,  stood  outside  the 

1  Instructions  to  the  Earl  of  Bedford  going  to  Scotland  :  KEITH. 

2  Ibid. 
VOL,  vii.  32 


498  RETGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

door.  It  boded  ill  for  the  supposed  reconciliation  that 
the  Prince's  father,  though  in  the  castle  at  the  time, 
remained  in  his  own  room,  either  still  brooding  over 
his  wrongs  and  afraid  that  some  insult  should  be  passed 
upon  him,  or  else  forbidden  by  the  Queen  to  appear. 

As  soon  as  the  baptism  was  over  the  suit  for  the  re- 
storation of  Morton  was  continued :  Bedford  added  his 
intercession  to  that  of  Murray  ;  Both  well,  Athol,  and 
all  the  other  noblemen  joined  in  the  entreaty ;  and  on 
the  24th  the  Queen  with  some  affectation  of  reluctance 
gave  way.  George  Douglas,  who  had  been  the  first  to 
strike  Rizzio,  and  Faldonside,  who  had  held  a  pistol  to 
her  breast,  were  alone  excepted  from  a  general  and  final 
pardon.1 

Under  any  circumstances  it  could  only  have  been 
with  terror  that  Darnley  could  have  encountered  Morton 
and  young  Ruthven ;  but  the  conversation  at  Craig- 
millar,  which  had  stolen  into  England,  had  been  carried 
equally  to  his  own  ear.  He  knew  that  the  pardon  of 
Rizzio's  murderers  had  been  connected  with  his  own 
destruction  ;  and  a  whisper  had  reached  him  also  of  the 
bond  which,  though  unsigned  by  the  Queen,  had  been 
'  drawn  by  her  own  device/ 2  Snlgngr  as  ]\jorton  re- 
mained  in  exile  he  could  hope_that_  jfche conspiracy 
against  him  was  incomplete.  The  proclamation  of  the 
pardon  was  his  death-knell,  and  the  same  night,  swiftly, 
'  without  word  spoken  or  leave  taken,  he  stole  away  from 
Stirling  and  fled  to  his  father.' 

1  Bedford  to  Cecil,  December  30 :  Scotch  MSS.  Molls  House. 
2  Deposition  of  Thomas  Crawford :  MS.  Ibid. 


1567.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARN  LEY.  499 

That  at  such  a  crisis  he  should  have  been  attacked 
by  a  sudden  and  dangerous  illness  was,  to  say  the  least 
of  it,  a  singular  coincidence.  A  few  miles  from  the 
castle  blue  spots  broke  out  over  his  body,  and  he  was 
carried  into  Glasgow  languid  and  drooping,  with  a 
disease  which  the  Court  and  the  friends  of  the  Court 
were  pleased  to  call  small -pox. 

There  for  a  time  he  lay,  his  father  absent,  himself 
hanging  between  life  and  death,  attended  only  by  a  few 
faithful  servants,  while  the  Queen  with  recovered  health 
and  spirits  spent  her  Christmas  with  Bothwell  at  Drum- 
mond  Castle  and  Tullibardine,  waiting  the  issue  of  the 
disease. 

Unfortunately  for  all  parties  concerned, 
the  King  after  a  few  days  was  reported  to  be 
slowly  recovering.  Either  the  natural  disorder  was  too 
weak  to  kill  him,  or  the  poison  had  failed  of  its  work. 
The  Queen  returned  to  Stirling :  the  favourite  rode 
south  to  receive  the  exiles  on  their  way  back  from  Eng- 
land. '  In  the  yard  of  the  hostelry  of  Whittingham/ 
Bothwell  and  Morton  met ;  and  Morton,  long  after — on 
the  eve  of  his  own  execution,  when  to  speak  the  truth 
might  do  him  service  where  he  was  going,  and  could  do 
him  no  hurt  in  this  world — thus  described  what  passed 
between  them  : — 

'  The  Earl  of  Bothwell/  said  Morton,  '  proposed  to 
me  the  purpose  of  the  King's  murder,  seeing  that  it 
was  the  Queen's  mind  that  he  should  be  taken  away, 
because  she  blamed  the  King  of  Davie's  slaughter  more 
than  me/ 


500  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

Morton  '  but  newly  come  from  one  trouble,  said  that 
he  was  in  no  haste  to  enter  into  a  new/  and  required  to 
be  assured  that  the  Queen  indeed  desired  it. 

Both  well  said  '  he  knew  what  was  in  the  Queen's 
mind,  and  she  would  have  it  done/ 

'  Bring  me  the  Queen's  hand  for  a  warrant/  Morton 
said  that  he  replied,  '  and  then  I  will  answer  you/ 1 

Rash  and  careless  as  Mary  Stuart's  passion  made 
her,  she  was  not  so  blind  to  prudence  as  to  commit  her 
signature  as  her  husband  had  done.  Bothwell  promised 
that  he  would  produce  an  order  from  her,  but  it  never 
came,  and  Morton  was  saved  from  further  share  in  the 
conspiracy. 

On  the  1 4th  of  January  the  Queen  brought  the 
Prince  to  Edinburgh ;  on  the  2oth  she  wrote  a  letter  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow  at  Paris  complaining  of  her 
husband's  behaviour  to  her,  while  the  poor  wretch  was 
still  lying  on  his  sick  bed ; 2  and  about  the  same  time 
she  was  rejoined  by  Bothwell  on  his  return  from  the 
Border.  So  far  the  story  can  be  traced  with  confidence. 
At  this  point  her  conduct  passes  into  the  debateable 
Iqnd^jyhere  herjriends  meet  those  who  condemn  her 
with  charges  of  falsehood  and  forgery.  The  evidence  is 
neither  conflicting  nor  insufficient :  the  dying  deposi- 
tions of  the  instruments  of  the  crime  taken  on  the  steps 
of  the  scaffold,  the  '  undesigned  coincidences '  between 
the  stories  of  many  separate  witnesses,  with  letters  which, 
after  the  keenest  inquiry,  were  declared  to  be  in  her 

The  Earl  of  Morton's  confession :  Illustrations  of  Scottish  History,  p.  494. 
2  The  Queen  of  Scots  to  the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  January  20  :  KEITH. 


1567.] 


THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY, 


501 


own  handwriting,  shed  a  light  upon  her  proceedings  as 
full  as  it  is  startling  ;  but  the  later  sufferings  of  Mary 
Stuart  have  surrounded  her  name  with  an  atmosphere 
of  tenderness,  and  half  the  world  has  preferred  to  be- 
lieve that  she  was  the  innocent  victim  of  a  hideous  con- 
spiracy. 

The  so-called  certainties  of  history  are  but  proba- 
bilities in  varying  degrees ;  and  when  witnesses  no 
longer  survive  to  be  cross- questioned,  those  readers  and 
writers  who  judge  of  truth  by  their  emotions  can  believe 
what  they  please.  To  assert  that  documents  were  forged, 
or  that  witnesses  were  tampered  with,  costs  them  no 
effort ;  they  are  spared  the  trouble  of  reflection  by  the 
ready-made  assurance  of  their  feelings. 

The  historian,  who  is  without  confidence  in  these 
easy  criteria  of  certainty,  can  but  try  his  evidence  by 
such  means  as  remain.  He  examines  what  is  doubtful 
by  the  light  of  what  is  established,  and  offers  at  last  the 
conclusions  at  which  his  own  mind  has  arrived,  not  as 
the  demonstrated  facts  either  of  logic  or  passion,  but  as 
something  which  after  a  survey  of  the  whole  case  ap- 
pears to  him  to  be  nearest  to  the  truth.1 


1  The  story  in  the  text  is  taken 
from  the  depositions  in  ANDERSON 
and  PITCAIBN  ;  from  the  deposition 
of  Crawford,  in  the  Rolls  House  ; 
and  from  the  celebrated  casket  letters 
of  Mary  Stuart  to  Bothwell.  The 
authenticity  of  these  letters  will  be 
discussed  in  a  future  volume  in  con- 
nection with  their  discovery,  and 
with  the  examination  of  them  which 


then  took  place.  Meantime  I  shall 
assume  the  genuineness  of  docu- 
ments, which,  without  turning  his- 
tQryjmto  .a. _niere_creation  pf_imagin- 
ative ^svjnjjathies^  I  do  not  feel  at 
liberty  to  doubt.  They  come  to  us 
after  having  passed  the  keenest 
scrutiny  both  in  England  and  Scot- 
land. The  handwriting  was  found 
to  resemble  so  exactly  that  of  the 


502 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


ICH.  45. 


The  Queen  then,  after  writing  the  letter  of  complaint 
against  her  husband  to  the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  sud- 
denly determined  to  visit  his  sick  bed.  On  Thursday 
the  23rd  of  January  she  set  out  for  Glasgow  attended 
by  her  lover.  They  spent  the  night  at  Callendar  toge- 
ther.1 In  the  morning  they  parted  ;  the  Earl  returned 
to  Edinburgh ;  Mary  Stuart  pursued  her  journey  at- 
tended by  Bothwell's  French  servant  Paris,  through 
whom  they  had  arranged  to  communicate. 

The  news  that  she  was  on  her  way  to  Glasgow  anti- 
cipated her  appearance  there.  Darnley  was  confined  to 
his  bed ;  Lennox,  who  suspected  mischief,  when  he  heard 
that  she  was  coming,  sent  a  gentleman,  named  Craw- 
ford, a  noble,  fearless  kind  of  person,  to  apologize  for 
his  inability  to  meet  her.  It  seems  that  after  hearing 
of  the  bond  at  Craigmillar  Darnley  had  written  some 
letter  to  her,  the  inconvenient  truths  of  which  had  been 
irritating  ;  and  she  had  used  certain  bitter  expressions 
about  him  which  had  been  carried  to  his  ears.  Both 


Queen  that  the  most  accomplished 
expert  could  detect  no  difference. 
One  of  the  letters  could  have  been 
invented  only  by  a  genius  equal  to 
that  of  Shakspeare  ;  and  that  one 
once  accomplished,  would  have  been 
so  overpoweringly  sufficient  for  its 
purpose  that  no  forger  would  have 
multiplied  the  chances  of  detection 
by  adding  the  rest.  The  inquiry  at 
the  time  appears  to  me  to  supersede 
authoritatively  all  later  conjectures. 
The  English  council,  among  whom 
were  many  friends  of  Mary  Stuart, 
had  the  French  originals  before 


them,  while  we  have  only  transla- 
tions, or  translations  of  translations. 
1  '  When  Bothwell  was  conduct- 
ing the  Queen  to  Glasgow,  where 
she  was  going  to  the  King,  at  Cal- 
lendar after  supper,  late,  Lady  Reres 
came  to  Bothwell's  room,  and  seeing 
me  there,  said,  'What  does  M.  Paris 
here  ? '  '  It  is  all  the  same,'  said  he, 
'  Paris  will  say  nothing.'  And  there- 
upon she  took  him  to  the  Queen's 
room.'  —  Examination  of  French 
Paris:  ANDERSON'S  Collection.  Paris 
was  Bothwell's  servant. 


1567-]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEV.  503 

father  and  son  believed  that  she  intended  to  be  revene-ed: 

o        ' 

and  Crawford  when  he  gave  his  message  did  not  con- 
ceal that  his  master  was  afraid  of  her. 

'  There  is  no  remedy  against  fear/  the  Queen  said 
shortly. 

'  Madam/  Crawford  answered,  *  I  know  so  far  of  my 
master  that  he  desires  nothing  more,  than  that  the  se- 
crets of  every  creature's  heart  were  writ  in  their  faces.' * 

Crawford's  suspicions  were  too  evident  to  be  con- 
cealed. The  Queen  did  not  like  them;  she  asked 
sharply  if  he  had  more  to  say ;  and  when  he  said  he 
had  discharged  his  commission,  she  bade  him  '  hold  his 
peace/ 

Lord  Darnley  had  made  some  use  of  his  illness ;  as 
he  lay  between  life  and  death  he  had  come  to  under- 
stand that  he  had  been  a  fool,  and  for  the  first  time  in 
his  life  had  been  thinking  seriously.  When  the  Queen 
entered  his  room  she  found  him  lying  on  his  couch, 
weak  and  unable  to  move.  Her  first  question  was  about 
his  letter ;  it  was  not  her  cue  to  irritate  him,  and  she 
seemed  to  expostulate  on  the  credulity  with  which  he 
had  listened  to  calumnies  against  her.  He  excused 
himself  faintly.  She  allowed  her  manner  to  relax,  and 
she  inquired  about  the  cause  of  his  illness. 

A  soft  word  unlocked  at  once  the  sluices  of  Darnley's 
heart ;  his  passion  gushed  out  uncontrolled,  and  with  a 
wild  appeal  he  threw  himself  on  his  wife's  forgiveness. 

'  You  are  the  cause  of  it/  he  said ;  '  it  comes  only 


1  Crawford's  deposition  :  MS.  Rolls  House. 


504 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[cu.  45. 


from  you  who  will  not  pardon  my  faults  when  I  am 
sorry  for  them.  I  have  done  wrong,  I  confess  it ;  but 
others  besides  me  have  done  wrong,  and  you  have  for- 
given them,  and  I  am  but  young.  You  have  forgiven 
me  often,  you  may  say  ;  but  may  not  a  man  of  my  age, 
for  want  of  counsel,  of  which  I  am  very  destitute,  fall 
twice  or  thrice  and  yet  repent  and  learn  from  experi- 
ence ?  Whatever  I  have  done  wrong  forgive  me ;  I 
will  do  so  110  more.  Take  me  back  to  you ;  let  me  be 
your  husband  again  or  may  I  never  rise  from  this  bed. 
Say  that  it  shall  be  so/  he  went  on  with  wild  eager- 
ness ;  '  God  knows  I  am  punished  for  making  my  God 
of  you — for  having  no  thought  but  of  you/ l 

He  was  flinging  himself  into  her  arms  as  readily  as 
she  could  hope  or  desire ;  but  she  was  afraid  of  exciting 
his  suspicions  by  being  too  complaisant.  She  answered 
kindly  that  she  was  sorry  to  see  him  so  unwell ;  and 
she  asked  him  again  why  he  had  thought  of  leaving  the 
country. 

He  said  that  '  he  had  never  really  meant  to  leave  it ; 
yet  had  it  been  so  there  was  reason  enough;  she  knew 
how  he  had  been  used.' 

She  went  back  to  the  bond  of  Craigmillar.  It  was 
necessary  for  her  to  learn,  who  had  betrayed  the  secret 
and  how  much  of  it  was  known. 

Weak  and  facile  as  usual,  Darnley  gave  up  the  name 
of  his  informant ;  it  was  the  Laird  of  Minto  ;  and  then 


1  Crawford's  deposition.  The  conversation  as  related  by  Darnley  to 
Crawford,  tallies  exactly  with  that  given  by  Mary  herself  to  Bothwell  in 
the  casket  letters. 


1567.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  505 

he  said  that  '  he  could  not  believe  that  she  who  was  his 
own  proper  flesh  would  do  him  harm  ; '  '  if  any  other 
would  do  it/  he  added  with  something  of  his  old  brava- 
do, '  they  should  buy  him  dear  unless  they  took  him 
sleeping.' 

Her  part  was  difficult  to  act.  As  she  seemed  so  kind 
he  begged  that  she  would  give  him  his  food ;  he  even 
wished  to  kiss  her,  and  his  breath  after  his  illness  was 
not  pleasant.  '  It  almost  killed  me/  she  wrote  to  Both- 
well,  '  though  I  sat  as  far  from  him  as  the  bed  would 
allow  :  he  is  more  gay  than  ever  you  saw  him ;  in  fact 
he  makes  love  to  me,  of  the  which  I  take  so  great  plea- 
sure that  I  enter  never  where  he  is  but  incontinent  I 
take  the  sickness  of  my  sore  side  which  I  am  so  troubled 
with/1 

When  she  attempted  to  leave  the  room  he  implored 
her  to  stay  with  him.  He  had  been  told,  he  said,  that 
she  had  brought  a  litter  with  her ;  did  she  mean  to  take 
him  away  ? 

She  said  she  thought  the  air  of  Craigmillar  would 
do  him  good  ;  and  as  he  could  not  sit  on  horseback  she 
had  contrived  a  means  by  which  he  could  be  carried. 

The  name  of  Craigmillar  had  an  ominous  sound. 
The  words  were  kind,  but  there  was  perhaps  some  odd 
glitter  of  the  eyes  not  wholly  satisfactory. 

He  answered  that  if  she  would  promise  him  on  her 
honour  to  live  with  him  as  his  wife  and  not  to  leave 
him  any  more,  he  would  go  with  her  to  the  world's  end, 


Mary  Stuart  to  Bothwell :  ANDERSON'S  Collection 


$06  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [cli.  4$. 

and  care  for  nothing ;  if  not  he  would  stay  where  he 
was. 

It  was  for  that  purpose,  she  said  tenderly,  that  she 
had  come  to  Glasgow ;  the  separation  had  injured  both 
of  them,  and  it  was  time  that  it  should  end ;  '  and  so 
she  granted  his  desire  and  promised  it  should  be  as  he 
had  spoken,  and  thereupon  gave  him  her  hand  and  faith 
of  her  body  that  she  would  love  him  and  use  him  as  her 
husband  ; '  she  would  wait  only  till  his  health  was  re- 
stored ;  he  should  use  cold  baths  at  Craigmillar,  and 
then  all  should  be  well. 

Again  she  returned  to  his  letter ;  she  was  still  un- 
easy about  his  knowledge  of  the  bond,  and  she  asked 
whether  he  had  any  particular  fear  of  either  of  the 
noblemen.  He  had  injured  Maitland  most,  and  he 
shivered  when  she  named  him.  He  felt  but  too  surely 
with  what  indifference  Maitland  would  set  his  heel  on 
such  a  worm  as  he  was. 

She  spoke  of  Lady  Reres,  BothwelFs  evil  friend. 
Darnley  knew  what  that  woman  had  been  and  suspected 
what  she  might  be.  He  said  he  liked  her  not,  and 
wished  to  God  she  might  serve  the  Queen  to  her 
honour  ;  but  he  would  believe  her  promise,  he  would  do 
all  that  she  would  have  him  do,  and  would  love  all  that 
she  loved. 

She  had  gained  her  point ;  he  would  go  with  her, 
and  that  was  all  she  wanted.  A  slight  cloud  rose  be- 
tween them  before  she  left  the  room.  He  was  impatient 
at  her  going,  and  complained  that  she  would  not  stay 
with  him :  she  on  her  part  said  that  he  must  keep  her 


1567.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  50? 

promise  secret ;  the  lords  would  be  suspicious  of  their 
agreement,  and  must  not  know  of  it. 

He  did  not  like  the  mention  of  the  lords ;  the  lords, 
he  said,  had  no  right  to  interfere  ;  he  would  never  ex- 
cite the  lords  against  her,  and  she  he  trusted  would  not 
again  make  a  party  against  him. 

She  said  that  their  past  disagreements  had  been  no 
fault  of  hers.  He  and  he  alone  was  to  blame  for  all 
that  had  gone  wrong. 

"With  these  words  she  left  him.  Mary  Stuart  was 
an  admirable  actress  ;  rarely  perhaps  on  the  world's 
stage  has  there  been  a  more  skilful  player.  But  the 
game  was  a  difficult  one  ;  she  had  still  some  natural 
compunction,  and  the  performance  was  not  quite  per-/ 
feet. 

Darnley,  perplexed  between  hope  and  fear,  affec- 
tion and  misgiving,  sent  for  Crawford.  He  related 
the  conversation  which  had  passed,  so  far  as  he  could 
recollect  it,  word  for  word,  and  asked  him  what  he 
thought. 

Crawford,  unblinded  by  passion,  answered  at  once 
'  that  he  liked  it  not ; '  if  the  Queen  wished  to  have 
him  living  with  her,  why  did  she  not  take  him  to 
Holyrood  ?  Craigmillar — a  remote  and  lonely  country 
house — was  no  proper  place  for  him ;  if  he  went 
with  her  he  would  go  rather  as  her  prisoner  than  her 
husband. 

Darnley  answered  that  he  thought  little  less  himself; 
he  had  but  her  promise  to  trust  to,  and  he  feared  what 
she  might  mean  ;  he  had  resolved  to  go  however  ;  '  he 


508  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.45. 

would  trust  himself  in  her  hands  though  she  should  cut 
his  throat/  l 

And  Mary,  what  was  her  occupation  after  parting 
thus  from  her  husband  ?  Late  into  the  night  she  sat 
writing  an  account  of  that  day's  business  to  her  lover, 
1  with  whom/  as  she  said,  '  she  had  left  her  heart.' 
She  told  him  of  her  meeting  with  Crawford,  and  of 
her  coming  to  the  King ;  she  related,  with  but  slight 
verbal  variations,  Darnley's  passionate  appeal  to  her,  as 
Darnley  himself  had  told  it  to  his  friend. 

'I  pretend/  she  wrote,  'that  I  believe  what  he 
says  ;  you  never  saw  him  better  or  heard  him  speak 
more  humbly.  If  I  did  not  know  his  heart  was  wax, 
and  mine  a  diamond  whereinto  no  shot  can  enter  but 
that  which  comes  from  your  hand,  I  could  almost  have 
had  pity  on  him  ;  but  fear  not,  the  plan  shall  hold  to 
the  death/ 

If  Mary  Stuart  was  troubled  with  a  husband,  Both- 
well  was  inconvenienced  equally  with  a  wife. 

'  Hemember  in  return/  she  continued,  '  that  you 
suffer  not  yourself  to  be  won  by  that  false  mistress  of 
yours,  who  will  travel  no  less  with  you  for  the  same ;  I 
believe  they  learnt  their  lesson  together.  He  has  ever 
a  tear  in  his  eye.  He  desires  I  should  feed  him  with 
my  own  hands.  I  am  doing  what  I  hate.  Would  you 
not  laugh  to  see  me  lie  so  well  and  dissemble  so  well: 
and  tell  truth  betwixt  my  hands  ?  We  are  coupled 
with  two  bad  companions.  The  devil  sunder  us,  and 


Crawford's  deposition  :  Scotch  MSS.  Eolls  House. 


1567-]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.  509 

God  knit  us  together  to  be  the  most  faithful  couple  that 
ever  he  united.  This  is  my  faith — I  will  die  in  it.  I 
am  writing  to  you  while  the  rest  are  sleeping,  since  I 
cannot  sleep  as  they  do,  and  as  I  would  desire — that  is, 
in  your  arms,  my  dear  love  ;  whom  I  pray  God  pre- 
serve from  all  evil  and  send  you  repose/ 

Without  much  moral  scrupulousness  about  her, 
Mary  Stuart  had  still  feelings  which  answer  to  a  loose 
man's  '  sense  of  honour.' 

'I  must  go  forward/  she  said,  'with  my  odious 
purpose.  You  make  me  dissemble  so  far  that  I  abhor 
it,  and  you  cause  me  to  do  the  office  of  a  traitress.  If 
it  were  not  to  obey  you  I  had  rather  die  than  do  it ;  my 
heart  bleeds  at  it.  He  will  not  come  with  me  except  I 
promise  him  that  I  shall  be  with  him  as  before,  and 
doing  this  he  will  do  all  I  please  and  come  with  me. 
To  make  him  trust  me  I  had  to  fence  in  some  things 
with  him  ;  so  when  he  asked  that  when  he  was  well  we 
should  both  have  but  one  bed,  I  said  that  if  he  changed 
not  purpose  between  now  and  then  it  should  be  so  ;  but 
in  the  mean  time  I  bade  him  take  care  that  he  let  no- 
body know  of  it,  because  the  lords  would  fear  if  we 
agreed  together,  he  would  make  them  feel  the  small  ac- 
count they  made  of  him.  In  fine,  he  will  go  anywhere 
that  I  ask  him.  Alas  !  I  never  deceived  anybody ;  but 
I  remit  me  altogether  to  your  pleasure.  Send  me  word 
what  to  do  and  I  will  do  it.  Consider  whether  you 
can  contrive  anything  more  secret  by  medicine.  He  is 
to  take  medicine  and  baths  at  Craigmillar.  He  suspects 
greatly,  and  yet  he  trusts  me.  I  am  sorry  to  hurt  any 


«;io  REIGN"  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

one  that  depends  on  me ;  yet  you  may  command  me  in 
all  things.  About  Lady  Reres,  he  said,  I  pray  God  she 
may  serve  you  to  your  honour.  He  suspects  the  thing 
you  know,  and  of  his  life ;  but  as  to  the  last,  when  I 
speak  two  or  three  kind  words  he  is  happy  and  out  of 
doubt.  Burn  this  letter,  for  it  is  dangerous  and  nothing 
well  said  in  it.' 

Then  following  the  ebb  and  flow  of  her  emotions  to 
that  strange  point  where  the  criminal  passion  of  a 
woman  becomes  almost  virtue  in  its  utter  self-abandon- 
ment, she  appealed  to  Bothwell  not  to  despise  her  for 
the  treachery  to  which  for  his  sake  she  was  con- 
descending. 

'  Have  no  evil  opinion  of  me  for  this/  she  con- 
cluded ;  '  you  yourself  are  the  cause  of  it ;  for  my  own 
private  revenge  I  would  not  do  it  to  him.  Seeing,  then, 
that  to  obey  you,  my  dear  love,  I  spare  neither  honour, 
conscience,  hazard,  nor  greatness,  take  it  I  pray  you  in 
good  part.  Look  not  at  that  woman  whose  false  tears 
should  not  be  so  much  regarded  as  the  true  and  faithful 
labour  which  I  am  bearing  to  deserve  her  place  ;  to  ob- 
tain which — against  my  nature — I  betray  those  that  may 
hinder  me.  God  forgive  me,  and  God  give  you,  my 
only  love,  the  happiness  and  prosperity  which  your 
humble  and  faithful  friend  desires  for  you.  She  hopes 
soon  to  be  another  thing  to  you.  It  is  late.  I  could 
write  to  you  for  ever  ;  yet  now  I  will  kiss  your  hand 
and  end/1 


Mary  Stuart  to  Bothwell :  ANDERSON'S  Collection. 


1567.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEV.  51! 

With  these  thoughts  in  her  mind  Mary  Stuart, 
Queen  of  Scotland,  lay  down  upon  her  bed — to  sleep, 
doubtless — sleep  with  the  soft  tranquillity  of  an  innocent 
child.  Remorse  may  disturb  the  slumbers  of  the  man 
who  is  dabbling  with  his  first  experiences  of  wrong. 
When  the  pleasure  has  been  tasted  and  is  gone,  and 
nothing  is  left  of  the  crime  but  the  ruin  which  it  has 
wrought,  then  too  the  Furies  take  their  seats  upon  the 
midnight  pillow.  But  the  meridian  of  evil  is  for  the 
most  part  left  unvexed ;  and  when  human  creatures  have 
chosen  their  road  they  are  let  alone  to  follow  it  to  the  end. 

The  next  morning  the  Queen  added  a  few  closing 
words : 

*  If  in  the  mean  time  I  hear  nothing  to  the  contrary, 
according  to  my  commission  I  will  bring  the  man  to 
Craigmillar  on  Monday — where  he  will  be  all  Wednes- 
day— and  I  will  go  to  Edinburgh  to  draw  blood  of  me. 
Provide  for  all  things  and  discourse  upon  it  first  with 
yourself/ 

This  letter  and  another  to  Maitland  she  gave  in 
charge  to  Paris  to  take  to  Edinburgh.  In  delivering 
them  she  bade  him  tell  Bothwell  that  she  had  prevented 
the  King  from  kissing  her,  as  Lady  Reres  could  wit- 
ness ;  and  she  told  him  to  ask  Maitland  whether  Craig- 
millar was  to  be  the  place,  or  whether  they  had  changed 
their  plan.  They  would  give  him  answers  with  which 
he  would  come  back  to  her  immediately.  She  would 
herself  wait  at  Glasgow  with  the  King  till  his  return. 

Paris,  after  being  a  day  upon  the  road,  reached  Edin- 
burgh with  his  despatches  on  the  night  of  Saturday  the 


512  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

25th.  On  going  to  Bothwell's  room  the  next  morning 
he  found  the  Earl  absent,  and  a  servant  directed  him 
to  a  house  belonging  to  Sir  Robert  Balfour,  brother  of 
James  Balfour  who  signed  the  Craigmillar  bond. 

St  Mary's-in-the-Fields,  called  commonly  Kirk-a- 
Field,  was  a  roofless  and  ruined  church,  standing  just 
inside  the  old  town  walls  of  Edinburgh,  at  the  north- 
western corner  of  the  present  College.  Adjoining  it 
there  stood  a  quadrangular  building  which  had  at  one 
time  belonged  to  the  Dominican  monks.  The  north 
front  was  built  along  the  edge  of  the  slope  which  descends 
to  the  Cowgate ;  the  south  side  contained  a  low  range 
of  unoccupied  rooms  which  had  been  ' priests'  chambers;' 
the  east  consisted  of  offices  and  servants'  rooms;  the 
principal  apartments  in  the  dwelling  into  which,  the 
place  had  been  converted  were  in  the  western  wing, 
which  completed  the  square.  Under  the  windows  there 
was  a  narrow  strip  of  grass-plat  dividing  the  house  from 
the  town  wall ;  and  outside  the  wall  were  gardens  into 
which  there  was  an  opening  through  the  cellars  by  an 
underground  passage.  The  principal  gateway  faced 
north  and  led  direct  into  the  quadrangle. 

Here  it  was  that  Paris  found  Both  well  with  Sir 
James  Balfour.  He  delivered  his  letter  and  gave  his 
message.  The  Earl  wrote  a  few  words  in  reply.  '  Com- 
mend me  to  the  Queen/  he  said  as  he  gave  the  note,  '  and 
tell  her  that  all  will  go  well.  Say  that  Balfour  and  I 
have  not  slept  all  night,  that  everything  is  arranged, 
and  that  the  King's  lodgings  are  ready  for  him.  I  have 
sent  her  a  diamond.  You  may  say  I  would  send  my 


1567.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY  513 

heart  too  were  it  in  my  power — but  she  has  it  already.' 

A  few  more  words  passed,  and  from  Bothwell  Paris 
went  to  Maitland,  who  also  wrote  a  brief  answer.  To  the 
verbal  question  he  answered,  '  Tell  her  Majesty  to  take 
the  King  to  Kirk-a-Field ; '  and  with  these  replies  the 
messenger  rode  back  through  the  night  to  his  mistress. 

She  was  not  up  when  he  arrived ;  her  impatience 
could  not  rest  till  she  was  dressed,  and  she  received 
him  in  bed.  He  gave  his  letters  and  his  message.  She 
asked  if  there  was  anything  further.  He  answered  that 
Bothwell  bade  him  say  '  he  would  have  no  rest  till  he 
had  accomplished  their  enterprise,  and  that  for  love  of  her 
he  would  train  a  pike  all  his  life.'  The  Queen  laughed. 
'  Please  God/  she  said,  '  it  shall  not  come  to  that.' l 

A  few  hours  later  she  was  on  the  road  with  her 
victim.  He  could  be  moved  but  slowly.  She  was 
obliged  to  rest  with  him  two  days  at  Linlithgow;  and  it 
was  not  till  the  3oth  that  she  was  able  to  bring  him  to 
Edinburgh.  As  yet  he  knew  nothing  of  the  change  of 
his  destination,  and  supposed  that  he  was  going  on  to 
Craigmillar.  Bothwell  however  met  the  cavalcade  out- 
side the  gates  and  took  charge  of  it.  No  attention  was 
paid  either  to  the  exclamation  or  remonstrance;  Darn- 
ley  was  informed  that  the  Kirk-a-Field  house  was 
most  convenient  for  him,  and  to  Kirk-a-Field  he  was 
conducted. 

*  The  lodgings '  prepared  for  him  were  in  the  west 
wing,  which  was  divided  from  the  rest  of  the  house  by  a 


1  Examination  of  Paris  :  PITCAIRN'S  Criminal  Trials,  vol.  i. 
VOL.  vn.  33 


5 1 4  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  45. 

large  door  at  the  foot  of  the  staircase.  A  passage  ran 
along  the  ground  floor  from  which  a  room  opened  which 
had  been  fitted  up  for  the  Queen.  At  the  head  of  the 
stairs  a  similar  passage  led  first  to  the  King's  room — • 
which  was  immediately  over  that  of  the  Queen — and 
further  on  to  closets  and  rooms  for  the  servants. 

Here  it  was  that  Darnley  was  established  during  the 
last  hours  which  he  was  to  know  on  earth.  The  keys  of 
the  doors  were  given  ostentatiously  to  his  groom  of  the 
chamber,  Thomas  Nelson ;  the  Earl  of  Bothwell  being 
already  in  possession  of  duplicates.  The  door  from  the 
cellar  into  the  garden  had  no  lock,  but  the  servants  were 
told  that  it  could  be  secured  with  bolts  from  within. 
The  rooms  themselves  had  been  comfortably  furnished,, 
and  a  handsome  bed  had  been  set  up  for  the  King  with 
new  hangings  of  black  velvet.  The  Queen  however 
seemed  to  think  that  they  would  be  injured  by  the 
splashing  from  Darnley's  bath,  and  desired  that  they 
might  be  taken  down  and  changed.  Being  a  person  of 
ready  expedients  too  she  suggested  that  the  door  at  i\i& 
bottom  of  the  staircase  was  not  required  for  protection. 
She  had  it  taken  down  and  turned  into  a  cover  for  the 
bath- vat ;  '  so  that  there  was  nothing  left  to  stop  the- 
passage  into  the  said  chamber  but  only  the  portal  door.'1 

After  this  little  attention  she  left  her  husband  in 
possession ;  she  intended  herself  to  sleep  from  time  to- 
time  there,  but  her  own  room  was  not  yet  ready. 

The  further  plan  was  still  unsettled.    Bothwell's  first 


1  Examination  of  Thomas  Nelso  '  :  PITCAIRN. 


'567-J 


THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY. 


515 


notion  was  to  tempt  Darnley  out  into  the  country  some 
sunny  day  for  exercise  and  then  to  kill  him.  But  '  this 
purpose  was  changed  because  it  would  be  known  ; ' l  and 
was  perhaps  abandoned  with  the  alteration  of  the  place 
from  Craigmillar. 

The  Queen  meanwhile  spent  her  days  at  her  hus- 
band's side,  watching  over  his  convalescence  with  seem- 
ingly anxious  affection,  and  returning  only  to  sleep  at 
Holy  rood.  In  the  starry  evenings,  though  it  was  mid- 
winter, she  would  go  out  into  the  garden  with  Lady 
Reres,  and  '  there  sing  and  use  pastime/ 2  After  a  few 
days  her  apartment  at  Kirk-a-Field  was  made  habitable ; 
a  bed  was  set  up  there  in  which  she  could  sleep,  and 
particular  directions  were  given  as  to  the  part  of  the 
room  where  it  was  to  stand.  Paris  through  some  mis- 
take misplaced  it.  '  Fool  that  you  are/  the  Queen 
said  to  him  when  she  saw  it,  *  the  bed  is  not  to  stand 
there  ;  move  it  yonder  to  the  other  side.' 3  She  perhaps 
meant  nothing,  but  the  words  afterwards  seemed  omin- 
ously significant.  A  powder  barrel  was  to  be  lighted 
in  that  room  to  blow  the  house  and  every  one  in  it  into 
the  air.  They  had  placed  the  bed  on  the  spot  where  the 
powder  was  to  stand,  immediately  below  the  bed  of  the 
King. 

Whatever  she  meant,  she  contrived  when  it  was 
moved  to  pass  two  nights  there.  The  object  was  to 


1  Hepburn's    confession  :     AN- 
DERSON. 

2  Depositions   of  Thomas  Nel- 
son :  PITCAIRN. 


3  '  Sot  que  tu  es,  je  ne  veulx  pas 
que  mon  lit  soyt  en  cest  endroyt  la, 
et  dn  fait  le  feist  oster.'--  Examina- 
tion of  Paris :  PITCAIRN, 


5i6 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[«•»•  45- 


February. 


make  it  appear  as  if  in  what  was  to  follow  her  own  life 
had  been  aimed  at  as  well  as  her  husband's.  Wednes- 
day, the  5th,  she  slept  there,  and  Friday,  the 
7th,  and  then  her  penance  was  almost  over, 
for  on  Saturday  the  thing  was  to  have  been  done. 

Among  the  wild  youths  who  followed  Both  well's 
fortunes  three  were  found  who  consented  to  be  the  in- 
struments— young  Hay  the  Laird  of  Tallo,  Hepburn  of 
Bolton,  and  the  Laird  of  Ormeston — gentlemen  retainers 
of  Bothwell's  house,  and  ready  for  any  desperate  ad- 
venture.1 Delay  only  created  a  risk  of  discovery,  and 
the  Earl  on  Friday  arranged  his  plans  for  the  night 
ensuing.2 

It  seems  however  that  at  the  last  moment  there 
was  an  impression  either  that  the  powder  might  fail  or 
that  Darnley  could  be  more  conveniently  killed  in  a 
scuffle  with  an  appearance  of  accident.  Lord  Robert 
Stuart,  Abbot  of  St  Cross,  one  of  James  the  Fifth's  wild 
brood  of  children  whom  the  church  had  provided  with 
land  and  title,  had  shared  in  past  times  in  the  King's 
riots,  and  retaining  some  regard  for  :dm  had  warned 
the  poor  creature  to  be  on  his  guard.  Darnley,  making 
love  to  destruction,  told  the  Queen ;  and  Stuart,  know- 


1  Hepburn  on  his  trial  said  tbat 
when  Bothwell  first  proposed  the 
murder  to  him,  '  he  answered  it  was 
an  evil  purpose,  but  because  he  was 
servant  to  his  Lordship  he  would  do 
as  the  rest.'  So  also  said  Hay  and 
Ormeston.  Paris,  according  to  his 
own  story,  was  alike  afraid  to  refuse 
>and  to  consent.  Bothwell  told  him 


the  lords  were  all  agreed.  He  asked 
what  Murray  said.  '  Murray,  Mur- 
ray ! '  said  the  Earl,  '  il  ne  se  veult 
n'ayder  ni  nuyre,  mais  c'est  tout 
ung.'  '  Monsieur,'  Paris  replied,  '  il 
est  sage.' — Examination  of  Paris  : 

PiTCAIRN. 

2  Examination  of  Hay  of  Tallo : 
ANDERSON. 


1567.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY.'  517 

ing  that  his  own  life  might  pay  the  forfeit  of  his  in- 
terference, either  received  a  hint  that  he  might  buy  his 
pardon  by  doing  the  work  himself,  or  else  denied  his 
words  and  offered  to  make  the  King  maintain  them  at 
the  sword's  point.  A  duel,  could  it  be  managed,  would 
remove  all  difficulty;  and  Bothwell  would  take  care 
how  it  should  end. 

Something  of  this  kind  was  in  contemplation  on  the 
Saturday  night,  and  the  explosion  was  deferred  in  con- 
eequence.  The  Queen  that  evening  at  Holyrood  bade 
Paris  tell  Bothwell  '  that  the  Abbot  of  St  Cross  should 
go  to  the  King's  room  and  do  what  the  Earl  knew  of.' 
Paris  carried  the  message,  and  Bothwell  answered, 
'  Tell  the  Queen  that  I  will  speak  to  St  Cross  and  then 
I  will  see  her/  1 

But  this  too  came  to  nothing.  Lord  Robert  went, 
and  angry  words,  according  to  some  accounts,  were  ex- 
changed between  him  and  Darnley ;  but  a  sick  man  un- 
able to  leave  his  couch  was  in  no  condition  to  cross  swords; 
and  for  one  more  night  he  was  permitted  to  survive. 

So  at  last  came  Sunday,  eleven  months  exactly  from 
the  day  of  Rizzio's  murder ;  and  Mary  Stuart's  words, 
that  she  would  never  rest  till  that  dark  business  was 
revenged,  were  about  to  be  fulfilled.  The  Earl  of 
Murray,  knowing  perhaps  what  was  coming,  yet  unable 
to  interfere,  had  been  long  waiting  for  an  opportunity 
to  leave  Edinburgh.  Early  that  morning  he 
wrote  to  his  sister  to  say  that  Lady  Murray 


Examination  of  Paris :  ANDERSON. 


5i8  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  45. 

was  ill  at  St  Andrew's,  and  that  she  wished  him  to  join 
her;  the  Queen  with  some  reluctance  gave  him  leave  to 
go. 

It  was  a  high  day  at  the  Court :  Sebastian,  one  of 
the  musicians,  was  married  in  the  afternoon  to  Mar- 
garet Cawood,  Mary  Stuart's  favourite  waiting-woman. 
When  the  service  was  over,  the  Queen  took  an  early 
supper  with  the  Bishop  of  Argyle,  and  afterwards,  ac- 
companied by  Cassilis,  Huntly,  and  the  Earl  of  Argyle, 
she  went  as  usual  to  spend  the  evening  with  her  hus- 
band, and  professed  to  intend  to  stay  the  night  with  him. 
The  hours  passed  on.  She  was  more  than  commonly 
tender ;  and  Darnley,  absorbed  in  her  caresses,  paid  no 
attention  to  sounds  in  the  room  below  him,  which  had 
lie  heard  them  might  have  disturbed  his  enjoyment. 

At  ten  o'clock  that  night  two  servants  of  Bothwell, 
Powrie  and  Patrick  Wilson,  came  by  order  to  the  Earl's 
apartments  in  Holyrood.  Hepburn,  who  was  waiting 
there,  pointed  to  a  heap  of  leather  bags  and  trunks 
upon  the  floor,  which  he  bade  them  carry  to  the  gate  of 
the  gardens  at  the  back  of  Kirk-a-Field.  They  threw  the 
load  on  a  pair  of  pack-horses  and  led  the  way  in  the  dark 
as  they  were  told;  Hepburn  himself  went  with  them,  and 
at  the  gate  they  found  Bothwell,  with  Hay,  Ormeston, 
and  another  person,  muffled  in  their  cloaks.  The 
horses  were  left  standing  in  the  lane.  The  six  men 
silently  took  the  bags  on  their  shoulders  and  carried 
them  to  the  postern  door  which  led  through  the  town 
wall.  Bothwell  then  went  in  to  join  the  Queen,  and 
told  the  rest  to  make  haste  with  their  work  and  finish 


1567.]  ThE  MURDER  OF  DARNLE  Y.  519 

it  before  the  Queen  should  go.  Powrie  and  Wilson 
were  dismissed ;  Hepburn  and  the  three  others  dragged 
the  bags  through  the  cellar  into  Mary  Stuart's  room. 
They  had  intended  to  put  the  powder  into  a  cask,  but 
the  door  was  too  narrow,  so  they  carried  it  as  it  was  and 
poured  it  out  in  a  heap  upon  the  floor. 

They  blundered  in  the  darkness.  Bothwell,  who 
was  listening  in  the  room  above,  heard  them  stumbling 
at  their  work,  and  stole  down  to  warn  them  to  be  silent ; 
but  by  that  time  all  was  in  its  place.  The  dark  mass 
in  which  the  fire-spirit  lay  imprisoned  rose  dimly  from 
the  ground ;  the  match  was  in  its  place,  and  the  Earl 
glided  back  to  the  Queen's  side. 

It  was  now  past  midnight.  Hay  and  Hepburn 
were  to  remain  with  the  powder  alone.  'You  know 
what  you  have  to  do/  Ormeston  whispered ;  '  when  all 
is  quiet  above,  you  fire  the  end  of  the  lint  and  come 
away/ 

With  these  words  Ormeston  passed  stealthily  into 
the  garden.  Paris,  who  had  been  assisting  in  the  ar- 
rangement, went  upstairs  to  the  King's  room,  and  his 
appearance  was  the  signal  concerted  beforehand  for  the 
party  to  break  up.  Bothwell  whispered  a  few  words  in 
Ar gyle's  ear  ;  Argyle  touched  Paris  on  the  back  signi- 
ficantly :  there  was  a  pause — the  length  of  a  Paternos- 
ter 1 — when  the  Queen  suddenly  recollected  that  there 
was  a  masque  and  a  dance  at  the  Palace  on  the  occasion 
of  the  marriage,  and  that  she  had  promised  to  be  present. 


1  Examination  of  Paris :  PITCAIRN. 


520 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  45. 


She  rose,  and  with,  many  regrets  that  she  could  not 
stay  as  she  intended,  kissed  her  husband,  put  a  ring  on 
his  finger,  wished  him  good  night,  and  went.  The 
lords  followed  her.  As  she  left  the  room,  she  said  as  if 
by  accident,  'It  was  just  this  time  last  year  that  Riz- 
zio  was  slain/  l 

In  a  few  moments  the  gay  train  was  gone.  The 
Queen  walked  back  to  the  glittering  halls  in  Holyrood ; 
Darnley  was  left  alone  with  his  page,  Taylor,  who  slept 
in  his  room,  and  his  two  servants,  Nelson  and  Edward 
Seymour.  Below  in  the  darkness,  Bothwell's  two  fol- 
lowers shivered  beside  the  powder  heap,  and  listened 
with  hushed  breath  till  all  was  still. 

The  King,  though  it  was  late,  was  in  no  mood  for 
sleep,  and  Mary's  last  words  sounded  awfully  in  hia 
ears.  As  soon  as  she  was  gone  he  went  over  '  her  many 
speeches/  he  spoke  of  her  soft  words  and  her  caresses 
which  had  seemed  sincere,  '  but  the  mention  of  Davie's. 
slaughter  marred  all  his  pleasure/  " 

'  What  will  she  do  ? '  said  he,  '  it  is  very  lonely/ 
The  snadow  of  death  was  creeping  over  him ;  he  was  no 
)onger  the  random  boy  who  two  years  before  had  come 
to  Scotland  filled  with  idle  dreams  of  vain  ambition. 
Sorrow,  suffering,  disease,  and  fear  had  done  their  work. 
That  night,  before  or  after  the  Queen's  visit,  he  was  said 
to  have  opened  the  Prayer-book,  and  to  have  read  over 
the  55th  Psalm,3  which  by  a  strange  coincidence  was 


1  [BUCHANAN:  History  of  Scot- 
land.] 

2  [CALDEUWOOD,  vol.  ii.  p.  344.] 


5  [Sir  William  Drury,  the  au- 
thority for  this  statement,  says  that 
'  he  went  over  the  55th  Psalm  a  few 


I56/.]  THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLE.Y.  521 

iii  tlie  English  service  for  the  day  that  was  dawning. 

True  or  false,  such  was  the  tale  at  the  time  ;  and  the 
words  have  a  terrible  appropriateness. 

'  Hear  my  prayer,  0  Lord,  and  hide  not  thyself 
from  my  petition. 

'  My  heart  is  disquieted  within  me,  and  the  fear  of 
death  is  fallen  upon  me. 

'  Fearfulness  and  trembling  are  come  upon  me,  and 
an  horrible  dread  hath  overwhelmed  me. 

'It  is  not  an  open  enemy  that  hath  done  me  this 
dishonour,  for  then  I  could  have  borne  it. 

'  It  was  even  thou,  my  companion,  my  guide,  and 
my  own  familiar  friend/ 

Forlorn  victim  of  a  cruel  age  !  Twenty-one  years 
old — no  more.  At  the  end  of  an  hour  he  went  to  bed, 
with  his  page  at  his  side.  An  hour  later  they  two  were 
lying  dead  in  the  garden  beyond  the  wall. 

The  exact  facts  of  the  murder  were  never  known — 
only  at  two  o'clock  that  Monday  morning,  a  '  crack  * 
was  heard  which  made  the  drowsy  citizens  of  Edinburgh 
turn  in  their  sleep,  and  brought  down  all  that  side  of 
Balfour's  house  of  Kirk-a-Field  in  a  confused  heap  of 
dust  and  ruin.  Nelson,  the  sole  survivor,  went  to  bed 
and  slept  when  he  left  his  master,  and  '  knew  nothing 
till  he  found  the  house  falling  about  him  ; '  Edward 
Seymour  was  blown  in  pieces;  but  Darnley  and  his 
page  were  found  forty  yards  away  under  a  tree,  with 


hours  before  his  death.' — Drury  to  Cecil,  March    1567  :    Border  MSS. 

Rdls  House.'] 


522 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  45- 


1  no  sign  of  fire  on  them/  and  with  their  clothes  scat- 
tered at  their  side. 

Some  said  that  they  were  smothered  in  their  sleep ; 
some  that  they  were  taken  down  into  a  stable  and 
'  wirried ; '  some  that  t  hearing  the  keys  grate  in  the 
doors  below  them,  they  started  from  their  beds  and 
were  flying  down  the  stairs,  when  they  were  caught 
and  strangled.'  Hay  and  Hepburn  told  one  consistent 
story  to  the  foot  of  the  scaffold: — When  the  voices 
were  silent  overhead  they  lit  the  match  and  fled,  lock- 
ing the  doors  behind  them.  In  the  garden  they  found 
Both  well  watching  with  his  friends,  and  they  waited 
there  till  the  house  blew  up,  when  they  made  off  and 
saw  no  more.  It  was  thought  however  that  in  dread  of 
torture  they  left  the  whole  dark  truth  untold  ;  and  over 
the  events  of  that  night  a  horrible  mist  still  hangs  un- 
penetrated  and  unpenetrable  for  ever. 

This  only  was  certain,  that  with  her  husband  Mary 
Stuart's  chances  of  the  English  throne  perished  also, 
andjwith  them  all_serious  prospect  of  a  Catholic  revolu- 
tion. With  a  deadly  instinct  the  world  divined  the 
author  of  the  murder  ;  and  more  than  one  nobleman,  on 
the  night  on  which  the  news  reached  London,  hastened 
to  transfer  his  allegiance  to  Lady  Catherine  Grey.1 

The  faithful  Melville  hurried  up  to  defend  his  mis- 
tress— but  to  the  anxious  questions  of  de  Silva,  though 
he  called  her  innocent,  he  gave  confused  answers.2 


1  DC  Silva  to  Philip,  February 
1 7  '.  MS.  Simancas. 

2  «  Aunque  este  salv6  a  la  Reyna, 


veo  le  algo  confuso.'— DC  Silva  to 
Philip,  February  22  :  MS.  Ibid. 


1567-1 


THE  MURDER  OF  DARNLEY. 


523 


Match. 


'  Lady  Lennox  demands  vengeance  upon  the  Queen  of 
Scots/  de  Silva  said ;  *  nor  is  Lady  Lennox  alone  in  the 
belief  of  her  guilt ;  they  say  it  is  revenge  for  the 
Italian  secretary.  The  heretics  denounce  her  with  one 
voice  ;  the  Catholics  are  divided ;  her  own  friends  ac- 
quit her;  the  connections  of  the  King  cry  out  upon 
her  without  exception/  1 

On  the  ist  of  March,  Moret,  the  Duke  of 
Savoy's  ambassador  at  the  Scotch  Court, 
passed  through  London  on  his  way  to  the  Continent. 
He  had  been  in  Edinburgh  at  the  time  of  the  murder  ; 
and  de  Silva  turned  to  him  for  comfort.  But  Moret 
had  no  comfort  to  give.  *  I  pressed  him/  said  de  Silva, 
*  to  tell  me  whether  he  thought  the  Queen  was  inno- 
cent ;  he  did  not  condemn  her  in  words,  but  he  said 
nothing  in  her  favour ; ' 2  '  the  spirits  of  the  Catholics 
are  broken  ; 3  should  it  turn  out  that  she  is  guilty,  her 
party  in  England  is  gone,  and  by  her  means  there  is  no 
more  chance  of  a  restoration  of  religion/  4 


1  De  Silva  to  Philip,  February 
22:  MS.  Ibid. 

5  '  Apretandole  que  me  dixese  lo 
quo  le  parccia  conforme  a  lo  que  el 
habia  visto  y  colegido  si  la  Eeyna 
tenia  culpa  dello,  aunque  no  la  le 
•«ondeno  de  palabra,  no  le  salbo 


nada.' — De  Silva  to  Philip,  March  i  : 
MS.  Ibid. 

3  '  Mucho  ha  este  caso  enflaque- 
cido  los  nnimos  de  los  Catolicos.'  — 
Ibid. 

4  Ibid. 


524 


CHAPTER  XLVL 

DEATH  OF  O'NEIL. 

THE  Earl  of  Sussex  having  failed  alike  to 
beat  Shan  O'Neil  in  the  field  or  to  get 
him  satisfactorily  murdered,  had  at  last  been  recalled, 
leaving  the  government  of  Ireland  in  the  hands  of  Sir 
Nicholas  Arnold.  An  unsuccessful  public  servant  ne- 
ver failed  to  find  a  friend  in  Elizabeth,  whose  disposition 
to  quarrel  with  her  ministers  was  usually  in  proportion 
to  their  ability.  She  had  shared  the  confidence  of  the 
late  Deputy  in  what  to  modern  eyes  appears  unpardon- 
able treachery  ;  she  received  him  on  his  return  to  Eng- 
land with  undiminished  confidence,  and  she  allowed 
him  to  confirm  her  in  her  resolution  to  spend  no  more 
money  in  the  hopeless  enterprise  of  bringing  the  Irish 
into  order ;  while  she  left  Arnold  to  set  the  bears  and 
bandogs  to  tear  each  other,  and  watched  contentedly 
the  struggle  in  Ulster  between  O'Neil  and  the  Scots  of 
the  Isles. 

The  breathing-time  would  have  been  used  to  better 
advantage  had  the  reform  been  carried  to  completeness 


1564.]  DEATH  OF  Cf NEIL.  525 

which  had  been  commenced  with  the  mutinous  mis- 
creants miscalled  the  English  army.  But  the  bands 
could  not  be  discharged  with  decency  till  they  had  re- 
ceived their  wages ;  without  money  they  could  only 
continue  to  maintain  themselves  on  the  plunder  of  the 
farmers  of  the  Pale  ;  and  the  Queen,  provoked  with  the 
past  expenses  to  which  she  had  so  reluctantly  assented, 
knotted  her  purse-strings,  and  seemed  determined  that 
Ireland  should  in  future  bear  the  cost  of  its  own  misgo- 
vernment.  The  worst  peculations  of  the  principal  officers 
were  inquired  into  and  punished :  Sir  Henry  Ratcliff, 
Sussex's  brother,  was  deprived  of  his  command  and 
sent  to  the  castle ;  but  Arnold's  vigour  was  limited  by 
his  powers.  The  paymasters  continued  to  cheat  the 
Government  in  the  returns  of  the  number  of  their 
troops  ;  the  Government  defended  themselves  by  letting 
the  pay  run  into  arrear ;  the  soldiers  revenged  their  ill- 
usage  on  the  people ;  and  so  it  came  to  pass  that  in 
^O'Neil's  country  alone  in  Ireland — defended  as  it  was 
from  attacks  from  without,  and  enriched  with  the  plun- 
der of  the  Pale — were  the  peasantry  prosperous,  or  life 
•or  property  secure. 

Munster  was  distracted  by  the  feuds  between  Ormond 
and  Desmond ;  while  the  deep  bays  and  creeks  of  Cork 
and  Kerry  were  the  nests  and  hiding-places  of  English 
pirates,  whose  numbers  had  just  received  a  distinguished 
addition  in  the  person  of  Sir  Thomas  Stukeley,  with  a 
barque  of  four  hundred  tons  and  '  a  hundred  tall  soldiers, 
besides  mariners.' 

Stukely  had  been  on  his  way  to  Florida  with  a  license 


526 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  46. 


from  the  Crown  to  make  discoveries  and  to  settle  there ; 
but  he  had  found  a  convenient  halting-place  in  an  Irish 
harbour,  from  which  he  could  issue  out  and  plunder  the 
Spanish  galleons. :  He  had  taken  up  his  quarters  at 
Kinsale,  '  to  make  the  sea  his  Florida  ; ' 2  and  in  antici- 
pation of  the  terms  on  which  he  was  likely  to  find  him- 
self with  Elizabeth,  he  contrived  to  renew  an  acquaint- 
ance which  he  had  commenced  in  England  with  Shan 
O'JN^eil.  The  friendship  of  a  buccaneer  who  was  growing 
rich  on  Spanish  plunder  might  have  seemed  inconvenient 
to  a  chief  who  had  offered  Ireland  as  a  fief  to  Philip ; 
but  Shan  was  not  particular :  Philip  had  as  yet  shown 
but  a  cold  interest  in  Irish  rebellion,  and  Stukely  filled 
his  cellars  with  sherry  from  Cadiz,  amused  him  with  his 
magniloquence,  and  was  useful  to  him  by  his  real  dex- 
terity and  courage.  So  fond  Shan  became  of  him  that 
he  had  the  impertinence  to  write  to  Elizabeth  in  favour 
'  of  that  his  so  dearly  loved  friend,  and  her  Majesty's 
worthy  subject/  with  whom  he  was  grieved  to  hear 
that  her  Majesty  was  displeased.  He  could  not  but 
believe  that  she  had  been  misinformed  ;  but  if  indeed  so 
good  and  gallant  a  gentleman  had  given  her  cause  of 
offence,  Shan  entreated  that  her  Majesty,  for  his  sake  and 
in  the  name  of  the  services  which  he  had  himself  ren- 
dered to  England,  would  graciously  pardon  him  ;  and  lie, 


1  *  Stukely's  piracies  are  much 
railed  at  here  in  all  parts.  I  hang 
down  my  head  with  shame.  Alas  ! 
though  it  cost  the  Queen  roundly, 
let  him  for  honour's  sake  be  fetched 
in.  These  pardons  to  such  as  be  hostes 


humani  generis  I  like  not.' — Chaloner 
to  Cecil,  Madrid,  December  14,1564 ; 
Spanish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 

-  Sir  Thomas   Wroth  to  Cecil, 
November  1 7  ;  Irish  MSS.  Ibid. 


564-] 


DEA  TH  OF  a  NEIL. 


527 


with  Stukely  for  a  friend  and  confidant,  would  make 
Ireland  such  as  Ireland  never  was  since  the  world 
began.1 

Among  so  many  mischiefs  ' religion'  was  naturally 
in  a  bad  way.  *  The  lords  and  gentlemen  of  the  Pale  went 
habitually  to  mass/ 2  The  Protestant  bishops  were  chiefly 
agitated  by  the  vestment  controversy.  Adam  Loftus, 
the  titular  Primate,  to  whom  sacked  villages,  ravished 
women,  and  famine- stricken  skeletons  crawling  about 
the  fields  were  matters  of  every-day  indifference,  shook 
with  terror  at  the  mention  of  a  surplice.3  Robert  Daly 
wrote  in  anguish  to  Cecil,  in  dismay  at  the  countenance 
to  *  Papistry/  and  at  his  own  inability  to  prolong  a 
persecution  which  he  had  happily  commenced.4 


1  Shan  O'Neil  to  Elizabeth, 
June  1 8,  1565  :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls 
House. 

-  Adam  Loftus  to  Elizabeth, 
May  17  :  MS.  Ibid. 

3  Adam  Loftus  to  Cecil,  July 
16;  MS.  Ibid. 

'  The  bruit  of  the  alteration  in 
religion  is  so  talked  of  here  among 
the  Papists,  and  they  so  triumph 
upon  the  same,  it  would  grieve  any 
good  Christian  heart  to  hear  of  their 
rejoicing;  yea,  in  so  much  that  my 
Lord  Primate,  my  Lord  of  Meath, 
and  I,  being  the  Queen's  commis- 
sioners in  ecclesiastical  causes,  dare 
not  be  so  bold  now  in  executing  our 
commissions  in  ecclesiastical  causes 
as  we  have  been  to  this  time.  To 
what  end  this  talk  will  grow  I  am  not 
able  to  say.  I  fear  it  will  grow  to 
the  great  contempt  of  the  Gospel 


and  of  the  ministers  of  the  same, 
except  that  spark  be  extinguished 
before  it  grow  to  flame.  The  occa- 
sion is  that  certain  learned  men  of 
our  religion  are  put  from  their 
livings  in  England ;  upon  what  oc- 
casion is  not  known  here  as  yet. 
The  poor  Protestants,  amazed  at  the 
talk,  do  often  resort  to  me  to  learn 
what  the  matter  means ;  whom  I 
comfort  with  the  most  faithful  texts 
of  Scripture  that  I  can  find.  .  .  . 
But  1  beseech  you  send  me  some 
comfortable  words  concerning  the 
stablishing  of  ourreligion,  wherewith 
I  may  both  confirm  the  wavering 
hearts  of  the  doubtful,  and  suppress 
the  stout  brags  of  the  sturdy  and 
proud  Papists.' — Robert  Daly  to 
Cecil,  July  2:  Irish  MSS.  Rolls 
House. 


528  REIGN  OF  ELIZABh  777.  [en.  46. 

Some  kind  of  shame  was  felt  by  statesmen  in 

1565. 

England  at  the  condition  in  which  Ireland  con- 
tinued. Unable  to  do  anything  real  towards  amending 
it,  they  sketched  out  among  them  about  this  time  a 
scheme  for  a  more  effective  government.  The  idea  of  the 
division  of  the  country  into  separate  presidencies  lay  at 
the  bottom  of  whatever  hopes  they  felt  for  an  improved 
order  of  things.  So  long  as  the  authority  of  the  sove- 
reign was  represented  only  by  a  Deputy  residing  at 
Dublin,  with  a  few  hundred  ragged  marauders  called  by 
courtesy  '  the  army/  the  Irish  chiefs  would  continue,  like 
O'Neil,  to  be  virtually  independent ;  while,  by  recogniz- 
ing the  reality  of  a  power  which  could  not  be  taken  from 
them,  the  English  Government  could  deprive  them  of 
their  principal  motive  for  repudiating  their  allegiance. 

The  aim  of  the  Tudor  sovereigns  had  been  from  the 
first  to  introduce  into  Ireland  the  feudal  administration 
of  the  English  counties ;  they  had  laboured  to  persuade 
the  chiefs  to  hold  their  lands  under  the  Crown,  with  the 
obligations  which  landed  tenures  in  England  were  sup- 
posed always  to  carry  with  them.  The  large  owner  of 
the  soil,  to  the  extent  that  his  lordship  extended,  was  in 
the  English  theory  the  ruler  of  its  inhabitants,  magis- 
trate from  the  nature  of  his  position,  and  representative 
of  the  majesty  of  the  Crown.  Again  and  again  they 
had  endeavoured  to  convince  the  Irish  that  order  was 
better  than  anarchy  ;  that  their  faction  fights,  their 
murders,  their  petty  wars  and  robberies,  were  a  scandal  to 
them ;  that  till  they  could  amend  their  ways  they  were 
no  better  than  savages.  Fair  measures  and  foul  had 


1565.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  5-29 

alike  failed  so  far.  Once  more  a  project  was  imagined 
of  some  possible  reformation,  which  might  succeed  at 
least  on  paper. 

In  the  system  which  was  at  last  to  bring  a  golden  age  < 
to  Ireland,  the  four  provinces  were  to  be  governed  each 
by  a  separate  president  and  council.  Every  county  was 
to  have  its  sheriff;  and  the  Irish  noblemen  and  gentle- 
men were  to  become  the  guardians  of  the  law  which  they 
had  so  long  defied.  The  poor  should  no  longer  be  op- 
pressed by  the  great ;  and  the  wrongs  which  they  had 
groaned  under  so  long  should  be  put  an  end  to  for  ever 
by  their  own  Parliament.  '  No  poor  persons  should  be 
compelled  any  more  to  work  or  labour  by  the  day  or 
otherwise  without  meat,  drink,  wages,  or  some  other 
allowance  during  the  time  of  their  labour ; '  no  <  earth- 
tillers,  nor  any  others  inhabiting  a  dwelling  under  any 
lord,  should  be  distrained  or  punished  in  body  or  goods 
for  the  faults  of  their  landlord ; J  nor  any  honest  man  lose 
life  or  lands  without  fair  trial,  by  parliamentary  attain- 
der, '  according  to  the  antient  laws  of  England  and  Ire- 
land.' Noble  provisions  were  pictured  out  for  the  re- 
building of  the  ruined  churches  at  the  Queen's  expense, 
with  '  twelve  free  grammar  schools,'  where  the  Irish 
youth  should  grow  into  civility,  and /twelve  hospitals 
for  aged  and  impotent  folk.'  A  University  should  be 
founded  in  Elizabeth's  name,  and  endowed  with  lands 
at  Elizabeth's  cost ;  and  the  devisers  of  all  these  things, 
warming  with  their  project,  conceived  the  Irish  nation 
accepting  willingly  a  reformed  religion,  in  which  there 
should  be  no  more  pluralities,  no  more  abuse  of  patroii- 

84 


<3o  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  46. 

age,  110  more  neglect,  or  idleness,  or  profligacy.  The 
bishops  of  the  Church  of  Ireland  were  to  be  chosen  among 
those  who  had  risen  from,  the  Irish  schools  through  the 
Irish  University.  The  masters  of  the  grammar  schools 
should  teach  the  boys  'the  New  Testament,  Paul's 
Epistles,  and  David's  Psalms,  in  Latin,  that  they  being 
infants  might  savour  of  the  same  in  age,  as  an  old  cask 
doth  of  its  first  liquor/  In  every  parish  from  Cape  Clear 
to  the  Giant's  Causeway,  there  should  be  a  true  servant 
of  God  for  a  pastor,  who  would  bring  up  the  children 
born  in  the  same  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Creeds,  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  the  Cate- 
chism ;  *  the  children  to  be  brought  to  the  Bishop  for 
confirmation  at  seven  years  of  age,  if  they  could  repeat 
them,  or  else  to  be  rejected  by  the  Bishop  for  the  time, 
with  reproach  to  their  parents.'1 

Here  was  an  ideal  Ireland,  painted  on  the  retina  of 
some  worthy  English  minister  ;  but  the  real  Ireland  was 
still  the  old  place :  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Brian 
Boroihme  and  the  Danes,  so  it  was  in  the  days  of  Shan 
O'j^eil  and  Sir  Nicholas  Arnold ;  and  the  Queen  who 
was  to  found  all  these  fine  institutions  cared  chiefly  to 
burden  her  exchequer  no  further  in  the  vain  effort  to 
drain  the  black  Irish  morass — fed  as  it  was  from  the 
perennial  fountains  of  Irish  nature. 

The  Pope  might  have  been  better  contented  with  the 
condition  of  his  children  :  yet  he  too  had  his  grounds 
of  disquiet,  and  was  not  wholly  satisfied  with  Shan,  or 


1  Device  for  the  better  government  of  Ireland  :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  Hctise. 


1565.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  531 

with.  Shan's  rough -riding  Primate.  A  nuncio  had  re- 
sided secretly  for  four  years. at  Limerick,  who  from  time 
to  time  sent  information  of  the  state  of  the  people  to 
Rome  ;  and  at  last  an  aged  priest  named  Creagh,  who  in 
past  days  had  known  Charles  the  Fifth,  and  had  been 
employed  by  him  in  relieving  English  Catholic  exiles, 
went  over  with  letters  from  the  nuncio,  recommending 
the  Pope  to  refuse  to  recognize  the  appointment  of 
Terence  Daniel  to  the  Primacy,  and  to  substitute  Creagh 
in  his  place.  The  old  man,  according  to  his  own  story, 
was  unambitious  of  dignity,  and  would  have  preferred 
*  to  enter  religion '  and  end  his  days  in  a  monastery. 
The  Pope  however  decided  otherwise.  Creagh  was  con- 
secrated Archbishop  of  Armagh  in  the  Sistine  Chapel, 
and  was  sent  back  '  to  serve  among  those  barbarous, 
wild,  uncivil  folk/  taking  with  him  a  letter  from  Pius  to 
Shan  O'Neil,  '  whom  he  did  not  know  whether  to  repute 
for  his  foe  or  his  friend/ 

Thus  Ireland  had  three  competing  Primates :  Adam 
Loftus,  the  nominee  of  Elizabeth  ;  Shan's  Archbishop, 
Terence  Daniel ;  and  Creagh,  sent  by  the  Pope.  The 
latter  however  had  the  misfortune  to  pass  through  Lon- 
don on  his  way  home,  where  Cecil  heard  of  him.  He 
was  seized  and  sent  to  the  Tower,  where  'he  lay  in  great 
misery,  cold,  and  hunger/  '  without  a  penny/  '  without 
the  means  of  getting  his  single  shirt  washed,  and  with- 
out gown  or  hose/ 

The  poor  old  man  petitioned  '  to  be  let  go  to  teach 
youth.'  '  He  would  do  it  for  nothing/  he  said,  '  as  h,3 
had  done  all  the  days  of  his  life,  never  asking  a  penny 


5J2  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH  [en.  46. 

<of  the  Church  or  any  benefice  of  any  man ; ' 1  and  so 
modest  a  wish  might  have  been  granted  with  no  great 
difficulty,  considering  that  half  the  preferments  in  Eng- 
land were  held  by  men  who  scarcely  affected  to  conceal 
that  they  were  still  Catholics.  Either  Creagh  however 
was  less  simple  than  he  pretended,  or  Cecil  had  reason 
to  believe  that  his  presence  in  Ireland  would  lead  to 
mischief;  he  was  kept  fast  in  his  cage,  and  would  have 
remained  there  till  he  died,  had  he  not  contrived  one 
night  to  glide  over  the  walls  upon  the  Thames. 
'  His  imprisonment  was  perhaps  intended  as  a  gratifi- 
cation to  Shan  O'Neil.  ]S"o  sooner  had  he  escaped  than 
Elizabeth  considered  that  of  the  two  Catholic  Arch- 
bishops Terence  Daniel  might  be  the  least  dangerous, 
and  that  to  set  Shan  against  the  Pope  might  be  worth  a 
sacrifice  of  dignity.  It  was  intimated  that  if  Shan 
would  be  a  good  subject  he  should  have  his  own  Primate, 
and  Adam  Loftus  should  be  removed  to  Dublin.2  Shan 
on  his  part  gave  the  Queen  to  understand  that  when 
Terence  was  installed  at  Armagh,  and  he  himself  was 
created  Earl  of  Tyrone,  she  should  have  no  more  trouble ; 
and  the  events  of  the  spring  of  1565  made  the  English 
Government  more  than  ever  anxious  to  come  to  terms 
with  a  chieftain  whom  they  were  powerless  to  crush. 

Since  the  defeat  of  the  Earl  of  Sussex,  Shan's  in- 
fluence and  strength  had  been  steadily  growing.  His 
return  unscathed  from  London,  and  the  fierce  attitude 


1  Questions  for  Creagh,  with  Creagh's  answers,  February  22,  1565 ; 
Further  answers  of  Creagh,  March  1 7 :  Irish  3ISS.  Rolls  House. 

2  Private  instructions  to  Sir  Henry  Sidney.     Cecil's  hand,  1565  •  MS. 
Ibid. 


1565.]  DEA  TH  OF  a  NEIL.  533, 

which  lie  assumed  on  the  instant  of  his  reappearance  in 
Ulster,  convinced  the  petty  leaders  that  to  resist  him 
longer  would  only  ensure  their  ruin.  O'Donnell  was- 
an  exile  in  England,  and  there  remained  unsubdued  in 
the  north  only  the  Scottish  colonies  of  Antrim,  which 
were  soon  to  follow  with  the  rest.  O'Neil  lay  quiet 
through  the  winter.  With  the  spring  and  the  fine 
weather,  when  the  rivers  fell  and  the  ground  dried,  he 
roused  himself  out  of  his  lair,  and  with  his  galloglasse 
and  kern,  and  a  few  hundred  '  harquebussmen,'  he 
dashed  suddenly  down  upon  the  '  Redshanks,'  and  broke 
them  utterly  to  pieces.  Six  or  seven  hundred  were  killed 
in  the  field  ;  James  M'Connell  and  his  brother  Sorleboy l 
were  taken  prisoners ;  and  for  the  moment  the  whole 
colony  was  swept  away.  James  M'Connell  himself, 
badly  wounded  in  the  action,  died  a  few  months  later, 
and  Shan  was  left  undisputed  sovereign  of  Ulster. 

The  facile  pen  of  Terence  Daniel  was  employed  to 
communicate  to  the  Queen  this  '  glorious  victory/  for 
which  '  Shan  thanked  God  first,  and  next  the  Queen's 
Majesty ;  affirming  the  same  to  come  of  her  good  for- 
tune.' 2  The  English  Government,  weary  of  the  ill  suc- 
cess which  had  attended  their  own  dealings  with  the, 
Scots,  were  disposed  to  regard  them  as  a  *  malicious  and 
dangerous  people,  who  were  gradually  fastening  on  the 
country ; ' 3  and  with  some  misgivings,  they  were  inclined 
to  accept  Shan's  account  of  himself ;  while  Shan,  finding 


1  Spelt  variously  Sorleboy,  Sarlebos,  Surlebois,  and  Surlyboy.     The 
word  means  '  yellow-haired  Charley.' 

-  Terence  Daniel  to  Cecil,  June  24  :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
3  Opinion  of  Sir  II.  Sidney,  May  20  :   MS.  Ibid. 


534  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  46. 

Elizabeth  disinclined  to  quarrel  with,  him,  sent  Terence 
over  to  her  to  explain  more  fully  the  excellence  of  his  in- 
tentions. Sir  Thomas  Cusack  added  his  own  commend- 
ations both  of  Terence  and  his  master,  and  urged  that 
now  was  the  time  to  make  O'Neil  a  friend  for  ever.  Sir 
Nicholas  Arnold,  with  more  discrimination,  insisted 
that  it  was  necessary  to  do  one  thing  or  the  other,  but 
he  too  seemed  to  recommend  the  Queen,  as  the  least  of 
two  evils,  to  be  contented  with  Slian's  nominal  allegi- 
ance, and  to  leave  him  undisturbed. 

*  If/  he  said,  '  you  use  the  opportunity  to  make 
O'JS"eil  a  good  subject,  he  will  hardly  swerve  hereafter. 
The  Pale  is  poor  and  unable  to  defend  itself.  If  he  do 
fall  out  before  the  beginning  of  next  summer  there  is 
neither  outlaw,  rebel,  murderer,  thief,  nor  any  lewd  or 
evil-disposed  person — of  whom  God  knoweth  there  is 
plenty  swarming  in  every  corner  amongst  the  wild  Irish, 
yea,  and  in  our  own  border  too — which  would  not  join 
to  do  what  mischief  they  might/  1 

Alas !  while  Arnold  wrote  there  came  news  that 
Shan's  ambition  was  still  unsatisfied.  He  had  followed 
up  his  successes  against  the  Scotch  by  seizing  the  Queen's 
castles  of  Newry  and  Dundrum.  Turning  west  he  had 
marched  into  Connaught  '  to  require  the  tribute  due  of 
owld  time  to  them  that  were  kings  in  that  realm/  He 
had  exacted  pledges  of  obedience  from  the  western 
chiefs,  frightened  Clanrickard  into  submission,  '  spoiled 
O'Hourke's  country/  and  returned  to  Tyrone  driving 

1  Sir  T.  Cusack  to  Cecil,  August  23;  O'Neil  to  Elizabeth,  Au^nsr  25 ; 
Sir  N.  Arnold. to  the  English.  Council,  August  31 :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  lloune. 


1565.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.         .  535 

before  him  four  thousand  head  of  cattle.    Instead  of  the    ' 
intended  four  presidencies  in  Ireland,  there  would  soon 
be  only  one ;  and  Shan  O'Neil  did  not  mean  to  rest  till 
he  had  revived  the  throne  of  his  ancestors,  and  reigned 
once  more  in  '  Tara's  halls.' 

'  Excuse  me  for  writing;   plainly  what   I 

/         .  October. 

think/  said  Lord  Clanrickard  to  Sir  William 

Fitzwilliam.  '  I  assure  you  it  is  an  ill  likelihood  to- 
ward— that  the  realm  if  it  be  not  speedily  looked  unto 
will  be  at  a  hazard  to  come  as  far  out  of  her  Majesty's 
hands  as  ever  it  was  out  of  the  hands  of  any  of  her  pre- 
decessors. Look  betimes  to  these  things,  or  they  will 
grow  to  a  worse  end.' l 

The  evil  news  reached  England  at  the  crisis  of  the 
convulsion  which  had  followed  the  Darnley  marriage. 
The  Protestants  in  Scotland  had  risen  in  rebellion,  rely- 
ing on  Elizabeth's  promises ;  and  Argyle,  exasperated 
at  her  desertion  of  Murray,  was  swearing  that  he  would 
leave  his  kinsmen  unrevenged,  and  would  become  Shan's 
ally  and  friend.  Mary  Stuart  was  shaking  her  sword 
upon  the  Border  at  the  head  of  20,000  men  ;  and  Eli- 
zabeth, distracted  between  the  shame  of  leaving  her  en- 
gagements unredeemed  or  bringing  the  Irish  and  Span- 
iards upon  her  head,  was  in  no  humour  -to  encounter 
fresh  troubles.  Shan's  words  were  as  smooth  as  ever; 
his  expedition  to  Connaught  was  represented  as  having 
been  undertaken  in  the  English  interest.  On  his  return 
he  sent  '  a  petition '  to  have  '  his  title  and  rule '  deter- 


Clanrickard  to  Fitzwilliam,  Oct.  11  :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


53* 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[cir.  46. 


mined  without  further  delay ;  while  l  in  consideration  of 
his  good  services '  he  begged  '  to  have  some  augnientar 
tion  of  living  granted  him  in  the  Pale,'  and  '  her  Ma- 
jesty to  be  pleased  not  to  credit  any  stories  which  his 
evil-willers  might  spread  abroad  against  him.' l 

Elizabeth  allowed  herself  to  believe  what  it  was 
most  pleasant  to  her  to  hope.  '  We  must  allow  some- 
thing/ she  wrote  to  Sir  Henry  Sidney,  '  for  his  wild 
bringing  up,  and  not  expect  from  him  what  we  should 
expect  from  a  perfect  subject;  if  he  mean  well  he  shall 
have  all  his  reasonable  requests  granted.' 2 

But  it  was  impossible  to  leave  Ireland  any  longer 
without  the  presence  of  a  deputy.  Sir  Nicholas  Arnold 
had  gone  over  with  singular  and  temporary  powers; 
the  administration  was  out  of  joint,  and  the  person  most 
fitted  for  the  government  by  administrative  and  mili- 
tary capacity  was  Leicester's  brother-in-law  Sir  Henry 
Sidney,  President  of  Wales. 

Sidney  knew  Ireland  well  from  past  experience.  He 
had  held  command  there  under  Sussex  himself;  he  had 
seen  deputy  after  deputy  depart  for  Dublin  with  the 
belief  that  he  at  last  was  the  favoured  knight  who  would 
break  the  spell  of  the  enchantment ;  and  one  after  an- 
other he  had  -seen  them  return  with  draggled  plumes 
and  broken  armour.  Gladly  Avould  he  have  declined  the 
offered  honour.  'If  the  Queen  would  but  grant  him 
leave  to  serve  her  in  England,  or  in  any  place  in  the 
world  else  saving  Ireland,  or  to  live  private,  it  should 


1  Shan  O'Xeil  to  Elizabeth,  October  27  :  Irish  MSS.  Molls  House. 
*  Eli/abeth  to  Sir  II.  Sidney,  November  n.—JUS   Ibid. 


1565.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  537 

be  more  joyous  to  him  than  to  enjoy  all  the  rest  and  to 
go  thither/  It  was  idle  to  think  that  O'Neil  could  be 
really  '  reformed '  except  by  force  ;  and  ( the  Irishry 
had  taken  courage  through  the  feeble  dealing  with  him.' 
If  he  was  to  go,  Sidney  said,  he  woidd  not  go  without 
money.  Ten  or  twelve  thousand  pounds  must  be  sent 
immediately  to  pay  the  outstanding  debts.  He  must 
have  more  and  better  troops  ;  two  hundred  horse  and 
five  hundred  foot  at  least,  in  addition  to  those  which 
were  already  at  Dublin.  He  would  keep  his  patent  as 
President  of  Wales ;  he  would  have  leave  to  return  to 
England  at  his  discretion  if  he  saw  occasion  ;  and  for  his 
personal  expenses,  as  he  could  expect  nothing  from  the 
Queen,  he  demanded — strange  resource  to  modern  eyes 
— permission  to  export  six  thousand  kerseys  and  clothes 
free  of  duty.1 

His  requests  were  made  excessive  perhaps  to  ensure 
their  refusal ;  but  the  condition  of  Ireland  could  not  be 
trifled  with  any  longer,  and  if  he  hoped  to  escape  he  was 
disappointed. 

1  In  the  matter  of  Ireland  was  found  such  an  example 
as  was  not  to  be  found  again  in  any  place ;  that  a  sove- 
reign prince  should  be  owner  of  such  a  kingdom,  having 
no  cause  to  fear  the  invasion  of  any  foreign  prince, 
neither  having  ever  found  the  same  invaded  by  any 
foreign  power,  neither  having  any  power  born  or  resident 
within  that  realm  that  denied  or  ever  had  directly  or 
indirectly  denied  the  sovereignty  of  the  Crown  to  belong 


1  1'ctition  of  Sir  H.  Sidney  going  to  Ireland :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House, 


538  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  46. 

to  her  Majesty ;  and  yet,  contrary  to  all  other  realms, 
the  realm  of  Ireland  had  been  and  yet  continued  so 
chargeable  to  the  Crown  of  England,  and  the  revenues 
thereof  so  mean,  and  those  which  were,  so  decayed  and 
so  diminished,  that  great  yearly  treasures  were  carried 
out  of  the  realm  of  England  to  satisfy  the  stipends  of 
the  officers  and  soldiers  required  for  the  governance  of 
the  same.' l 

Sir  Henry  Sidney  paid  the  penalty  of  his  ability  in 
being  selected  to  terminate  in  some  form  or  other  a  state 
of  things  which  could  no  longer  be  endured.  Again 
before  he  would  consent  he  repeated  and  even  ex- 
aggerated his  conditions.  He  would  not  go  as  others 
had  gone,  '  fed  on  the  chameleon's  dish/  to  twine  ropes 
of  sand  and  sea- slime  to  bind  the  Irish  rebels  with.  He 
would  go  with  a  force  to  back  him,  or  he  would  not  go 
at  all.  He  must  have  power,  he  said,  to  raise  as  many 
men  as  the  Queen's  service  required ;  and  she  must  trust 
his  honour  to  keep  them  no  longer  than  they  were  abso- 
lutely wanted.  "No  remedial  measures  could  be  attempted 
till  anarchy  had  been  trampled  down ;  and  then  the 
country  would  prosper  of  itself. 

'  To  go  to  work  by  force,'  he  said,  '  will  be  chargeable 
it  is  true  ;  but  if  you  will  give  the  people  justice  and 
minister  law  among  them,  and  exercise  the  sword  of  the 
sovereign,  and  put  away  the  sword  of  the  subject — omnia 
haec  adjicientur  vobis — you  shall  drive  the  now  man  of 
war  to  be  an  husbandman,  and  he  that  now  liveth  like  a 


1  Instructions  to  Sir  H.  Sidney,  October  5  ;  Irish  MSS.  Eolls  Ho 


1 565.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  539 

lord  to  live  like  a  servant ;  and  the  money  now  spent  in 
buying  armour  and  horses  and  waging  of  war  should  be 
bestowed  in  building  of  towns  and  houses.  By  ending 
these  incessant  wars  ere  they  be  aware,  you  shall  bereave 
them  both  of  force  and  beggary,  and  make  them  weak 
and  wealthy.  Then  you  can  convert  the  military  service 
due  from  the  lords  into  money ;  then  you  can  take  up 
the  fisheries  now  left  to  the  French  and  the  Spaniards ; 
then  you  can  open  and  work  your  mines,  and  the  people 
will  be  able  to  grant  you  subsidies/1 

The  first  step  towards  the  change  was  to  introduce  a 
better  order  of  government :  and  relapsing  upon  the 
scheme  for  the  division  into  presidencies,  Sidney  urged 
Elizabeth  to  commence  with  appointing  a  President  of 
Munster,  where  Ormond  and  Desmond  were  tearing  at 
each  other's  throats.  The  expense — the  first  consider- 
ation with  her — would  be  moderate.  The  President  would 
be  satisfied  with  a  mark  (13$.  4^.)  a  day  ;  fifty  men — 
liorse  and  foot — would  suffice  for  his  retinue,  with  yd. 
and  8tf?.  a  day  respectively ;  and  he  would  require  two 
clerks  of  the  signet,  with  salaries  of  a  hundred  pounds 
.a  year.  The  great  Munster  noblemen — Ormond,  Des- 
mond, Thomond,  Clancarty,  with  the  Archbishop  of 
Cashel  and  the  Bishops  of  Cork,  Waterford,  and  Limerick, 
would  form  a  standing  council ;  and  a  tribunal  would  be 
established  where  disputes  could  be  heard  and  justice 
administered  without  the  perpetual  appeal  to  the 
sword.2 


1  Opinions  of  Sir  H.    Sidney :  I        2  It  is  noticeable  that  we  find  in 
Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House.  I  an   arrangement  which  was  intro- 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  46 


A  clause  was  added  to  the  first  sketch  in  Cecil's  hand : 
1  The  Lord  President  to  be  careful  to  observe  Divine  serv- 
ice and  to  exhort  others  to  observe  it ;  and  also  to  keep 
a  preacher  who  shall  be  allowed  his  diet  in  the  house- 
hold, to  whom  the  said  President  shall  cause  due  rever- 
ence to  be  given  in  respect  of  his  office  which  he  shall 
ha\7e  for  the  service  of  God/ 

With  an  understanding  that  this  arrangement  for 
Minister  should  be  immediately  carried  out,  that  the  pre- 
cedent, if  successful  in  the  south,  should  be  followed  out 
in  the  other  provinces,  and  that  his  other  requests  should 
be  complied  with,  Sidney  left  London  for  Ireland  in 


duced  as  a  reform  and  as  a  means  of 
justice  the  following  clause  : — 

'Also  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the 
President  and  council  or  any  three 
of  them,  the  President  being  one,  in 
luses  necessary,  upon  vehement  sus- 
picion and  presumption  of  any  great 
jffen^e  in  any  party  committed 
Jgainsl  'Jie  Queen's  Majesty,  to  put 
the  same  psw!y  to  torture  as  they  shall 
think  convenient.  — Presidency  of 
Minister,  February  I,  1566:  Irish 
MSS.  Rolls  House. 

Even  in  England  torture  con- 
tinued to  be  freely  used.  On  De- 
cember 28,  1566,  a  letter  was  ad- 
dressed by  the  Privy  Council  to  the 
Attorney- General  and  others,  that : — 

'  Where  they  were  heretofore  ap- 
pointed to  put  Clement  Fisher,  now 
prisoner  in  the  Tower,  in  some  fear 
of  torture  whereby  his  lewdness  and 
such  as  he  might  detect  might  the 
better  come  to  light,  they  are  re- 


quested, for  that  the  said  Fisher  is 
not  minded  to  be  plain,  as  thereby 
the  faults  of  others  might  be  known, 
to  cause  the  said  Fisher  according  to 
their  discretion  to  feel  some  touch  of 
the  rack,  for  the  better  boultiug  out 
and  opening  of  that  which  is  re- 
quisite to  be  known.' — Council  Re- 
gister. Elizabeth,  MSS. 

And  again,  January  18,  1567. 
A  letter  to  the  Lieutenant  of  the 
Tower : — 

4  One  Eice,  a  buckler-maker,, 
committed  there,  is  discovered  to 
have  been  concerned  in  a  robbery  of 
plate  four  years  before ;  the  lieu- 
tenant to  examine  the  said  Rice 
about  this  robbery,  and  if  they  shall 
perceive  him  not  willing  to  confess 
the  same  then  to  put  him  in  fear  of 
the  torture,  and  to  let  him  feel  some 
smart  of  the  same  whereby  he  may- 
be the  better  brought  to  confess  the- 
truth.'— Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1565.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  541 

the  beginning  of  December.  E  vrery  hour's  delay 

i      i    •  i    x-u  v     p       i  •  December. 

had  increased  the  necessity  for  his  presence. 

Alarmed  at  the  approach  of  another  deputy,  and  ex- 
cited on  the  other  hand  by  the  Queen  of  Scots'  successes, 
Shan  O'Neil  had  attached  himself  eagerly  to  her  fortunes 
In  October  he  offered  to  assist  her  against  Argyle,  who 
was  then  holding  out  against  her  in  the  Western  High- 
lands.1 His  pleasure  was  as  great  as  his  surprise  when 
he  found  Argyle  ready  to  allow  the  Western  Islanders 
to  join  with  him  to  drive  the  English  out  of  Ireland, 
;and  punish  Elizabeth  for  her  treachery  to  Murray.  So 
far  Argyle  carried  his  resentment,  that  he  met  Shan 
somewThere  in  the  middle  of  the  winter,  and  to  atone  for 
the  disgrace  of  his  half  sister,  he  arranged  marriages 
between  a  son  and  daughter  which  she  had  borne  to 
Shan,  and  two  children  of  James  M'Connell,  W7hom  Shan 
had  killed;  O'Neil  undertook  to  settle  on  them  the 
•disputed  lands  of  Antrim,  and  Argyle  consented  at  last 
to  the  close  friendship  in  the  interest  of  the  Queen  of 
Scots  for  which  the  Irish  chief  had  so  long  been  vainly 
suing. 

No  combination  could  be  more  ominous  to  England. 
Foul  weather  detained  Sidney  for  six  weeks  at  Holy- 
liead.  In  the  middle  of  January,  but  not  without  '  the 
loss  of  all  his  stuff  and  horses/  which  were  wrecked  on 
the  coast  of  Down,  he  contrived  to  reach  Dublin.  The 
.state  of  things  which  he  discovered  on  his  arrival  was 
worse  than  the  wrorst  which  he  had  looked  for.  The 


1  Adam  Loftus  to  Leicester,  November  20 :  Irish  MSS  Rolls  House. 


542  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  46. 

English  Pale  he  found  '  as  it  were  overwhelmed  with 
vagabonds  ;  stealth  and  spoils  daily  carried  out  of  it ; 
the  people  miserable  ;  not  two  gentlemen  in  the  whole 
of  it  able  to  lend  twenty  pounds ;  without  horse, 
armour,  apparel,  or  victual.'  '  The  soldiers  were  worse 
than  the  people  :  so  beggarlike  as  it  would  abhor  a 
General  to  look  on  them.'  '  Never  a  married  wife 
among  them/  and  therefore  '  so  allied  with  Irish 
women/  that  they  betrayed  secrets,  and  could  not  be 
trusted  on  dangerous  service ;  '  so  insolent  as  to  be  in- 
tolerable ;  so  rooted  in  idleness  as  there  was  no  hope  by 
correction  to  amend  them.' 

T  So  much  for  the  four  shires.     '  In  Minister/  as  the 

fruit  of  the  Ormond  and  Desmond  wars,  '  a  man  might 
ride  twenty  or  thirty  miles  and  find  no  houses  stand- 
ing/ in  a  county  which  Sidney  had  known  '  as  well 
inhabited  as  many  counties  in  England.'  Connaught 
was  quiet  so  far,  and  Clanrickard  was  probably  loyal ; 
but  he  was  weak  and  was  in  constant  expectation  of 
being  overrun. 

I566  '  In  Ulster/  Sidney  wrote, '  there  tyranniz- 

March.  efa  ^he  prince  of  pride  ;  Lucifer  was  never 
more  puffed  up  with  pride  and  ambition  than  that 
O'Neil  is  ;  he  is  at  present  the  only  strong  and  rich 
man  in  Ireland,  and  he  is  the  dangerousest  man  and 
most  like  to  bring  the  whole  estate  of  this  land  to  sub- 
version and  subjugation  either  to  him  or  to  some  foreign 
prince,  that  ever  was  in  Ireland.' l 

\  

1  Sidney  to  Leicester,  March  5  :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  Hottsf. 


I566.J  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  543 

The  Deputy's  first  step  after  landing  was  to  as- 
certain the  immediate  terms  on  which  the  dreaded 
chief  of  the  North  intended  to  stand  towards  him.  He 
wrote  to  desire  Shan  to  come  into  the  Pale  to  see  him, 
and  Shan  at  first  answered  with  an  offer  to  meet  him 
at  Dundalk;  but  a  letter  followed  in  which  he  sub- 
scribed himself  as  Sidney's  '  loving  gossip  to  command,' 
the  contents  of  which  were  less  promising.  For  him- 
self, Shan  said,  he  had  so  much  affection  and  respect 
for  Sir  Henry,  that  he  would  gladly  go  to  him  any- 
where ;  but  certain  things  had  happened  in  past  years 
which  had  not  been  wholly  forgotten.  The  Earl  of 
Sussex  had  twice  attempted  to  assassinate  him.  Had 
not  the  Earl  of  Kildare  interfered,  the  Earl  of  Sussex, 
when  he  went  to  Dublin  to  embark  for  England, 
'  would  have  put  a  lock  upon  his  hands,  and  hava 
carried  him  over  as  a  prisoner.'  His  '  timorous  and 
mistrustful  people'  after  these  experiences  would  not 
trust  him  any  more  in  English  hands.1 

All  this  was  unpleasantly  true,  and  did  not  diminish 
Sidney's  difficulties.  It  was  none  the  less  necessary 
for  him  however  to  learn  what  he  was  to  expect  from 
Shan.  Straining  a  point  at  the  risk  of  offending 
Elizabeth,  he  accepted  the  services  of  StukeLy,  which 
gave  the  latter  an  opportunity  of  covering  part  of  his 
misdoings  by  an  act  of  good  service,  and  sent  him  with 
another  gentleman  to  Shan's  castle,  '  to  discover  if 
possible  what  he  was,  and  what  he  was  like  to  attempt.'2 

1  Shan  0^Teil  to  Sidney,  February  18  :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
2  Sidney  to  Leicester,  ij  arch  5  :  MS.  Ibid. 


544  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [011.46. 

A  better  messenger,  supposing  him  honest,  could  not 
have  been  chosen.  Shan  was  at  his  ease  with  a  person 
whose  life  was  as  lawless  as  his  own.  He  had  ceased  to 
care  for  concealment,  and  spoke  out  freely.  At  first 
'  he  was  very  flexible  but  very  timorous  to  come  to  the 
Deputy,  apprehending  traitorous  practices/  One  after- 
noon '  when  the  wine  was  in  him/  he  put  his  meaning 
in  plainer  language.  Stukely  had  perhaps  hinted  that 
there  would  be  no  earldom  for  him  unless  his  doings 
were  more  satisfactory.  The  Irish  heart  and  the  Irish 
tongue  ran  over. 

' 1  care  not/  he  said,  '  to  be  made  an  earl  unless  I 
may  be  better  and  higher  than  an  earl,  for  I  am  in 
blood  and  power  better  than  the  best  of  them ;  and  I 
will  give  place  to  none  but  my  cousin  of  Kildare,  for 
that  he  is  of  my  house.  You  have  made  a  wis<e  earl  of 
M'Carty  More.  I  keep  as  good  a  man  as  he.  For  the 
Queen  I  confess  she  is  my  Sovereign,  but  I  never  made 
peace  with  her  but  by  her  own  seeking.  Whom  am  I 
to  trust  ?  When  I  caine  to  the  Earl  of  Sussex  on  safe- 
conduct  he  offered  me  the  courtesy  of  a  handlock. 
When  I  was  with  the  Queen,  she  said  to  me  herself 
that  I  had,  it  was  true,  safe-conduct  to  come  and  go, 
but  it  was  not  said  when  I  might  go  ;  and  they  kept 
me  there  till  I  had  agreed  to  things  so  far  against  my 
honour  and  profit,  that  I  would  never  perform  them 
while  I  live.  That  made  me  make  war,  and  if  it  were 
to  do  again  I  would  do  it.  My  ancestors  were  kings  of 
UL  ter ;  and  Ulster  is  mine,  and  shall  be  mine. 
O'Donnell  shall  never  come  into  his  country,  nor 


1 566.]  DEA  TH  OF  a  NEIL.  545 

Bagenal  into  Newry,  nor  Kildare  into  Dundrum  or 
Lecale.  They  are  now  mine.  With  this  sword  I  won 
them  ;  with  this  sword  I  will  keep  them/ 

'My  Lord/  Sidney  wrote  to  Leicester,  'no  Attila 
nor  Totila,  no  Yandal  or  Goth  that  ever  was,  was  more 
to  be  doubted  for  overrunning  any  part  of  Christendom 
than  this  man  is  for  overruning  and  spoiling  of  Ireland. 
If  it  be  an  angel  of  heaven  that  will  say  that  ever 
O'Neil  will  be  a  good  subject  till  he  be  thoroughly 
chastised,  believe  him  not,  but  think  him  a  spirit  of 
error.  Surely  if  the  Queen  do  not  chastise  him  in 
Ulster,  he  will  chase  all  hers  out  of  Ireland.  Her 
Majesty  must  make  up  her  mind  to  the  expense,  and 
chastise  this  cannibal.  She  must  send  money  in  such 
sort  as  I  may  pay  the  garrison  throughout.  The 
present  soldiers,  who  are  idle,  treacherous,  and  in- 
corrigible, must  be  changed.  Better  have  no  soldiers 
than  those  that  are  here  now — and  the  wages  must  be 
paid.  It  must  be  done  at  last,  and  to  do  it  at  once  will 
be  a  saving  in  the  end.  My  dear  Lord,  press  these 
things  on  the  Queen.  If  I  have  not  money,  and 
O'Neil  make  war,  I  will  not  promise  to  encounter  with 
him  till  he  come  to  Dublin.  Give  me  money,  and 
though  I  have  but  five  hundred  to  his  four  thousand,  I 
will  chase  him  out  of  the  Pale  in  forty-eight  hours.  If 
I  may  not  have  it,  for  the  love  you  bear  me  have  me 
home  again.  I  have  great  confidence  in  Lord  Kildare. 
As  to  Sussex  and  Arnold,  it  is  true  that  all  things  are 
in  disorder  and  decay  ;  but  the  fault  was  not  with  them 
— impute  it  to  the  iniquity  of  the  times.  These 

VOL.  vii.  35 


546  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  46. 

malicious  people  so  hated  Sussex  as  to  ruin  him  they 
would  have  ruined  all.  Arnold  has  done  well  and 
faithfully;  and  Kildare  very  well.  Remember  this., 
and  if  possible  let  him  have  the  next  garter  that  is 
vacant.' l 

To  the  long  letter  to  his  brother-in-law,  Sidney 
added  a  few  words  equally  anxious  and  earnest  to  Cecil. 
1  Ireland/  he  said,  '  would  be  no  small  loss  to  the 
English  Crown,  and  it  was  never  so  like  to  be  lost  as 
now.  O'Neil  has  already  all  Ulster,  and  if  the  French 
were  so  eager  about  Calais,  think  what  the  Irish  are  to 
recover  their  whole  island.  I  love  no  wars ;  but  I  had 
rather  die  than  Ireland  should  be  lost  in  my  govern- 
ment/ 2 

Evidently,  notwithstanding  all  his  urgency  before 
he  left  England,  notwithstanding  the  promises  which 
he  extracted  from  Elizabeth,  the  treasury  doors  were 
still  locked.  Months  had  passed  ;  arrears  had  continued 
to  grow  ;  the  troops  had  become  more  disorganized 
than  ever,  and  the  summer  was  coming,  which  would 
bring  O'Neil  and  his  galloglasse  into  the  Pale,  while 
the  one  indispensable  step  was  still  un taken  which 
must  precede  all  preparations  to  meet  him.  Nor  did 
these  most  pressing  letters  work  any  speedy  change. 
March  went  by  and  April  came ;  and  the 
smacks  from  Holy  head  sailed  up  the  Liffey, 
but  they  brought  no  money  for  Sidney  and  no  de- 
spatches. At  length,  unable  to  bear  his  suspense  and 

1  Sidney  to  Leicester,  March  5  (condensed) :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
8  Sidney  to  Cecil,  March,  1566:  MS.  Ibid. 


1566.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  547 

disappointment  longer,  he  wrote  again  to  Leicester : — 
'  My  Lord,  if  I  be  not  speedier  advertised  of  her 
Highness' s  pleasure  than  hitherto  I  have  been,  all  will 
come  to  naught  here,  and  before  God  and  the  world  I 
will  lay  the  fault  on  England,  for  there  is  none  here 
By  force  or  by  fair  means  the  Queen  may  have  any- 
thing that  she  will  in  this  country  if  she  will  minister 
means  accordingly,  and  with  no  great  charge.  If  she 
will  resolve  of  nothing,  for  her  Majesty's  advantage 
and  for  the  benefit  of  this  miserable  country,  persuade 
her  Highness  to  withdraw  me,  and  pay  and  discharge 
this  garrison.  As  I  am,  and  as  this  garrison  is  paid,  I 
undo  myself;  the  country  is  spoiled  by  the  soldiers, 
and  in  no  point  defended.  Help  it,  my  Lord,  for  the 
honour  of  God  one  way  or  the  other/  x 

Two  days  later  a  London  post  came  in,  and  with  it 
letters  from  the  council.  The  help  would  have  been  sent 
long  since  had  it  rested  with  them.  On  the  receipt  of 
his  first  letter,  they  had  agreed  unanimously  that  every 
wish  should  be  complied  with.  Money,  troops,  discre- 
tionary power — all  should  have  been  his — 'so  much 
was  every  man's  mind  inclined  to  the  extirpation  of 
that  proud  rebel,  Shan.'  The  Munster  council,  which 
had  hung  fire  also,  should  have  been  set  on  foot  without 
a  day's  delay ;  and  Sir  Warham  St  Leger,  according 
to  Sidney's  recommendation,  would  have  been  appointed 
the  first  President.  Elizabeth  only  had  fallen  into  one 
of  her  periodic  fits  of  ill-humour  and  irresolution,  and 


Sidney  to  Leicester,  April  13  :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


548 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[en.  46. 


would  neither  consent  nor  refuse.  She  had  not  ques- 
tioned the  justice  of  Sidney's  report ;  she  was  *  heated 
and  provoked  with  the  monster '  who  was  the  cause  of 
so  much  difficulty.  Yet  to  ask  her  for  money  was  to 
ask  her  for  her  heart's  blood.  '  Your  lordship's  experi- 
ence of  negotiation  here  in  such  affairs  with  her  Ma- 
jesty/ wrote  Cecil,  '  can  move  you  to  bear  patiently 
some  storms  in  the  expedition ; '  '  the  charge  was 
the  hindrance ; '  and  while  she  could  not  deny  that 
it  was  necessary,  she  could  not  forgive  the  plain- 
ness with  which  the  necessity  had  been  forced  upon 
her. 

She  quarrelled  in  detail  with  everything  which 
Sidney  did ;  she  disapproved  of  the  Munster  council 
because  Ireland  could  not  pay  for  it ;  and  it  was  use- 
less to  tell  her  that  Ireland  must  be  first  brought  into 
obedience.  She  was  irritated  because  Sidney,  unable  to 
see  with  sufficient  plainness  the  faults  of  Desmond  and 
the  exclusive  virtues  of  Ormond,  had  refused  to  adjudi- 
cate without  the  help  of  English  lawyers,  in  a  quarrel 
which  he  did  not  understand.  She  disapproved  of  Sir 
Warham  St  Leger  because  his  father  Sir  Anthony  had 
been  on  bad  terms  with  the  father  of  Ormond;  she 
insisted  that  Sidney  should  show  favour  to  Ormond,  '  in 
memory  of  his  education  with  that  holy  young  Solomon 
King  Edward  ; ' *  and  she  complained  bitterly  of  the 
employment  of  Stukely. 

It  was   not   till  April  was  far  advanced  that  the 


Cecil  to  Sidney,  March  27  :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1566.]  DEATH  OF  G1  NEIL.  549 

council  forced  her  by  repeated  importunities  to  consent 
that  '  Shan  should  be  extirpated ; '  and  even  then  she 
would  send  only  half  of  what  was  wanted  to  pay  the 
arrears  of  the  troops.  'Considering  the  great  sums  of 
money  demanded  and  required  of  her  in  Ireland  and 
elsewhere,  she  would  be  most  glad  that  for  reformation 
of  the  rebel  any  other  way  might  be  devised/  and  she- 
affronted  the  Deputy  by  sending  Sir  Francis  Knowles 
to  control  his  expenditure.  If  force  could  not  be  dis- 
pensed with,  Sir  Francis  might  devise  an  economical 
campaign.  /The  cost  of  levying  troops  in  England 
was  four  times  as  great  as  it  used  to  be ; '  and  it  would 
be  enough,  she  thought,  if  five  or  six  hundred  men 
were  employed  for  a  few  weeks  in  the  summer. 
O'Donnell,  O'Reilly,  and  M'Guyre  might  be  restored 
to  their  castles,  and  they  could  then  be  disbanded.1 
Such,  at  least,  was  her  own  opinion ;  should  those  how- 
ever who  had  better  means  of  knowing  the  truth  con- 
clude that  the  war  so  conducted  would  be  barren  of 
result,  she  agreed  with  a  sigh  that  they  must  have  their 
way.  She  desired  only  that  the  cost  might  be  as  small 
as  possible ;  '  the  fortification  of  Berwick  and  the 
payment  of  our  foreign  debts  falling  very  heavily 
on  her.' 2 

Such  was  ever  Elizabeth's  character.  She  had  receiv- 
ed the  crown  encumbered  with  a  debt  which  with  self- 
denying  thrift  she  was  laboriously  reducing,  and  she 

1  Instructions  to  Sir  F.  Knowles.    By  the  Queen,  April  18  :  Irish  MSS 
Rolls  House. 

•  Ibid. 


REIGN  OF  E  LIZ  ABE  TH. 


[CH.  46. 


had  her  own  reasons  for  disliking  over- frequent  sessions 
of  Parliament.  At  the  last  extremity  she  would  yield 
usually  to  what  the  public  service  demanded,  but  she 
gave  with  grudging  hand  and  irritated  temper ;  and 
while  she  admitted  the  truth,  she  quarrelled  with  those 
who  brought  it  home  to  her. 

Shan  meanwhile  was  preparing  for  war.  He  doubted 
his  ability  to  overreach  Elizabeth  any  more  by  words 
and  promises,  while  the  growth  of  the  party  of  the 
Queen  of  Scots,  his  own  connection  with  her,  and  the 
Catholic  reaction  in  England  and  Scotland,  encouraged 
him  to  drop  even  the  faint  disguise  behind  which  he 
had  affected  to  shield  himself.  He  mounted  brass  '  ar- 
tillery '  in  Dundrum  Castle,  and  in  LifFord  at  the  head 
of  Lough  Foyle.  The  friendship  with  Argyle  grew 
closer,  and  another  wonderful  marriage  scheme  was  in 
progress  for  the  alliance  between  the  Houses  of  M'Cal- 
lum-More  and  O'Neil.  *  The  Countess  '  was  to  be  sent 
away,  and  Shan  was  to  marry  the  widow  of  James 
M'Connell  whom  he  had  killed — who  was  another  half- 
sister  of  Argyle,  and  whose  daughter  he  had  married 
already  and  divorced.  This  business  '  was  said  to  be 
the  Earl's  practice/  1  The  Irish  chiefs,  it  seemed,  three 
thousand  years  behind  the  world,  retained  the  habits 
and  the  moralities  of  the  Greek  princes  in  the  tale  of 
Troy,  when  the  bride  of  the  slaughtered  husband  was 
the  willing  prize  of  the  conqueror ;  and  when  only  a 
rare  Andromache  was  found  to  envy  the  fate  of  a  sister 


Sidney  to  the  English  Council,  April  1 5  :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1566.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  551 

'  Who  had  escaped  the  bed  of  some  victorious  lord.' 
Aware  that  Sidney's  first  effort  would  be  the  restora- 
tion of  O'Donnell,  O'Neil  commenced  the  campaign  with 
a  fresh   invasion   of   Tyrconnell,   where    O'Donnell's 
brother  still  held  out  for  England ;  he  swept  round  by 
Lough    Erne,    swooped    on   the   remaining   cattle    of 
M'Guyre,  and  '  struck  terror  and  admiration  into  the 
Irishry.' 1     Then  stretching  out  his  hands  for  foreign  s- 
help,  he  wrote  in  the  style  of  a  king  to  Charles  the 
Ninth  of  France. 

'  Your  Majesty's  father,  King  Henry,  in 
times  past  required  the  Lords  of  Ireland  to 
join  with  him  against  the  heretic  Saxon,  the  enemies  of 
Almighty  God,  the  enemies  of  the  Holy  Church  of  Rome, 
your  Majesty's  enemies  and  mine.2  God  would  not  per- 
mit that  alliance  to  be  completed,  notwithstanding  the 
hatred  borne  to  England  by  all  of  Irish  blood,  until 
your  Majesty  had  become  King  in  France,  and  I  was 
Lord  of  Ireland.  The  time  is  come  however  when  we 
all  are  confederates  in  a  common  bond  to  drive  the  in- 
vader from  our  shores ;  and  we  now  beseech  your  Ma- 
jesty to  send  us  six  thousand  well-armed  men.  If  you 
will  grant  our  request  there  will  soon  be  no  Englishman 
left  alive  among  us,  and  we  will  be  your  Majesty's  sub* 
jects  evermore.  Help  us,  we  implore  you,  to  expel  the 
heretics  and  schismatics,  and  to  bring  back  our  country 
to  the  holy  Roman  See.' 3 


1  The  Bishop  of  Meath  to  Sussex,  April  27,  1566  :  WRIGHT,  vol.  i. 

2  '  Vestra  Majestatis  et  nostrae  simul  inimicos.' 
3  O'Neil  to  Charles  IX.  1566:  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


5S2 


REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH. 


[CH.  46. 


The  letter  never  reached  its  destination  ;  it  fell  into 
English  hands.  Yet  in  the  'tickle'  state  of  Europe 
and  with  the  progress  made  by  Mary  Stuart,  French  in- 
terference was  an  alarming  possibility.  More  anxious 
and  more  disturbed  than  ever,  Elizabeth  made  Sidney 
her  scapegoat.  Lord  Sussex,  ill  repaying  Sir  Henry's 
generous  palliation  of  his  own  shortcomings,  envious  of 
the  ability  of  Leicester's  brother-in-law,  and  wishing  to 
escape  the  charge  which  he  had  so  well  deserved  of  being 
the  cause  of  Shan's  '  greatness,'  whispered  in  her  ear 
that  in  times  past  Sidney  had  been  thought  to  favour 
'  that  great  rebel ; '  that  he  had  addressed  him  long  be- 
fore in  a  letter  by  the  disputed  title  of  '  O'Neil,'  and  was 
perhaps  his  secret  ally. 

Elizabeth  did  not  seriously  believe  this  preposterous 
story  ;  but  it  suited  her  humour  to  listen  to  a  suspicion 
which  she  could  catch  at  as  an  excuse  for  economy.  The 
preparations  for  war  were  suspended,  and  instead  of  re- 
ceiving supplies,  Sidney  learnt  only  that  the  Queen  had 
spoken  unworthy  words  of  him. 

Sidney's  blood  was  hot ;  he  was  made  of  bad  mate- 
rials for  a  courtier.  He  wrote  at  once  to  Elizabeth  her- 
self, '  declaring  his  special  grief  at  hearing  that  he  was 
fallen  from  her  favour,'  and  '  that  she  had  given  credit 
to  that  improbable  slander  raised  upon  him  by  the  Earl 
of  Sussex.'  He  wrote  to  the  council,  entreating  them 
not  to  allow  these  idle  stories  to  relax  their  energies  in 
suppressing  the  rebellion  ;  but  he  begged  them  at  the 
same  time  to  consider  his  own  '  unaptness  to  reside  any 
longer  in  Ireland,  or  to  be  an  actor  in  the  war.'  The  words 


.1566.]  DEATH  OF  O1  NEIL.  553 

which  the  Queen  had  used  of  him  were  gone  abroad  in 
the  world.  '  He  could  find  no  obedience.'  '  His  credit 
being  gone,  his  power  to  be  of  service  was  gone  also/ 
He  therefore  demanded  his  immediate  recall  '  that  he  '— 
might  preserve  the  small  remnant  of  his  patrimony  al- 
ready much  diminished  by  his  coming  to  Ireland/ 
As  for  the  charge  brought  against  him  by  the  Earl  of 
Sussex,  he  would  reply  with  his  sword  and  body 
'  against  an  accusation  concealed  hitherto  he  knew  not 
with  what  duty,  and  uttered  at  last  with  impudency  and 
unshamefastness/  l 

But  Elizabeth  meant  nothing  less  than  to  recall  , 
Sidney.  She  neither  distrusted  his  loyalty  nor  ques- 
tioned his  talents ;  she  chose  merely  to  find  fault  with 
him  while  she  made  use  of  his  services.  It  was  her  habit 
towards  those  among  her  subjects  whom  she  particularly 
valued.  Sir  Francis  Knowles  when  he  arrived  at  Dublin 
could  report  only  that  Sidney  had  gained  the  love  and 
the  admiration  of  every  one ;  and  that  his  plan  for  pro- 
ceeding against  O'Neil  was  the  first  which  had  ever 
promised  real  success.  Campaigns  in  Ireland  had  hither- 
to been  no  more  than  summer  forays — mere  inroads  of 
devastation  during  the  few  dry  weeks  of  August  and 
September.  Sidney  proposed  to  commence  at  the  end  of 
the  harvest,  when  the  corn  was  gathered  in,  and  could 
either  be  seized  or  destroyed ;  and  to  keep  the  field 
through  the  winter  and  spring.  It  would  be  expensive ; 
but  money  well  laid  out  was  the  best  economy  in  the 


Sidney  to  the  English  Council,  May  18  :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


554  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  46. 

end,  and  Sidney  undertook,  if  he  was  allowed  as  many 
men  as  he  thought  requisite,  and  was  not  interfered 
with,  '  to  subdue,  kill,  or  expel  Shan,  and  reduce  Ulster 
to  as  good  order  as  any  part  of  Ireland.' l 

At  first  Elizabeth  would  not  hear  of  it ;  she  would 
not  ruin  herself  for  any  such  harebrained  madness.  The 
Deputy  must  defend  the  Pale  through  the  summer,  and 
the  attack  on  O'Neil,  if  attempted  at  all,  should  be  de- 
layed till  the  spring  ensuing.  But  Sir  Francis,  who 
was  sent  to  prevent  expense,  was  the  foremost  to  insist 
on  the  necessity  of  it.  He  explained  that  in  the  cold 
Irish  springs  the  fields  were  bare,  the  cattle  were  lean, 
and  the  weather  was  so  uncertain,  that  neither  man  nor 
horse  could  bear  it ;  whereas  in  August  food  everywhere 
was  abundant,  and  the  soldiers  would  have  time  to  be- 
come hardened  to  their  work.  They  could  winter  some- 
where on  the  Bann,  harry  Tyrone  night  and  day  with- 
out remission,  and  so  break  Shan  to  the  ground  and 
ruin  him.  Two  brigantines  would  accompany  the  army 
with  supplies,  and  control  the  passage  between  Antrim 
and  the  Western  Isles ;  and  beyond  all,  Knowles  re- 
echoed what  Sidney  had  said  before  him  on  the  neces- 
sity of  paying  wages  to  the  troops  instead  of  leaving 
them  to  pay  themselves  at  the  expense  of  the  people. 
Nothing  was  really  saved,  for  the  debts  would  have 
eventually  to  be  paid,  and  paid  with  interest — while 
meanwhile  the  *  inhabitants  of  the  Pale  were  growing 
hostile  to  the  English  rule.' 2 

1  Sidney  to  Cecil,  April  17;  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
2  Sir  F.  Knowles  to  Cecil,  May  19:  Irish  MSS.  Soils  House. 


1566.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  555 

The  danger  to  the  State  could  hardly  be  exaggerated. 
M'Guyre  had  come  into  Dublin,  with  his  last  cottage  in 
ashes,  and  his  last  cow  driven  over  the  hills  into  Shan's 
country  ;  Argyle,  with  the  whole  disposable  force  of  the 
Western  Isles,  was  expected  in  person  in  Ulster  in  the 
summer. 

Elizabeth's  irritation  had  been  unable  to  wait  till  she 
had  received  Knowles's  letters.  She  made  herself  a  judge 
of  Sidney's  projects ;  she  listened  to  Sussex  who  told 
her  that  they  were  wild  and  impossible.  Whether 
Sussex  was  right  or  Sidney  was  right,  she  was  called 
upon  to  spend  money ;  and  while  she  knew  that  she  - 
would  have  to  do  it,  she  continued  to  delay  and  make 
difficulties,  and  to  vex  Sidney  with  her  letters. 

His  temper  boiled  over  again. 

*  I  testify  to  God,  to  her  Highness,  and  to 
you/  he  wrote  on  the  3rd  of  June  to  Cecil, 
1  that  all  the  charge  is  lost  that  she  is  at  with  this  man- 
ner of  proceeding.  O'Neil  will  be  tyrant  of  all  Ireland 
if  he  be  not  speedily  withstood.  He  hath,  as  I  hear,  won 
the  rest  of  O'Donnell's  castles;  he  hath  confederated 
with  the  Scots ;  he  is  now  in  M'Guyre's  country.  All 
this  summer  he  will  spend  in  Connaught ;  next  winter 
in  the  English  Pale.  It  may  please  the  Queen  to 
appoint  some  order  for  Munster — for  it  will  be  a  mad 
Munster  in  haste  else.  I  will  give  you  all  my  land  in 
Rutlandshire  to  get  me  leave  to  go  into  Hungary,  and 
think  myself  bound  to  you  while  I  live.  I  trust  there 
to  do  my  country  some  honour :  here  I  do  neither  good 
to  the  Queen,  to  the  country,  nor  myself.  I  take-  my 


556  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  46. 

leave  in  haste,  as  a  thrall  forced  to  live  in  loathsome- 
ness of  life.' l 

The  council,  finding  Sidney's  views  accepted  and 
endorsed  by  Knowles,  united  to  recommend  them ;  a 
schedule  was  drawn  out  of  the  men,  money,  and  stores 
which  would  be  required ;  a  thousand  of  the  best  troops 
in  Berwick,  with  eight  hundred  Irish,  was  the  increase 
estimated  as  necessary  for  the  army ;  and  the  wages  of 
eighteen  hundred  men  for  six  months  would  amount  to 
ten  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty  pounds.  Sixteen 
thousand  pounds  was  already  due  to  the  Irish  garrison. 
•  The  provisions,  arms,  clothes,  and  ammunition  would 
cost  four  thousand  five  hundred  pounds ;  and  four  thou- 
sand pounds  in  addition  would  be  wanted  for  miscella- 
neous services.2 

Ihe  reluctance  of  Elizabeth  to  engage  in  an  Irish 
campaign  was  not  diminished  by  a  demand  for  thirty- 
four  thousand  nine  hundred  pounds.  Sussex  continued 
malignant  and  mischievous,  and  there  was  many  a 
Catholic  about  the  Court  who  secretly  wished  O'Neil  to 
succeed.  '  The  Court,'  wrote  Cecil  to  Sidney,  'is  not  free 
from  many  troubles — amongst  others  none  worse  than 
emulations,  disdains,  backbitings,  and  such  like,  whereof 
I  see  small  hope  of  diminution/ 

The  Queen  at  the  beginning  refused  to  allow  more 
than  six  hundred  men  to  be  sent  from  England  or  more 
than  four  hundred  to  be  raised  in  Ireland.  To  no  pur- 
pose Cecil  insisted ;  in  vain  Leicester  challenged  Sussex 

1  Sidney  to  Cecil,  June  3.     Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
x  Notes  for  the  army  in  Ireland,  May  30.    In  Cecil's  hand :  MS.  Ibid. 


I566.J  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  557 

and  implored  his  mistress  to  give  way.  '  Her  Majesty 
was  absolutely  determined.'  The  Ormond  business  had 
created  fresh  exasperation.  Sir  Henry,  though  admiring 
and  valuing  the  Earl  of  Ormond's  high  qualities,  had 
persisted  in  declaring  himself  unable  to  decide  the  liti- 
gated questions  between  the  house  of  Butler  and  the 
Desmonds.  Archbishop  Kirwan,  the  Irish  Chancellor, 
was  old  and  incapable ;  the  Deputy  had  begged  for  the 
assistance  of  some  English  lawyers  ;  *  but  such  evil 
report  had  Ireland  that  no  English  lawyer  would  go 
there.' 1  The  Queen  flew  off  from  the  campaign  to  the  less 
expensive  question.  Lawyer  or  no  lawyer,  she  insisted 
that  judgment  should  be  given  in  Ormond's  favour. 
She  complained  that  the  Deputy  was  partial  to  Desmond, 
and — especially  wounding  Sidney,  whose  chief  success 
had  been  in  the  equity  of  his  administration,  and  whose 
first  object  had  been  to  check  the  tyrannical  exactions 
of  the  Irish  noblemen — she  required  him  to  make  an 
exception  in  Ormond's  favour,  and  permit  'coyn  and 
livery/  the  most  mischievous  of  all  the  Irish  imposts,  to 
be  continued  in  Kilkenny. 

'  I  am  extremely  sorry,'  Sidney  replied  to  Cecil,  when 
the  order  reached  him;  'I  am  extremely  sorry  to  receive 
her  Majesty's  command  to  permit  the  Earl  of  Ormond  to 
exercise  coyn  and  livery,  which  have  been  the  curse  of 
this  country,  and  which  I  hoped  to  have  ended  wholly. 
I  would  write  more,  if  I  did  not  hope  to  have  my  recall 
by  the  next  east  wind.  Only  weigh  what  I  have  said. 


1  Cecil  to  Sidney,  June  16:  Irish  MSS.  Soils  House. 


558  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  46. 

Whatever  becomes  of  me  you  will  have  as  woeful  a  busi- 
ness here  as.  you  had  in  Calais  if  you  do  not  look  to  it  in 
time/  1 

Elizabeth  was  not  contented  till  she  had  written  out 
her  passion  to  Sidney  with  her  own  hand.  She  told  him 
that  she  disapproved  of  all  that  he  was  doing.  If  he 
chose  to  persist,  she  would  give  him  half  the  men  that 
he  required,  and  with  those  he  might  do  what  he  could 
on  his  own  responsibility.2  It  seemed  however  that  she 
had  relieved  her  feelings  as  soon  as  she  had  expressed 
them.  A  week  later  she  yielded  to  all  that  was  required 
of  her.  Cecil  soothed  Sidney's  anger  with  a  gracious 
message  ; 3  Sidney,  since  she  was  pleased  to  have  it  so, 
consented  to  remain  and  do  his  duty;  and  thus,  after 
two  months  had  been  consumed  in  quarrels,  the  prepara- 
tions for  the  war  began  in  earnest. 

The  troops  from  England  were  to  go  direct  to  Lough 
Foyle  ;  to  land  at  the  head  of  the  lake  and  to  move  up 
to  Liiford,  where  they  were  to  entrench  themselves  and 
wait  for  the  Deputy,  who  would  advance  from  the  Pale 
to  join  them.  The  command  was  given  to  Colonel 
Edward  Randolph,  an  extremely  able  officer  who  had 
served  at  Havre ;  and  the  men  were  marched  as  fast  as 
they  could  be  raised  to  Bristol,  the  port  from  which  the 
expedition  was  to  sail,  while  Sidney  was  setting  a  rare 
example  in  Dublin,  and  spending  the  time  till  he  could 
take  the  field  '  in  hearing  the  people's  causes/ 


1  Sidney  to  Cecil,  June  24 :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House 

2  Elizabeth  to  Sidney,  June  15 :  MS.  Ibid. 

3  Cecil  to  Sidney,  June  24 :  MS.  Ibid 


1566.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  559 

Shau  O'Neil  finding  that  no  help  was  to 

July. 
be  looked  for  from  France,  and  that  mischief 

was  seriously  intended  against  him,  tried  a  stroke  of 
treachery.  He  wrote  to  Sidney  to  say  that  he  wished 
to  meet  him,  and  a  spot  near  Dundalk  being  chosen  for 
a  conference,  he  filled  the  woods  in  the  neighbourhood 
with  his  people  and  intended  to  carry  off  the  Deputy  as 
a  prize.  Sir  Henry  was  too  wary  to  be  caught.  He 
came  to  the  Border  on  the  25th  of  July ;  but  he  came 
in  sufficient  strength  to  defend  himself;  Shan  did  not 
appear,  and  waiting  till  Sidney  had  returned  to  Dublin, 
made  a  sudden  attempt  on  the  2Qth  to  seize  Dundalk. 
Young  Fitzwilliam,  who  was  in  command  of  the  Eng- 
lish garrison  there,  was  on  the  alert.  The  surprise 
failed.  The  Irish  tried  an  assault  but  were  beaten  back, 
and  eighteen  heads  were  left  behind  to  grin  hideously 
over  the  gates.  Shan  himself  drew  back  into  Tyrone  : 
to  prevent  a  second  occupation  of  Armagh  Cathedral  by 
an  English  garrison,  he  burnt  it  to  the  ground;  and 
sent  a  swift  messenger  to  Desmond  to  urge  him  to  rise 
in  Munster.  *  Now  was  the  time  or  never  to  set  upon 
the  enemies  of  Ireland.  If  Desmond  failed  or  turned 
against  his  country,  God  would  avenge  it  on  him/1 

Had  Sidney  allowed  himself  to  be  forced 

September. 
into  the  precipitate  decision  which  Elizabeth 

had  urged  upon  him,  the  Geraldines  would  have  made 
common  cause  with  O'Neil.  But  so  long  as  the  Eng- 
lish Government  was  just,  Desmond  did  not  care  to  carve 

1  Commendation  from  O'Neil  to  John  of  Desmond,  September  9 :  Irish 
MSS.  Rolls  House. 


560  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [cir.  46. 

a  throne  for  a  Celtic  chief ;  he  replied  with  sending  an 
offer  to  the  Deputy  '  to  go  against  the  rehel  with  all  his 
power.'  Still  more  opportunely  the  Earl  of  Murray  at 
the  last  moment  detached  Argyle  from  the  pernicious 
and  monstrous  alliance  into  which  he  had  been  led  by 
his  vindictiveness  against  Elizabeth.  The  Scots  of  the 
Isles,  freed  from  the  commands  of  their  feudal  sovereign, 
resumed  their  old  attitude  of  fear  and  hatred.  Shan 
offered  them  all  Antrim  to  join  him,  all  the  cattle  in 
the  country  and  the  release  of  Surlyboy  from  captivity ; 
but  Antrim  and  its  cattle  they  believed  that  they  could 
recover  for  themselves,  and  James  M'Connell  had  left  a 
brother  Allaster  who  was  watching  with  eager  eyes  for 
an  opportunity  to  revenge  the  death  of  his  kinsman 
and  the  dishonour  with  which  Shan  had  stained  his 
race. 

The  Scots,  though  still  few  in  number,  hung  as  a  cloud 
over  the  north-east.  Dropping  boat-loads  of  Highland- 
ers from  the  Isles  were  guided  to  the  coast  by  the  beacon- 
fires  which  blazed  nightly  over  the  giant  columns  of 
Fairhead.  Allaster  M'Connell  offered  his  services  to 
Sidney  as  soon  as  the  game  should  begin  ;  and  Shan, 
after  all,  instead  of  conquering  Ireland  might  have 
enough  to  do  to  hold  his  own.  The  weather  was  un- 
favourable and  the  summer  was  wet  and  wild  with 
westerly  gales.  Sir  Edward  Horsey,  who  was  sent  with 
money  from  London,  was  detained  half  August  at  Holy- 
head;  Colonel  Randolph  and  his  thousand  men  were 
chafing  for  thirty  days  at  Bristol,  '  fearing  that  their 
enemies  the  winds  would  let  them  that  they  should  not 


: 


1566.]  £>£A  Ttf  OP  0s NEIL.  56* 

help  Shan  to  gather  his  harvest ; ' 1  and  Sidney  as  from 
time  to  time  some  fresh  ungracious  letter  came  from 
Elizabeth  would  break  into  a  rage  again  and  press  Cecil 
'  for  his  recall  from  that  accursed  country/ 2  Otherwise 
however  the  prospects  grew  brighter  with  tLe  autumn. 
In  the  second  week  in  September  the  Bristol  transports 
were  seen  passing  into  the  North  Channel  with  a  lead 
ing  breeze.  Horsey  came  over  with  the  money ;  the 
troops  of  the  Pale  with  the  long  due  arrears  paid  up ' 
were  ordered  to  Drogheda  ;  and  on  the  1 7th,  assured 
that  by  that  time  Randolph  was  in  Lough  Foyle,  the 
Deputy,  accompanied  by  Kildare,  the  old  O'Donnell. 
Shan  M'Gruyre,  and  another  dispossessed  chief  O'Dog- 
herty,  took  the  field. 

Passing  Armagh,  which  they  found  a  mere  heap  of 
blackened  stones,  they  reached  the  Blackwater  on  the 
23rd.  On  an  island  in  a  lake  near  the  river  there  stood 
one  of  those  many  robber  castles  which  lend  in  their 
ruin  such  romantic  beauty  to  the  inland  waters  of  Ire- 
land. Report  said  that  within  its  walls  Shan  had  stored 
much  of  his  treasure,  and  the  troops  were  eager  to  take 
it.  Sidney  selected  from  among  the  many  volunteers 
such  only  as  were  able  to  swim,  and  a  bridge  was  ex- 
temporized with  brushwood  floated  upon  barrels.  The 
army  was  without  artillery  ;  it  had  been  found  imprac- 
ticable to  carry  a  single  cannon  over  roadless  bog  and 
mountain,  and  the  storming  party  started  with  hand- 


1  Edward  Randolph  to  Cecil  from  Bristol,  September  3  :  Irish 
Rolls  House. 

-  Sidney  to  Cecil,  September  10 :  MS.  Ibid. 
VOL.  vn.  36 


562  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  46, 

grenades  to  throw  over  the  walls.  The  bridge  proved 
too  slight  for  its  work  ;  slipping  and  splashing  through 
the  water  the  men.  got  over,  but  their  '  fireworks '  were 
wetted  in  the  passage  and  they  found  themselves  at  the 
foot  of  thirty  feet  of  solid  masonry  without  ladders  and 
with  no  weapons  but  their  bows  and  battle-axes.  '  The 
place  was  better  defended  and  more  strongly  fortified ' 
than  Sidney  had  supposed.  Several  of  the  English  were 
killed  and  many  more  were  wounded  ;  and  the  Deputy 
had  the  prudence  to  waste  no  more  valuable  lives  or 
equally  valuable  days  upon  an  enterprise  which  when 
accomplished  would  be  barren  of  result.  On  the  24th 
the  army  crossed  the  river  into  Shan's  own  country. 
The  Irish  hung  on  their  skirts  but  did  not  venture  to 
molest  them,  and  they  marched  without  obstruction  to 
Benbrook,  one  of  O'Neil's  best  and  largest  houses,  which 
they  found  *  utterly  burnt  and  razed  to  the  ground.' 
From  Benbrook  they  went  on  towards  Clogher,  through 
pleasant  fields  and  villages  '  so  well  inhabited  as  no  Irish 
county  in  the  realm  was  like  it : '  it  was  the  very  park 
if  preserve  into  which  the  plunder  of  Ulster  had  been 
gathered  ;  where  the  people  enjoyed  the  profits  of  un- 
limited pillage  from  which  till  then  they  had  been  them- 
selves exempt.  The  Bishop  of  Clogher  was  a  'rebel/ 
and  was  out  with  Shan  in  the  field ;  his  well-fattened 
flock  were  devoured  by  Sidney's  men  as  by  a  flight  of 
Egyptian  locusts.  ' There  we  stayed/  said  Sidney,  'to 
destroy  the  corn ;  we  burned  the  country  for  twenty- 
four  miles'  compass,  and  we  found  by  experience  that 
now  was  the  time  of  the  year  to  do  the  rebel  most  hurt.' 


1566.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  563 

Here  died  M'Guyre  at  the  monastery  of  Omagh  within 
sight  of  the  home  to  which  he  was  returning  by  the 
pleasant  shores  of  Lough  Erne.  Here  too  the  Earl  of 
Kildare  nearly  escaped  being  taken  prisoner:  he  was 
surprised  with  a  small  party  in  a  wood,  attacked  with 
'  harquebusses  and  Scottish  arrows/  and  hardly  cut  his 
way  through. 

Detained  longer  than  he  intended  by  foul 

October, 
weather,  Sidney  broke  up  from  Omagh  on  the 

2nd  of  October,  crossed  '  the  dangerous  and  swift  river 
there,'  'and  rested  that  night  on  a  neck  of  land  near  a 
broken  castle  of  Tirlogh  Lenogh,  called  the  Salmon 
Castle/  On  the  3rd  he  was  over  the  Deny,  and  by  the 
evening  he  had  reached  Lifford,  where  he  expected  to 
find  Randolph  and  the  English  army. 

At  Lifford  however  no  English  were  to  be  discovered, 
but  only  news  of  them. 

Randolph,  to  whose  discretion  the  ultimate  choice 
of  his  quarters  had  been  committed,  had  been  struck  as 
he  came  up  Lough  Foyle  with  the  situation  of  Deny. 
Nothing  then  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  city  save 
a  decrepit  and  deserted  monastery  of  Augustine  monks, 
which  was  said  to  have  been  built  in  the  time  of  St 
Columba  ;  but  the  eye  of  the  English  commander  saw 
in  the  form  of  the  ground,  in  the  magnificent  lake,  and 
the  splendid  tide  river,  a  site  for  the  foundation  of  a 
powerful  colony  suited  alike  for  a  military  station  and 
a  commercial  and  agricultural  town.  There  therefore 
Colonel  Randolph  had  landed  his  men,  and  there  Sid- 
ney joined  him,  and  after  a  careful  survey  entirely 


564  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [cri.  46. 

approved  his  judgment.  The  monastery  with  a  few 
sheds  attached  to  it  provided  shelter.  The  English 
troops  had  not  been  idle,  and  had  already  entrenched 
themselves  'in  a  very  warlike  manner/  O'Donnell, 
O'Dogherty,  and  the  other  friends  of  England  '  agreed 
all  of  them  that  it  was  the  very  best  spot  in  the  north- 
ern counties  to  build  a  city.' 

At  all  events  for  present  purposes  the  northern  force 
was  to  remain  there  during  the  winter.  Sidney  stayed 
a  few  days  at  Derry,  and  then  leaving  Randolph  with 
650  men,  350  pioneers,  and  provisions  for  two  months, 
continued  his  own  march.  His  object  was  to  replace 
O'Donnell  in  possession  of  his  own  country  and  castles, 
restore  O'Dogherty  and  the  other  chiefs  and  commit 
them  to  the  protection  of  Randolph,  while  he  himself 
would  sweep  through  the  whole  northern  province,  en- 
courage the  loyal  clans  to  return  to  their  allegiance,  and 
show  the  people  generally  that  there  was  no  part  of 
Ireland  to  which  the  arm  of  the  Deputy  could  not 
reach  to  reward  the  faithful  and  punish  the  rebellious. 

Donegal  was  his  next  point  after  leaving  Lough 
Foyle — once  a  thriving  town  inhabited  by  English  colo- 
nists— at  the  time  of  Sidney's  arrival  a  pile  of  ruins,  in 
the  midst  of  which,  like  a  wild  beast's  den  strewed 
round  with  mangled  bones,  rose  '  the  largest  and 
strongest  castle  which  he  had  seen  in  Ireland.'  It  was 
held  by  one  of  O'DonnelPs  kinsmen,  to  whom  Shan — 
to  attach  him  to  his  cause — had  given  his  sister  for  a 
wife.  At  the  appearance  of  the  old  chief  with  the 
English  army  it  was  immediately  surrendered.  O'Don- 


1 560.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  565 

nell  was  at  last  rewarded  for  liis  fidelity  and  sufferings, 
and  the  whole  tribe  with  eager  protestations  of  allegi- 
ance gave  sureties  for  their  future  loyalty. 

Leaving  O'Donnell  in  possession,  and  scarcely  paus- 
ing to  rest  his  troops,  Sidney  again  went  forward.  On 
the  1 9th  he  was  at  Bally  shannon ;  on  the  2  2nd  at 
Sligo ;  on  the  24th  he  passed  over  the  bogs  and  moun- 
tains of  Mayo  into  Roscommon ;  and  then,  'leaving 
behind  them  as  fruitful  a  country  as  was  in  England 
or  Ireland  all  utterly  waste/  the  army  turned  their 
faces  homewards,  waded  the  Shannon  at  Athlone  for 
lack  of  a  bridge  on  the  26th,  and  so  back  to  the  Pale. 
Twenty  castles  had  been  taken  as  they  went  along,  and 
left  in  hands  that  could  be  trusted.  '  In  all  that  long 
and  painful  journey/  Sidney  was  able  to  say  that 
'  there  had  not  died  of  sickness  but  three  persons ; '  men 
and  horses  were  brought  back  in  full  health  and 
strength,  while  ' her  Majesty's  honour  was  re-established 
among  the  Irishry  and  grown  to  no  small  veneration ' i 
—an  expedition  'comparable  only  to  Alexander's  journey 
into  Bactria/  wrote  an  admirer  of  Sidney  to  Cecil — re- 
vealing what  to  Irish  eyes  appeared  the  magnitude  of 
the  difficulty,  and  forming  a  measure  of  the  effect  which  it 
produced.  The  English  Deputy  had  bearded  Shan  in 
his  stronghold,  burnt  his  houses,  pillaged  his  people, 
and  had  fastened  a  body  of  police  in  the  midst  of  them 
to  keep  them  waking  in  the  winter  nights.  He  had 
penetrated  the  hitherto  impregnable  fortresses  of  moun- 

1  Sir  H.  Sidney  and  the  Earl  of  Kildare  to  Elizabeth,  November  12: 
Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


566  REIGN  OF  ELIZABEl^lI.  [011.46 

tain  and  morass.  The  Irish,  who  had  been  faithful  to 
England,  were  again  in  safe  possession  of  their  lands 
and  homes.  The  weakest,  maddest,  and  wildest  Celts 
were  made  aware  that  when  the  English  were  once 
roused  to  effort,  they  could  crush  them  as  the  lion 
crushes  the  jackal. 

Meantime  Lord  Ormond  had  carried  his  complaints 
to  London,  and  the  letter  which  Sidney  found  waiting 
his  return  was  not  what  a  successful  commander  might 
have  expected  from  his  sovereign.  Before  he  started 
he  had  repeated  his  refusal  to  determine  a  cause  which 
he  did  not  understand  without  the  help  of  lawyers. 
There  was  no  one  in  Ireland  of  whom  he  thought  more 
highly  than  of  Lord  Ormond ;  there  was  none  that  he 
would  more  gladly  help  ;  but  disputed  and  complicated 
titles  to  estates  were  questions  which  he  was  unable  to 
enter  into.  He  could  do  nothing  till  the  cause  had  been 
properly  heard;  and  in  the  existing  humour  of  the 
country  it  would  have  been  mere  madness  to  have  led 
Desmond  to  doubt  the  equity  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment. But  Sidney 's  modest  and  firm  defence  found  no 
favour  with  Elizabeth.  While  he  was  absent  in  the 
North,  she  wrote  to  Sir  Edward  Horsey  desiring  him 
to  tell  the  Deputy  that  she  was  ill  satisfied  with  his 
proceedings ;  he  had  allowed  himself  to  be  guided  by 
Irish  advisers ;  he  had  been  partial  to  Desmond ;  '  he 
that  had  least  deserved  favour  had  been  most  borne 
-withal/  While,  in  fact,  he  had  done  more  for  Ireland 
in  the  eight  months  of  his  government  than  any  Eng- 
lish ruler  since  Sir  Edward  Bellingham,  the  Queen  in- 
sisted that  he  had  attended  to  none  of  her  wishes  and 


1566.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  567 

had  occupied  himself  wholly  with  matters  of  no  import- 
ance. 

Most  likely  she  did  not  believe  what  she  said ;  but 
Sidney  was  costing  her  money  and  she  relieved  herself 
by  finding  fault. 

'  My  good  Lord/  Cecil  was  obliged  to  write  to  him 
to  prevent  an  explosion,  'next  to  my  most  hearty 
commendations  I  do  with  all  my  heart  condole  and  take 
part  of  sorrow  to  see  your  burden  of  government  so 
great,  and  your  comfort  from  hence  so  uncertain.  I 
feel  by  myself— being  also  here  wrapped  in  miseries, 
and  tossed,  with  my  small  vessel  of  wit  and  means, 
in  a  sea  swelling  with  storms  of  envy,  malice,  disdain, 
and  suspicion — what  discomfort  they  commonly  have 
that  mean  to  deserve  best  of  their  country.  And 
though  I  confess  myself  unable  to  give  you  advice, 
and  being  almost  desperate  myself  of  well-doing,  yet 
for  the  present  I  think  it  best  for  you  to  run  still  an 
even  course  in  government,  with  indiffereiicy  in  case 
of  justice  to  all  persons,  and  in  case  of  favour,  to 
let  them  which  do  well  find  their  comfort  by  you ; 
and  in  other  causes  in  your  choice  to  prefer  them 
whom  you  find  the  Prince  most  disposed  to  have 
favoured.  My  Lord  of  Ormond  doth  take  this  com- 
modity by  being  here  to  declare  his  own  griefs ;  I  seo 
the  Queen's  Majesty  so  much  misliking  of  the  Earl  ol 
Desmond  as  surely  I  think  it  needful  for  you  to  be  very 
circumspect  in  ordering  of  the  complaints  exhibited 
against  him/  1 


1  Cecil  to  Sidney,  October  20 :  Irish  MSti.  Rolls  House. 


568  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [en.  46. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  Eli/abeth's  letter  to  Hor- 
sey was  written  at  the  crisis  of  tlie  succession  quarrel 
in  Parliament,  and  that  her  not  unprovoked  ill-humour 
was  merely  venting  itself  upon  the  first  object  which 
came  across  her  :  nor  had  she  at  that  time  heard  of 
Sidney's  successes  in  Ulster,  and  probably  she  despaired 
of  ever  hearing  of  successes.  Yet  when  she  did  hear, 
the  tone  of  her  letters  was  scarcely  altered ;  she 
alluded  to  his  services  only  to  reiterate  her  complaints ; 
and  she  would  not  have  gone  through  the  form  of 
thanking  him,  had  not  Cecil  inserted  a  few  words  of 
acknowledgment  in  the  draft  of  her  despatch.1  Sid- 
ney's patience  was  exhausted.  Copies  of  the  Queen's 
disparaging  letters  were  circulated  privately  in  Dublin, 
obtained  he  knew  not  how,  but  with  fatal  effect  upon 
his  influence.  He  had  borne  Elizabeth's  'caprices  long 
enough.  'For  God's  sake,'  he  wrote  angrily  on  the 
1 5th  of  November  in  answer  to  Cecil's  letter, 
'  for  God's  sake  get  my  recall ;  the  people 
here  know  what  the  Queen  thinks  of  me,  and  I  .can  do 
no  good.' 2 

From  these  unprofitable  bickerings  the  story  must 
return  to  Colonel  Randolph  and  the  garrison  of  Deny. 
For  some  weeks  after  Sidney's  departure  all  had  gone  on 
prosperously.  The  country  people,  though  well  paid  for 
everything,  were  slow  to  bring  in  provisions  ;  the  bread 
ran  short ;  and  the  men  had  been  sent  out  poorly  pro- 


1  The  words  '  for  which  we  are  bound  to  thank  you '  are  inserted  in 
Cecil's  hand.— The  Queen  to  Sidney,  November,  1566. 
2  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 


1566.]  DEATH  OF  a NEIL.  569 

vided  with  shoes  or  tools  or  clothes.  But  foraging 
parties  drove  in  sufficient  beef  to  keep  them  in  fresh 
meat.  Randolph,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of  fine 
foresight,  had  sent  to  the  English  Pale  for  a  supply  of 
forage  before  the  winter  set  in ;  he  had  written  to  Eng- 
land '  for  shirts,  kerseys,  canvas,  and  leather ; '  he  kept 
Cecil  constantly  informed  of  the  welfare  and  wants  of 
the  troops  ; 1  and  for  some  time  they  were  healthy  and  in 
high  spirits,  and  either  worked  steadily  at  the  fortress  or 
were  doing  good  service  in  the  field. 

While  Sidney  was  in  Connaught,  Shan,  who  had  fol- 
lowed him  to  Lifford,  turned  back  upon  the  Pale,  expect- 
ing to  find  it  undefended.  He  was  encountered  by  Sir 
Warham  St  Leger,  lost  two  hundred  men,  and  was  at 
first  hunted  back  over  the  Border.  He  again  returned 
however  with  'a  main  army/  burnt  several  villages,  and 
in  a  second  fight  with  St  Leger  was  more  successful ;  the 
English  were  obliged  to  retire  '  for  lack  of  more  aid; '  but 
they  held  together  in  good  order,  and  Shan  with  the 
Derry.  garrison  in  his  rear  durst  not  follow  far  from 
home  in  pursuit.  Before  he  could  revenge  himself  on 
Sidney,  before  he  could  stir  against  the  Scots,  before  he 
could  strike  a  blow  at  O'Donnell,  he  must  pluck  out  the 
barbed  dart  which  was  fastened  in  his  unguarded  side. 

Knowing  that  he  would  find  it  no  easy  task,  he  was 
hovering  cautiously  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lough 
Foyle,  when  Randolph  fell  upon  him  by  surprise  on  the 
1 2th  of  November.  The  O'Neils  fled  after  a  short,  sharp 


Edward  Randolph  to  Cecil,  October  27  :  Irish  MSS.  Molls  House. 


570  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  46. 

action.  O'Dogherty  with  his  Irish  horse  chased  the 
flying  crowd,  killing  every  man  he  caught,  and  Shan 
recovered  himself  to  find  he  had  lost  four  hundred  men 
of  the  bravest  of  his  followers.  More  fatal  overthrow 
neither  he  nor  any  other  Irish  chief  had  yet  received  at 
English  hands.  But*  the  success  was  dearly  bought ; 
Colonel  Randolph  himself  leading  the  pursuit  was  struck 
by  a  random  shot  and  fell  dead  from  his  horse.  The 
Irish  had  fortunately  suffered  too  severely  to  profit  by 
his  loss.  Shan's  motley  army,  held  together  as  it  was 
by  the  hope  of  easily-bought  plunder,  scattered  when  the 
service  became  dangerous.  Sidney,  allowing  him  no  rest, 
struck  in  again  beyond  Dundalk,  burning  his  farms  and 
capturing  his  castles.1  The  Scots  came  in  over  the  Bann, 
wasting  the  country  all  along  the  river  side.  Allaster 
M'Connell,  like  some  chief  of  Sioux  Indians,  sent  to  the 
Captain  of  Knockfergus  an  account  of  the  cattle  that  he 
had  driven,  and  *  the  wives  and  bairns '  that  he  had 
slain.2  Like  swarms  of  angry  hornets  these  avenging 
savages  drove  their  stings  into  the  now  maddened  and 
desperate  Shan,  on  every  point  where  they  could  fasten  ; 

while  in  December  the  old  O'Donnell  came  out 
December. 

over  the  mountains  from  Donegal,  and  paid 

back  O'Neil  with  interest  for  his  stolen  wife,  his  pillaged 
country,  and  his  own  long  imprisonment  and  exile.  The 
tide  of  fortune  had  turned  too  late  for  his  own  revenge  : 


1  Sidney  to  the  Lords  of  the  Council,  December  12  :  Irish  MSS.  Roll* 
House. 

~  Allaster  M'Connell  to  the  Captain  of  Knockfergus ;  enclosed  in  u 
letter  of  R.  Piers  to  Sir  H.  Sidney,  December  15  :  MS.  Ibid. 


1566.]  DEATH  OF  O1  NEIL.  571 

worn  out  with  his  long  sufferings  he  fell  from  his  horse 
at  the  head  of  his  people  with  the  stroke  of  death  upon 
him  ;  but  before  he  died  he  called  his  kinsmen  about 
him  and  prayed  them  to  be  true  to  England  and  their 
Queen,  and  Hugh  O'Donnell,  who  succeeded  to  his  father's 
command,  went  straight  to  Derry  and  swore  allegiance 
to  the  English  Crown. 

Tyrone  was  now  smitten  in  all  its  borders.  Magennis 
was  the  last  powerful  chief  who  still  adhered  to  Shan's 
fortunes  ;  the  last  week  in  the  year  Sidney  carried  fire 
and  sword  through  his  country  and  left  him  not  a  hoof 
remaining.  It  was  to  no  purpose  that  Shan,  bewildered 
by  the  rapidity  with  which  disasters  were  piling  them- 
selves upon  him,  cried  out  now  for  pardon  and  peace, 
the  Deputy  would  not  answer  his  letter,  and  '  nothing 
was  talked  of  but  his  extirpation  by  war  only.' 1 

A  singular  tragedy  interrupted  for  a  time  the  tide  of 
English  success,  although  the  first  blows  had  been  struck 
by  so  strong  a  hand  that  Shan  could  not  rally  from 
them.  The  death  of  Randolph  had  left  the  garrison  at 
Derry  as — in  the  words  of  one  of  them — a  headless 
people.2  Food  and  clothing  fell  short,  and  there  was  no 
longer  foresight  to  anticipate  or  authority  to  remedy 
the  common  wants  of  troops  on  active  service.  Sickness 
set  in.  By  the  middle  of  November  '  the  flux  was  reign- 
ing among  them  wonderfully.' 3  Strong  men  soon  after 
were  struck  suddenly  dead  by  a  mysterious  disorder 


1  Sidney  to  the  English  Council,  January  18:  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  Home. 

2  Geoffrey  Vaughan  to  Admiral  Winter,  December  18:  MS.  Ibid. 

3  Wilfred  to  Cecil,  November  15  :  MS.  Ibid. 


572  RAIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  46. 

which  110  medicine  would  cure  and  110  precaution  would 
prevent.  It  appeared  at  last  that  either  in  ignorance  or 
carelessness  they  had  built  their  sleeping  quarters  over 
the  burial-ground  of  the  Abbey,  and  the  clammy  vapour 
had  stolen  into  their  lungs  and  poisoned  them.  As  .soon 
as  their  distress  was  known,  supplies  in  abundance  were 
sent  from  England ;  but  the  vices  of  modern  administra- 
tion had  already  infected  the  public  service,  and  a  cargo 
of  meal  destined  for  the  garrison  of  Derry  went  astray 
to  Florida.  No  subordinate  officer  ventured  to  take  the 
vacant  command.  'Many  of  our  best  men/  Captain 
Vaughan  wrote  a  few  days  before  Christmas,  '  go  away 
because  there  is  none  to  stay  them ;  many  have  died ; 
God  comfort  us  ! ' 1 

1567.  Colonel St  Loo  came  at  last  in  the  beginning 

February.  of  fae  new  vear>  ^he  pestilence  for  a  time 
abated,  and  the  spirits  of  the  men  revived.  St  Loo,  to 
quicken  their  blood,  let  them  at  once  into  the  enemy's 
country;  they  returned  after  a  foray  of  a  few  days 
driving  before  them  seven  hundred  horses  and  a  thou- 
sand cattle  ; 2  and  the  Colonel  wrote  to  Sidney  to  say 
that  with  three  hundred  additional  men  '  he  could  so 
hunt  the  rebel  that  ere  May  was  past  he  should  not  show 
his  face  in  Ulster/ 

Harder  pressed  than  ever,  Shan  O'Neil,  about  the 
time  when  the  Queen  of  Scots  was  bringing  her  matri- 


1  Vaughan  to  Winter,  December  18 :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
-  St  Loo  in  his  despatch  says  10,000.     He  must  have  added  one  cipher 
at  least.— St  Loo  to  Sidney,  February  8 :  7mA  MSB.  Rolls  House. 

3  Ibid. 


1567.]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  573 

monial  difficulties  to  their  last  settlement,  made  one 
more  effort  to  gain  allies  in  France.  This  time  he  wrote, 
not  to  the  King,  but  to  the  Cardinals  of  Lorraine  and 
Guise,  imploring  them,  in  the  name  of  their  great  bro- 
ther the  Duke,  who  had  raised  the  cross  out  of  the  dust 
where  the  unbelieving  Huguenots  were  trampling  it,  to 
bring  the  fleur-de-lys  to  the  rescue  of  Ireland  from  the 
grasp  of  the  ungodly  English.  *  Help  us  ! '  he  cried, 
blending — Irish  like — flattery  with  entreaty.  *  When  I 
was  in  England  I  saw  your  noble  brother  the  Marquis 
d'Elbreuf  transfix  two  stags  with  a  single  arrow.  If  the 
Most  Christian  King  will  not  help  us,  move  the  Pope  to 
help  us.  I  alone  in  this  land  sustain  his  cause/1 

As  the  ship  laboured  in  the  gale  the  unprofitable 
cargo  was  thrown  overboard.  Terence  Daniel,  relieved 
of  his  crozier,  went  back  to  his  place  among  the  troopers  ; 
Creagh  was  accepted  in  his  place,  and  taken  into  confid- 
ence and  into  Shan's  household ;  all  was  done  to  de- 
serve favour  in  earth  and  heaven,  but  all  was  useless. 
The  Pope  sat  silent,  or  muttering  his  anathemas  with 
bated  breath  ;  the  Guises  had  too  much  work  on  hand 
at  home  to  heed  the  Irish  wolf,  whom  the  English  having 
in  vain  attempted  to  trap  or  poison,  were  driving  to  bay 
with  more  lawful  weapons. 

Success   or  failure  however  was  alike  to 
the  doomed   garrison  of  Derry.     The   black 
death  came  back  among  them  after  a  brief  respite,  and 
to  the  reeking  vapour  of  the  charnel-house  it  was  indif- 


1  Shan  O'Neil  to  the  Cardinals  of  Lorraine  and  Guise,  1567  :  MS.  Ibid 


574  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  46 

ferent  whether  its  victims  returned  in  triumph  from  a 
stricken  field,  or  were  cooped  within  their  walls  by 
hordes  of  savage  enemies.  By  the  middle  of  March 
there  were  left  out  of  eleven  hundred  men  but  three 
hundred  available  to  fight.  Reinforcements  had  been 
raised  at  Liverpool,  but  they  were  countermanded  when 
on  the  point  of  sailing :  it  was  thought  idle  to  send  them 
to  inevitable  death.  The  English  council  was  discuss- 
ing the  propriety  of  removing  the  colony  to  the  Bann, 
when  accident  finished  the  work  which  the  plague  had 
begun,  and  spared  them  the  trouble  of  deliberation. 
The  huts  and  sheds  round  the  monastery  had  been 
huddled  together  for  the  convenience  of  fortification. 
At  the  end  of  April,  probably  after  a  drying  east  wind, 
a  fire  broke  out  in  a  blacksmith's  forge,  which  spread  irre- 
sistibly through  the  entire  range  of  buildings.  The  flames 
at  last  reached  the  powder  magazine ;  thirty  men  were 
blown  in  pieces  by  the  explosion ;  and  the  rest,  paralyzed 
by  this  last  addition  to  their  misfortunes,  made  no  more 
effort  to  extinguish  the  conflagration.  St  Loo,  with  all 
that  remained  of  that  ill-fated  party,  watched  from  their 
provision  boats  in  the  river  the  utter  destruction  of  the 
settlement  which  had  begun  so  happily,  and  then  sailed 
drearily  away  to  find  a  refuge  in  Knockfergus. 

Such  was  the  fate  of  the  first  effort  for  the  building 
of  Londonderry ;  and  below  its  later  glories,  as  so  often 
happens  in  this  world,  lay  the  bones  of  many  a  hundred 
gallant  men  who  lost  their  lives  in  laying  its  founda- 
tions. Elizabeth,  who  in  the  immediate  pressure  of 
calamity  resumed  at  once  her  nobler  nature,  '  perceiv- 


1567  ]  DEA  TH  OF  VNEIL.  575 

ing  the  misfortune  not  to  come  of  treason  but  of  God's 
ordinance,  bore  it  well ; '  '  she  was  willing  to  do  that 
which  should  be  wanting  to  repair  the  loss ; ' 1  and  Cecil 
was  able  to  write  cheerfully  to  Sidney,  telling  him  to 
make  the  best  of  the  accident,  and  let  it  stimulate  him 
to  fresh  exertions.2 

Happily  the  essential  work  had  been  done  already, 
and  the  ruin  of  Derry  came  too  late  to  profit  Shan.  His 
own  people,  divided  and  dispirited,  were  mutinying 
against  a  leader  who  no  longer  commanded  success.  In 
May  a  joint  movement  was  concerted  between 
Sidney  and  the  O'Donnells,  and  while  the 
Deputy  with  the  light  horse  of  the  Pale  overran  Tyrone 
and  carried  off  three  thousand  cattle,  Hugh  O'Donnell 
came  down  on  Shan  on  the  river  which  runs  into  Lough 
Foyle.  The  spot  where  the  supremacy  of  Ulster  was 
snatched  decisively  from  the  ambition  of  the  O'Neils,  is 
called  in  the  despatches  Gaviston.  The  situation  is  now 
difficult  to  identify.  It  was  somewhere  perhaps  between 
Lifford  and  Londonderry,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river 

Conscious  that  he  was  playing  his  last  card,  Shan  had 
gathered  together  the  whole  of  his  remaining  force,  and 
had  still  nearly  three  thousand  men  with  him.  The 
O'Donnells  were  fewer  in  number ;  but  victory,  as  gener- 
ally happens,  followed  the  tide  in  which  events  were 
setting.  After  a  brief  fight  the  O'Neils  broke  and  fled ; 
the  enemy  was  behind  them,  the  river  was  in  front ;  and 
when  the  Irish  battle-cries  had  died  away  over  moor  and 

1  Cecil  to  Leicester,  May,  1567  :  Irish  MSS.  Rolls  House. 
-  '  Et  contra  audentior  ito.'— Cecil  to  Sidney,  May  13  :  MS.  Ibid. 


576  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  46. 

mountain,  but  two  hundred  survived  of  those  fierce 
troopers  who  were  to  have  cleared  Ireland  for  ever  from 
the  presence  of  the  Saxons.  For  the  rest,  the  wolves 
were  snarling  over  their  bodies,  and  the  sea-gulls  wheel- 
ing over  them  with  scream  and  cry  as  they  floated  down 
to  their  last  resting-place  beneath  the  quiet  waters  of 
Lough  Foyle.  Shan's  '  foster-brethren/  faithful  to  the 
last,  were  all  killed ;  he  himself,  with  half  a  dozen  com- 
rades, rode  for  his  life,  pursued  by  the  avenging  furies  ; 
his  first  desperate  intention  was  to  throw  himself  at 
Sidney's  feet,  with  a  slave's  collar  upon  his  neck ;  but 
his  secretary,  Neil  M 'Kevin,  persuaded  him  that  his 
cause  was  not  yet  absolutely  without  hope. 

Surlyboy  was  still  a  prisoner  in  the  castle  at  Lough 
Neagh ;  '  the  Countess  of  Argyle '  had  remained  with 
her  ravisher  through  his  shifting  fortunes,  had  continued 
to  bear  him  children,  and  notwithstanding  his  many  in- 
fidelities, was  still  attached  to  him.  M'Kevin  told  him 
that  for  their  sakes,  or  at  their  intercession,  he  might 
find  shelter  and  perhaps  help  among  the  kindred  of  the 
M'Connells.1 

In  the  far  extremity  of  Antrim,  beside  the  falls  of 
Isnaleara,  where  the  black  valley  of  GlenariiF  opens  out 
into  Red  Bay,  sheltered  among  the  hills  and  close  upon 
the  sea,  lay  the  camp  of  Allaster  M'Connell  and  his 
nephew  Gillespie.  Here  on  Saturday,  the  last  of  May, 
appeared  Shan  O'Neil,  with  M'Kevin  and  some  fifty 
men.  He  had  brought  the  Countess  and  his  prisoner  as 


Attainder  of  Shun  O'Neil :  Irish  Statute  Book,  u  Elizabt-tlt. 


1567-]  DEATH  OF  Cf NEIL.  577 

peace  offerings  :  he  alighted  at  Allaster's  tent,  and  threw 
himself  on  his  hospitality  ;  and  though  the  blood  of  the 
M'Connells  was  fresh  on  his  hands  he  was  received  '  with 
dissembled  gratulatory  words/  The  feud  seemed  to  be 
buried  in  the  restoration  of  Surly  boy  ;  an  alliance  was 
again  talked  of,  and  for  two  days  all  went  well.  But 
the  death  of  their  leaders  in  the  field  was  not  the  only 
wrong  which  Shan  had  offered  to  the  Western  Island- 
ers :  he  had  divorced  James  M'ConnelPs  daughter  ;  he 
had  kept  a  high-born  Scottish  lady  with  him  as  his 
mistress  ;  and  last  of  all,  after  killing  M'Connell,  he  had 
asked  Argyle  to  give  him  M'Connell's  widow  for  a  wife. 
The  lady  herself,  to  escape  the  dishonour,  had  remained 
in  concealment  in  Edinburgh  ;  but  the  mention  of  it  had 
been  taken  as  a  mortal  insult  by  her  family. 

The   third  evening,  Monday  the   2nd  of 
June,  after  supper,  when  the  wine   and  the 
whisky  had  gone  freely  round,  and  the  blood  in  Shan's 
veins  had  warmed  again,  Grillespie  M'Connell,  who  had 
watched  him  from  the  first  with    an  ill-boding    eye, 
turned    round    upon    M 'Kevin    and    asked    scornfully 
c  whether  it  was  he  who  had  bruited  abroad  that  the 
lady  his  aunt  did  offer  to  come  from  Scotland  to  Ireland 
to  marry  with  his  master  ?  ' 

M 'Kevin,  meeting  scorn  with  scorn,  said  '  that  if  his 
aunt  was  Queen  of  Scotland  she  might  be  proud  to  match 
the  O'Neil/ 

'  It  is  false  !  '  the  fierce  Scot  shouted  ;  '  my  aunt  is 
too  honest  a  woman  to  match  with  her  husband's  mil?-- 
derer.' 

VOT,.    VTT.  37 


578  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  46 

Shan,  who  was  perhaps  drunk,  heard  the  words 
and  forgetting  where  he  was,  flung  back  the  lie  in  Gil- 
lespie's  throat.  Gillespie  sprung  to  his  feet,  ran  out  of 
the  tent,  and  raised  the  slogan  of  the  Isles.  A  hundred 
dirks  flashed  into  the  moonlight,  and  the  Irish  wher- 
ever they  could  be  found  were  struck  down  and  stabbed. 
Some  two  or  three  found  their  horses  and  escaped ;  all 
the  rest  were  murdered ;  and  Shan  himself,  gashed  with 
fifty  wounds,  was  '  wrapped  in  a  kern's  old  shirt '  and 
flung  into  a  pit  dug  hastily  among  the  ruined  arches  of 
Glenarm. 

Even  there  what  was  left  of  him  was  not  allowed  to 
rest ;  four  days  later  Piers,  the  captain  of  Knockfergus, 
hacked  the  head  from  the  body,  and  carried  it  on  a 
spear's  point  through  Drogheda  to  Dublin,  where  staked 
upon  a  spike  it  bleached  on  the  battlements  of  the 
castle,  a  symbol  to  the  Irish  world  of  the  fate  of  Celtic 
heroes.1 

So  died  Shan  O'Neil,  one  of  those  champions  of  Irish 
nationality,  who  under  varying  features  have  repeated 
themselves  in  the  history  of  that  country  with  periodic 
regularity.  At  once  a  drunken  ruffian  and  a  keen  and 
fiery  patriot,  the  representative  in  his  birth  of  the  line 
of  the  ancient  kings,  the  ideal  in  his  character  of  all 
which  Irishmen  most  admired,  regardless  in  his  actions 
of  the  laws  of  God  and  man,  yet  the  devoted  subject  in 
his  creed  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  ;  with  an  eye 


1  Sir  William  Fitzwilliam  to  Cecil,  June  10  :  Irish  MSS.  Soils  House. 


1567-]  DEATH  OF  a  NEIL.  579 

which  could  see  far  beyond  the  limits  of  his  own  island, 
and  a  tongue  which  could  touch  the  most  passionate 
chords  of  the  Irish  heart ;  the  like  of  him  has  been  seen 
many  times  in  that  island,  and  the  like  of  him  may  be 
seen  many  times  again,  '  till  the  Ethiopian  has  changed 
his  skin  and  the  leopard  his  spots.' 

Many  of  his  letters  remain,  to  the  Queen,  to  Sussex, 
to  Sidney,  to  Cecil,  and  to  foreign  princes  ;  far-reaching, 
full  of  pleasant  flattery  and  promises  which  cost  him 
nothing;  but  showing  true  ability  and  insight.  Sinner 
though  he  was,  he  too  in  his  turn  was  sinned  against ; 
in  the  stained  page  of  Irish  misrule  there  is  no  second 
instance  in  which  an  English  ruler  stooped  to  treachery 
or  to  the  infamy  of  attempted  assassination ;  and  it  is  L 
not  to  be  forgotten  that  Lord  Sussex,  who  has  left  under 
his  own  hand  the  evidence  of  his  own  baseness,  con- 
tinued a  trusted  and  favoured  councillor  of  Eliza- 
beth, while  Sidney,  who  fought  Shan  and  conquered 
him  in  the  open  field,  found  only  suspicion  and  hard 
words. 

How  just  Sidney's  calculations  had  been,  how  ably  r"v 
his  plans  were  conceived,  how  bravely  they  were  carried 
out,  was  proved  by  their  entire  success,  notwithstanding 
the  unforeseen  and  unlikely  calamity  at  Londonderry. 
In  one  season  Ireland  was  reduced  for  the  first  time  to  < 
universal  peace  and  submission.     While  the  world  was 
full  of  Sidney's  praises  Elizabeth  persevered  in  writing 
letters  to  him  which  Cecil  in  his  own  name  and  the 
name  of  the  council  was   obliged  to  disclaim.      But 


58o  REIGN  OF  ELIZABETH.  [CH.  46. 

at  last  the  Queen  too  became  gradually  gracious  ;  she 
condescended  to  acknowledge  that  he  had  recover- 
ed Ireland  for  her  crown,  and  thanked  him  for  his 
services. 


END  OF  vor,.  v.ti. 


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Peasant   War    in 
Germany. 

The  Younger  Sister. 
That  Child. 
Under  a  Cloud. 
Hester's  Venture. 
The  Fiddler  of  Lugau. 
A  Child  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. 

ATHERSTONE  PRIORY.  By  L.  N.  COMYN. 
THE  STORY  OF  A  SPRING  MORNING,  &c. 

By  Mrs.  MOLESWORTH.     Illustrated. 
THE  PALACE  IN  THE  GARDEN.     By 

Mrs.  MOLESWORTH.     Illustrated. 
NEIGHBOURS.    By  Mrs.  MOLESWORTH. 
THE  THIRD  Miss  ST.  QUENTIN.     By 

Mrs.  MOLESWORTH. 


VERY  YOUNG  ;  and  QUITE  ANOTHER 
STORY.  Two  Stories.  By  JEAN  INGE- 
LOW. 

CAN  THIS  BE  LOVE  ?  By  LOUISA  PARR. 

KEITH  DERAMORE.  By  the  Author  of 
'  Miss  Molly '. 

SIDNEY,    By  MARGARET  DELANO. 

AN  ARRANGED  MARRIAGE.  By  DORO- 
THEA GERARD. 

LAST  WORDS  TO  GIRLS  ON  LIFE  AT 
SCHOOL  AND  AFTER  SCHOOL.  By 
MARIA  GREY. 

STRAY  THOUGHTS  FOR  GIRLS.  By 
LUCY  H.  M.  SOULSBY,  Head  Mistress 
of  Oxford  High  School.  i6mo.,  is.  6d. 
net. 


The  Silver  Library. 

CROWN  8vo.    y.  6d.  EACH  VOLUME. 


Arnold's  (Sir  Edwin)  Seas  and  Lands. 

With  71  Illustrations,     y.  6d. 
Bagehot's  (W.)  Biographical    Studies. 

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Bagehot's  (W.)  Economic  Studies,  y.  6d. 
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Ceylon.    With  6  Illustrations,     y.  6d. 
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Becker's  (Prof.)  Callus  :  or,  Roman 
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Butler's  (Edward  A.)  Our  Household 
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LONGMANS  6-  CO.'S  STANDARD  AND  GENERAL   WORKS.        27 


The  Silver  Library — continued. 


Clodd's  (E.)  Story  of  Creation  :  a  Plain 
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Doyle's  (A.  Gonan)  Micah  Clarke :  a  Tale 
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Doyle's  (A.  Conan)  The  Captain  of  the 
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Froude's  (J.  A.)  Short  Studies  on  Great 
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Froude's  (J.  A.)  The  Spanish  Story  of 
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Froude's   (J.    A.)  Thomas    Carlyle:    a 
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Froude's  ( J.  A.)  Caesar :  a  Sketch,    y.  6d. 

Froude's  (J.  A.)  The  Two  Chiefs  of  Dun- 
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Gleig's  (Rev.  G.  R.)  Life  of  the  Duke  of 
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Haggard's  (H.  R.)  Beatrice,    y.  6d. 

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Haggard's  (H.  R.)  The  People  of  the  Mist. 
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Harte's  (Bret)  In  the  Carquinez  Woods, 
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Helm  ho  Itz's  (Hermann  von)  Popular  Lee 
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Hornung's  (E.  W.)  The  Unbidden  Guest. 
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Jefferies'(R.)The  Story  of  My  Heart:  My 
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Jefferies'  (R.)  Field  and  Hedgerow. 
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Jefferies'  (R.)  Red  Deer.  17  Illus.   3J.  6d. 

Jefferies'  (R.)  Wood  Magic:  a  Fable. 
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Jefferies'  (R.)  The  Toilers  of  the  Field. 
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bury Cathedral,  y.  6d. 

Knight's(E.  F.)The  Cruise  of  the  <  Alerte' : 
a  Search  for  Treasure  on  the  Desert 
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23  Illustrations.  3^.  6d. 

Knight's  (E.  F.)  Where  Three  Empires 
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tions, y.  6d 

Knight's  (E.  F.)  The  'Falcon'  on  the 
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mersmith to  Copenhagen  in  a  Three- 
Ton  \  acht.  With  Map  and  1 1  Illustra- 
tions, y.  6d. 

Lang's  (A.)  Angling  Sketches.  20  Illus. 
y.  6d. 


28       LONGMANS  &>  CO.'S  STANDARD  AND  GENERAL    WORKS. 


The  Silver  Library— continued. 


Lang's  (A.)  Custom  and  Myth :  Studies 
of  Early  Usage  and  Belief.  y.  6rf. 

Lang's  (Andrew)  Cock  Lane  and 
Common-Sense.  With  a  New  Pre- 
face, y.  6d. 

Lees  (J.  A.)  and  Clutterbuck's  (W.J.)B.C. 
1887,  A  Ramble  in  British  Columbia. 

With  Maps  and  75  Illustrations,  y.  6d. 

Macaulay's  (Lord)  Essays  and  Lays  of 
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Macleod's  (H.  D.)  Elements  of  Bank- 
ing. 3*.  6d. 

Mar  simian's  (J.  C.)  Memoirs  of  Sir  Henry 

Haveiock.     y.  6d. 

Max  Mailer's  (F.)  India,  what  can  it 
teach  us?  3^.  6J. 

Max  Waller's  (F.)  Introduction  to  the 

Science  of  Religion,    y.  6d. 
Merivale's  (Dean)  History  of  the  Romans 

under  the  Empire.   8  vols.    3^.  6d.  ea. 
Mill's  (J.  8.)  Political  Economy,    y.  6d. 
Mill's  (J.  S.)  System  of  Logic,    y.  6d. 
Milner's  (Geo.)  Country  Pleasures :  the 

Chronicle  of  a  Year  chiefly  in  a  garden. 

y.  6d. 
Nansen's   (F.)   The    First   Crossing   of 

Greenland.     With   Illustrations  and 

a  Map.     y.  6d. 
Phillipps-Wolley's  (C.)  Snap :  a  Legend 

of  the  Lone   Mountain.      With    13 

Illustrations,     y.  6d. 
Proctor's  (R.  A.)  The  Orbs  Around  Us. 

35.  6d. 
Proctor's  (R.  A.)  The  Expanse  of  Heaven. 

y.  6d. 
Proctor's  (R.   A.)    Other  Worlds   than 

Ours.    y.  6d. 


Proctor's    (R.    A.)     Other  Suns   than 

Ours.    y.  6d. 

Proctor's  (R.A.)  Our  Place  among  In- 
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Proctor's  (R.  A.)  Rough   Ways   made 

Smooth.    3J.  6d. 
Proctor's    (R.    A.)    Pleasant  Ways  in 

Science.    3*.  6d. 
Proctor's  (R.  A.)  Myths   and   Marvels 

of  Astronomy.    3^.  6d. 
Proctor's  (R.A.)  Nature  Studies,    y.  6d. 
Proctor's  (R.  A.)  Leisure  Readings.    By 

R.  A.  PROCTOR',   EDWARD  CLODD, 

ANDREW  WILSON,  THOMAS  FOSTER, 

and  A   C.  RAN  YARD.    With  Illustra- 
tions.    3J.  6d. 
Rhoscomyl's  (Owen)  The  Jewel  of  Tnys 

Galon.    With  12  Illustrations,    y.  6d. 
Rossetti's  (Maria  F.)  A  Shadow  of  Dante. 

y.  6d. 
Smith's  (R.  Bosworth)  Carthage  and  the 

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&c.     y.  6d. 
Stanley's  (Bishop)  Familiar  History  of 

Birds.     160  Illustrations.     35.  6d, 
Stevenson's  (R.  L.)  The  Strange  Case  of 

Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr,  Hyde ;  with  other 

Fables.     3*.  6d. 
Stevenson  (Robert  Louis)andOsbourne's 

(Lloyd)  The  Wrong  Box.    3^.  6d. 
Stevenson  (Robt.  Louis)  and  Stevenson's 

(Fanny  van  de  G  rift)  More  New  Arabian 

Nights.  — The   Dynamiter.     3^.  6d. 
Weyman's  (Stanley  J.)  The  House  of 

the  Wolf :  a  Romance,     y.  6d. 
Wood's  (Rev.  J.  G.)  Petland  Revisited. 

With  33  Illustrations.     y.  6d. 
Wood's  (Rev.  J.  G.)  Stranga  Dwellings. 

With  60  Illustrations.     y.  6d. 
Wood's  (Rev.  J.  G.)  Out  of  Doors.    With 

ii  Illustrations.     3*.  6d. 


Cookery,  Domestic  Management,  &c. 

De  Sails  (Mrs.). 

CAKES  AND  CONFECTIONS  A  LA  MODE. 

Fcp.  8vo.,  is.  6d. 
Bull  (THOMAS,  M.D.). 
HINTS  TO  MOTHERS  ON  THE  MANAGE- 
MENT OF  THEIR  HEALTH  DURING 
THE  PERIOD  OF  PREGNANCY. 
8vo.,  is.  6d. 
THE    MATERNAL    MANAGEMENT 


Acton.—  MODERN  COOKERY.  By  ELIZA 
ACTON.  With  1  50  Woodcuts.  Fcp. 
8vo.  ,  4J.  6d. 


Fcp. 


CHILDREN  IN  HEALTH  AND  DISEASE. 
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DOGS:  a  Manual  for  Amateurs. 
8vo.,  ij.  6d. 

DRESSED  GAME  AND  POULTRY  X 
MODE.     Fcp.  8vo.,  is.  6d. 


Fcp. 


LA 


DRESSED  VEGETABLES 
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A  LA  MODE. 


LONGMANS  &  CO.'S  STANDARD  AND  GENERAL   WORKS.        29 


Cookery,  Domestic  Management,  &c. — continued. 

De   Sails  (Mrs. ) — continued. 
DRINKS  X  LA  MODE.  Fcp.  8vo. ,  is.  6d. 
ENTRIES  X  LA  MODE.  Fcp.  8vo. ,  is.  6d. 
FLORAL  DECORATIONS.  Fcp.  8vo. ,  i s.  6d. 


GARDENING  X  LA  MODE.     Fcp.  8vo. 
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NATIONAL  VIANDS  X  LA  MODE.    Fcp. 
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NEW-LAID  EGGS.    Fcp.  8vo.,  is.  6d. 
OYSTERS  X  LA  MODE.    Fcp.  8vo. ,  is.  6d. 

PUDDINGS  AND  PASTRY  "A  LA  MODE. 
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SAVOURIESXLAMODE.  Fcp.  8vo.,IJ.  6d. 

SOUPS  AND  DRESSED  FISH  X.  LA  MODE. 
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SWEETS  AND  SUPPER  DISHES  X  LA 
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TEMPTING  DISHES  FOR  SMALL  IN- 
COMES. Fcp.  8vo.,  is.  6d. 

WRINKLES  AND  NOTIONS  FOR  EVERY 
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Lear. — MAIGRE  COOKERY.  By  H.  L. 
SIDNEY  LEAR.  i6mo.,  2s. 

Poole.— COOKERY  FOR  THE  DIABETIC. 
By  W.  H.  and  Mrs.  POOLE.  With 
Preface  by  Dr.  PAVY.  Fcp.  8vo. ,  zs.  6d. 

Walker  (JANE  H.) 
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of  Health. 

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Allingham.— VARIETIES  IN  PROSE. 
By  WILLIAM  ALLINGHAM.  3  vols.  Cr. 
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PATRICIUS  WALKER.  Vol.  3,  Irish 
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Armstrong. — ESSAYS  AND  SKETCHES. 
By  EDMUND  J.ARMSTRONG.  Fcp.  8vo.,5.y. 

Bagehot.— LITERARY  STUDIES.  By 
WALTER  BAGEHOT.  With  Portrait. 
3  vols.  Crown  8vo.,  3^.  6d.  each. 

Baring-Gould. — CURIOUS  MYTHS  OF 
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BARING-GOULD.  Crown  8vo.,  y.  6d. 

Baynes.— SHAKESPEARE  STUDIES,  AND 
OTHER  ESSAYS.  By  the  late  THOMAS 
SPENCER  BAYNES,  LL.B.,  LL.D. 
With  a  Biographical  Preface  by  Prof. 
LEWIS  CAMPBELL.  Crown  8vo. ,  js.  6d. 

Boyd  (A.  K.  H.)    (<  A.K.H.B.'). 

And  see  MISCELLANEOUS    THEOLO- 
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AUTUMN  HOLIDAYS  OF  A   COUNTRY  ; 
PARSON.     Crown  8vo. ,  y.  6d. 


Boyd   (A.    K.   H.).    (<A.K.H.B.')~ 

continued. 

COMMONPLACE  PHILOSOPHER.  Crown 
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CRITICAL  ESSAYS  OF  A  COUNTRY 
PARSON.  Crown  8vo. ,  y.  6d. 

EAST  COAST  DAYS  AND  MEMORIES. 
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OUR  LITTLE  LIFE.  Two  Series.  Cr. 
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sewed. 


30       LONGMANS  &  CO.'S  STANDARD  A\'D  GENERAL   WORKS. 

Miscellaneous  and  Critical  Works  —continued. 


Butler  (SAMUEL). 
EREWHON.    Cr.  8vo.,  5^. 
THE  FAIR  HAVEN.    A  Work  in  Defence 

of  the   Miraculous    Element   in   our 

Lord's  Ministry.     Cr.  8vo. ,  75.  6d. 
LIFE  AND  HABIT.      An  Essay  after  a 

Completer  View  of  Evolution.      Cr. 

8vo.,  7-r.  6d 
EVOLUTION,  OLD  AND  NEW.    Cr.  8vo., 

ios.  6d. 
ALPS  AND  SANCTUARIES  OF  PIEDMONT 

AND  CANTON  TICINO.     Illustrated. 

Post  410. ,  ior.  6d. 
LUCK,  OR  CUNNING^   AS  THE  MAIN 

MEANS  OF  ORGANIC  MODIFICATION  ? 

Cr.  8vo.,  75.  6d. 
Ex  VOTO.    An  Account  of  the  Sacro 

Monte  or  New  Jerusalem  at  Varallo- 

Sesia.     Crown  8vo.,  los.  6d. 

Dreyfus.— LECTURES  ON  FRENCH 
LITERATURE.  Delivered  in  Melbourne 
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Author.  I-arge  crown  8vo.,  12s.  6d. 

G-wilt. — AN  ENCYCLOPAEDIA  OF  ARCHI- 
TECTURE. By  JOSEPH  GWILT,  F.S.A. 
Illustrated  with  more  than  noo  Engrav- 
ings on  Wood.  Revised  (1888),  with 
Alterations  and  Considerable  Additions 

byWYATTPAPWORTH.  8VO.,  ^2  J.2S.  6d. 

Hamlin.— A  TEXT-BOOK  OF  THE  HIS- 
TORY OF  ARCHITECTURE.  By  A.  D.  F. 
HAMLIN,  A.M.,  Adjunct- Professor  of 
Architecture  in  the  School  of  Mines, 
Columbia  College.  With  229  Illustra- 
tions. Crown  8vo.,  75.  6d. 

Haweis. — Music  AND  MORALS.  By  the 
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the  Author,  and  numerous  Illustrations, 
Fac-similes,  and  Diagrams.  Crown  8vo. , 
7-r.  6d. 

Indian  Ideals  (No.  i)— 
NARADA  SUTRA  :  An  Inquiry  into  Love 
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mentary, by  E.  T.  STURDY.  Crown 
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Jefferies  (Richard). 

FIELD  AND  HEDGEROW,      With  Por- 
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THE  STORY  OF  MY  HEART  .  my  Auto- 1 
biography.     With  Portrait  and  New 
Pretace  by  C.  J.  LONGMAN.     Crown 
8vo. ,  y.  6d. 


Jefferies  (RICHARD)— continued. 

RED  DEER.  17  Illustrations  by  J. 
CHARLTON  and  H.  TUNALY.  Crown 
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THE  TOILERS  OF  THE  FIELD.  With 
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Cathedral.  Crown  8vo.,  y.  6d. 

WOOD  MAGIC  :  a  Fable.  With  Frontis- 
piece and  Vignette  by  E.  V.  B.  Cr. 
8vo.,  y.6d. 

THOUGHTS  FROM  THE  WRITINGS  OF 
RICHARD  JEFFERIES.  Selected  by 
H.  S.  HOOLE  WAYLEN.  i6mo.,3J.  6d. 

Johnson. — THE  PATENTEE'S  MANUAL: 
a  Treatise  on  the  Law  and  Practice  of 
Letters  Patent.  By  J.  &  J.  H.  JOHN- 
SON, Patent  Agents,  &c.  8vo.,  IQS.  6d, 

Lang  (ANDREW). 
LETTERS  TO  DEAD  AUTHORS.     Fcp. 

8vo. ,  2s.  6d.  net. 
BOOKS     AND    BOOKMEN.       With     a 

Coloured  Plates  and  17  Illustrations. 

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COCK    LANE    AND    COMMON-SENSE. 

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Macfarren.  —  LECTURES  ON  HAR- 
MONY By  Sir  GEO.  A.  MACFARREN. 

8VO.,  I2J. 

Marquand  and  Frothinghain. — 
A  TEXT-BOOK  OF  THE   HISTORY  OF 
SCULPTURE.   By  ALLEN  M  AKQUAND, 
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HAM,  Jun.,  Ph.D.     With  113  Illustra- 
tions.    Crown  8vo.,  6s. 
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Romanes.— THOUGHTS  ON  RELIGION. 
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History  of  England 
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