me secretly he could like well of the Duke of Norfolk's CHAP XX marrying her, but now is no time to speak of it. He 1570 saith that the Queen of England fears that the Queen of Scots and Norfolk would wax arrogant in that case; but yet he thinks that this surety that she makes to the Queen of England shall put away that fear and so the matter may be followed. I think he may be made to labour for that marriage if Norfolk do cause employ him; and in the meantime I will deal as of myself to knit the knot of sure friendship between Norfolk and him, for he shows himself very plain to me in many things.'1 By arts which the circumstances justified, Cecil evidently had wound himself into the partial confidence both of the Queen of Scots and of her minister. They had tempted his loyalty and fell into their own snare, and he had discovered thus much at least that the marriage which Norfolk had professedly ceased to think of was still in steady contemplation. At the end of a fortnight he returned to London, and the two parties in Scotland were requested to send up their respective commissioners without further delay. The representatives of the Queen were immediately ready. Lord Livingston and the Bishop of Galloway were selected to act with the Bishop of Ross. The Regent and his friends, who had persuaded themselves that the danger was passing over, were in despair. They again reminded Elizabeth of her promises at Westminster. They said that they were so amazed and astonished that they knew not what counsel to take.' 'Surety there could be none,' they said, 'either for themselves or England, if the Queen of Scots was restored.' Douglas of Lochleven 1 MS. endorsed in Cecil's hand, 'The Bishop of Ross to the Duke 6 of Norfolk.' Oct. 11.-MSS. MARY 1570 CHAP XX swore he would not keep the Earl of Northumberland a prisoner any longer to please Elizabeth. Randolph October applied for his recall, finding his credit clean decayed,' and his old friends 'alienated and clean gone from her Majesty's service.' They talked again of revolting to France. They said 'they would reconcile themselves secretly with their own Queen.' Instead of commissioners to treat, they sent up the Commendator of Dumfermline to conjure Elizabeth, in the name of honour, justice, and prudence, to reconsider what she was doing. The agitation produced no apparent change in Elizabeth's resolution. She said that she did not mean to do anything unjust; she was willing to listen to the Regent's objections; but unless he could fortify his cause with such evident reasons as her Majesty might with conscience satisfy herself and with honour answer to the world,' the treaty for the restitution must go forward. In the meantime, however, a negotiation was in secret progress which, if successful, might obtain a more favourable hearing for Lennox's remonstrances. The peace was concluded in France, between the Court and the Huguenots, on the 10th of August. As is usually the case after civil convulsions, a desire naturally arose to heal the internal wounds of the country by 'removing the war elsewhere.' Whether England or Spain was to be the object of hostility, depended on whether the Catholics lost or retained their hold over Charles and Catherine. On the one side they might attempt the release of Mary Stuart and her marriage with the Duke of Anjou; on the other the recollections of St. Quentin still rankled; in alliance with Elizabeth and the Prince of 1, Lennox to Elizabeth, Oct. 16. Randolph to Sussex, Oct. 16. Ran dolph to Cecil, Nov. 13. Sussex to Cecil, Nov. 18.-MSS. Scotland. November Orange, France might appear as the champion of liberty CHAP XX and expel the Spaniards from the Low Countries. To 1570 ascertain which of these tendencies was likely to prevail, a young statesman of supreme ability was despatched on a special mission to the French Court. The early history of Francis Walsingham is almost a blank: he was born at Chiselhurst in Kent, in what year is uncertain, nor is anything known of the occupation or station in life of his parents. He was at Cambridge during the Marian persecution, and to escape conformity took refuge in Germany, but for the ten years after he returned to England nothing was publicly heard of him. A note from him on the murder of Darnley, however, in November 1568, shows that by that time he had been admitted into Cecil's confidence. He had been selected for the delicate duty of watching the Italian Ridolfi during the Northern rebellion, and when he was appointed minister at Paris, La Mothe was able to warn the Court there that no ordinary man was coming among them. The direct instructions which Walsingham carried over, were to express Elizabeth's satisfaction at the peace, and her hope that the toleration now promised to the Huguenots would be faithfully observed: should the war break out again, a general Protestant league would be the necessary consequence; the Queen of England would be compelled to take part in it, and all the force which she could command would be exerted in the cause. Beyond this simple message the new ambassador was left to his own discretion, to feel his way at the court and report on what he found. Mary Stuart and her causes created scarcely less bassador. Compare La Mothe, 1 Instructions to Walsingham, Aug. 11.-DIGGES's Complete Am- Aug. 14. CHAP XX embarrassment in Paris than in London. Lord Seton's mission to the Duke of Alva had excited the most violent 1570 November displeasure. A revolution in England in Spanish interests was a catastrophe of which the very thought was unendurable, while a permanent league between England and Scotland, and the education of the Prince at the Court of Elizabeth, was almost equally distasteful. The Royal Family was divided. Anjou was restive and ambitious. He had distinguished himself in the war, he was discontented with his position as a subject, and he had liked well the adventurous prospect held out to him in England. At the instigation of the Cardinal of Lorraine, he thought of directly proposing for Mary Stuart's hand, and it was supposed that although she was binding herself by the most solemn engagements not to think of him, her promises would be no obstacle to her acceptance of his overtures.1 Jealous of his brother's schemes, and afraid that with his popularity among the Catholics, Anjou as Mary Stuart's husband would be dangerous to himself, Charles said significantly to Sir Henry Norris that if he were the Queen of England, and had the Queen of Scots in his hands, he knew what he would do with her.2 A far different project for the Duke of Anjou, if the Duke could be brought to consent to it, was shaping itself in the minds of the Huguenot statesmen. Elizabeth again and again, in conversations with La 1570 Mothe Fénelon, had reverted to her own marriage. She CHAP XX regretted to him that she had let so much time go by. She was afraid to face the Parliament which her necessi- November ties would soon oblige her to call, with her promises still unfulfilled, the succession still uncertain, and the means of settling it farther off than ever. Sir Henry Cobham had been sent to Maximilian to tempt the Archduke to renew his suit, but he had received a cold answer; the game at trifling at Vienna had been played out and lost.1 Already, however, another proposal had been submitted to the Queen's consideration. The Visdame of Chartres and the Cardinal of Chatillon suggested that she should cut the knot of her difficulties, secure France, and snatch at least one dangerous lover from her rival by taking Anjou for herself. The Duke, it was true, was but twenty, while she was thirtyseven, but she might still hope for children, and the political advantages to the Protestant cause in Europe might compensate for greater incongruities. How Elizabeth received the idea when first laid before her is not known. Five years previously she might have married Charles, but she had then revolted from the absurdity; she was now offered his younger brother; and it is only clear that her answer was not wholly unfavourable. A few weeks later Chatillon wrote to Anjou. Anjou spoke to his mother, and Catherine, taken it seemed by surprise, enquired at length of La Mothe the meaning of a movement so unexpected. Elizabeth, she said, had played with so many proposals, had encouraged suitor after suitor, and had abandoned them one after the other with so little scruple, that the very mention of her marriage now provoked a smile. The Royal Families 1 La Mothe, Oct. 30.-Dépêches, vol. iii. |