XXII 1572 March CHAP Duke the fool he always was;' Huntly 'full of malice;' Seton 'vain, despiteful, dishonest, unreasonable;' 'the two worthy Prelates neither learned nor wise.' Maitland was the one person of ability among them, and of him Randolph said, 'he had never found in so weak a body a man less mindful of God or unnatural to his country.' They said that they were ready for peace, but peace on their own conditions, which would virtually give the control of Scotland to themselves. They would not acknowledge either King or Regent. Most of them had been concerned in the murders of Murray or Lennox, and they insisted on being secured from undesirable consequences; it was plain to Randolph that if they were able to set all the devils in hell loose to make mischief, they would not leave one untied.' At length they drew up a paper of conditions, such as Maitland knew would be likely to work upon Elizabeth, in which, while declining to make concessions to the other party, they affected to throw themselves entirely upon the Queen of England's discretion. They offered that the Government of Scotland should be vested in a Council of Nobles whom Elizabeth should name, and that difficult questions should be referred to her arbitration. Nothing, seemingly, could be more fair-nothing, read by the light of Seton's papers, could be more profoundly treacherous. They desired, as Burghley saw, merely to keep their hold upon the country till Alva came, and the game would then be their own.1 1 Terms sent from the Castle, with marginal notes in Lord Burghley's hand. BURGHLEY'S NOTES. ARTICLES. 1 Government to be composed of the Lords of both sides, to be chosen indifferently by the Queen of England. Alva's coming, however, could be prevented. The knowledge that his intentions were discovered would of itself be a motive to him to keep quiet, and if not, there were now means by which he could be held in check; while so long as danger from Spain could be avoided Elizabeth herself was well pleased to be addressed as the arbiter of Scotch disputes. But the intimation of a treaty being on foot for the release of the Earl of Northumberland was seriously alarming. She felt it necessary at all hazards to get the Earl into her own hands, and she sent word to Mar that if Northumberland was given up to her, she would at least insist that the Castilians should acknowledge the King and submit to the authority of the Regent. It was a relief to Mar to find at least something which gave him a hold upon Elizabeth's interests. He did not mean to affront Catholic Europe and violate Scotch Dormit securus Sicut erant in principio. Statuta mathematica,ante leges aut sine legislatore. Per quam regulam. Ad quid hæc. Qui potestatem sibi assumit odietur. Venenum assiduum sub labris ipsorum. Væ quam profundi estis corde, et dicitis quis videt nos. 2 These persons shall promise and give security that Scotland shall continue in good amity with England. 3 Foreign soldiers not to be received into Scotland. 4 Religion not to be changed, whereby both realms may be knit together in amity. 5 Difficult points to be reserved to her Majesty, who will be conservatrix of the treaty. 6 Particular questions to be settled by Parliament. 7 Forfeitures to be declared null, and the dispossessed to be returned to their lands. 8 Her Majesty must see orders taken for reparation of losses which we and our friends have sustained. 9 Provision for Grange to remain in the Castle during the King's minority. 10 These terms to be extended in the treaty for their honour, surety, and weal. 11 Convenient that these heads come not to the knowledge of our adversaries, but ye may open some points thereof as from yourselves. Feb. 26. MSS. Scotland. CHAP XXII 1572 March CHAP 1572 March prejudices for nothing. The cost of the Earl's maintenance for two years had been considerable. The Countess of Northumberland offered Sir William Douglas 2,000l., and it was not to be expected that he would make a present to England of a person whose detention had been so expensive and dangerous. The Regent undertook that the prisoner should not be released, but he said that if Elizabeth looked for more she must change her attitude. She had promised to support the King and assist in the pacification of the country; if she would keep her word and put an end to the rebellion, Scotland and all it contained would be at her disposition; but hearing 'the brag of the adversaries that they would outshoot him with his own bow at her Highness's hands, her Majesty meantime continuing her own estate in such uncertainties,' he could not 'provoke the King of Spain by delivering up a man who called himself the said King's subject,' with no assurance after all as to what he was to look for at her Highness's hands.1 Elizabeth saw that she was trying the Regent too far. The occupation of Leith and the demonstration against Edinburgh had cost Mar and his friends many thousand pounds. Elizabeth, as a great act of munificence, sent them a thousand, of which they made as much account as if they had received so many pence.' But Randolph was permitted afterwards to open a negotiation with the Lord of Lochleven, who undertook to put Northumberland in the Queen's hands for the sum which had been offered by the Countess, intimating at the same time that if she refused his price he would make his bargain elsewhere.2 1 Mar to Randolph, April 8.MSS. Scotland. 2 Randolph and Drury to Hunsdon, April 10.-MSS. Scotland. Lochleven was evidently in earnest. The Queen could not lose her prize, and the money was sent to Berwick to be paid on receipt of the Earl's person. Morton still attempted to make delays, less in pity for Percy than in indignation at Elizabeth; but 2,000l. was a temptation too considerable for a needy Scotch gentleman to resist. To Sir William Douglas it was indifferent whether he received it from England or Flanders; but to have restored Northumberland to liberty would have been to part with the last faint thread of dependence which the Regent continued to place in the Queen's word. He contented himself, therefore, with entreating that at all events the Earl's life might be spared; and the unlucky nobleman was exchanged at Coldingham, on the 29th of May, for a bag of gold. The bargain was a bitter one to Scotland. The passions of the people were heated sevenfold; the treaty was spoken of no longer, and the fighting recommenced in all its fury. But Elizabeth had obtained what she desired; and the wounds of the poor country, whose interests she had so long trifled with, were not worth a thought to her. Her Ministers entreated her for her own sake to interpose, but she persisted in her peculiar policy of breaking every promise by which she had bound herself, when its fulfilment was inconvenient. Randolph and Drury were recalled; and so intense was the exasperation that they were twice shot at, and hardly extricated themselves with their lives; while Queen's-men and King's-men flew like wild beasts at each other's throats; no quarter was given; and all prisoners on both sides were hanged. The peaceful citizens of Edinburgh fled for their lives, and their houses were occupied and plundered by the castle soldiers. CHAP XXII 1572 March CHAP 1572 March Both sides being too weak for ordinary war, the struggle was reduced to a series of murderous skirmishes and raids and massacres; while Elizabeth was allowing Maitland to play upon her vanity and fool her with fair words only less hollow than her own.1 Nor was Scotland the only scene of her diplomatic eccentricities. The Anjou marriage having come to nothing, France and England were feeling their way towards a league which would answer as a substitute, although all parties seemed to feel that it would be a league of smoke, unless cemented by a union with Anjou's younger brother; and both Burghley and the Huguenot leaders were more anxious than hopeful that the Queen might be induced at last to accept the Duc d'Alençon. An incident had occurred in Paris, in December, which showed the precarious character of the situation, and the extreme weakness of the King's Government. In the year 1569, two Protestant merchants, known as the brothers Gastines, had given offence to the then all-powerful Cardinal of Lorraine. They had been tried for treason 1 As for instance:-The stream we see will not serve, and therefore we must have recourse to the fountain. We have always since the beginning of the treaty had a good will to please your Majesty. We have for your Highness's only respect abstained from some foreign practices which perhaps might have served our turn. We know your Majesty to be a Princess of honour and great courage, and in that point to resemble the noble nature of the lion which ye give in your arms, that the more we bow ourselves and yield to your Majesty the better speed we shall have. We have tasted your High ness's goodness heretofore, and that ye 2 Entre el Rey de Francia y la Reyna de Inglaterra hay una liga de humo, pero dicese que es por la esperanza del casamiento entre la dicha Reyna y el hermano mas pequeño del Rey, aunque todo el mundo es de opinion que la Reyna no casará jamas, y assi los amigos son de opinion que la liga no durara mucho tiempo.-Avisos de Inglaterra, 1572. MSS. Simancas. |