=20. The Conference.=--To give both parties a chance of saying what they could for themselves, it was agreed to hold a conference, to which Murray came in person, and Mary and Elizabeth each sent commissioners. The conference met at _York_ in October. On opening it the _Duke of Norfolk_ required that Murray should do homage in the name of his King to the Queen of England. On this, _William Maitland_ of _Lethington_, the _Scottish Secretary of State_, a very subtle man, said that if England liked to give up again the northern counties, once held by Scotland, their King would gladly do homage for them; but as for the kingdom it was as free, or more so, than England itself. This he said to show that they did not ask Elizabeth to judge between them because she had any right to interfere, but only because she was their nearest neighbour. Before the end of the month the conference was removed to _Hampton Court_, and held before the Queen in Council. The lords brought forward the "casket letters," as a proof against Mary, and she refused to vindicate herself, but ordered her commissioners to withdraw. Thus the conference ended, leaving matters much as they were before, for Elizabeth decided that nothing had been brought forward to the dishonour of Murray, nor anything proved against Mary. At the same time she lent Murray five thousand pounds for the maintenance of peace and order between the two countries, which was an indirect acknowledgment of his government. =21. State of Parties.=--The _Hamiltons_ and _Huntly_ were the chief upholders of Mary's interest. The Hamiltons wished to keep Mary on the throne, because they were the next heirs to Mary, and in the event of her son dying before her, Chatelherault could claim the crown. But as they were not the next heirs to James, they were naturally opposed to the revolution which had placed him on the throne, for they feared that if he died when actually reigning, the crown would pass to his heir, _Charles Stewart_, his father's brother. _Huntly_ held out, from hatred of _Murray_ and love of the old Church, which was still strong in his county. A compromise was at last made between the two parties. Murray promised a pardon for all past offences and a reversal of forfeitures if the other party would promise to obey King James. To make matters more sure, when the Duke of Chatelherault went up to Edinburgh, Murray put him in ward in the Castle. Just at this time there was a great rising of the Roman Catholics in the north of England, Murray marched southward, in order to be ready to put down any disturbance on the Border. There he seized as his prisoner the _Earl of Northumberland_, the head of the Romanists in England, who had come to seek a refuge on the Scottish side among the Borderers, many of whom still clung to the old Church.