The indignation expressed by James at the treatment which his mother had received was doubtless not altogether feigned. But the great aim of his life now was to secure his own succession to the throne of England; and Walsingham adroitly availed himself of this circumstance for the purpose of preventing war. Sir John Maitland, a younger brother of Maitland of Lethington, was the Scottish Secretary, and to him Walsingham wrote a letter, which he knew would be read by James, and in which, with consummate art, he proved that if the youthful King of Scots wished to reach the object of his ambition, he must maintain his friendship with England.[41] The resentment of James died speedily away. On various occasions, during the remainder of Elizabeth’s reign, the relations of the two countries were strained, and there was bad blood between the sovereigns. But there was no open rupture; and at last the house of Stuart entered peaceably, and without opposition, on the rich heritage of the English Crown. FOOTNOTES: [1] “De Regnis Angliæ et Scotiæ conjunctis. Quia Regna Angliæ et Scotiæ, ratione Superioris Dominii, quod in eodem Regno optinemus benedicto altissimo, sunt conjuncta, Mandatum est Justiciariis de Banco, quod Brevia Regis, coram eis porrecta vel retornata, de data dierum et locorum, infra idem Regnum Scotiæ, mentionem facientia, de cætero admittant; exceptiones, si quas, de hujusmodi datis et locis, proponi contigerit coram eis, nullatenus allocantes, Teste Rege apud Berewicum super Twedam, 3 die Julii.” (_Fœdera_, ii. 533.) [2] These were the Bishops of St. Andrews and Dunkeld, the Abbots of Cupar and Melrose, the Earls of Buchan and March, Sir John de Mowbray, Sir Robert de Kethe, Sir Adam de Gurdon, and Sir John de Inchmartyn. [3] The name, so hated in Scotland, of “Mons. Joh. de Meneteth” appears as one of the Council appointed to assist John de Bretaigne. [4] Ordonnance faite par Edouard Roi d’Angleterre sur le Gouvernement de la terre d’Escosse, Act. Parl. Scot. i. 119; Sir Francis Palgrave’s _Documents and Records illustrating the History of Scotland_, 292, 295; _Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland_, ii. 457. [5] Mr. Patrick Fraser Tytler very justly remarks how absurd was the idea “that a free country was to be compelled into a pacific matrimonial alliance, amid the groans of its dying citizens and the flames of its seaports” (_History of Scotland_, vi. 42). See also, on the Scottish policy of Henry VIII., the instructions given to the army in Scotland in April 1544 (vol. v. p. 473, and the _Hamilton Papers_, vol. ii. p. 325). They were to “burn Edinburgh town, and to rase and deface it when you have sacked it”; and all over the country “man, woman, and child” were to be put to the sword “without exception.” [6] Holinshed, iii. 998. [7] “Terra variabilis communi utriusque gentis vocabulo dicta The Debateable Ground.” [8] _Fœdera_, xv. 265.