“I have received your letter of 4th October informing me of the conversation which passed between you and the King of Scotland on your expressing to him the sincere affection I bear him, by which he seems to have an earnest desire to correspond with me entirely; but I wish that letter had also informed me that he were better disposed towards the Queen his mother, and that he had the heart and the will to do everything to assist her in her present affliction, considering that the captivity in which she has been unjustly held for eighteen years and more might have induced him to listen to the many proposals which have been made to him for obtaining her liberty, which is naturally most desirable to all men, but more particularly to those who are born sovereigns and to command others, who are more impatient of being thus detained prisoners. He ought also to think that if the Queen of England should follow the advice of those who desire her to imbrue her hands in the blood of his mother, it will be a great stain on his reputation, inasmuch as it will be thought that he has withheld the good offices which he ought to render her with the Queen of England, which might be sufficient to move her if he had employed them as early and as warmly as natural affection commanded. It is much to be feared that in case of the death of his mother there may be hereafter some scheme for acting the same violent part towards him, to render his accession to the throne of England more easily attainable by those who have it in their power to secure it after the Queen of England, and not only to deprive the King of Scotland of the right that he may claim to it, but render doubtful that which he has to the crown of Scotland. I know not in what state the affairs of my sister-in-law (Queen Mary) may be when this reaches you, but I desire you will endeavour to excite the King of Scotland by these remonstrances and any others that can bear on this subject, to take up the defence and protection of his mother; and tell him in my name that this is a thing for which he will be highly praised by all other kings and sovereign princes, and that he may be assured if he fails in this, great blame will attach to him and perhaps great injury ensue to himself.” In the circumstances this was a noble letter, but on James it was quite lost. He had been repeatedly asked to befriend his mother, but we have no evidence that he ever did so. With him “the love of money was the root of all evil,” for he was constantly in want of money. Elizabeth aided him, and in fact controlled him; but that was no reason for allowing his mother to be murdered when he could have prevented it. King Henry III. of France behaved to Queen Mary as a brother and exerted himself more than anyone else to save her. But what is to be said of her son, on whom this eloquent letter of the King of France was lost!