On December 14[315] Elizabeth added Northumberland and Westmorland to her Commissioners. They not long after rose in arms for Mary’s cause. Shrewsbury, Huntingdon, Worcester, and Warwick also met, at Hampton Court. They were to be made to understand the case, and were told to keep it secret. Among the other documents, on December 14, the _originals_ of the Casket Letters ‘being redd, were duly conferred and compared for the manner of writing and fashion of orthography, with sundry other letters, long time heretofore written and sent by the said Quene of Scots to the Quene’s majesty. And next after, there was produced and redd a declaration of the Erle of Morton of the manner of the finding of the said lettres, as the same was exhibited upon his othe, the ix of December. In collation whereof’ (of _what_?) ‘no difference was found. Of all which letters and writings, the true copies are contained in the memorialls of the actes of the sessions of the 7 and 8 of December.’ Apparently the ‘collation’ is intended to refer to the comparison of the Casket Letters with those of Mary to Elizabeth. Mr. Froude runs the collation into the sentence preceding that about Morton, in one quotation. The confessions of Tala, Bowton, and Dalgleish were also read, and, ‘as night approached’ (about 3.30 P.M.), the proceedings ended.[316] The whole voluminous proceedings at York and Westminster were read through: the ‘Book of Articles’ seems to have been read, _after_ the Casket Letters were read, but this was not the case. On a brief December day, the Council had work enough, and yet Mr. Froude writes that the Casket Letters ‘were examined long and minutely by each and every of the Lords who were present.’[317] We hear of no other examination of the handwriting than this: which, as every one can see, from the amount of other work, and the brevity of daylight, must have been very rapid and perfunctory.