The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol. I., Part D.: From Elizabeth to James I. — David Hume — John Shaqi
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol. I., Part D.: From Elizabeth to James I.
David Hume · en
Guise, though they still enjoyed great offices and great power, found a
counterpoise to their authority.
* Forbes, vol. i. p. 214. Throgmorton, about this time,
unwilling to intrust to letters the great secrets committed
to him, obtained leave, under some pretext, to come over to
London.
{1561.} Elizabeth was determined to make advantage of these events
against the queen of Scots, whom she still regarded as a dangerous
rival. She saw herself freed from the perils attending a union of
Scotland with France, and from the pretensions of so powerful a prince
as Francis; but she considered, at the same time, that the English
Catholics, who were numerous, and who were generally prejudiced in favor
of Mary’s title, would now adhere to that princess with more zealous
attachment, when they saw that her succession no longer endangered the
liberties of the kingdom, and was rather attended with the advantage of
effecting an entire union with Scotland. She gave orders, therefore, to
her ambassador, Throgmorton, a vigilant and able minister, to renew his
applications to the queen of Scots, and to require her ratification
of the treaty of Edinburgh. But though Mary had desisted, after her
husband’s death, from bearing the arms and title of Queen of England,
she still declined gratifying Elizabeth in this momentous article; and
being swayed by the ambitious suggestions of her uncles, she refused to
make any formal renunciation of her pretensions.
Meanwhile the queen mother of France, who imputed to Mary all the
mortifications which she had met with during Francis’s lifetime, took
care to retaliate on her by like injuries; and the queen of Scots,
finding her abode in France disagreeable, began to think of returning to
her native country. Lord James, who had been sent in deputation from the
states to invite her over, seconded these intentions; and she applied to
Elizabeth, by D’Oisel, for a safe-conduct, in case she should be obliged
to pass through England;[*] but she received for answer, that, till she
had given satisfaction, by ratifying the treaty of Edinburgh, she could
expect no favor from a person whom she had so much injured.
* Goodall, vol. i. p. 175.