Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/167

 1572.] THE MASSACRE OF ST BARTHOLOMEW. 147 it was not meant that she was to exchange an English for a Scotch prison : ' To have her in Scotland, and to keep her, was of all things the most dangerous ; ' the Queen desired to be rid of her, but only 'with, good assurance that the Scots would without fail proceed with her by way of justice, so as neither Scotland nor Eng- land should be any more endangered by her/ The par- ticular arrangements were trusted to the messenger's discretion. Some near relations, both of Mar and Mor- ton, would be required as hostages to ensure the execu- tion, before Mary Stuart would be parted with ; and Killigrew was instructed to induce the Regent, if pos- sible, himself to make the first move, and desire that she might be given up. 1 The ' certain respects ' were a desire to escape the odium of an act which nevertheless required to be done ; and a wish, that when the Queen of Scots' punishment came, she should be punished for a crime which neither France, nor Spain, nor the Pope, nor the English Ca- tholics could dare to defend. In England, she could be put on her trial for treason ; but the law was doubtful, and the offence in the eyes of religion was a virtue. In Scotland, she could be convicted in the presence of the world of adultery and murder. This momentous step was followed by another of no less marked significance. Elizabeth believed that the long-dreaded Catholic League, in its most frightful form, was about to become a reality ; that England, as well as 1 Secret instructions to Sir H. Killigrew, September 20, in Burgbley's hand : MSS. Hatjield.