Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/468

 448 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [en. 61 of pleasing Elizabeth, ' and would have stayed the work of God, if God had not stirred up a faction of the nobil- ity against him.' 1 ( The faction of the nobility ' bore a worse will to the ' work of God ' than Morton ; as, be- fore long, those interested in it found. He was not, like Murray or the Prince of Orange, supported by a con- sciousness of rectitude and unblemished integrity. His youth was spotted with blood ; his middle life was very far from blameless : yet he was truer to the good cause than many a more faultless man. Surrounded by a thousand enemies, he overcame danger by despising it. He astonished the citizens of Edinburgh by appearing among them at all hours and times unarmed and unat- tended, and though half the Catholics in Scotland were conspiring against his life, he might be seen wandering alone with his fishing rod in the Valley of the Esk. In the correspondence of the Queen of Scots, and in the letters of Catholic ambassadors, he appears always as the object of a peculiar hatred. He had custody of the person of the young King, and governed his educa- tion. He prevented the Catholic nobles from approach- ing him, and from forming parties to disturb the quiet of the realm. He was, or he was believed to be, the main obstacle, which prevented France and Spain from gaining a hold on Scotland, and Scotland was the open gate into England. Elizabeth became aware of his value when her own safety was threatened. On the re- vocation of the Edict of toleration by the Estates at 1 CALDERWOOD.