Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/246

 *36 &EIGN OF ELIZABETH. [en. 6$ Spain might possibly permit the Duke of Guise to act on the part of Catholic France if he could obtain the sanction of his own Crown; and the Scotch alliance, which the French King wished to recover as a bridle to Elizabeth, was the natural road towards the resolution of the problem. Since the deposition of Mary Stuart, France had re- ceived no public Minister from Scotland, nor had any Frenchman been permanently in residence at Edin- burgh. The Archbishop of Glasgow, Mary Stuart's ambassador, was the only accredited Scot acknowledged by the Court of Paris. France had never yet recog- nized James as King ; and Scotland would enter into no formal relations with any power which persisted in giving him a lower title. A punctilio of this kind could no longer be allowed to stand in the way of the interests of Catholic Europe. George Douglas, who had con- trived the escape of Mary Stuart from Lochleven, and was now about the person of James, 1 had been employed to feel the disposition of the French King towards a renewal of the league. Henry was as eager for it as Lennox ; but not to offend the Queen of Scots, both he and the Queen-mother thought proper first to consult her pleasure and to ask her permission to entitle James King of Scotland in connection with herself. 2 It was a subject on which Mary Stuart was particu- 2 The King of France to Mauvis- siere. The King and the Queen- mother to the Queen of Scots, Sep- Elizabeth's. I tember i, 1581 : TEULET, vol. iii. 1 George Douglas was called by James ' his little ape,' ' Mon petit M. Siinier had been "5 C >