Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/258

 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 65. B jrder, and was left behind, and Crichton went on alone. He saw Lennox, he saw Eglinton, Huutly, Seton, Caith- ness, Fernyhurst, and others of the anti-English faction. Not knowing at first whom he could trust, he felt his way with extreme caution. He inquired whether, under the new Government, the Jesuits would be allowed to, preach and administer the sacraments, and whether Scotland would now be an asylum to persecuted English Catholics. On both these points the answer was satis- factory. The Jesuits might come freely, and the King would hear what they had to say, and English refugees vould find welcome and protection. With Lennox, he dared not go further. Lennox still pretended to be a Protestant; and it was not for Crichton to disregard his disguise. To Lord Seton however, whose orthodoxy was unimpeached, he spoke out the message with which the Lords had charged him. 1 The first motive for the King's conversion was, of course, the salvation of his soul ; but his worldly and his spiritual interests closely coincided ; and if he aspired to be King of England and Ireland, he could obtain his object only by the sup- port of the English Catholics and the King of Spain. 1 ' Alargandose mas con cl Seton k causa de ballade con muclia vo- hintud, dicicndole quo para aficionar al Rey que se reduxese a la santa Religion Catolica Roraana, ningun medin habria mejor, fuera de ser el verdadero camino de su salvacion, como representarle assimisrao que era solo por el que podria aspirar a ser un gran Rey con juntar a su corona las de Inglaterra y Irlanda, lo cual no podria conseguir sino fuese grangeando a uu tan podero- sissirao monarca como V. Mag d , ligandose con el, que seria desta manera, con renovar entonces las ligas que la casa de Borgofia tenia con Inglaterra,' &c. Don Bernar- dino al Rey, 19 Noviembre : MSS. Simancas.