Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/311

 1582.] THE JESUITS IN SCOTLAND. cause of 'La Mothe's detention had been that Gowrie might have time to get it done. 1 Whether this suspicion was just or false, James was in as much danger as his mother had been at Lochleven, and no similar interven- tion in his favour was to be looked for from England. He scrawled on the wall of the room in which he was confined a feeble lamentation over his captivity ; 2 the next morning he saw written by some fierce hand under his words : A Papist thou art and friend to a slave ; A rope thou deservest, and that thou shalt have. It was full time for Lennox to be gone. All along, and when his power was at its highest, he had wished to retire to France till Guise was ready to cross over. He was afraid for his own skin in such a boiling element, with no better protection than his own skill and courage. Guise, Mendoza, the Queen of Scots, Philip himself, had insisted that he should remain, and he had obeyed ; but now he had an adequate excuse. The Protestant party was disorganized and divided, and without the help which Elizabeth would not give, it could not readily gather form again ; his friends undertook to keep Dum- 1 ' Luego que lleg& aqui La Mota, despacbaron nn correo en Escocia con orden que procurase avenenar al Key. . . . El de Ruth- ven ha scripto una carta de propia mano en las de la Reyna, que no se puede enlender que le diga, mas de ser por discursos del atosigar al Rey, porque luego que tuvo la dicha carta, la Reyna dixo que era la oca- sion del detenerse tauto La Mota tras tener pasaporte suyo.' Don Bernardino al Rey, 10 Deciembre, 1582: MSS. Simancas. 2 ' A prisoner I am and liberty would have.' Advertisements out of Scotland, November 30 : MSS. Scotland.