Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/444

 428 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. (6. ated himself from the English connection. The Queen of England, he said, desired to revolutionize Scotland, to imprison him, perhaps to take his life from him, or his honour, which he valued more. He besought Guise therefore to intercede in his behalf with the Holy Father, and to bring the Catholic Powers to his aid. Support from them and from his good friends in Eng- land would enable him to conquer his difficulties. Guise, he promised, should be his guide in everything, and he would take his place definitively at his side, in religion as well as in policy. 1 The letter to the Pope is even more curious, and deserves particular attention. Whether it was the composition of James himself, or of the subtle heads with whom he was surrounded, there is no evidence to show. 'The affection and goodwill,' so the letter runs, ' which your Holiness and your predecessors have always borne towards this Crown and my ancestors, to- gether with the fatherly care which the Holy See has exercised over the Queen, my most dear mother, have emboldened me to address your Holiness at this pre- sent. I desire as well to thank your Holiness for your exertions in my mother's behalf, as to explain the February. 1 ' Si par vostre moyen je puis obtenir quelque bon secours, j'esperc, aidant Dieu, qu'avec Passistance du bon noinbre de serviteurs que j'ay, tant en ce rnien Royaulme qu'en Angleterre, je sortiray bien tot de ces difficultez, et lors j'en serois en plein liberte de pourvoir embrasser vostre bon conseil et advis en toutes choses, tant de religion que d' estat, comme je desire tousjours de me ranger en tout ce que sera raisou- able.' James of Scotland to the Duke of Guise, February 919, 1854: MSS. Simancas.