Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/454

 438 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 66. which the Queen had required : a distinct party was in arms with a public cause. If she would but order her ships to the Forth, to intimate by their presence that she favoured their enterprise, if she would check Max- well and Fernyhurst on the Border, and give or lend a little money, the three Earls, notwithstanding Growrie's capture, were confident of success. Half Scotland was waiting to see what England would do. Had Growrie escaped, the Queen's interference would perhaps not have been needed. His capture had so far inclined the scale, that many who had promised their assistance hung back till they saw for certain that they might depend upon Elizabeth. There was of course the usual difficulty, the treaty of non-intervention, which had been tacitly formed with France. Mauvissiere objected in the name of his Court, and the established battery of traitorous or timid counsels was brought into play. That the movement had been undertaken at Elizabeth's instigation, or at least with her knowledge, consent, and approval, passed for nothing. Her first impulse was to send the couriers back with the answer that she could not comply with the Earl's requests. A few days later, Secretary Davison was despatched with directions to give fresh encourage- ment and to threaten the King into moderation ; and she sent a thousand pounds to the Border to be used in the service of the confederates. But it was too late. The first refusal had decided the fate of the rising. The Earl of Arran, promptly collecting a few thousand ruffians, marched at their head to Stirling, and the