Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/542

 $26 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 67. The effect of Gray's presence upon Elizabeth was visible in the immediate answer. The Queen of Scots was told that instead of talking of forgetting her wrongs she ought rather to acknowledge the practices of which she had been guilty before and since her coming into England. She must not only renounce the Bull of the Pope in her favour, but she must declare the crown of England to be independent of any worldly potentate. She must acknowledge in form that neither her Ma- jesty nor any other lawful King or Queen could be de- prived by the censures of any person whatever upon earth. She might subscribe the bond if she pleased, but she was coldly told that it was unnecessary, and that speed in so grave a matter was impossible. 1 The Queen of Scots however, having committed her- self to concessions, was not to be repelled. She signed the bond; she wrote to the Archbishop of Glasgow, desiring him to bid the Guises abandon the designs which they had formed in her favour, and telling him that thenceforward she intended to seek Elizabeth's favour. The letter was written perhaps to be seen, but it was written and it was sent. JVIauvissiere pressed Elizabeth with her promises. Had Scotland pressed her also, had James resolutely identified himself with his mother, and demanded, at the side of France, a general treaty between the three nations, of which her release was to be a condition, Elizabeth had engaged herself so deeply that she could not have refused. The Queen of 1 Answer to Nau, December, 1584 : MSS. MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.