Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/547

 1585.] THE BOND OF ASSOCIATION. 531 death. 1 The weary days passed on and brought no change ; and then, dimly through her prison walls the truth broke upon her that she was betrayed by her miserable son. She drew an Act, in which he was to acknowledge that he held his crown at her hand and in dependence upon her. She desired M auvissiere to carry it to him and demand his signature. ' If he refuse,' she said, ' if he will not admit that he is King of Scot- land only by my will, I require you, in all your nego- tiations, to withhold the title from him. Other princes shall do the same, wherever my credit extends, and a mother's curse shall light upon him. I will deprive him of all the greatness to which, through me, he can pretend in the world. He shall have nothing but what he inherits from his father. No punishment, human or divine, will be adequate to such enormous ingratitude.' a And for Elizabeth, also, quiet days were gone or- going. She was a mighty mistress of procrastination, but there was an open sore in the commonwealth, which could not be trifled with longer. In the face of the murder of the Prince of Orange and the bond of as- sociation, the country insisted that something should be done about the succession. The Queen had found her own interest in protracting the uncertainty. The many expectants were on their good behaviour ; and the pros- pect of a Catholic successor had been of material effect 1 The Queen of Scots to Burgh - ley, January 20 30, February 6 16, March 212 : LABANOFF, vol. 2 The Queen of Scots to Mauvis- siere, March 2 12: LABANOFF, vol. vi.