Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/384

364 failure, 'let a good deed to have been done for the welfare of Scotland and of England.'

Lennox having missed his aim, the Government sat the firmer in their seats for it, especially as having earned the support of the Church by the release of the Archbishop. Dr Magnus, an English diplomatist, had been sent by Henry to observe and report on his sister's conduct and, if possible, reconcile her with her husband. He reached Edinburgh at the end of October, and on the 1st of November was admitted to an interview. In the opening conversation Margaret was tolerably moderate, and Magnus had hopes that, after all, he might win her back to some sense of propriety; but he soon found the uselessness of his labour. The day following he reported that she was clean gone from all her first concessions. 'A certain young man' was at the bottom of the change; she would listen to no advice except it was approved by Methuen, with whom she was so infatuated as to have induced the King to make over to him the seals of State and all such powers as went along with them. Methuen was devoted to Arran and Archbishop Beton, and Arran and the Archbishop were devoted to France. Margaret was thus wholly committed to the faction most inimical to England; supported by the whole ecclesiastical strength of Scotland, the ruling faction believed that they could defy her brother with