Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 5.djvu/22

2 French faction in Italy interpreted the alliance to promise a return of England to the faith. The credulous among the English laboured to revive the old hope that France might unite with them in schism. At both Courts there was, as it were, an ostentatious declaration that, in matters of religion, the two countries had no intention of approximating; on neither side would the creed be sacrificed to the exigencies of policy.

Courtesy and mutual good offices might compensate, however, for differences of opinion, and the English had an opportunity for a display of integrity which passed for magnanimous. The death of Mary Stuart would have broken the chain by which the French held her subjects linked to them. A Scot sent in an offer to take her off by poison. But the council resisted the temptation amidst the applause of their friends; and the intended assassin was delivered in custody over the Calais frontier.