Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/241

 1 564. ] THE EMBA SS Y OF DE SILVA. 221 Lord Bedford and Randolph were to represent Eng- land ; and Elizabeth's instructions to them are a fresh evidence of the feelings with which she regarded Leices- ter. When Leicester's name was first officially men- tioned, Maitland had urged on Cecil the propriety of leaving Mary's choice of a husband as little restricted as possible. If Elizabeth objected to a foreign prince she must at least permit a free selection among the Scotch and English nobility. Besides Darnley there was Nor- folk, there was Arundel each more eligible than the son of the parvenu Northumberland ; and Elizabeth had no right to demand more than a marriage which did not threaten herself or the liberty of England. But Elizabeth's heart was fixed on Leicester, and she could see no merit anywhere but in him. ' Among all English noblemen/ she said, in giving her directions to the commissioners, ' she could see none for her own contentation meeter for the purpose than one who for his good gifts she esteemed fit to be placed in the num- ber of kings and princes; for so she thought him worthy: and if he were not born her subject, but had happened with these qualities to be as nobly born under some other prince as he was under herself, the world should have well perceived her estimation of him. The advantage of the marriage to the Earl of Leicester would not be great, but to the Queen of Scots it would be greater than she could have with any other person. The Earl would bring with him no controversy of title to trouble the quietness of the Queen of Scots, and she preferred him to be the partaker of the Queen of Scots'