Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/366

 346 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [011.44. sovereign of the universe. God, who was a just God, she well knew would punish her with the like troubles in her own country; and if she encouraged the subjects of another prince in disobedience, lie would stir her own people into insurrection against herself. So far as she knew, there were two causes for the present dis- turbances in Scotland ; the Queen of Scots had married without the consent of her Estates, and had failed to ap- prize the princes her neighbours of her intentions ; the Earl of Murray had attempted to oppose her and had fallen into disgrace. This was the first cause. The second was that the Earl of Lennox and his house were opposed to the reformed religion ; the Earl of Murray feared that he would attempt to destroy it, and with his friends preferred to lose his life rather than allow what he believed to be the truth to be over- thrown. The Earl had come to the English Court to request her to intercede with his sovereign that he might be heard in his defence. There were faults which proceeded of malice which deserved the rigour of justice one of these was treason against the person of the sovereign ; and were she to understand that the Earl of Murray had meditated treason she would arrest and chastise him according to his demerits ; but she had known him in times past to be well-affectioned to his mistress ; he had loved her, she was confident, with the love which a subject owes to his prince. There were other faults faults committed through imprudence, through ignorance, or in self-defence, which might be treated mercifully. The Earl of Mur-