Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/367

 1565.] THE DARNLE Y MARK I A GE. 347 ray s fault might be one of these ; she bade him therefore say for which cause he had instigated the late disturbances/ Elizabeth had exercised a wise caution in preparing Murray for this nvgpofitpro 1 ^ "harangue. He com- manded himself, and replied by calling God to witness of the loyalty with which he had ever served his sove- reign : she had bestowed lands, honour, and rewards upon him far beyond his desert ; he had desired nothing less than to offend her, and he would have stood by her with life and goods to the utmost of his ability. Elizabeth then began again : ' She held a balance in her hand/ she said ; ' in the one scale was the sentence of outlawry pronounced against him by the Queen of Scots, in the other were the words which he had just spoken. But the word of a Queen must out- weigh the word of a subject in the mind of a sister sove- reign, who was bound to show most favour to her own like and equal. The Earl had committed actions deserv- ing grave reprehension : he had refused to appear when lawfully summoned ; he had taken up arms and had made a league with others like himself to levy war against his sovereign. She had been told that he was afraid of being murdered, but if there had been a conspiracy against him he should have produced the proofs of it in his sovereign's presence/ Murray replied in Scotch, the Queen interpreting as he went on. He said that it was true that there had been a conspiracy ; the condition of his countrv was