Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/177

 1569-] THE RISING OF ThE NORTH. 16$ man to act for himself, subject to all deflections for his special ends, fancies, and temptations. To return to the Border. The Earls having escaped into Scotland, the Regent had now to meet the question, what was to be done with them ? The rebellion was part of the general dis- turbance which was agitating both the realms. It had been plotted by the Bishop of Ross ; and the Queen of Scots was the centre of it. In Murray's words, ' it had branches unknown, extending to the farthest marches of both the realms.' 1 Had Elizabeth fallen, Murray would have gone to the scaffold ; and little reason as he had- for feeling himself under obligations to her, his own interest was as deeply concerned as hers in extinguish- ing the last sparks of the conflagration. Elizabeth would now undoubtedly require him to arrest the Earls, and circumstanced as he was he would find it 110 easy matter either to comply or to refuse. The quarrel with Maitland had seriously shaken his hold on Scotland. The breach between these two men, who had once worked together so cordially, had now widened into an impassable chasm. They had no longer any single aim which they pursued in common. Murray had but one principle which guided him in all that he undertook. Pie was heart and soul a Pro- testant. His feelings as a brother and a certain inbred generosity of temperament had more than once pre- vented him from consenting to measures which it might Murray to Cecil, December 22 : MSS. Scotland.