Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/287

 1570] EXCOMMUNICA TICN OF EL1ZABE TH. 273 replaced and maintained her on the throne, and would have yielded at last, however monstrous it might have seemed, on the long-coveted point of the English succes- sion. Without seeing the application for absolution, Elizabeth understood her prisoner too well by this time to indulge in so vain an expectation ; yet, although she could not trust her at liberty, she still hoped 'that means could be found ' by which, though on the throne, her hands could be tied, her teeth drawn, and her claws pared. The affair on the Border led to angry words with the Court of Paris. La Mothe, at the instigation of Arundel, obtained a letter from the King threatening that if the invasion was repeated, a French army would be landed at Dumbarton or at Aberdeen. Elizabeth answered boldly, that ' to submit without resistance to the inroads of the Borderers would be to abandon the English realm to be conquered by re- bellion, and to yield her crown to any that would with force invade it.' If ' with the French King's help ' however ' reasonable conditions could be made by which England could be secured from the Queen of Scots' machinations and Scotland be quietly governed, she professed herself still ready to do her part to bring about a composition.' l It was less easy to manage her impatient friends at Edinburgh. Cecil was still for open measures: war with the Hamiltons and the Gordons ; war, if necessary, 1 Instructions to Sir H. Norris, May 2 : MSS. France VOL. IX. 18