Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/388

 374 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 55. intentions. The Commission held its first sitting on the 24th of February. The Earl, instead of con- senting to consider the details of the treaty, presented a passionate remonstrance, expressing only with in- creased vehemence the objections which had been before conveyed through the Abbot of Dumfermline. It was the old story, but it could not be too often repeated. When Morton ceased, Bacon rose to support him. ' If the Queen of Scots was restored/ said the Lord Keeper, ' in three months she would kindle a fire which would wrap the island in flames, and which the power of man would fail to extinguish. If Elizabeth would recognize the Prince and support the Regent, all Scotland would instantly be at her devotion, and with Scotland hers she might defy the malice of the world. His mis- tress,' he said, ' believed herself bound by promises to the Queen of Scots ; but neither the Queen of Scots nor her friends were prepared to fulfil the conditions under which alone the restoration could be contem- plated. Without material securities it was not to be thought of, and securities adequate to the risk did not exist. To send Mary Stuart back to Scotland would alienate every friend which England possessed there ; and as to the grave question so often raised of the rights of subjects and sovereigns, the Queen of England had no concern with the titles of the princes with whom she treated. If treaties could not be made till the right of every prince to his crown was first ascer- tained, the world would fall in pieces. It was enough