Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/389

 TPIE RIDOLFI CONSPIRACY. 37$ that a king was a king, and the fewer questions asked the better.' * Elizabeth answered gloomily that if there March, was danger in restoring the Queen of Scots, there was greater danger in detaining her. The Com- mission was not sitting to decide what was already de- termined, but to consider the conditions on which the venture might be made. The Bishop of Ross, in Mary Stuart's name, entreated that there might be no further delay : she was ready, he said, to make every con- cession that might be thought necessary. The host- ages should be forthcoming and the Prince should be given up c La Mothe supported the Bishop, the general question was assumed to be settled, and the business went for- ward. The next step was the presentation of a petition by the Bishop of Ross, requiring that the abdication made at Lochleven should be declared invalid. Morton said fiercely that the grounds on which the Queen had been deposed had been already examined into, and were sufficiently well known. The Bishop replied, that subjects, whatever their complaints, had no rights over their princes. The tribunal to which a Queen Regnant was amenable, he argued, was a council of sovereigns, who alone could take cognizance of such a cause ; 2 and 1 La Mothe, March 4, 1571. Short answers to four principal points, February 24. In Bacon's hand: M88 MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. 2 La Mothe, March 12. The Bi- shop supported his position in a written memorial with his old and favourite illustration. Except in special cases, such as