Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/544

 530 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 56, own people could not be paid their own justly earned wages. Drury complained that he had himself incurred such expenses in her Majesty's service that he wa& weighed down with debt. 1 In the midst of these distractions, and immediately arising out of them, a third party now appeared, which y though unfavourable to Mary Stuart and scarcely less so to Elizabeth, seemed likely for a time to obtain the control of Scotch policy. It was the misfortune of the Queen of Scots that she was unable to apply for help to- one of the great Powers without offending the friends of the other. Out of the large body of noblemen who had hitherto supported her, the Protestant section disap- proved entirely of the new connection with Spain. They remained true to their French sympathies ; and the change of policy at Paris, the reviving influence of the Huguenots, and the liberalizing tendencies of the King, produced a corresponding effect upon his friends in Scotland. As the Guises lost their ascendancy the French Court became again indifferent to Mary Stuart, and was as willing as it had been four years before to support the King if it could win back the Scotch alli- ance. If the Anjou marriage had come off, France and England, and the Scotch friends of both, would work together. If the marriage failed, France would not al- low Scotland to become Spanish ; and if Mary Stuart flung herself on Philip, for their own sakes they were forced to take up the cause of her son. In the universal 1 Drury to Cecil, July 14: MSS. Scotland.