the young preachers, in their zeal, "being unskilled in matters political," might say things which would not be relished across the Channel, but offered to take such a course with them as should prevent this danger. "Sundry," he said, "had required fast and prayer to be had for the confounding of these and other cruel enemies of God's gospel; but this I will not consent to without warrant from Her Majesty." A specimen of a political bishop, who, in the presence of murder, and the most revolting crimes again?* God and man, could keep his soul untouched by a feeling of righteous indignation, and think only of keeping up political relations!
On the continent a very different spirit prevailed. The Protestant princes of Germany spoke out their unmitigated horror of so murderous and perfidious a government, and took the field in defence of their fellow Protestants at the head of 20,000 men; and then Elizabeth, in her peculiar way, sent them secret aid. So far as she could by private means excite disturbance in neighbouring countries, she had no objection; but on the surface she maintained an unruffled show of friendship and alliance. She still kept up her unmeaning coquetry with Alençon, and in the course of a few months stood as godmother to an infant daughter of this homicidal Charles IX.! She did indeed recommend to him to afford protection to the persons and worship of the French Protestants, and the profligate Catherine de Medicis replied for him ironically that her son could not follow a better example than that of his good sister, the Queen of England; and, therefore, like her, he would force no man's conscience, but, like her, would prohibit in his dominions the exercise of every other worship besides that which he practised himself. It is to the honour of the people of England of that time that they denounced in unsparing terms this gigantic horror, and that many of the nobility shared fully in the feeling. The French ambassador described in his letters to his master his mortifying position in England, where, on every side, he heard the massacre of St. Bartholomew described as the most enormous crime perpetrated since the death of Jesus Christ, and declared that no one would speak to him but the queen, who treated him with her accustomed urbanity. Whilst the people of England were musing in deep wrath over this outrage on humanity committed by the French Government, Elizabeth, the queen of this great nation, was occupied in an interesting correspondence on the best means of eradicating the scars of the small-pox from the face of her previously sufficiently ugly lover, Alençon. She recommended a London quack, who could do wonders, and expressed her astonishment that Catherine de Medicis had not sooner adopted means to remove these mortifying scars. Catherine had been too busy with planning the murder of her subjects.
Burleigh, and numbers of the enemies of Mary, urged upon Elizabeth that the murder of the Protestants in France was only one demonstration of the existence of a universal Roman Catholic league for the extirpation of Protestanism; that she would be aimed at next; her deposition or murder would follow, unless she provided for her safety; and the surest means was to strike the first blow, and in the Queen of Scots destroy their centre of unity in these kingdoms. Elizabeth listened to the advice, but was too politic to imbrue her hands in the blood of the Queen of Scotland, without exerting herself first to transfer the odium to some other shoulders. Killigrew was, therefore, sent down to Scotland to see if the execution of the queen could not be effected there. His ostensible mission was to arrange, if possible, the terms of an armistice betwixt the adherents of Mary and those of the young king in Scotland, at the head of which parties were Huntley and Morton. But the private and real object was to lead the Protestant lords to the point of removing Mary from the hands of Elizabeth, "to receive that she had deserved by order of justice."
Killigrew was to work on their fears by representations of the Roman Catholic league, to make the most of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and to warn them, as on good information received in England, to look to themselves, to see that none of them were seduced by bribes, none made away by poison, not to allow the young king to go out of the realm, on any plea, and, if hard put to it, to rely on the instant and energetic co-operation of Elizabeth for the defence of the reformed creed, and the tranquillity of the kingdom. Having operated thus far, Killigrew was next instructed to approach the great object of his mission, but not in any way to implicate the queen. He was to represent the great peril of detaining Mary in England, from the number of fiery zealots always plotting for her escape, and that it would be much better for them to have her in their own hands, where they could more readily and more justly take prompt measures at any moment for preventing the disturbance of the present Government. If this was listened to, he was then to see what bargain for this purpose he could strike with Morton, a man steeped in crime, and not at all averse to murder.
Killigrew, in his private letters, represents himself as recoiling with disgust from this odious office, but not daring to incur the Royal displeasure by declining it. It does not appear that Morton was at all averse to the proposal, for so late as January of the next year, the negotiation was still on foot with her; but it failed from the resolute opposition of a far more honourable man, the regent Mar. Mar was anxious, like a real patriot, to heal the wounds of his country, to reconcile the contending factions, and make the Government strong and independent by union. He contended that there could be no difficulty in arranging the interests of Mary and her own son, for the benefit and harmony of both. He sent away Randolph, who had been for years the diligent source of discord and mischief for Elizabeth, and made overtures to the adherents of the queen, by which, under proper guarantees for her benefit, she was to surrender the castle of Edinburgh.
But this honourable endeavour was so contrary to the base motives and unprincipled spirit of the age, that it brought speedy destruction on the regent. Morton, one of the most thorough villains of the time, invited him to a banquet at Dalkeith, before the treaty could be signed, and Mar was taken so ill at the dinner, with every symptom of poison, that he rode away as fast as he could to Stirling, and there died in a few days. This occurred on the 8th of October, and on the 9th of November, Morton, by the influence of Elizabeth, was elected regent in Mar's place. Thus Elizabeth had obtained the appointment of the man to be the guardian of the young king
