By an expedition against the thieves of Liddesdale in July 1562 (Cal. State Papers, For. 1562, Nos. 290, 320), he prevented Bothwell, a fugitive from justice, from re-establishing himself in the south of Scotland, and compelled him to leave the country. As for Châtelherault, though his place in the succession constituted him a direct rival, his indecisive character rendered him comparatively innocuous, especially since his influence had been discounted by the curious escapade of his son Arran. The most formidable and avowed of Moray's enemies was Huntly; and it was of vital importance even for protestantism that his power in the north of Scotland should be crippled. A convenient and plausible method of doing so was by the transference of the earldom of Moray to Lord James; and Lord James, having obtained a private grant of it from the queen, persuaded her to make an expedition to the north in order that he might, by force if necessary, enter into possession. Apparently anxious to stand well both with her brother and Elizabeth, Mary made no objection. Also, as good luck would have it, Huntly was foolish enough to resist; and thus Lord James, formally created on 18 Sept. Earl of Moray, had the opportunity not merely of deducting from Huntly's possessions that earldom, but of effecting the forfeiture of all Huntly's estates, Huntly himself being also a victim of the battle which resulted in the total defeat of his followers.
But it was from the date of this signal triumph that Moray's difficulties really began. Probably his sister had been induced to sanction the expedition against Huntly mainly by a consideration of the favourable impression it would produce on Elizabeth. She may have even calculated that it would remove the last doubts of Elizabeth as to the expediency of formally recognising her right to the English succession. But the news that when Elizabeth in October was at the point of death, only a single voice was raised in behalf of the Queen of Scots as her successor, necessarily awakened both Moray and his sister from their day dreams. Once the Queen of Scots was robbed of the hope of recognition as Elizabeth's successor, Moray's position became one of supreme danger; and it is plain that the hope of the Queen of Scots at this time received a crushing blow. She was almost constrained to look out definitely for a catholic alliance; whereupon she and Moray necessarily became distrustful of each other. Perhaps her one objection to him was, as she said, that he was so ‘precise’ in matters of religion; but he never pretended that he could modify this precision. Indeed about this time Randolph relates a really ludicrous instance of what she must have regarded as his impracticable fanaticism. ‘There is,’ so he wrote from Dunbar on 30 Dec. 1562, ‘thrice in the week an ordinary sermon in the Earl of Moray's lodgings in the queen's house so near to the mass that two so mortal enemies cannot be nearer joined without some deadly blow given either upon the one side or the other’ (Cal. State Papers, For. 1562, No. 1375). But, though uncompromising as regards his own faith, Moray was quite disposed to make allowance for his sister's disappointment. Moreover he was anxious to discover some via media which would enable him to remain in power; and, like all the other Scots, he was disposed to resent the insult to them implied in Elizabeth's refusal to recognise their queen's right to the English succession. How far he was sincere in his approval of the Don Carlos marriage project cannot be determined; but that he did formally approve is beyond doubt. Maitland, who then enjoyed his confidence, was employed in the negotiations; and De Quadra, the Spanish ambassador in London, in his long letter to the King of Spain on 18 March 1563, referred to Lord James as a party to the proposal (Cal. State Papers, Spanish, 1558–1567, pp. 305–12), and on 3 April informed him, on the authority of Mary's French secretary Raulet, that Lord James was extremely desirous of the marriage (ib. p. 318). It has been supposed that Moray—who expected that in Scotland protestantism would, as heretofore, be tolerated—calculated on being appointed regent during his sister's absence in Spain; and had such an arrangement been possible or compatible with the more ambitious purposes of the Queen of Scots, it would have been a not unsatisfactory solution, at least from Moray's point of view, of a most puzzling problem. But the Don Carlos proposal, having come to nothing, was succeeded by Elizabeth's pretended ultimatum, the absurd, and apparently insincere, offer to Mary of the hand of her own favourite, Dudley, earl of Leicester. The intolerable patronage implied in such an offer, especially when coupled with no guarantee of Mary's right to the English succession, was probably as distasteful to Moray as to his sister. His attitude was quite unequivocal: he plainly told the English ambassadors that Elizabeth's offer, unless conjoined with parliamentary recognition of Mary's right to the English succession, was little better than mockery; that if, however, her right were conceded, he would do his best, provided Elizabeth really
