146 THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 58. Edwin Sandys, the Bishop of London, intimated to Burghley that if this could not be done, the Court at least should be cleared of Catholics and ' such as by private persuasion overthrew good counsel ; ' notorious Catholic noblemen should be sent to the Tower ; and the consciences of good Protestants should be no longer burdened with the Queen's taste for idle church cere- monies ; above all, and without a moment's delay, that ' the Queen of Scots' head should be struck from her shoulders.' 1 This last advice, though she could not act upon it literally, Elizabeth was not disinclined to accept. She had excused her past hesitation in dealing firmly with Mary Stuart, on the plea that she could not offend France. If France was now about to make common cause with Spain, the Queen no longer felt called on, either by principle or by prudence, to obstruct the de- mands of justice. She shrank still from being the avenger of her own wrongs ; but Sir Henry Killigrew was sent down in haste to the Earl of Mar, to say that the Queen of Scots' presence in England was too dan- gerous to be allowed to continue ; that it was neces- sary to come to a conclusion with her ; and that although she might be tried and executed in England for her crimes against the Queen, yet that ' for certain respects ' it was thought better that she should be given up to the Scots. That there might be no mistake in the meaning of the message, Lord Burghley added, that 1 Edwyn Sandys to Burghley, September 5 : Illustrations of Brit- ish History, vol. ii.
