60 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 57. to his own Sovereign ; and of the Queen of Scots * he made 110 more account than the laws required/ l Driven in upon herself, and for the present deprived of other weapons, the Queen of Scots could only have recourse to her matchless power of sarcasm. If she could not hoodwink Elizabeth, she might at least wound and sting her. ' It was not her fault/ she said, ' if the Queen of England persisted in complaining of her assumption of the title. She had always professed herself willing to abandon her present claim if her place in the succession was acknowledged. The Queen of England said that she ought to be grateful to her for having declined the offer of the Scotch crown. She was sorry she had been so remiss in acknowledging the obligation ; but it was the first time that she had heard of it. If the Queen of England had received such a proof of her subjects' treason, she was surprised that the Queen of England should have supported them ; but she thanked her, at all events, for such valuable information. As to saving her life, the Queen of England had been the chief maintenance of those who had threatened it ; and her good offices therefore amounted to little. Her own gratitude in the matter was due, she conceived, first to God, and then to the King of France. That the Queen of England had interceded for her she had never heard, except from the Queen of England herself; 1 Shrewsbury to Burghley, March 4 and March 9 : MSS. QUEEN OF SCOTS.
