232 REI6X OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 65. ing a minister to Edinburgh, she desired the French Court to return George Douglas with the answer that they would make no treaty with her son except with her consent, and that no foreign prince would show him countenance or friendship except as he was her repre- sentative. 1 The difficulty was an awkward one. Mary Stuart understood too well the sandy nature of the ground she stood oil to part with any solid legal right to which she could pretend ; while on the other hand such an associa- tion as she desired, even if it could be accepted by the Scots, might provoke the premature interference of England. Reluctant as Elizabeth had shown herself to meddle in arms with Scotland, yet she had done it twice and might do it a third time. Lennox had felt the tem- per of the leading nobles, and except from a few fanatical Catholics like Seton and Fernyhurst, he had found extreme objections to Mary Stuart's plan. 'It was thought very dangerous, both for the mother and son ; by reason there was a despair entered into the hearts of the people if the King should grant himself un- lawfully crowned.' 2 Every Act of Parliament, every grant of land, which had passed under the Great Seal of Scotland for thirteen years, would be made invalid if he was reduced but for a single hour to the rank of Prince. 3 But the reasons which made the Scots un- Octobcr. willing determined Mary Stuart to insist. If Mary Stuart to the Archbishop nf Glasgow, September 18: LA- BANOFF, VOl. V. ~ l Lennox to George Douglas, September, 1581 : MSS. MARY QUEEN OF SCOT,* 3 Ibic 1
