that Mary should be freed from the charges against her; he privately advised Murray not to produce the documents substantiating his charges, unless Elizabeth agreed to pronounce a condemnatory sentence against Mary if the accusations were proved. He knew, from his confidential situation, that Elizabeth was not prepared to proceed so far. This stopped the inquiry ; Norfolk then engaged Murray to withdraw his accusations, promising he should be confirmed in the regency of Scotland, and proposing that Norfolk and Murray should support each other in obtaining influence over their respective queens.

Elizabeth had intimation of the proceedings of Norfolk; she caused the conference to be removed to Hampton Court; there Cecil and Bacon were added to the commission. Murray's agent produced the accusa. tory papers, but declined to give them in, when they were snatched from him by the bishop of Orkney, who was not in the secret, and delivered them to the com missioners. The proceedings then could not be stopped; the letters were examined, with the depositions of some witnesses, and there appeared full proof that they were genuine. The agents of Mary refused to answer, but required that Elizabeth should admit Mary into her presence to defend herself. The English queen, with becoming spirit, refused to do this, till Mary cleared herself from the charges of adultery and the murder of her husband, who was a relative of Elizabeth. She wrote to Mary, expressing her regret that such docu ments had been produced, but that she wished to cover these matters, and had stayed any judgment upon them. As there appeared full reason to believe that Mary would be proved guilty, it was best to stay the inquiry. She had so misconducted herself, as to render it improper that she should be replaced on the throne of Scotland; this was clear, without entering upon the accusation of murder; but as yet nothing blished to exclude her or her son from being considered in the succession to the English throne. Murray

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returned home, but found it necessary to avail himself of the protection of Norfolk, by whose influence with Mary orders were issued to the Nortons and others, who were prepared to intercept and murder the Scottish regent in his return through Yorkshire, directing them to allow him to pass unmolested-such influence did Mary at this time exercise in England, and so deeply was she enraged against Murray for being the cause of the production of her letters to Bothwell. The bishop of Ross was her agent in this affair.

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In January, 1569, Mary was removed to Tutbury, where she remained under the care of the earl of Shrewsbury, with a retinue of fifty of her own attendants, and ten horses. She was allowed to maintain the state of a queen, and to enjoy the sports and exercises of the field-a very different degree of restraint to that in which her own subjects held her at Loch-leven. All parties were inclined to let the affair rest as it was for a time this also best suited the interests of England; thereby Elizabeth avoided being obliged to act with or against either party. The state papers and private correspondence of the queen and her ministers are now so fully disclosed, that there is no ground for charging Elizabeth with unjust proceedings, or acting from trumpery motives of feminine displeasure. She told the French ambassador, that she could so justify her conduct towards Mary, that foreign princes would know she had no cause to blush; but that the same could not be said of the queen of Scots. It was necessary to prevent France from again obtaining control over Scotland, and to keep Mary from being made the tool of foreign powers or English papists. None who fairly and fully examine existing documents will say, that Mary deserved more aid or kinder treatment than Elizabeth expressed herself willing, at this time, to allow her. From the course then pursued by the English queen followed important results; the Reformation was not crushed; and the two kingdoms became united, and have continued independent of all other powers.

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Norfolk went forward in his plan for marrying Mary Stuart, while deeper and more injurious proceedings were plotted by the popish powers. The French ambassador was instructed to promote Norfolk's marriage. Some of Elizabeth's councillors encouraged this project, who were secretly in the interest of the French king. They endeavoured to keep her from sending aid to the Huguenots, counteracted Cecil, and prevailed so far, that the Protestant cause in France was irreparably injured. The popish historian of this period states, that a great part of the English nobility were ready to aid the plans of the pope.

Elizabeth learned something of Norfolk's projects, and cautioned him to beware on what pillow he rested his head; he made a deceptive reply, speaking in disparagement of Mary. About the middle of 1569, it was painfully evident that a secret conspiracy was at work. When Norfolk was summoned to attend the court, he retired further from London, sending an excuse that he was not able to travel for some days. But the queen peremptorily required his attendance. Upon his arrival, the duke was committed to the Tower; which decisive step, though only intended as a measure of precaution for a time, put a stop to the proceedings of the conspirators: the earl of Arundel, ford Lumley, and lord Pembroke, with the bishop of Ross, were all interrogated, but answered with such craft and skill, that they baffled the suspicions entertained respecting their project.

Still it was evident that evil designs were in agitation in the northern counties, where popery was most influential. The state of Lancashire in 1567 is thus noticed -Mass was commonly said, the common prayer discarded, many churches were shut up, those still open were mostly served by men known to be papists in their hearts. Disaffection to Elizabeth, and adherence to Mary's claims, of course prevailed in those districts. In November, 1569, the earls of Westmoreland and Northumberland were sent for; they had gone far in

their preparations, even making arrangements with the duke of Alva for the aid of a Spanish force. Vitelli, a Spanish general, was actually in London, ready to head the troops if any should be landed. But the queen's summons alarmed the earls; they took arms, and advanced to Durham, where they tore the English Bible to pieces, overthrew the communion table, and called upon all to join them in restoring the Romish religion. They proceeded to York, and openly declared that Norfolk, Arundel, and others of the ancient nobility, were confederate with them. The duke denied this, admitting only his desire to marry Mary Stuart.

The earl of Sussex advanced against the rebels, supported by Warwick and Clinton, at the head of forces from the southern counties, on whom alone the queen's leaders could rely. The movement of the northern earls was premature; they had neither arrangements ready, nor means adequate for the occasion, and it now appears that the Spanish court did not fulfil its written engagements to Northumberland. The Spanish ambassador required as a condition, that Mary's proposed union with Norfolk should be set aside, in favour of one with a Spanish prince. This was contrary to the policy of France, and these differences caused delays fatal to the design. By the end of December, the forces of the earls had dispersed; the leaders fled into Scotland, where Northumberland was taken by the regent Murray, who refused to deliver him up till he consulted the other nobles. A few days afterwards Murray was shot when entering Linlithgow, by an assassin who had been deeply injured by a follower of the regent, but whose escape was aided by the duke of Hamilton, to whom he fled for shelter on horses supplied by the duke's son. The conduct of the Hamiltons, and other partisans of Mary Stuart, showed that they were fully aware of the time when the attempt to assassinate would be made, and prepared to take advantage of the confusion which would follow its

success: the murder was not the act of an individual; Mary's chief partisans knew and abetted the whole proceeding. The papists thought that the Reformation in Scotland would be shaken by this murder, but their expectations were disappointed.

The duke of Alva, meanwhile, was preparing for active measures. His treacherous agents were in London, without being detected: but the duke of Norfolk and other nobles being kept in custody, the measures of the conspirators were broken; the attempt was made prematurely, and failed. Yet the pope did not relax his efforts; he sent a large sum of money to be distributed in England, which encouraged his partisans. Many declared that the pope's bull prevented them from obeying Elizabeth; while letters sent by Ridolfi to the pope, stated their readiness to assist in restoring the popish religion, and that they would help to place Mary on the throne upon her marrying the duke of Norfolk. As Englishmen, they desired that their kingdom might not be subjected to a foreign power by her marriage with a popish prince. They applied for the assistance of the Spanish force, which the pope urged Philip to afford; but a difference between the Spanish commanders delayed the effort, and, at this critical juncture, the English government was more fully informed of these designs. It is evident, from the statements of popish writers, that Elizabeth was for some time unconsciously in a state of great danger. A few hours might have brought a Spanish force from Flanders to the Thames, sufficient to afford a rallying point to those engaged in the conspiracy, which at this period included many about the court; men attached to the Romish faith, whom Elizabeth had attempted to conciliate; but all such efforts were, and ever must be, in vain. The principles of popery wholly prevent the cordial exercise of any feelings of a friendly nature, from bigoted papists towards those whom their church designates as heretics.

The chief hinderance to the designs of the conspira