ourage, and advised her, for the present, to remain quietly where she
was. She must not, they said, venture herself, or the little prince,
upon the sea in an attempt to come to France, unless she found herself
exposed to great danger in remaining in Scotland. They wished her to
notify the king, too, who they supposed was at that time secreted in
Wales, for they had heard that the Earl of March--they would not call
him King of England, but still designated him by his old name--was
going into Wales with an army to look for him.

[Sidenote: Their professions and promises.]

They said, in conclusion, that as soon as they were set at liberty
they should immediately come to the queen in Scotland. Nothing but
death would prevent their rejoining her, and they devoutly hoped and
believed that they should not be called to meet with death until they
could have the satisfaction of seeing her husband the king and herself
once more in peaceable possession of their realm.

But the reader may perhaps like to peruse the letter itself in the
words in which it was written. It is a very good specimen of the form
in which the English language was written in those days, though it
seems very quaint and old-fashioned now. It was as follows:

[Sidenote: The letter itself.]

"MADAM,--Please your good God, we have, since our coming hither,
written to your highness thrice; once by the carvel in which we
came, the other two from Dieppe. But, madam, it was all one thing
in substance, putting you in knowledge of your uncle's death,
whom God assoil, and how we stood arrested, and do yet. But on
Tuesday next we shall up to the king, your cousin-german. His
commissaires, at the first of our tarrying, took all our letters
and writings, and bore them up to the king, leaving my Lord of
Somerset in keeping at the castle of Arques, and my fellow
Whyttingham and me (for we had safe-conduct) in the town of
Dieppe, where we are yet.

"Madam, fear not, but be of good comfort, and beware ye venture
not your person, nor my lord the prince, by sea, till ye have
other word from us, unless your person can not be sure where ye
are, and extreme necessity drive ye thence.

"And, for God's sake, let the king's highness be advised of the
same; for, as we are informed, the Earl of March is into Wales by
land, and hath sent his navy thither by sea.

"And, madam, think ver