were the conditions upon which Elizabeth promised to contribute her
endeavors towards the restoration of the deposed queen. The necessity of
Mary's affairs obliged her to consent to them; and the kings of France
and Spain, as well as the pope, when consulted by her, approved of her
conduct chiefly on account of the civil wars, by which all Europe was
at that time agitated, and which incapacitated the Catholic princes from
giving her any assistance.[**]

Elizabeth's commissioners proposed also to Mary a plan of accommodation
with her subjects in Scotland; and after some reasoning on that head,
it was agreed that the queen should require Lenox, the regent, to send
commissioners, in order to treat of conditions under her mediation. The
partisans of Mary boasted, that all terms were fully settled with the
court of England, and that the Scottish rebels would soon be constrained
to submit to the authority of their sovereign; but Elizabeth took care
that these rumors should meet with no credit, and that the king's party
should not be discouraged, nor sink too low in their demands. Cecil
wrote to inform the regent, that all the queen of England's proposals,
so far from being fixed and irrevocable, were to be discussed anew in
the conference; and desired him to send commissioners who should be
constant in the king's cause, and cautious not to make concessions which
might be prejudicial to their party.[***] Sussex, also, in his letters,
dropped hints to the same purpose; and Elizabeth herself said to the
abbot of Dunfermling, whom Lenox had sent to the court of England, that
she would not insist on Mary's restoration, provided the Scots could
make the justice of their cause appear to her satisfaction; and that,
even if their reasons should fall short of full conviction, she would
take effectual care to provide for their future security.[****]

* Spotswood, p. 245. Lesley p. 101.

** Lesley, p. 109, etc.

*** Spotswood, p, 246.

**** Spotswood, p. 247, 248.

{1571.} The parliament of Scotland appointed the earl of Morton and Sir
James Macgill, together with the abbot of Dunfermling, to manage the
treaty. These commissioners presented memorials, containing reasons for
the deposition of their queen; and they seconded their arguments with
examples drawn from the Scottish history, with the authority of laws,
and with the sentiments of many famous divines. The lofty ideas which
Elizabeth had entertained of the