protection of his said mother, and to express to him, on my
part, that as this will be a matter for which he will be greatly praised
by all the other kings and sovereign princes, he must be assured that if
he fails in it there will be great censure for him, and perhaps notable
injury to himself in particular. Furthermore, as to the state of my own
affairs, you know that the queen, madam and mother, is about to see very
soon the King of Navarre, and to confer with him on the matter of the
pacification of the troubles of this kingdom, to which, if he bear as
much good affection as I do for my part, I hope that things may come to a
good conclusion, and that my subjects will have some respite from the
great evils and calamities that the war occasions them: supplicating the
Creator, Courcelles, that He may have you in His holy keeping.

"Written at St. Germain-en-Laye, the 21st day of November 1586.(Signed)
HENRI,

"And below, BRULART."

This letter finally decided James VI to make a kind of demonstration in
his mother's favour: he sent Gray, Robert Melville, and Keith to Queen
Elizabeth. But although London was nearer Edinburgh than was Paris, the
French envoys reached it before the Scotch.

It is true that on reaching Calais, the 27th of November, M. de Bellievre
had found a special messenger there to tell him not to lose an instant,
from M. de Chateauneuf, who, to provide for every difficulty, had
chartered a vessel ready in the harbour. But however great the speed
these noble lords wished to make, they were obliged to await the wind's
good-will, which did not allow them to put to sea till Friday 28th at
midnight; next day also, on reaching Dover at nine o'clock, they were so
shaken by sea-sickness that they were forced to stay a whole day in the
town to recover, so that it was not till Sunday 30th that M. de
Bellievre was able to set out in the coach that M. Chateauneuf sent him
by M. de Brancaleon, and take the road to London, accompanied by the
gentlemen of his suite, who rode on post-horses; but resting only a few
hours on the way to make up for lost time, they at last arrived in
London, Sunday the 1st of December at midday. M. de Bellievre
immediately sent one of the gentlemen of his suite, named M. de
Villiers, to the Queen of England, who was holding her court at Richmond
Castle: the decree had been secretly pronounced already six days, and
submitted to Parliament, which was to deliberate upon it with cl