Guzman de Silva to King Philip II.
She was still of the same mind about it as
she had been from the first, and would not, on any account, allow the Queen to
go to France; and as for sending her back to Scotland alone after she had
placed herself under her protection, that would be a great dishonour for her
(Elizabeth) and her country. Seeing also the pretensions she had to the English
crown, it would be dangerous, she said, to allow her to be free in this
country, as she might take opportunities of satisfying people about past events
and gain them over. She (Elizabeth) had therefore, as she had already told me,
determined to bring her to some place in the interior of England, both that she
might be safer from her enemies, and also in order that, if she attempted to
escape clandestinely to Scotland, her flight should be made longer and more
difficult ; as between Carlisle and Scotland there was only one small river,
which could easily be crossed. I asked her why, then, she did not bring her
away at once? to which she replied that the Queen would not leave Carlisle, and
had sent to tell her (Elizabeth) that she would only do so under compulsion, by
which she understood a direct and peremptory order from her. She (Elizabeth)
said she did not want to affront her by treating the matter in this way, and
she was sorry for her to remain where she was, for the reasons she had said ;
which reasons, as I understand from Fleming, are the very ones which make the
queen of Scotland unwilling to leave, although she says it is because she
wishes to be near where she may know quickly what is passing in her country,
and keep in close touch with her friends.
London, 3 July 1568.
Calendar of Spanish Letters and State
Papers Relating to English Affairs ,
II.47-8.
GIOVANNI CORRER, Venetian Ambassador in
France, to the SIGNORY
It was also said in Paris that the Earl of
Leicester ranked amongst the bitterest of Queen Mary's enemies; and that when
told of her demand for leave to go to France, Queen Elizabeth exclaimed, “My
prudence would weigh but lightly were I to permit the departure of her who lays
claim to be mistress of this realm, and who of yore assumed its arms and
title.”
Paris, 20th July 1568.
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