but were alienated at heart; and no one any more would risk the odium of espousing so thankless a cause.
The hope of accomplishing the marriage otherwise than by force had now to be deliberately abandoned. At this conclusion the Protector had already arrived, and it was on this account that he had abandoned St Andrews to its fate. Careless of small things, and weary of the tedious labour of gaining over Scotland by supporting an English faction, he had resolved upon a gigantic invasion, which once and for ever should terminate the difficulty. In deference to the French menaces, he disavowed, indeed, his claims to the Scottish crown; and as the Scots were comprehended in the treaty of peace, an excuse was necessary for attacking them. But a pretext was found easily in the perpetual skirmishes which distracted the Borders—the English laying the fault upon the Scots, the Scots complaining that, without provocation, their homesteads were burnt over their heads.
War with France might or might not follow. The Protector was confident and indifferent. The Bishop of Winchester cautioned him in private.[1] The council, it is likely, disclaimed a share of the responsibility;[2] but
- ↑ 'If I was sworn to say what I think of the world, I would for a time let Scots be Scots, with despair to have them unless it were by conquest, which shall be a goodly enterprise for our young master when he cometh of age, and in the mean time prepare him money for it, and set the realm in an order that it hath need of.'—Gardiner to the Protector: Foxe, vol. vi. p. 25.
- ↑ As much as this seems to be implied in a subsequent letter of Paget's, remonstrating with the Protector for refusing generally to listen to advice: 'Alas, sir, take pity of the King, and of the conservation and state of the realm. Put no more
