restoring of the queen and the ancient religion, the latter depending, they said, upon the former. Another parliament being appointed for the 25th of January, 1510, the queen's party, through the queen of England, procured a renewal of the truce till the matters in dispute should be debated before her. The parliament on this account was prorogued from the 25th of January till the beginning of May; and on the 5th of February, the earl of Morton, Robert Pitcairn, abbot of Duufennline, and James Macgill, were despatched to London to hold the conference. For this second conference before the agents of Elizabeth we must refer our readers to the life of Mary queen of Scots. We cannot for a moment suppose that Elizabeth had any serious intentions, at any period of her captivity, to restore queen Mary, and they were probably less so now than ever. The proposals she made at this time, indeed, were so degrading to both parties as to be rejected by both with equal cordiality. There had been in this whole business a great deal of shuffling. Mary had undertaken for her partisans that
they would deliver up to Elizabeth the fugitives that had made their escape from justice, or in other words, from the punishment which they had made themselves liable to on her account; but instead of being delivered up to Elizabeth they were safely conveyed into Flanders. Mary had also engaged that her partisans should abstain from courting any foreign aid; but an agent from the pope, who had vainly attempted to conciliate Elizabeth, issued a bull of excommunication against her, declared her an usurper as well as a heretic, and absolved her subjects from their oaths of allegiance to her: yet with inexplicable pertinacity, Elizabeth seemed to divide her regards between the parties, by which means she kept alive and increased their mutual hatred, and was a principal instrument of rendering the whole country a scene of devastation and
misery.
While this fruitless negotiation was going on, the truce was but indifferently observed by either party. Kirkaldy and Maitland having possession of the castle of Edinburgh, and being free from the fear of any immediate danger, were constantly employed in training soldiers, taking military possession of the most advantageous posts in the city, seizing the provisions brought into Leith, and by every means making preparations for standing a siege till the promised and ardently expected assistance should arrive from abroad. The Hamiltons oftener than once attempted the life of the regent, and they also seized upon the town of Paisley, but Lennox, marching in person against them, speedily recovered it. He also marched to Ayr against the earl of Cassillis, who gave his brother to the regent as a hostage, and appointed a day when he would come to Stirling and ratify his agreement The earl of Eglinton and lord Boyd at (he same time made their submission to the regent and were taken into favour. The castle of Dumbarton too, which had all along been held for the queen, fell at this time, by a piece of singular good fortune, into the hands of the regent In the castle were taken prisoners Monsieur Verac, ambassador from the king of France, John Hamilton, archbishop of St Andrews, and John Fleming of Boghall. The archbishop was shortly after hanged at Stirling, as being concerned in the plot for murdering Darnley and the regent Moray. In the meantime, Morton, and the other commissioners that had accompanied him, returned from London, having come to no particular conclusion. Morton gave a particular account of all that had passed between the commissioners, to the nobles assembled at Stirling, who entirely approved of the conduct of the commissioners; but the further consideration of the embassy was postponed to the first of May, when the parliament was summoned to assemble. Both parties were now fully on the alert; the one to hold, and the other prevent, the meeting on the day appointed. Morton, after the nobles had approved of his conduct,
