Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/246

226 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 43. realm alone, your Majesty may well think. How unfit I am, and how able is he to go beyond me, I would it were not as I know it to be.' 1 Little time was lost in preparation. On the i8th of November the four commissioners met at Berwick : Bedford, a plain, determined man, with the prejudices of a Protestant and the resolution of- an English states- man ; Randolph, true as Bedford to Elizabeth, but en- tangled deeply in the intricacies of diplomacy, and moving with more hesitation ; Murray, perplexed as we have seen ; and Maitland, at home in the element in which he played with the practised pleasure of a master. The preliminaries were soon disposed of. Both sides agreed on the desirableness of the union of the realms ; and the English ministers admitted the propriety of the recognition of the Queen of Scots, if adequate securities could be provided for Elizabeth's safety and for the liberties of the realm. The main subject was then approached. Lord Bed- ford said that his mistress would undertake to favour Mary Stuart's title if Mary Stuart would marry where the English council wished ; and he proposed the Earl of Leicester as a suitable husband for her. ' The Earl of Leicester/ Maitland replied, ' was no 1 Randolph to Elizabeth, Novem- ber 7 ; Cotton. MSS., CALIG. B. 10. On the same day Randolph wrote to Leicester : ' I would you were to be at Berwick to say somewhat for yourself, for there I assure you some- what will be said of you that for your lordship may tend to little good. How happy is your life that between these two Queens are tossed to and fro. Your lordship's luck is evil if you light not in some of their laps that love so well to play.' Scotch MSS. Rolls Souse.