Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/53

1563.] THE ENGLISH A T HA VRE. 33 among her many faults, knew these men when she saw them, and gave them their place, and so prospered she and her country. The clergy cried out for the blood of the disaffected ; the lay Speaker would let them go by the postern of Mercy and Truth. These introductions over, the House proceeded to business. The special subject, of which all minds were full, had been passed over both by Bacon and "Williams ; but the Commons fastened upon it without a moment's delay. There were no signs of the Queen's marrying, notwithstanding her half promise to her first Parlia- ment. She had been near death, and the frightful un- certainty as to what would follow should she die indeed was no longer tolerable. On the 1 8th the question was talked over : the different claimants and their pretensions were briefly considered, and as had been anticipated the tone of feeling was as adverse as possible to the Queen of Scots. The Scottish nobles had not been forgiven for having supported her in refusing to ratify the treaty. To secure their sovereign the reversion of the English crown they were held to have repaid the assistance which had saved them from ruin with the basest ingra- titude. Sir Ealph Sadler broke out with a fierce invective upon the ' false, beggarly, and perjured ' nation, whom ' the very stones ' in the English streets would rise against. 1 Another speaker challenged Mary Stuart's pretensions on the ground of English law. Papers, voi. ni [>. 303. VOL. vn.