Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/289

!t$ 7o.] EXCOMMUNICATION OF ELIZABETH. 275 who assisted the English rebels. If they happened to be the same persons who were the friends of the Queen, Sussex's business lay with acts, and not with titles ; and the King's party might take as much profit of his deeds for their aid as they should do if he used more open words.' 1 So far perhaps Elizabeth's course was not indefen- sible. It was involved, but it was at least economical ; and as long as she was moving in the right direction, the quarter towards which she was turning her eyes mattered little. But Elizabeth was a strange woman ; or rather she was a woman and a man; she was herself and Cecil ; and while her acts were the joint result of her own inclinations and Cecil's counsel, she gave way among her women and her favourites to her personal humours. She spoke of the Lords at Linlithgow as the loyal subjects of their sovereign ; she denounced Morton and his friends as traitors ; and when Sussex tried to execute the hard part imposed upon him, her words were flung back into his teeth. She wrote to Maitland 'more gentle and loving letters than ever she did.' She persuaded him that ' he knew the bottom of her secrets ; ' and while by her imprudent words and doings ' she struck a chill into the heart of every Scot and Englishman who wished her well/ Maitland, the object of her attentions, felt nothing but contempt for her weakness. He said ' she was inconstant, irresolute, and fearful ; and before the game was played out, he 1 Elizabeth to Sussex, April 30 : MSS. Scotland.