The liberation of the cardinal could be no longer deferred. He was imprisoned at Dalkeith on January 26, was removed thence to Seaton, next to Blackness castle on the Forth, and finally to St. Andrews, the seat of his archbishopric. There he was set at liberty at the request, especially, of the queen-mother, who had never ceased her intercession for him.[295] Once free, this arrogant man, exasperated by the affront which had been offered him, thought only of recovering his own power and of reëstablishing the cause of the papacy.
INTRIGUES OF BEATOUN.
He now had frequent communication with Mary of Guise, and shared her indignation at the favors granted to the Scottish nobles just returned from England, who had passed from exile to the most influential positions. They resolved to do their utmost to reëstablish the alliance with Francis I. and the pope. The cardinal completely won over the earl of Bothwell, and the Lords Home, Buccleugh, and others. He induced such of them as were on the frontier to make inroads on the English territory. He assembled at St. Andrews, on July 6, the earls of Lennox, Argyle, Huntley, and Bothwell, Lord Home, and the other noblemen and gentlemen who were favorable to the pope; and at this conference they determined to oppose the regent, who instead of executing their designs was only bent on promoting heretical opinions.[296]
Meanwhile Beatoun found opportunities for secret interviews with the regent’s brother, who had everything in his own hands; for this bastard was as remarkable for force of character as his legitimate brother was for the want of it. The cardinal did not confine himself to intrigues in high places, but he had it at heart to win the multitude, and he tried all imaginable schemes in order to succeed.[297] When he thought that he had at last secured his position, both above and below, he convoked the clergy at St. Andrews. The bishop, abbot, and primate unfolded before this assembly all the dangers which were then impending over Scotland. ‘In order to avert them,’ said he, ‘contribute generously from your purses, and urge all your friends to do the same. Tell them that their property and their lives are at stake. Nay, more than that,’ he exclaimed, ‘our task is to prevent the ruin which is threatening the universal church of the pope.’[298] The clergy declared that they would place all their resources at his disposal, and determined to set on foot a general subscription. ‘The cardinal,’ wrote the ambassador Sadler to Lord Parr, brother of the Queen of England, ‘the cardinal here hath not only stirred almost this whole realm against the governor, but also hath procured the earl Bothwell [and others] to stir all the mischief and trouble they can on the Borders, and to make roads and incursions into England, only of intent to break the peace and to breed contention and breach between both realms.’[299] At the same time the monks were preaching passionately against the union with England; and the population, excited by them, was in agitation and ready to revolt, threatening those who were opposed to the Church of Rome, and even insulting the English ambassador. Jesters used to assail both him and his suite with insolent speeches. But the envoy of Henry VIII., knowing that the one matter of moment for his master was to succeed, took these indignities patiently, through fear of hastening a rupture.
THE HOSTAGES REFUSED.
As Scotland was under obligation to give hostages to England as security for the execution of the treaties, the cardinal set himself strenuously against the measure, not only with those of his own faction, but also with those of the other side. He was prodigal of promises to the relations and the friends of the intended hostages, in the hope of inducing them to oppose their delivery to England. The same influences were brought to bear on the regent. On the day fixed for giving up the lords to the English ambassador, the latter went to the regent, and after making complaint of the insults to which he was exposed, demanded the hostages. The regent promised that the perpetrators of the outrages of which Sadler complained should be punished. ‘As for the hostages,’ he added, ‘the authority with which I am invested is of such a nature that, while I have rights as against the queen’s subjects, they also have their rights as against me. You are yourself a witness of the immense agitation stirred up by the cardinal.[300] All my plans are upset, and, carried away by the force of popular passion, I can no longer answer for anything.’[301] Arran was indeed wanting in the strength to stand against such a storm as was conjured up by the cardinal. Weakminded himself, he bent before the violence of those who had powerful convictions. Sadler, indignant at his refusal, called upon the Scots who had been captives in England to return to their confinement, as they had pledged themselves to do in case the treaty should be violated. Kennedy, earl of Cassilis, was the only one who kept his word. He set out for London, in spite of the pressing entreaties of his own circle.[302] Henry, touched by this act of good faith, generously sent him back to Scotland with his two brothers who had remained as hostages.
The clerical reaction was steadily gathering fresh force. In pursuance of the colloquy of July 6, the nobles hostile to the regent assembled some troops; and on July 21 they arrived, at the head of ten thousand men, at Leith, the port of Edinburgh. At the same moment Arran, the earl of Angus, Lord Maxwell, and their friends were at Edinburgh, at the head of their armed force. There was equal animation on both sides. They might have been likened to two electric clouds, whose lightning was ready to burst forth with violence. However, the two opposed bodies of troops remained motionless for five or six days. ‘What will be the end of this,’ wrote Sadler to Lord Parr, ‘I cannot tell; but my opinion is that they will not fight for all their bragges.’[303] In fact, they did not fight.
IRRESOLUTION OF ARRAN.
The two queens were at Linlithgow palace, in which the young Mary was born. The regent and the cardinal each gave out that the queens were on his side, but all the sympathies of the queen-mother were with the cardinal. The latter, accompanied by the earls of Argyle, Huntley, and Bothwell, and by many bishops, went to Linlithgow. Supposing that the princesses were not safe there, he persuaded them to go with him to Stirling, which they did. These lords talked without reserve among themselves, and with the queen, of deposing the regent, on the ground of disobedience to their holy mother the Church. This greatly alarmed Arran, who at that same time was persecuted by the abbot of Paisley, his natural brother. ‘Consider,’ said the latter, ‘the danger to which you expose yourself by allowing the authority of the pope to be impaired. It is the authority on which your own rests.’ As Arran was in dread of the anger of Henry VIII., the abbot exalted to the utmost the power of the King of France, and the great advantages of an alliance with him. But above everything else he insisted on the obligation of making peace with the Church, ‘out of whose pale,’ he repeated, ‘there is no salvation.’ The poor regent, weak, inconstant, and not at all grounded in the faith of the Gospel, halted between the wish to follow the advice of his brother and the shame involved in abandoning his party and giving the precedence to the cardinal. He wavered between the pope and the Gospel, between France and England. His irresolution was torture to him; he endured bitter pangs. The abbot never wearied of repeating the question, ‘What will ye do? will you then destroy yourself and your house for ever?’[304] He hesitated no longer. Beaten on all sides by contending waves; conscious that his forces were inferior to those of his adversaries; hemmed in by the snares of the cardinal, who chose rather to gain him by terror than to subdue him by arms; abandoned by many of the nobles; no longer in favor with the people, who were offended by his weakness; lowered in the esteem of his own friends, and disgraced in the eyes of the English, the unhappy man at last took the fatal leap. Nine days after the ratification of the alliance with England, and only six days after he had published a proclamation against the cardinal, Arran secretly stole away from Holyrood palace, betook himself to Stirling on September 3, and threw himself into the arms of his cousin Beatoun.