The situation of Elizabeth, amid its many difficulties, presented none so perplexing, none which the opinions of her most prudent counsellors were so much divided on the best mode of obviating, as those arising out of the doubt and confusion in which the right of succession was still involved. Her avowed repugnance to marriage, which was now feared to be insurmountable, kept the minds of men continually busy on this dangerous topic, and she was already incurring the blame of many by the backwardness which she discovered in designating a successor and causing her choice to be confirmed, as it would readily have been, by the parliament.
But this censure must be regarded as unjust. Even though the jealousy of power had found no entrance into the bosom of Elizabeth, sound policy required her long to deliberate before she formed a decision, and perhaps, whatever that decision might be, forbade her, under present circumstances, to announce it to the world.
The title of the queen of Scots, otherwise unquestionable, was barred by the will of Henry VIII., ratified by an unrepealed act of parliament, and nothing less solemn than a fresh act of the whole legislature would have been sufficient to render it perfectly free from objection: and could Elizabeth be in reason expected to take such a step in behalf of a foreign and rival sovereign, professing a religion hostile to her own and that of her people; of one, above all, who had openly pretended a right to the crown preferable to her own, and who was even now exhausting the whole art of intrigue to undermine and supplant her?
On the other hand, to confirm the exclusion of the Scottish line, and adopt as her successor the representative of that of Suffolk, appeared neither safe nor equitable.
The testamentary disposition of Henry had evidently been dictated by caprice and resentment, and the title of Mary was nevertheless held sacred and indisputable not only by all the catholics, but by the partisans of strict hereditary right in general, and by all who duly appretiated the benefits which must flow from an union of the English and Scottish sceptres. To inflict a mortal injury on Mary might be as dangerous as to give her importance by an express law establishing her claims, and against any perils in which Elizabeth might thus involve herself the house of Suffolk could afford her no accession of strength, since their allegiance,—all they had to offer,—was hers already.
The lady Catherine Grey, the heiress of this house, might indeed have been united in marriage to some protestant prince, whose power would have acted as a counterpoise to that of Scotland. But a secret and reluctant persuasion that the real right was with the Scottish line, constantly operated on the mind of Elizabeth so far as to prevent her from taking any step towards the advancement of the rival family; and the unfortunate lady Catherine was doomed to undergo all the restraints, the persecutions and the sufferings, which in that age formed the melancholy appanage of the younger branches of the royal race, with little participation of the homage or the hopes which some minds would have accepted as an adequate compensation.
It will be remembered, that the hand of this high-born lady was given to lord Herbert, son of the earl of Pembroke, on the same day that Guildford Dudley fatally received that of her elder sister the lady Jane; and that on the accession of Mary this short-lived and perhaps uncompleted union had been dissolved at the instance of the politic father of lord Herbert. From this time lady Catherine had remained in neglect and obscurity till the year 1560, when information of her having formed a private connexion with the earl of Hertford, son of the Protector Somerset, reached the ears of Elizabeth. The lady, on being questioned, confessed her pregnancy, declaring herself at the same time to be the lawful wife of the earl: her degree of relationship to the queen was not so near as to render her marriage without the royal consent illegal, yet by a stretch of authority familiar to the Tudors she was immediately sent prisoner to the Tower. Hertford, in the mean time, was summoned to produce evidence of the marriage, by a certain day, before special commissioners named by her majesty, from whose decision no appeal was to lie. He was at this time in France, and so early a day was designedly fixed for his answer, that he found it impracticable to collect his proofs in time, and to the Tower he also was committed, as the seducer of a maiden of royal blood.
By this iniquitous sentence, a color was given for treating the unfortunate lady and those who had been in her confidence with every species of harshness and indignity, and the following extract from a warrant addressed in the name of her majesty to Mr. Warner, lieutenant of the Tower, sufficiently indicates the cruel advantage taken of her situation.
..."Our pleasure is, that ye shall, as by our commandment, examine the lady Catherine very straightly, how many hath been privy to the love between her and the earl of Hertford from the beginning; and let her certainly understand that she shall have no manner of favor except she will show the truth, not only what ladies or gentlewomen of this court were thereto privy, but also what lords and gentlemen: For it doth now appear that sundry personages have dealt herein, and when it shall appear more manifestly, it shall increase our indignation against her, if she will forbear to utter it.
"We earnestly require you to use your diligence in this. Ye shall also send to alderman Lodge secretly for St. Low, and shall put her in awe of divers matters confessed by the lady Catherine; and so also deal with her that she may confess to you all her knowledge in the same matters. It is certain that there hath been great practices and purposes; and since the death of the lady Jane she hath been most privy. And as ye shall see occasion so ye may keep St. Low two or three nights more or less, and let her be returned to Lodge's or kept still with you as ye shall think meet[49]." &c.