Finally, do not lightly reject the friendship of Scotland. England is separated from every other nation by the sea; and if she unites with Scotland, her defences will be complete. Study the advice which Demosthenes gave to the Athenians, and you will learn what a wise man should do when his neighbour’s house is on fire.[25]
It was to press these views upon the statesmen of England that Maitland had been sent to London; and he was empowered to make an offer which shows that the Lords of the Congregation were in deadly earnest. Let everything, they said, which is past and gone be forgotten--Edward the First and Wallace, Bruce and Bannockburn, Flodden and Pinkie, all the long roll of victories and defeats on one side or another; let the words England and Scotland be obliterated; and let the two nations become one under the name of Great Britain, with Elizabeth as ruler of the United Kingdoms. It is impossible to say what would have followed if the English Council had entertained this proposal. But it implied war with France, not only on the Scottish border, but at every vulnerable point upon the coast of England. Even on the question of sending troops to Scotland, Elizabeth hesitated for a long time. But at last Cecil persuaded her to make up her mind. A fleet, under the command of Winter, sailed for the Firth of Forth; and an army of eight thousand men, under the command of Lord Grey, Warden of the Eastern Marches, was mustered at Berwick.
Then, after all these months of irresolution, the effect of a firm policy was seen. The French ambassador at London apologised for the conduct of Mary and the Dauphin in assuming the arms of England, and threw the blame upon the late king; and an offer was made to restore Calais if England would refrain from interfering in Scotland. But to this offer Elizabeth is said to have returned the haughty answer that “she did not value that fisher town so much as to hazard for it the state of Britain.”[26]
And now, for the first time, English soldiers were to enter Scotland as friends. But before the decisive movement was made, Norfolk, Lieutenant of the North of England, went to Berwick and made a convention with the Lords of the Congregation. Scotland was put under the protection of Elizabeth during the subsistence of the marriage of the Queen of Scots and the King of France. For the preservation of the liberties of Scotland, and to expel the French, an English army was to cross the border.[27] England became bound never to permit Scotland to be conquered, or united to France, otherwise than it already was by the marriage of Mary and Francis. Scotland became bound to send an army of four thousand men to assist England, if, at any time, she was invaded by France. Argyll, as Lord Justice of Scotland, was, if required by the Queen of England, to act with the Lord Lieutenant in reducing the north of Ireland to obedience. England was to receive hostages for the due performance of these stipulations on the part of Scotland.[28]