s of Renard and the hopes of Noailles were occasioned by the
unanimity of Catholics and heretics in the opposition to the marriage;
yet, so singular was the position of parties, that this very unanimity
was the condition which made the marriage possible. The Catholic lords
and gentlemen were jealous of English independence, and, had they
stood alone, they would have coerced the queen into an abandonment of
her intentions: but, if they dreaded a Spanish sovereign, they hated
unorthodoxy more, and if they permitted, or assisted in the schemes of
the Reformers, they feared that they might lose the control of the
situation when the immediate object was obtained. Those who were under
the influence of Gardiner desired to restore persecution; and
persecution, which was difficult with Mary on the throne, would be
impossible under a sovereign brought in by a revolution. They made a
favourite of Courtenay, but they desired to marry him to the queen,
not to Elizabeth: Gardiner told the young earl that he would sooner
see him the husband of the vilest drab who could be picked out of the
London kennels.[181]

[Footnote 181: Renard to Charles V.: _Rolls House
MSS._]

Thus, from their murmurs, they seemed to be on the edge of rebellion;
yet, when the point of action came, they halted, uncertain what to do,
unwilling to acquiesce, yet without resolution to resist. From a
modern point of view the wisest policy was that recommended by Paget.
The claim of the Queen of Scots on the throne unquestionably made it
prudent for England to strengthen herself by some powerful foreign
alliance; sufficient precautions could be devised for the security of
the national independence; and, so far from England being in danger of
being drawn into the war on the continent, Lord Paget said that, if
England would accept Philip heartily, the war would be at an end.
Elizabeth of France might marry Don Carlos, taking with her the French
pretensions to Naples and Milan as a dowry. Another French princess
might be given to the expatriated Philibert, and Savoy and Piedmont
restored with her. "You," {p.080} Paget said to Noailles, "by your
Dauphin's marriage forced us to be friends with the Scots; we, by our
queen's marriage, will force you to be friends with the emperor."[182]

[Footnote 182: "Le dict Paget me respondict qu'il
n'estoit ja besoing d'entrer en si grande jalousie,