I  have  tried  also  to  spread  the  view  in  Scotland  of  how
advantageous  it  would  be  to  the  King  if  he  were  to  submit  to  the
Catholic  Church,  although  this  is  a  difficult  thing  to  do  without
its  coming  to  the  ears  of  this  Queen,  as  nearly  all  the  Scotch
councillors  are  declared  Protestants,  who  would  inform  her  instantly,
and  she  would  thereupon  become  more  closely  attached  to  the
French.  I  have,  therefore,  had  to  wait  until  I  could  discuss  it
with  some  of  the  principal  Catholics  here,  by  whose  means  alone
was  it  possible  to  attempt  it.  I  pointed  out  to  them  that,  in  view
of  the  present  position  of  neighbouring  countries  and  of  the
Netherlands,  the  first  step  to  be  taken  was  to  bring  Scotland  to
submit  to  the  Holy  See.  This,  I  said,  would  cause  this  Queen
more  anxiety  than  anything  else,  since  even  if  the  multitude  of
heretics  in  France,  and  the  wars  forced  upon  your  Majesty  in  your
dominions,  would  allow  of  your  Majesty  sending  any  of  your  forces
hither  to  help  the  Catholics,  the  desired  end  would  not  be  gained
in  that  way,  as  its  only  result  would  be  to  make  war  inevitable
between  your  Majesty  and  France,  which  latter  country  would
naturally  oppose  such  a  step,  and  take  the  side  of  the  heretics  in
order  to  prevent,  at  any  cost,  your  Majesty  making  yourself  master
of  England  under  cover  of  religion.  This  was  evident  to  them,  as
the  Catholics  themselves  think  that,  oppressed  as  they  are,  they
could  not  take  up  arms,  or  make  any  movement,  unless  your
Majesty  sent  a  great  fleet  with  more  than  15,000  men,  which
would  be  rather  an  army  to  conquer  than  to  succour.  For  this
reason,  and  because  they  thought  that  Irish  affairs  could  only  be
made  use  of  for  the  purpose  of  embarrassing  the  Queen  and
hindering  her  from  helping  the  Netherlands  by  the  waste  of  her
men  and  money,  they  agreed  with  me  that  it  was  most  advisable
to  lose  no  time  in  laying  the  foundation  of  the  Scotch  project.
