Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/25

 I57I-] THE DUKE OF NORFOLK. 5 stream of money was being continually poured into Scotland to support the Marian faction there. From Rome, Madrid, and the Low Countries large sums had been repeatedly sent over ; and France, as long as it was uncertain of Elizabeth, could not afford to be be- hind the rest. At the end of August, in reply to an argent demand from the Queen of Scots, a letter oi credit for 2000 crowns was forwarded for her use through La Mothe, and the ambassador handed it over to the Duke to be sent on to Lord Herries. Six hundred pounds were sealed up in a bag, with instructions in cipher that the money was to be delivered to one of the Lowthers, by whom it would be conveyed across the Border ; and the Duke's two secretaries Higford, of whom nothing further is known, and Barker, an old favourite of Anne Boleyn were directed to send the bag and its contents to the Duke's agent in Shropshire, a man named Banister. A Shrewsbury mer- September. chant, who had been in London making pur- chases, was returning home. Higford desired this person to take charge of it, telling him that it was fifty pounds' worth of silver, which the Duke was forwarding to his steward. The merchant, who sus- pected nothing, had almost reached. Shrewsbury when the weight of the bag struck him as unusual. He opened it, found gold and a ciphered letter, and imme- diately returned to make "known his discovery to Cecil. 1 It was just at the moment when Fitzwilliam had re- 1 Rela cion de la prision del Secre- tario del Duquc de Norfolk, Septem- ber 3 ; MSS. Simancas. Examina- tion of Higford and Barker : M UR