Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/59

 1572.J THE DUKE OF NORFOLK. honours. Reginald Grey, the representative of the ruined family of Grey de Ruthyn, was made Earl of Kent for the occasion ; * and of the Queen's own rela- tions, Lord Hunsdon alone was absent, being unable to leave Berwick. 2 The occasion was extremely critical. With a shak- ing throne, an uncertain people, and in the midst of the great Catholic reaction which was threatening all over Europe to overwhelm the work of the Reformers, it was no light matter to erect again a court of treason, to re- open the chapter of political trials and executions, which it had been Elizabeth's honourable distinction to have hitherto held closed. However great and how- ever evident were Norfolk's offences, he was the highest English subject, and the crime for which he was to be brought to the bar was no crime at all in the eyes of half the nation. To leave him unpunished, or to try him and to fail in obtaining a verdict, would be equally fatal. To prepare the way with the public, a com- pendious account of the conspiracy and its discovery was drawn up and published ; and another step was taken of 1 ' La Reyna ha cveado un nucvo Conde de Kent para tener su voto seguro.' Don Guerau to Philip, January 7 : MSS. Simancas. 2 The Peers who tried Norfolk were the Earls of Shrewsbury, Kent, Sussex, Warwick, Pembroke, Wor- cester, Huntingdon, Bedford, Hert- ford, Leicester, Lords Clinton, Burghley, Mountjoy, Wentworth, Mordaunt, Chaudos, St John of Bledsoe, Hereford, Howard of Ef- fingham, Grey de Wilton, Sandys, Burgh, St John, Rich, Norton, Btickhurst, and Delawarre. Of these, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Clin- ton, Mordaunt, Howard, Grey de Wilton, Sandys, Burgh, S.t John, and Rich were in Ridolfi's list.