Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/75

 THE DUKE OF NORFOLK. shall dare touch* God's holy anointed; no, not their own sons, if any be so unnatural.' 1 Remonstrances like these, with the return at inter- vals of her own wiser judgment, produced some effect upon Elizabeth. More than once she repeated her order for the drawing of the warrant. At the beginning of April she said distinctly that her hesitation was at an end, and that the execution should take place. 2 But the uncertainty in herself, and the influence of her favourites, once more undid her purpose. The time of grace was extended indefinitely, and the unhappy Norfolk persuaded himself that the bitterness of death was passed. Nor with the lady at Sheffield could she any more resolve what to do. When the conspiracy was first discovered, neither Mary Stuart nor her friends ex- pected any kind of mercy. Leaving vengeance out of sight, not a prince in Europe, on mere grounds of policy, would at that period have spared a competitor for the crown who had tried the game of rebellion and had failed. Both Alva and Philip had expressed their fears, that if the plot was found out, she would be ex- ecuted, and they did not pretend to think that her 3xecution would be unjust. A Sovereign who in Elizabeth's circumstances ventured to dally with her danger, was considered forsaken of God and given over to destruction. But time passed on, and except close 20 1 Hunsclon to Burghley, March
 * MSS. border.

the Duke of Norfolk, Apri'1 9 : MSS. Hafjkld.
 * Warrant for the execution of