Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/128

 112 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 63. which could not be held by Englishmen loyal to the Government ; and true patriotism united to a false re- ligion overcame the true religion Avedded to opinions that were unpatriotic in regard to the liberties of Eng- lishmen, and treasonable to the English Government.' 1 The vitality of a belief is measured by its practical strength. Men will make willing sacrifices for a truth of which they are firmly convinced. They will not make sacrifices for opinions which are either inherited and held without meaning, or are inconsistent with duties which they recognize as of higher obligation. The English Catholics had hitherto supported by sub- scription the seminaries at Rome and at Rheims. Money was wanted for these, and was wanted also for a Jesuit mission to Scotland in connection with the general con- spiracy, and for neither of these purposes was money any more to be obtained. Father- Allen boasted of the lords and gentlemen whom Campian had converted. The story had another side. ' The persecution ruins us/ wrote Mendoza. ' The Catholics are crushed by the fines which are levied on them if absent from church. Some have relapsed to escape payment. Their alms have fallen off and scarce suffice for the prisoners. The cost of the seminaries grows with the increasing number of students. The subscriptions used to be large. Two gentlemen only on one occasion gave me 3oo/. to remit to Rheims. Now the supplies have sunk to almost no- thing, and while the stream has dried up, new demands Life of Campian, by II. Simpson, p. 343.