Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/424

 4 o8 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 66. almost inevitable. The Bishop of Aquila had escaped expulsion only by death. De Silva, a layman and a gentleman, had managed better, but he too had found his position become intolerable. He had seen the Ca- tholic nobility made restless by the presence in the realm of the Queen of Scots. The emissaries of the Pope had been too strong for him. The ferment had gathered under his eyes towards the first insurrection, and de Silva made an excuse to demand his recall to escape a quarrel in which he foresaw that he would be involved. Up to this time, Philip had laboured loyally to prevent the Catholics from embarrassing Elizabeth with insurrection. Don Guerau de Espes represented a different policy. Pope Pius having excommunicated her, though against Philip's wishes, the King was drawn reluctantly into acquiescing in her deposition. Under the advice of the Duke of Feria and the Archbishop of Toledo, he allowed Vitelli to undertake to assassinate her, and directed Alva to invade England. The inten- tion was discovered, the Duke of Norfolk was executed, and Don Guerau, who had been the soul of the con- spiracy, was driven out with infamy. Philip, shrinking from war, again acquiesced in the insult, and relapsed into his attitude of expectation. The embassy was sus- pended, and Spain was represented in England only by a commercial factor, Don Antonio de Guaras. But the same necessity made de Guaras the focus of insurrection. Elizabeth, who always reserved alternatives on which she could fall back in extremity, took de Guaras more than once into her confidence ; more than once talked