Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/459

 1584.] EXPULSION OF MENDOZA. 443 I look for no better fruits from them that use religion for policy, and many here do abuse it for faction.' l And again, a few days later : ' The noblemen receive no great comfort, and as for the poor ministers retired into the realm, who have shown themselves good instruments for entertaining the amity between the Crowns, they are but hardly thought of here, and there- fore not likely to be used with the kindness that either Christianity or policy requireth. I write this with ex- treme grief, for that I hold it a presage of God's judg- ment towards us.' 2 For the few weeks which followed the arrest and con- fession of Throgmorton, Elizabeth had almost resolved to take a decided part at last. She had dismissed Men- doza, imprisoned the Catholic noblemen, held out her hand to the Low Countries, and had invited her party in Scotland to take arms and make a revolution. But a purpose of this kind never long resisted influences which combined to imdermine it. There was no longer a French marriage for the Queen to fall back upon, but there was still a French alliance. The Court at Paris feared the ascendancy of the Duke of Guise almost as much as England feared it ; and Mauvissiere, in Lon- don, represented the principles of compromise so dear to Elizabeth, by which moderation and good sense were to control the passions of the opposing creeds. It was possible that Catherine de' Medici might be tempted by Uniformity, and deprived of their benefices. 1 "Walsingham to Davison, June 313, 1584: MSS. Scotland. 2 Walsingham to Davison, June 1727 : MSS. Ibid,