Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/552

 536 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 67. appointment. ' The sinister opinion of foreign nations ' was true then. The Queen did care only for herself, and was indifferent to the prospective calamities of her people. She was shortsighted even for her personal safety. Heavily and reluctantly the Commons set them- selves to consider the association bond. The first ob- jection was to the words ' of whom or for whom ; ' the unauthorized act of a second person could not take away a lawful right. It was removed at once by a message from the Queen, that ' she did not wish any one to be punished for the fault of another ; ' ' she would have nothing pass which grieved her subjects' consciences or would not abide the view of the world ; ' ' she affected to approve the zeal of such of her faithful subjects as desired with upright consciences to serve God and her together.' 1 The House was partially satisfied, but they had looked for something different. The association either meant nothing or it meant a suspension of legal authority, and the more the language of it was weighed the wider the differences of opinion which arose. Some members who had sworn felt themselves ' superstitiously bound ' to the exact words of the oath ; some thought that ' it contained matter not warrantable by the Word of God, and repugnant to the laws of nature ; ' some that, as the oath was made for the Queen's safety, the Queen could dispense with it ; some that it was unlawful and therefore void. Others again argued that ' it was a gap qualified with a convenient Act of Parliament, 1584-5 : MSS. Domestic. 1 Ibid.