Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/305

 1565.] THE EMBASSY OF DE STLVA. 285 an English subject, ' whatever power he could make by the faction of the Papists or other discontented persons would be so much deducted from the power of the realm/ 'A small faction of adversaries at home was more dangerous than thrice their number abroad ; ' and it was remembered that ' foreign powers had never pre- vailed in England but with the help of some at home/ It ' had been observed and manifestly seen before this attempt at marriage, that in every corner of the realm, the factions that most favoured the Scottish title had grown stout and bold ; ' ' they had shown them- selves in the very Court itself ; ' and unless checked promptly ' they would grow so great and dangerous as redress would be almost desperate/ ' Scarcely a third of the population were assured to be trusted in the mat- ter of religion, upon which only string the Queen of Scots' title did hang ; ' and ' comfort had been given to the adversaries of religion in the realm to hope for change/ ' by means that the bishops had dealt straightly with some persons of good religion because they had forborne to wear certain apparel and such like things being more of form and accident than any substance/ ' The pride and arrogancy of the Catholics had been in- creased ' by the persecution of the Protestants ; while if the bishops attempted to enforce conformity on the other side ' the judges and lawyers in the realm, being not the best affected in religion, did threaten them with pre- munire, and in many cases letted not to punish and de- fame them,' ' so that they dared not execute the ecclesi- astical laws/