Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/147

 '569-1 THE RISING OF THE NORTH. '33 Happily before the enterprise could be executed the Queen of Scots was beyond their reach. When the news that the Earls had risen came first to London, Elizabeth failed to comprehend the meaning of the danger. She could not believe that an insurrection on such a scale could have started suddenly out of the ground. She distrusted Sussex's judgment and half distrusted his loyalty. She insisted that he could have put down the disturbance at the first moment had he cared to do so, and she resented and seemed chiefly concerned about the expense to which she would be ex- posed. ' The Earls/ she said, ' were old in blood but poor in force ; ' and, evidently unconscious that a lost battle might be the loss of the realm, she declared that she would send down no pardons, and Sussex must restore order with the means already at his dis- posal. 1 She wished to deceive herself, and she had those at her ear who were too ready to assist her. Leonard Wharton and Richard Lowther are and will be always with you.' Low- ther to the Earl of Westmoreland : MSS. Border. 1 Elizabeth did not realize that the Yorkshire levies could not be depended on. ' Good Mr Secretary,' Sussex wrote in answer to Cecil, 'give advice that the sparing of a little money in the beginning be not repented hereafter, and therefore send some good force that ye may surely trust to in these parts. To be short with you, he is a rare bird that by one means or other hath not some of his with the two Earls or in his heart wisheth not well to the cause they pretend. Seeing what groweth in all the realm by this matter, I wish heartily the Queen's Majesty should quench the fire at the beginning, either by pardon or force ; and if by force, then not to trust these parts, lest by one foil taken much may be hazarded.' Sussex to Cecil, November 20 : MSS. Border.