Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/176

 &EIGN OF E LIZ ABE TIL . 53. their names are in the list which we attach l is called Lincolnshire. The position of it by land and sea is convenient, as your Majesty will perceive, for any en- terprise which you may think proper to direct against the present Queen. Should your Majesty be unwilling to undertake anything in the present Queen's lifetime, yet in the event of her death, or of any other favourable contingency, we can point out to your Majesty by what means success may be assured, even before you put your hand to the work. We pray God it may please your Majesty to use the services of all and each of us according to your good will and power, to obtain an end so excellent in itself, so important to the service of God and the common weal of Christendom.' 2 ]?rom this document it is evident that distrust of Mary, distrust of Norfolk, and the position of the little James, were paralyzing the energies of the Catholics. Unless Spain was openly at their head they would not move, and the collapse of the insurrection requires no further explanation. It did not imply that the Catholics generally were loyal to Elizabeth, but only that at the crisis of their trial they were smitten with confusion. Their faith was no longer a fire at white heat in which the units would fuse together into a compact and har- monious whole, but a cold opinion which left every 1 List not preserved. 2 Address in the names of the Knights and Gentlemen of Lincoln- shire to Philip II. : MSS. Simancas. There is no date upon the MS. It belongs evidently to the year 1569, and was sent prohably just before the insurrection, since in the letter there is a paragraph on the services to be expected from the Earls of "Westmoreland and Northumberland.