Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/298

 284 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 54. counted among- its friends men of noble intelligence like Sir Thomas More. It was disgraced by the cruelties which had attended its restoration under Mary, and its strength lay now among the meaner elements of secret conspiracy and disaffection. On the other hand, as the doctrinal tendencies of the Reformation had developed themselves, the division line of the two creeds had become more strongly marked. The instinctive dislike of English gentlemen for revolutionary changes, the uncertainty of the succession, the sense of insecurity from the political isolation of the country, had created a vague but general discontent among the masses of the population. The old-fashioned piety was superseded by a less respectable but more dangerous fanaticism; a fanaticism which no longer showed itself in open and organized political opposition, but was not afraid of treason, rebellion, or murder, which fraternized with foreign invaders, and was ready to sacrifice the interests of England to the interests of the Church. On the Continent too the Council of Trent had closed the prospect of ecclesiastical reconciliation. The Catholics, wherever they could have their way, showed a desperate and uncompromising determination to destroy the Reformers with fire and sword ; and although France and Spain were still political anta- gonists and neutralized each other's influence by their mutual jealousies, it must have seemed but too likely, to the anxious minds of English statesmen, that the Pope would find means at last to put an end to differences which so far had been their only protection.