IS7J-] THE DUKE OF NORFOLK. 23 spiracy. Many causes had been at work among them some were Catholic, some semi- Catholic, whose dif- ferences with Rome were merely political ; and deeper with most of them than any religious feeling was the dread of a disputed succession. They had examined, and had not dared to challenge, the proofs which con- nected Mary Stuart with the Kirk o' Field tragedy ; but excuses could not be wanting where there was a wish to find them. The Queen of Scots was young, she had been led away ; others were as guilty as she was ; and, guilt or no guilt, the sacred blood of the Plantagenets was in her veins, and she was next of kin to the Crown. As Elizabeth refused to marry and re- fused to name a successor, they had passed from discon- tent to treason. They had meditated an open rebellion, which all elements of dissatisfaction civil, social, poli- tical, and religious had united to stimulate, and they had invited a foreign Power to assist them in over- throwing the Queen's Government and the liberties of their country at a single blow. A scheme of the same kind had been formed in the past generation by the Marquis of Exeter, the Nevilles, Lady Salisbury, and her traitor sons. Elizabeth's father, supported by the hearty confidence of the people, had called the whole nation under arms, and had struck the heads of the chief conspirators from their shoulders before their pro- jects were matured. The position of the present Go- vernment was far more precarious. The progress of the revolution had fostered a crop of discontents which then were in their germ. The Catholics throughout all
