Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/102

88 REIGN OF ELIZAJ5ETH. [CH. 52. nobleman of England, might have roused out of its sleep the spirit of feudal chivalry, and Elizabeth would have encountered a rebellion to which the Pilgrimage of Grace would have been child's play. But it was not in him, and it could not come -eut of him. He had indeed committed himself to treason, for he had attempted, in concert with Don Guerau, to send a messenger to the Duke of Alva for assistance. 1 But here too the Queen had been too quick for him the ports were closed. He could but shiver into an ague and crawl to bed till the police came to look for him. In this condition, and unable to resolve whether to submit or to try his fortune by arms, he chose the half course which is always the more dangerous. After a hurried interview with Don Guerau, who grew cold as he saw his feebleness, the Duke sent off to Northumber- land to tell the Earl that, having missed the chance of rescuing the Queen of Scots, he would put her life in peril if he were now to rise. The insurrection there- fore must at all hazards be postponed. Having assumed the responsibility of preventing his friends from mov- ing, he ought then to have taken the consequences upon himself, and to have returned to the Court. But he preferred to take refuge among his own dependents. He believed that the Queen would not venture to send for him among a people who would have given their lives had he required them in his defence. He stole out of 1 ' For la parte de la dicha Reyna de Escocia y Duque queria enviar persona al Duquc de Alva, y con estar los puertos cerrados no ha sido aim possible.' Don Guerau to Philip, Sept. 30.