Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/441

THE RIDOLFI CONSPIRACY. 427 friends. But the little decision which he possessed was unnerved by the badness of his cause. He knew too well the nature of the woman for whom he was turning traitor, and when he was warming to the striking- point the thought of it froze the blood in his veins. 1 ' Too dastardly and soft/ as the disappointed Catholics called him, ' unfit alike for good or ill ; ' he said he did not like ' Italian devices ; ' ' he would attempt nothing till he got answer from the princes beyond the seas.' 2 Thus the occasion passed, and Parliament opened in peace, the Protestant party being strengthened in the Upper House by the presence of the Queen's cousin, lately created Lord Buckhurst, and, far more important, of Cecil, whose long services had been rewarded, on the 25th of February, by the Barony of Burghley. Including these two, there were now sixty-one Peers upon the list, besides Westmoreland and Morley, who were in Flanders, and the Earl of Northumberland, who was at Lochleven. Of the sixty-one, Lord Cum- berland and Lord Bath were under age. Norfolk was not allowed to sit, and to compensate for his absence Hertford was excluded also. Lord Derby was ill and could not come up, and Shrewsbury could not leave his charge. Eight others were absent for various reasons, and seven of the twenty-two bishops. The Upper 1 ' I confess that I, waiting on my Lord and master, did hear his Grace say that upon examination of the matter of the murder, it did ap- pear that the Queen of Scots Avas guilty and privy to the murder of the Lord Darnley, her late husband.' Barker's Confession ; MURDIN, p. 134- 2 Confession of the Bishop of Ross, October, 1571 : Minium Barker's Confession : Ibid.