Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/60

RETGti OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 52. Philip was pouring cold water on the ambition of France, and France was dreading equally the too great success of Alva. The two Governments were still far from the ' accord ' which Cecil feared ; and if the Ham- burgh trade could be carried on safely, and the Catholics at home be controlled, Elizabeth had but to manage France skilfully and she could still afford to despise the intrigues of the Spanish ambassador. Her security and her strength were better understood abroad than at home. While Cecil described himself as almost des- perate, Sir Henry Killigrew wrote from Hamburgh in May, in a tone of enthusiastic exultation. ' I think/ he said, ' the Queen's Majesty is more feared and honoured this day, of all countries, what religion soever they be of, than any of her predecessors before her were : I be- seech God her Highness do hold fast, and I doubt not but to see in her days the ancient honour and fame of England and Englishmen how blemished for a time restored again to the glory of God.' 1 But could the Catholics be controlled heated as they had been to boiling point by the hopes held out to them ? It depended first on the Queen of Scots, and secondly on the maintenance or the overthrow of Cecil. Could Mary Stuart have parted with her visions of ven- geance and revolution, and have accepted honestly the arrangements in her favour which had been concerted between Leicester, Pembroke, Norfolk, Herries, and qu'il face aussi descente ny entre- prinse dans ledict royaulme.' De- ptches, April 20, vol. i. pp. 335, 336. 1 Sir H. Killigrew to Cecil, Hamburgh, May 25, 1569: MSS. Hatfield.