tion of the world from these enterprises,
recommended them to King Philip. In Spain also they met with a good
reception. We are astonished at the naivete with which the Council of
State proceeded to deliberate on the proposal of a sudden stroke by
which an Italian partisan undertook to seize the Queen and her
councillors at one of her country-houses. The King at last left the
decision to the Duke of Alva. Alva would have been in favour of the
plan itself, but he took into consideration that an unsuccessful
attempt would provoke a general attack from all sides on the
Netherlands, which were only just subdued and still full of ferment.
He thought the King should not declare himself until the conspirators
had succeeded in getting the Queen into their hands, alive or dead. If
Norfolk made his rising contingent on the landing of a Spanish force
in England, Alva on the other hand required that he should already
have got the Queen into his power before his own master made his
participation in the scheme known.[237]

But while letters and messages were being exchanged in this way (for
Ridolfi held it necessary to be in communication with his friends in
England and Scotland), Elizabeth's watchful ministers had already
discovered all. Even before Ridolfi reached Spain, Elizabeth gave the
French ambassador an intimation of the commission with which the Queen
of Scots had entrusted him.[238] The latter had not yet received any
kind of answer from Spain when the Earl of Shrewsbury, in whose
custody she then was at Sheffield, reproached her with the schemes in
which she was implicated, and announced to her a closer restriction of
her liberty as a punishment for them: further Elizabeth would not at
that time as yet proceed against her. In Spain and Italy they were
still expecting the Duke of Norfolk to take up arms, when he was
already a prisoner. Elizabeth struggled long against giving him over
to the arm of the law, but her friends held an execution absolutely
necessary for her personal security. On the scaffold in the Tower
Norfolk said he was the first to die on that spot under Queen
Elizabeth and trusted he would be the last. All people said Amen.

The scheme of this revolt proceeded more from Italy and Rome than from
Spain: King Philip had taken no active part in it, the Duke of Alva
had rather set himself against it: but we need only glance at their
correspondence to perceive how completely nevertheless they were
implicated i