But the Council and the Pope had
determined that there should be no compromise with heresy, and the
request was refused, though it was backed by Philip's ambassador in
London. The action of the Papacy obliged the Queen to leave the
Administration in the hands of Protestants, on whose loyalty she could
rely. As the struggle with the Reformation spread and deepened she was
compelled to assist indirectly the Protestant party in France and
Scotland. But she still adhered to her own principle; she refused to
put herself at the head of a Protestant League. She took no step without
keeping open a line of retreat on a contrary policy. She had Catholics
in her Privy Council who were pensioners of Spain. She filled her
household with Catholics, and many a time drove Burghley distracted by
listening to them at critical moments. Her constant effort was to disarm
the antagonism of the adherents of the old belief, by admitting them to
her confidence, and showing them that one part of her subjects was as
dear to her as another.
For ten years she went on struggling. For ten years she was proudly able
to say that during all that time no Catholic had suffered for his belief
either in purse or person.
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