Series 3 > Mary Queen of Scots and the Babington plot

clxxvi MARY STUART AND THE BABINGTON PLOT
capable of bearing arms in the whole of England, which
was estimated at 30,200 in all.
We are naturally curious to know whether this was
Ballard’s old report, or one brought over by Gilbert Gifford.
Mendoza, though indefinite, seems to mean the former.
He says it was drawn up by ‘ un ’ clerigo, whom he had
sent to England. This corresponds with Ballard and his
mission; and, moreover, Mendoza uses ‘ el clerigo ’ as
Ballard’s sobriquet in this very letter. It is true that he
here speaks of ‘ un ’ (not ‘ el ’) clerigo, but small inex¬
actitudes were common in those days, and in Mendoza’s
letters not at all unfrequent. In any case, the paper was
not made primarily for the Spaniards, who are never
mentioned in it—but for Queen Mary’s party. Loyalty
to her has inspired the writer, who probably was Ballard.1
Whether Gilbert had anything to say in the construction
of the paper is a matter of conjecture ; and even if it was
altogether Ballard’s, its authority would be next to nothing.
Regarded exclusively as a work of art, Gilbert’s dexterity
and diplomacy at this interview surely deserves our un¬
qualified admiration ; and it is almost a disappointment
to add that the astute plan fell absolutely flat. The
letters were not intercepted, they never reached England
at all. In the turmoil and excitement which resulted from
the arrest of the conspirators, all ways of communication
were cut; Morgan recovered the letters from the French
post, and Gilbert’s magnificent stroke fell harmless, except
that in later times Mendoza’s letter has come to light, and
exposed him to the severe strictures, which he richly
deserves.2
1 See above, pp. xcv, xcvi.
2 Indeed, even at that time, something transpired. Mendoza had
employed Grately to cipher his letters, and Grately told Gilbert later that
the Spanish message was, ‘ Ammazzate la Bastarda excommunicata
heretica.’ Gilbert sent this on in his cipher of about January 1587, too