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Walsingham' Sir Francis
or religious assassination made counterplot a necessity in the interests of the state.
The most famous of the plots frustrated by Walsingham was Anthony Babington’s, which he detected in I5~6. Of the guilt of the main conspirators there is no doubt, but the complicity of Mary Stuart has been hotly disputed. Walsingham had long been convinced, like parliament and the majority of Englishmen, of the necessity of removing Mary; but it was only the discovery of Babington’s plot that enabled him to bring pressure enough to bear upon Elizabeth to ensure Mary’s execution. This circumstance has naturally led to the theory that he concocted, if not the plot, at least the proofs of Mary’s connivance. Undoubtedly he facilitated her s&f-incrimination, but of her active encouragement of the plot there can be little doubt after the publication of her letters to Mendoza, in which she excuses her complicity on the plea that no other means were left to secure her liberation. Considering the part he played in this transaction, Walsingham was fortunate to escape the fate which the queen with calculated indignation inflicted upon Davison.
Waisingham died deeply in debt on April 6, 1590. Since 1579 he had lived mainly at Barn Elms, Barnes, maintaining an adequate establishment; but his salary did not cover his expenses, he was burdened with his son-in-law Sir Philip Sidney’s debts, and he obtained few of those perquisites which Elizabeth lavished on her favourites. He had little of the courtier about him; his sombre temperament and directness of speech irritated the queen, and it says something for both of them tliat he retained her confidence and his office until the end of his life.