But the very fact that the Jesuits were instructed not to meddle in politics and yet were unable to keep clear of the law, proves how inextricably politics and religion were intertwined.

Immediately drawing the suspicion of Burghley, they were put to the "bloody question" and illegally tortured, even while the government felt called upon to explain that they were not forced to the rack to answer "any question of their supposed conscience" but only as to their political opinions.

But one of these opinions was whether the pope had the right to depose the queen.
[Sidenote: Character of Jesuits] The history of these years is one more example of how much more accursed it is to persecute than to be persecuted.

The Jesuits sent to England were men of the noblest character, daring and enduring all with fortitude, showing charity and loving-kindness even to their enemies.
But the character of their enemies correspondingly deteriorated.

That sense of fair play that is the finest English quality disappeared under the stress of fanaticism.