was to exclude Henry of Navarre from the throne and extirpate heresy in France. Such a movement was disastrous to the Netherlands, but when the whole plot came to be revealed, it was seen to be of dangerous import to England also. Philip was a party to the League. At length France and Spain had joined hands to crush the common enemy. With heresy abolished in France and in the Netherlands, England's turn would follow next. Such was the end of all Elizabeth's fine-spun diplomacy. With fair, open dealing, such as the French court had asked for, a little money and a few troops would have sufficed to gain the co-operation of France and curb the power of Spain. Now pounds were required where shillings would have sufficed before; thousands of men were needed where hundreds would have been at first sufficient.

Elizabeth had promised the Netherlanders that if France refused their offers they should find a friend in her. They now claimed the fulfilment of her promise. Antwerp, the commercial capital of the world, was besieged by Parma, and was in great extremity. For its relief troops were required, and these were demanded as an immediate necessity. Beyond this stood the great question of permanent arrangements for the future. As to this matter, the States-General desired that Elizabeth should accept the limited sovereignty which had been declined by the King of France. This she persistently refused. She had other schemes much better fitted to her nature than any such open, avowed protection.*

*It is an interesting fact that in the next century, during the Commonwealth, circumstances were somewhat reversed, and the English government wished to effect a union with the Netherlands which would weld the two countries into one. It was then the turn of the Netherlanders to decline.

1

PHILIP CONFISCATES ENGLISH SHIPS, 1585

47

As the intentions of the League were day by day unfolded, it appeared to every one that for her own safety Elizabeth would be compelled, for once, to keep a promise, and she seemed inclined to do so. She would lend money and troops, she said, for the relief of Antwerp, and for general purposes, but only on the most ample security. That security was to be given by the surrender to her of several important towns, which controlled the sea-coast of the Netherlands. This demand was followed by long and weary negotiations. The rebellious provinces needed assistance sadly, but they naturally dreaded to hand over the keys of their country to a woman whose treachery was proverbial. How wellfounded were their fears subsequent events revealed. Meantime, Philip had determined to anticipate hostilities by striking a blow at England on his own account. The English merchants had built up a considerable commerce with Spain. A partial famine in the peninsula had caused a great demand for foreign wheat, and the ports of Spain were filled with grain vessels, many of them English, sailing under a Spanish promise of full protection. On the 29th of May, 1585, Philip gave orders for the confiscation of every English vessel in his ports, and the imprisonment of their officers and crews. The orders were followed almost to the letter. A very few vessels escaped, through the skill and courage of their captains; but hundreds, probably thousands, of merchants and sailors were plundered of their goods and ships, and consigned to the galleys or the dungeons of Seville. The Spanish monarch doubtless regarded this as a brilliant achievement-one that would strike terror to the hearts of these islanders, intent on gain. He

*

* Froude, xii. 146.

knew little of the English nature. The queen upon the throne might deal in what she called diplomacy, but her people believed in open courses. This breach of faith on the part of Spain aroused the nation to renewed indignation. Hostilities were now at their very doors, and people and ministers of State alike cried out for war.

In July, when the war fever was at its height, there arrived in London a formidable deputation from the States-General to hasten the lagging negotiations. At the head of the twelve members stood John of OldenBarneveld, only thirty-eight years of age, but already distinguished as a lawyer and a statesman, well fitted to take, in some departments, the place made vacant by the death of the beloved Prince of Orange. He believed in perfect religious toleration, and in this direction fully carried out the teachings of his departed leader. The English people welcomed these deputies with great enthusiasm. The ministry seemed united in their favor. In anticipation of their arrival, notice had been given of a meeting of Parliament to decide on peace or war, and no question existed as to the character of its decision. But, upon the arrival of the deputies in London, the queen, taking advantage of the temporary absence of Cecil, now Lord Burghley, countermanded the notice for the meeting of Parliament, and carried on her negotiations without its interference.*

If Elizabeth had at all resembled the woman painted by her panegyrists, if she had been actuated by any real love of her people or any desire for the public good, or even if her intellectual faculties had been of a high order, her conduct at this juncture, and for many months afterwards, would be inexplicable. Every consideration

* Froude, xii. 151; Burghley to Herle, July 28th, 1585.

DEMAND FOR WAR-ELIZABETH'S POSITION

49

of public policy demanded an earnest war with Spain. Scotland was safe in the hands of the Kirk, Ireland was harmless, the League had work enough on hand with Henry of Navarre, the Catholic party at home had shown its weakness. A private warfare had been waged for years, and now the nation demanded that the warfare should be open and avowed. The only danger to England lay in the future, when Spain, having crushed out the Netherland revolt, and France, having suppressed the Huguenots, should unite forces against their common foe. Why, then, did not Elizabeth openly and loyally espouse the cause of the Netherlands by an aggressive war?

Some writers have attempted to explain her conduct by calling her vacillating and given to duplicity, as if labelling her characteristics revealed her motives. But although she was devious in her courses, because she was a cunning woman with an active and not a profound intellect, she was not vacillating except in details, nor was she infirm of purpose. Ever since her accession to the throne, she had kept before her mind the possibility of a reconciliation with the papacy as a condition of her personal safety. This had affected all her domestic policy in religious matters. With such a contingency in view, she had labored to keep her prelates subservient, her clergy illiterate, and her people ignorant. Here she showed no vacillation or infirmity of purpose. Fortunately for the nation, the time had never arrived when it was necessary to try her scheme. Still, she probably had it in mind, even after the exhibition of the national Protestant spirit which followed the revelations of the Throgmorton conspiracy, and it affected her later conduct.*

* Froude, xii. 102. It must be remembered that at this time Arch

It must also always be borne in mind that Elizabeth had no sympathy with the Netherlanders in their revolt against Spain. She cared as little for civil liberty as Philip himself, and would have been very glad to see the establishment everywhere of the absolutism which she claimed in England. As for the religious question involved, having no feelings upon the subject herself, she could not understand their existence in others. Hence, as I have already pointed out, she had no conception of the strength lying back of the rebellion in the Netherlands, and always looked forward to its suppression by Spain. On the other hand, for the same reasons she could never appreciate the hatred with which she was regarded by the fanatic Catholics, because she was a professed Protestant. In addition, there was another trait of her character inclining to the side of virtue which led to many of her difficulties. In her disposition there was no element of gall. Life to her was like a game of chess, in which neither party should harbor rancor after the game is ended. She sent her enemies to the block if they stood in her way, but she seems to have felt no animosity against them or their descendants. She plundered Philip by sea and by land. She befriended the pirates who rifled his treasure-ships and looted his colonies, just as she aided the rebels in the Netherlands when it seemed to her advantage. All this she did without any feeling of bitterness; and if the situation had been reversed, she would probably have been ready to make up with her enemies at any time. Being a woman,

bishop Whitgift, supported by the queen alone, and with no provocation whatever on the part of the non-conformists, was most earnest in his efforts at "rooting out" Puritanism, which was the great obstacle to a reconciliation with Rome.