done by he hands of the faithful Mucio, was constantly assuring his royal
brother of France, through envoy Longlee, at Madrid, of his most
affectionate friendship, and utterly repudiating all knowledge of these
troublesome and dangerous plots. Yet they had been especially organized
--as we have seen--by himself and the Balafre, in order that France might
be kept a prey to civil war, and thus rendered incapable of offering any
obstruction to his great enterprise against England. Any complicity of
Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador in Paris, or, of the Duke of Parma, who
were important agents in all these proceedings, with the Duke of Guise,
was strenuously--and circumstantially--denied; and the Balafre, on the
day of the barricades, sent Brissac to Elizabeth's envoy, Sir Edward
Stafford, to assure him as to his personal safety; and as to the deep
affection with which England and its Queen were regarded by himself and
all his friends. Stafford had also been advised to accept a guard for
his house of embassy. His reply was noble.
"I represent the majesty of England," he said, "and can take no safeguard
from a subject of the sovereign to whom I am accredited."
To the threat of being invaded, and to the advice to close his gates, he
answered, "Do you see these two doors? now, then, if I am attacked, I am
determined to defend myself to the last drop of my blood, to serve as an
example to the universe of the law of nations, violated in my person. Do
not imagine that I shall follow your advice. The gates of an ambassador
shall be open to all the world."
Brissac returned with this answer to Guise, who saw that it was hopeless
to attempt making a display in the eyes of Queen Elizabeth, but gave
private orders that the ambassador should not be molested.
Such were the consequences of the day of the barricades--and thus the
path of Philip was cleared of all obstructions on, the part of France.
His Mucio was now, generalissimo. Henry was virtually deposed. Henry of
Navarre, poor and good-humoured as ever, was scarcely so formidable at
that moment as he might one day become. When the news of the day of
barricades was brought at night to that cheerful monarch, he started from
his couch. "Ha," he exclaimed with a laugh, "but they havn't yet caught
the Bearnese!"
And it might be long before the League would catch the Bearnese; but,
meantime, he could render slight assistance to Queen Elizabeth.
In England there had been much fruitless negotiation between the
government of that country and the commissioners from the States-General.
There was perpetual altercation on the subject of Utrecht, Leyden, Sonoy,
and the other causes of contention; the Queen--as usual--being imperious
and choleric, and the envoys, in her opinion, very insolent. But the
principal topic of discussion was the peace-negotiations, which the
States-General, both at home and through their delegation in England, had
been doing their best to prevent; steadily refusing her Majesty's demand
that commissioners, on their part, should be appointed to participate in
the conferences at Ostend. Elizabeth promised that there should be as
strict regard paid to the interests of Holland as to those of England,
in case of a pacification, and that she would never forget her duty to
them, to herself, and to the world, as the protectress of the reformed
religion. The deputies, on the other hand, warned her that peace with
Spain was impossible; that the intention of the Spanish court was to
deceive her, while preparing her destruction and theirs; that it was
hopeless to attempt the concession of any freedom of conscience from
Philip II.; and that any stipulations which might be made upon that, or
any other subject, by the Spanish commissioners, would be tossed to the
wind. In reply to the Queen's loud complaints that the States had been
trifling with her, and undutiful to her, and that they had kept her
waiting seven months long for an answer to her summons to participate in
the negotiations, they replied, that up to the 15th October of the
previous year, although there had been flying rumours of an intention on
the part of her Majesty's government to open those communications with
the enemy, it had, "nevertheless been earnestly and expressly, and with
high words and oaths, denied that there was any truth in those rumours."
Since that time the States had not once only, but many times, in private
letters, in public documents, and in conversations with Lord Leicester
and other eminent personages, deprecated any communications whatever with
Spain, asserting uniformly their conviction that such proceedings would
bring ruin on their country, and imploring her Majesty not to give ear to
any propositions whatever.
And not only were the envoys, regularly appointed by the States-General,
most active in England, in their, attempts to prevent the negotiations,
but delegates from the Netherland churches were also sent to the Queen,
to reason with her on the subject, and to utter solemn warnings that the
cause of the reformed religion would be lost for ever, in case of a
treaty on her part with Spain. When these clerical envoys reached
England the Queen was already beginning to wake from her delusion;
although her commissioners were still--as we have seen--hard at work,
pouring sand through their sieves at Ostend, and although the steady
protestations, of the Duke of Parma, and the industrious circulation of
falsehoods by Spanish emissaries, had even caused her wisest statesmen,
for a time, to participate in that delusion.
For it is not so great an impeachment on the sagacity of the great Queen
of England, as it would now appear to those who judge by the light of
subsequent facts, that she still doubted whether the armaments,
notoriously preparing in Spain and Flanders, were intended against
herself; and that even if such were the case--she still believed in the
possibility of averting the danger by negotiation.
So late as the beginning of May, even the far-seeing and anxious
Walsingham could say, that in England "they were doing nothing but
honouring St. George, of whom the Spanish Armada seemed to be afraid.
We hear," he added, "that they will not be ready to set forward before
the midst of May, but I trust that it will be May come twelve months.
The King of Spain is too old and too sickly to fall to conquer kingdoms.
If he be well counselled, his best course will be to settle his own
kingdoms in his own hands."
And even much later, in the middle of July--when the mask was hardly,
maintained--even then there was no certainty as to the movements of the
Armada; and Walsingham believed, just ten days before the famous fleet
was to appear off Plymouth, that it had dispersed and returned to Spain,
never to re-appear. As to Parma's intentions, they were thought to lie
rather in the direction: of Ostend than of England; and Elizabeth; on the
20th July, was more anxious for that city than for her own kingdom.
"Mr. Ned, I am persuaded," she wrote to Morris, "that if a Spanish fleet
break, the Prince of Parma's enterprise for England will fall to the
ground, and then are you to look to Ostend. Haste your works."
All through the spring and early summer, Stafford, in Paris, was kept in
a state of much perplexity as to the designs of Spain--so contradictory
were the stories circulated--and so bewildering the actions of men known
to be hostile to England. In, the last days of April he intimated it as
a common opinion in Paris, that these naval preparations of Philip were
an elaborate farce; "that the great elephant would bring forth but a
mouse--that the great processions, prayers, and pardons, at Rome, for the
prosperous success of the Armada against England; would be of no effect;
that the King of Spain was laughing in his sleeve at the Pope, that he
could make such a fool of him; and that such an enterprise was a thing
the King never durst think of in deed, but only in show to feed the
world."
Thus, although furnished with minute details as to these, armaments, and
as to the exact designs of Spain against his country, by the ostentatious
statements of the; Spanish ambassador in Paris himself, the English,
envoy was still inclined to believe that these statements were a figment,
expressly intended to deceive. Yet he was aware that Lord Westmoreland,
Lord Paget, Sir Charles Paget, Morgan, and other English refugees, were
constantly meeting with Mendoza, that they were told to get themselves in
readiness, and to go down--as well appointed as might be--to the Duke of
Parma; that they had been "sending for their tailor to make them apparel,
and to put themselves in equipage;" that, in particular, Westmoreland had
been assured of being restored by Philip to his native country in better
condition than before. The Catholic and Spanish party in Paris were
however much dissatisfied with the news from Scotland, and were getting
more and more afraid that King James would object to the Spaniards
getting a foot-hold in his country, and that "the Scots would soon be
playing them a Scottish trick."
Stafford was plunged still more inextricably into doubt by the accounts
from Longlee in Madrid. The diplomatist, who had been completely
convinced by Philip as to his innocence of any participation in the
criminal enterprise of Guise against Henry III., was now almost staggered
by the unscrupulous mendacity of that monarch with regard to any supposed
designs against England. Although the Armada was to be ready by the 15th
May, Longlee was of opinion--notwithstanding many bold announcements of
an attack upon Elizabeth--that the real object of the expedition was
America. There had recently been discovered, it was said, "a new
country, more rich in gold and silver than any yet found, but so full of
stout people that they could not master them." To reduce these stout
people beyond the Atlantic, therefore, and to get possession of new gold
mines, was the real object at which Philip was driving, and Longlee and
Stafford were both very doubtful whether it were worth the Queen's while
to exhaust her finances in order to protect herself against an imaginary
invasion. Even so late as the middle of July, six to one was offered on
the Paris exchange that the Spanish fleet would never be seen in the
English seas, and those that offered the bets were known to be well-
wishers to the Spanish party.
Thus sharp diplomatists and statesmen like Longlee, Stafford, and
Walsingham, were beginning to lose their fear of the great bugbear by
which England had so long been haunted. It was, therefore no deep stain
on the Queen's sagacity that she, too, was willing to place credence in
the plighted honour of Alexander Farnese, the great prince who prided
himself on his sincerity, and who, next to the King his master, adored
the virgin Queen of England.
The deputies of the Netherland churches had come, with the permission of
Count Maurice and of the States General; but they represented more
strongly than any other envoys could do, the English and the monarchical
party. They were instructed especially to implore the Queen to accept
the sovereignty of their country; to assure her that the restoration of
Philip--who had been a wolf instead of a shepherd to his flock--was an
impossibility, that he had been solemnly and for ever deposed, that
under her sceptre only could the Provinces ever recover their ancient
prosperity; that ancient and modern history alike made it manifest
that a free republic could never maintain itself, but that it must,
of necessity, run its course through sedition, bloodshed, and anarchy,
until liberty was at last crushed by an absolute despotism; that equality
of condition, the basis of democratic institutions, could never be made
firm; and that a fortunate exception, like that of Switzerland, whose
historical and political circumstances were peculiar, could never serve
as a model to the Netherlands, accustomed as those Provinces had ever
been to a monarchical form of government; and that the antagonism of
aristocratic and democratic elements in the States had already produced
discord, and was threatening destruction to the whole country. To avert
such dangers the splendour of royal authority was necessary, according to
the venerable commands of Holy Writ; and therefore the Netherland
churches acknowledged themselves the foster-children of England, and
begged that in political matters also the inhabitants of the Provinces
might be accepted as the subjects of her Majesty. They also implored the
Queen to break off these accursed negotiations with Spain, and to provide
that henceforth in the Netherlands the reformed religion might be freely
exercised, to the exclusion of any other.
Thus it was very evident that these clerical envoys, although they were
sent by permission of the States, did not come as the representatives of
the dominant party. For that 'Beelzebub,' Barneveld, had different
notions from theirs as to the possibility of a republic, and as to the
propriety of tolerating other forms of worship than his own. But it was
for such pernicious doctrines, on religious matters in particular, that
he was called Beelzebub, Pope John, a papist in disguise, and an atheist;
and denounced, as leading young Maurice and the whole country to
destruction.
On the basis of these instructions, the deputies drew up a memorial of
pitiless length, filled with astounding parallels between their own
position and that of the Hebrews, Assyrians, and other distinguished
nations of antiquity. They brought it to Walsingham on the 12th July,
1588, and the much enduring man heard it read from beginning to end.
He expressed his approbation of its sentiments, but said it was too long.
It must be put on one sheet of paper, he said, if her Majesty was
expected to read it.
"Moreover," said the Secretary of State, "although your arguments are
full of piety, and your examples from Holy Writ very apt, I must tell you
the plain truth. Great princes are not always so zealous in religious
matters as they might be. Political transactions move them more deeply,
and they depend too much on worldly things. However there is no longer
much danger, for our envoys will return from Flanders in a few days."
"But," asked a deputy, "if the Spanish fleet does not succeed in its
enterprise, will the peace-negotiations be renewed?"
"By no means," said Walsingham; "the Queen can never do that,
consistently with her honour. They have scattered infamous libels
against her--so scandalous, that you would be astounded should you read
them. Arguments drawn from honour are more valid with princes than any
other."
He alluded to the point in their memorial touching the free exercise of
the reformed religion in the Provinces.
"'Tis well and piously said," he observed; "but princes and great lords
are not always very earnest in such matters. I think that her Majesty's
envoys will not press for the free exercise of the religion so very much;
not more than for two or three years. By that time--should our
negotiations succeed--the foreign troops will have evacuated the
Netherlands on condition that the States-General shall settle the
religious question."
"But," said Daniel de Dieu, one of the deputies, "the majority of the
States is Popish."
"Be it so," replied Sir Francis; "nevertheless they will sooner permit
the exercise of the reformed religion than take up arms and begin the war
anew."
He then alluded to the proposition of the deputies to exclude all
religious worship but that of the reformed church--all false religion--
as they expressed themselves.
"Her Majesty," said he, "is well disposed to permit some exercise of
their religion to the Papists. So far as regards my own feelings, if we
were now in the beginning, of the reformation, and the papacy were still
entire, I should willingly concede such exercise; but now that the Papacy
has been overthrown, I think it would not be safe to give such
permission. When we were disputing, at the time of the pacification of
Ghent, whether the Popish religion should be partially permitted, the
Prince of Orange was of the affirmative opinion; but I, who was then at
Antwerp, entertained the contrary conviction."
"But," said one of the deputies--pleased to find that Walsingham was more
of their way of thinking on religious toleration than the great Prince
of Orange had been, or than Maurice and Barneveld then were--"but her
Majesty will, we hope, follow the advice of her good and faithful
counsellors."
"To tell you the truth," answered Sir Francis, "great princes are not
always inspired with a sincere and upright zeal;"--it was the third
time he had made this observation"--although, so far as regards the
maintenance of the religion in the Netherlands, that is a matter of
necessity. Of that there is no fear, since otherwise all the pious would
depart, and none would remain but Papists, and, what is more, enemies of
England. Therefore the Queen is aware that the religion must be
maintained."
He then advised the deputies to hand in the memorial to her Majesty,
without any long speeches, for which there was then no time or
opportunity; and it was subsequently arranged that they should be
presented to the Queen as she would be mounting her horse at St. James's
to ride to Richmond.
Accordingly on the 15th July, as her Majesty came forth at the gate, with
a throng of nobles and ladies--some about to accompany her and some
bidding her adieu--the deputies fell on their knees before her.
Notwithstanding the advice of Walsingham, Daniel de Dieu was bent upon an
oration.
"Oh illustrious Queen!" he began, "the churches of the United
Netherlands----"
He had got no further, when the Queen, interrupting, exclaimed, "Oh! I
beg you--at another time--I cannot now listen to a speech. Let me see
the memorial."
Daniel de Dieu then humbly presented that document, which her Majesty
graciously received, and then, getting on horseback, rode off to
Richmond.'
The memorial was in the nature of an exhortation to sustain the religion,
and to keep clear of all negotiations with idolaters and unbelievers;
and the memorialists supported themselves by copious references to
Deuteronomy, Proverbs, Isaiah, Timothy, and Psalms, relying mainly on the
case of Jehosaphat, who came to disgrace and disaster through his treaty
with the idolatrous King Ahab. With regard to any composition with
Spain, they observed, in homely language, that a burnt cat fears the
fire; and they assured the Queen that, by following their advice, she
would gain a glorious and immortal name, like those of David, Ezekiel,
Josiah, and others, whose fragrant memory, even as precious incense from
the apothecary's, endureth to the end of the world.
It was not surprising that Elizabeth, getting on horseback on the 15th
July, 1588, with her head full of Tilbury Fort and Medina Sidonia, should
have as little relish for the affairs of Ahab and Jehosophat, as for
those melting speeches of Diomede and of Turnus, to which Dr. Valentine
Dale on his part was at that moment invoking her attention.
On the 20th July, the deputies were informed by Leicester that her
Majesty would grant them an interview, July 20, and that they must
come into his quarter of the palace and await her arrival.
Between six and seven in the evening she came into the throne-room, and
the deputies again fell on their knees before her.
She then seated herself--the deputies remaining on their knees on her
right side and the Earl of Leicester standing at her left--and proceeded
to make many remarks touching her earnestness in the pending negotiations
to provide for their religious freedom. It seemed that she must have
received a hint from Walsingham on the subject.
"I shall provide," she said, "for the maintenance of the reformed
worship."
De Dieu--"The enemy will never concede it."
The Queen.--"I think differently."
De Dieu.--"There is no place within his dominions where he has permitted
the exercise of the pure religion. He has never done so."
The Queen.--"He conceded it in the pacification of Ghent."
De Dieu.--"But he did not keep his agreement. Don John had concluded
with the States, but said he was not held to his promise, in case he
should repent; and the King wrote afterwards to our States, and said that
he was no longer bound to his pledge."
The Queen.--"That is quite another thing."
De Dieu.--"He has very often broken his faith."
The Queen.--"He shall no longer be allowed to do so. If he does not keep
his word, that is my affair, not yours. It is my business to find the
remedy. Men would say, see in what a desolation the Queen of England has
brought this poor people. As to the freedom of worship, I should have
proposed three or four years' interval--leaving it afterwards to the
decision of the States."
De Dieu.--"But the majority of the States is Popish."
The Queen.--"I mean the States-General, not the States of any particular
Province."
De Dieu.--"The greater part of the States-General is Popish."
The Queen.--"I mean the three estates--the clergy, the nobles, and the
cities." The Queen--as the deputies observed--here fell into an error.
She thought that prelates of the reformed Church, as in England, had
seats in the States-General. Daniel de Dieu explained that they had no
such position.
The Queen.--"Then how were you sent hither?"
De Dieu.--"We came with the consent of Count Maurice of Nassau."
The Queen.--"And of the States?"
De Dieu.--"We came with their knowledge."
The Queen.--"Are you sent only from Holland and Zeeland? Is there no
envoy from Utrecht and the other Provinces?"
Helmichius.--"We two," pointing to his colleague Sossingius, "are from
Utrecht."
The Queen.--"What? Is this young man also a minister?" She meant
Helmichius, who had a very little beard, and looked young.
Sossingius.--"He is not so young as he looks."
The Queen.--"Youths are sometimes as able as old men."
De Dieu.--"I have heard our brother preach in France more than fourteen
years ago."
The Queen.--"He must have begun young. How old were you when you first
became a preacher?"
Helmichius.--"Twenty-three or twenty-four years of age."
The Queen.--"It was with us, at first, considered a scandal that a man so
young as that should be admitted to the pulpit. Our antagonists
reproached us with it in a book called 'Scandale de l'Angleterre,' saying
that we had none but school-boys for ministers. I understand that you
pray for me as warmly as if I were your sovereign princess. I think I
have done as much for the religion as if I were your Queen."
Helmichius.--"We are far from thinking otherwise. We acknowledge
willingly your Majesty's benefits to our churches."
The Queen.--"It would else be ingratitude on your part."
Helmichius.--"But the King of Spain will never keep any promise about the
religion."
The Queen.--"He will never come so far: he does nothing but make a noise
on all sides. Item, I don't think he has much confidence in himself."
De Dieu.--"Your Majesty has many enemies. The Lord hath hitherto
supported you, and we pray that he may continue to uphold your Majesty."
The Queen.--"I have indeed many enemies; but I make no great account of
them. Is there anything else you seek?"
De Dieu.--"There is a special point: it concerns our, or rather your
Majesty's, city of Flushing. We hope that Russelius--(so he called Sir
William Russell)--may be continued in its government, although he wishes
his discharge."
"Aha!" said the Queen, laughing and rising from her seat, "I shall not
answer you; I shall call some one else to answer you."
She then summoned Russell's sister, Lady Warwick.
"If you could speak French," said the Queen to that gentlewoman,
"I should bid you reply to these gentlemen, who beg that your brother
may remain in Flushing, so very agreeable has he made himself to them."
The Queen was pleased to hear this good opinion of Sir William, and this
request that he might continue to be governor of Flushing, because he had
uniformly supported the Leicester party, and was at that moment in high
quarrel with Count Maurice and the leading members of the States.
As the deputies took their leave, they requested an answer to their
memorial, which was graciously promised.
Three days afterwards, Walsingham gave them a written answer to their
memorial--conceived in the same sense as had been the expressions of her
Majesty and her counsellors. Support to the Netherlands and stipulations
for the free exercise of their religion were promised; but it was
impossible for these deputies of the churches to obtain a guarantee from
England that the Popish religion should be excluded from the Provinces,
in case of a successful issue to the Queen's negotiation with Spain.
And thus during all those eventful days-the last weeks of July and the
first weeks of August--the clerical deputation remained in England,
indulging in voluminous protocols and lengthened conversations with the
Queen and the principal members of her government. It is astonishing, in
that breathless interval of history, that so much time could be found for
quill-driving and oratory.