History of the United Netherlands, 1587d | Page 8

the harvest of so fertile a
country would easily support an invading force; but he advised
nevertheless that the army should be thoroughly victualled at starting.
Finding that Alexander did not quite approve of the Irish part of the
plan, he would reconsider the point, and think more of the Isle of Wight;
but perhaps still some other place might be discovered, a descent upon
which might inspire that enemy with still greater terror and confusion.
It would be difficult for him, he said, to grant the 6000 men asked for
by the Scotch malcontents, without seriously weakening his armada;
but there must be no positive refusal, for a concerted action with the
Scotch lords and their adherents was indispensable. The secret, said the
King, had been profoundly kept, and neither in Spain nor in Rome had
anything been allowed to transpire. Alexander was warned therefore to
do his best to maintain the mystery, for the enemy was trying very hard
to penetrate their actions and their thoughts.
And certainly Alexander did his best. He replied to his master, by
transmitting copies of the letters he had been writing with his own hand
to the Queen, and of the, pacific messages he had sent her through

Champagny. and De Loo. She is just now somewhat confused, said he,
and those of her counsellors who desire peace, are more eager, than
ever for negotiation. She is very much afflicted with the loss of
Deventer, and is quarrelling with the French ambassador about the new
conspiracy for her assassination. The opportunity is a good one, and if
she writes an answer to my letter, said Alexander, we can keep the
negotiation, alive, while, if she does not, 'twill be a proof that she has
contracted leagues with other parties. But, in any event, the Duke
fervently implored Philip not to pause in his preparations for the great
enterprise which he had conceived in his royal breast. So urgent for the
invasion was the peace-loving general.
He alluded also to the supposition that the quarrel between her Majesty
and the French envoy was a mere fetch, and only one of the results of
Bellievre's mission. Whether that diplomatist had been sent to censure,
or in reality to approve, in the name of his master, of the Scottish
Queen's execution, Alexander would leave to be discussed by Don
Bernardino de Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador in Paris; but he was
of opinion that the anger of the Queen with France was a fiction, and
her supposed league with France and Germany against Spain a fact.
Upon this point, as it appears from Secretary Walsingham's
lamentations, the astute Farnese was mistaken.
In truth he was frequently, led into error to the English policy the same
serpentine movement and venomous purpose which characterized his
own; and we have already seen; that Elizabeth was ready, on the
contrary, to quarrel with the States, with France, with all the world, if
she could only secure the good-will of Philip.
The French-matter, indissolubly connected in that monarch's schemes,
with his designs upon England and Holland, was causing Alexander
much anxiety. He foresaw great difficulty in maintaining that,
indispensable civil war in France, and thought that a peace might, some
fine day, be declared between Henry III. and the Huguenots, when least
expected. In consequence, the Duke of Guise was becoming very
importunate for Philip's subsidies. "Mucio comes begging to me," said
Parma, "with the very greatest earnestness, and utters nothing but
lamentations and cries of misery. He asked for 25,000 of the 150,000
ducats promised him. I gave them. Soon afterwards he writes, with just
as much anxiety, for 25,000 more. These I did not give; firstly, because

I had them not," (which would seem a sufficient reason) "and secondly,
because I wished to protract matters as much as possible. He is
constantly reminding me of your Majesty's promise of 300,000 ducats,
in case he comes to a rupture with the King of France, and I always
assure him that your Majesty will keep all promises."
Philip, on his part, through the months of spring, continued to assure
his generalissimo of his steady preparations--by sea and land. He had
ordered Mendoza to pay the Scotch lords the sum demanded by them,
but not till after they had done the deed as agreed upon; and as to the
6000 men, he felt obliged, he said, to defer that matter for the moment;
and to leave the decision upon it to the Duke. Farnese kept his
sovereign minutely informed of the negociations carried on through
Champagny and De Loo, and expressed his constant opinion that the
Queen was influenced by motives as hypocritical as his own. She was
only seeking, he said, to deceive, to defraud, to put him to sleep, by
those feigned