The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1577 part 1 | Page 6

by Don John in
leaving his post.
Perez "had ventured into the water" upon the subject, he said, by
praising the Governor warmly to his Majesty. The King had responded
by a hearty eulogium, adding that the greatest comfort in having such a
brother was, that he might be where his Majesty could not be.
Therefore, it was out of the question for Don John to leave the
provinces. The greatest tact was necessary, urged Perez, in dealing with
the King. If he should once "suspect that we have a private purpose, we
are lost, and no Demosthenes or Cicero would be able to influence him
afterwards." Perez begged that his ardent attachment to Don John might
be represented in the strongest colors to that high personage, who was
to be assured that every effort would be made to place him at the head
of affairs in Spain, according to the suggestion of Escovedo. "It would
never do, however," he continued, "to let our man see that we desire it,
for then we should never succeed. The only way to conquer him is to
make him believe that things are going on as he wishes, not as his
Highness may desire, and that we have none of us any will but the
King's." Upon this passage the "terrible man" made a brief annotation:"
this paragraph does admirably," he said, adding, with characteristic
tautology, "and what you say in it is also excellent."
Therefore," continued the minister, "God forbid, Master Escovedo, that
you should come hither now; for we should all be lost. In the English
matter, I assure you that his Majesty was extremely anxious that the
plan should succeed, either through the Pope, or otherwise. That puts
me in mind," added Perez, "to say, body of God! Senor Escovedo! how

the devil came you to send that courier to Rome about the English plot
without giving me warning?" He then proceeded to state that the papal
nuncio in Spain had been much troubled in mind upon the subject, and
had sent for him. "I went," said Perez, "and after he, had closed the
door, and looked through the keyhole to see that there were no listeners,
he informed me that he had received intelligence from the Pope as to
the demands made by Don John upon his Holiness for bulls, briefs, and
money to assist him in his English scheme, and that eighty thousand
ducats had already been sent to him in consequence." Perez added that
the nuncio was very anxious to know how the affair should best be
communicated to the King, without prejudice to his Highness. He had
given him the requisite advice, he continued, and had himself
subsequently told the King that, no doubt, letters had been written by
Don John to his Majesty, communicating these negotiations at Rome,
but that probably the despatches had been forgotten. Thus, giving
himself the appearance of having smoothed the matter with the King,
Perez concluded with a practical suggestion of much importance--the
necessity, namely, of procuring the assassination of the Prince of
Orange as soon as possible. "Let it never be absent from your mind,"
said he, "that a good occasion must be found for finishing Orange,
since, besides the service which will thus be rendered to our master,
and to the states, it will be worth something to ourselves.
No apology is necessary for laying a somewhat extensive analysis of
this secret correspondence before the reader. If there be any value in the
examples of history, certainly few chronicles can furnish a more
instructive moral. Here are a despotic king and his confidential minister
laying their heads together in one cabinet; the viceroy of the most
important provinces of the realm, with his secretary, deeply conferring
in another, not as to the manner of advancing the great interests, moral
or material, of the people over whom God has permitted them to rule,
but as to the best means of arranging conspiracies against the throne
and life of a neighboring sovereign, with the connivance and subsidies
of the Pope. In this scheme, and in this only, the high conspirators are
agreed. In every other respect, mutual suspicion and profound deceit
characterize the scene. The Governor is filled with inexpressible
loathing for the whole nation of "drunkards and wineskins" who are at
the very moment strewing flowers in his path, and deafening his ears

with shouts of welcome; the king, while expressing unbounded
confidence in the viceroy, is doing his utmost, through the agency of
the subtlest intriguer in the world, to inveigle him into confessions of
treasonable schemes, and the minister is filling reams of paper with
protestations of affection for the governor and secretary, with sneers at
the character of the King, and with instructions as to the best method