The History of England, Volume IV Elizabeth Affairs of the Low Countries
by David Hume
These bloody designs now appeared every where, as the result of that bigotted spirit by which the two religions, especially the catholic, were at this time actuated. Somerville, a gentleman of the county of Warwic, somewhat disordered in his understanding, had heard so much of the merit attending the assassination of heretics and persecutors, that he came to London with a view of murdering the queen; but having betrayed his design by some extravagances, he was thrown into prison, and there perished by a voluntary death.t About the same time, Baltazar Gerard, a Burgundian, undertook, and executed the same design against the prince of Orange; and that great man perished at Delft, by the hands of a desperate assassin, who, with a resolution worthy of a better cause, sacrificed his own life, in order to destroy the famous restorer and protector of religious liberty. The Flemings, who regarded that prince as their father, were filled with great sorrow, as well when they considered the miserable end of so brave a patriot, as their own forlorn condition, from the loss of so powerful and prudent a leader, and from the rapid progress of the Spanish arms. The prince of Parma had made every year great advances upon them, had reduced several of the provinces to obedience, and had laid close siege to Antwerp, the richest and most populous city of the Netherlands, whose subjection, it was foreseen, would give a mortal blow to the already declining affairs of the revolted provinces. The only hopes, which remained to them, arose from the prospect of foreign succour. [1585.] Being well acquainted with the cautious and frugal maxims of Elizabeth, they expected better success in France; and in the view of engaging Henry to embrace their defence, they tendered him the sovereignty of their provinces. But the present condition of that monarchy obliged the king to reject so advantageous an offer. The duke of Anjou’s death, which, he thought, would have tended to restore public tranquillity, by delivering him from the intrigues of that prince, plunged him into the deepest distress; and the king of Navarre, a professed hugonot, being next heir to the crown, the duke of Guise took thence occasion to revive the catholic league, and to urge Henry, by the most violent expedients, to seek the exclusion of that brave and virtuous prince. Henry himself, though a zealous catholic, yet, because he declined complying with their precipitate measures, became an object of aversion to the league; and as his zeal, in practising all the superstitious observances of the Romish church, was accompanied with a very licentious conduct in private life, the catholic faction, in contradiction to universal experience, embraced thence the pretext of representing his devotion as mere deceit and hyprocrisy. Finding his authority to decline, he was obliged to declare war against the hugonots, and to put arms into the hands of the league, whom, both on account of their dangerous pretensions at home, and their close alliance with Philip, he secretly regarded as his more dangerous enemies. Constrained by the same policy, he dreaded the danger of associating himself with the revolted protestants in the Low Countries, and was obliged to renounce that inviting opportunity of revenging himself for all the hostile intrigues and enterprizes of Philip.
The States, reduced to this extremity, sent over a solemn embassy to London, and made anew an offer to the queen, of acknowledging her for their sovereign, on condition of obtaining her protection and assistance. Elizabeth’s wisest counsellors were divided in opinion with regard to the conduct, which she should hold in this critical and important emergence. Some advised her to reject the offer of the States, and represented the imminent dangers, as well as injustice, attending the acceptance of it. They said, that the suppression of rebellious subjects was the common cause of all sovereigns, and any encouragement, given to the revolt of the Flemings, might prove the example of a like pernicious licence to the English: That though princes were bound by the laws of the Supreme Being not to oppress their subjects, the people never were entitled to forget all duty to their sovereign, or transfer, from every fancy or disgust, or even from the justest ground of complaint, their obedience to any other master: That the queen, in the succours hitherto afforded the Flemings, had considered them as labouring under oppression, not as entitled to freedom; and had intended only to admonish Philip not to persevere in his tyranny, without any view of ravishing from him these provinces, which he enjoyed by hereditary right from his ancestors: That her situation in Ireland, and even in England, would afford that powerful monarch sufficient opportunity of retaliating upon her; and she must thenceforth expect, that, instead of secretly fomenting faction, he would openly employ his whole force in the protection and defence of the catholics: That the pope would undoubtedly unite his spiritual arms to the temporal ones of Spain: And that the queen would soon repent her making so precarious an acquisition in foreign countries, by exposing her own dominions to the most imminent danger.u
Other counsellors of Elizabeth maintained a contrary opinion. They asserted, that the queen had not, even from the beginning of her reign, but certainly had not at present, the choice, whether she would embrace friendship or hostility with Philip: That by the whole tenor of that prince’s conduct it appeared, that his sole aims were, the extending of his empire, and the entire subjection of the protestants, under the specious pretence of maintaining the catholic faith: That the provocations, which she had already given him, joined to his general scheme of policy, would for ever render him her implacable enemy; and as soon as he had subdued his revolted subjects, he would undoubtedly fall, with the whole force of his united empire, on her defenceless state: That the only question was, whether she would maintain a war abroad, and supported by allies, or wait till the subjection of all the confederates of England should give her enemies leisure to begin their hostilities in the bowels of the kingdom: That the revolted provinces, though in a declining condition, possessed still considerable force; and by the assistance of England, by the advantages of their situation, and by their inveterate antipathy to Philip, might still be enabled, to maintain the contest against the Spanish monarchy: That their maritime power, united to the queen’s, would give her entire security on the side from which alone she could be assaulted, and would even enable her to make inroads on Philip’s dominions, both in Europe and the Indies: That a war, which was necessary, could never be unjust; and self-defence was concerned, as well in preventing certain dangers at a distance, as in repelling any immediate invasion: And that, since hostility with Spain was the unavoidable consequence of the present interests and situations of the two monarchies, it were better to compensate that danger and loss by the acquisition of such important provinces to the English empire.w
Amidst these opposite councils, the queen, apprehensive of the consequences attending each extreme, was inclined to steer a middle course; and though such conduct is seldom prudent, she was not, in this resolution, guided by any prejudice or mistaken affection. She was determined not to permit, without opposition, the total subjection of the revolted provinces, whose interests she deemed so closely connected with her own: But foreseeing that the acceptance of their sovereignty would oblige her to employ her whole force in their defence, would give umbrage to her neighbours, and would expose her to the reproach of ambition and usurpation, imputations which hitherto she had carefully avoided, she immediately rejected this offer. She concluded a league with the States on the following conditions: That she should send over an army to their assistance, of five thousand foot and a thousand horse, and pay them during the war; that the general, and two others, whom she should appoint, should be admitted into the council of the States; that neither party should make peace without the consent of the other; that her expences should be refunded after the conclusion of the war; and that the towns of Flushing and the Brille, with the castle of Rammekins, should, in the mean time, be consigned into her hands, by way of security.
The queen knew that this measure would immediately engage her in open hostilities with Philip; yet was not she terrified with the view of the present greatness of that monarch. The continent of Spain was at that time rich and populous; and the late addition of Portugal, besides securing internal tranquillity, had annexed an opulent kingdom to Philip’s dominions, had made him master of many settlements in the East-Indies and of the whole commerce of those regions, and had much encreased his naval power, in which he was before chiefly deficient. All the princes of Italy, even the pope and the court of Rome, were reduced to a kind of subjection under him, and seemed to possess their sovereignty on terms somewhat precarious. The Austrian branch in Germany, with their dependant principalities, was closely connected with him, and was ready to supply him with troops for every enterprize. All the treasures of the West-Indies were in his possession; and the present scarcity of the precious metals in every country of Europe, rendered the influence of his riches the more forcible and extensive. The Netherlands seemed on the point of relapsing into servitude; and small hopes were entertained of their withstanding those numerous and veteran armies, which, under the command of the most experienced generals, he employed against them. Even France, which was wont to counterbalance the Austrian greatness, had lost all her force from intestine commotions; and as the catholics, the ruling party, were closely connected with him, he rather expected thence an augmentation, than a diminution, of his power. Upon the whole, such prepossessions were every where entertained concerning the force of the Spanish monarchy, that the king of Sweden, when he heard that Elizabeth had openly embraced the defence of the revolted Flemings, scrupled not to say, that she had now taken the diadem from her head, and had adventured it upon the doubtful chance of war.x Yet was this princess rather cautious than enterprising in her natural temper: She ever needed more to be impelled by the vigour, than restrained by the prudence of her ministers: But when she saw an evident necessity, she braved danger with magnanimous courage; and trusting to her own consummate wisdom, and to the affections, however divided, of her people, she prepared herself to resist, and even to assault, the whole force of the catholic monarch.
The Earl of Leicester was sent over to Holland, at the head of the English auxiliary forces. He carried with him a splendid retinue; being accompanied by the young earl of Essex, his son-in-law, the lords Audley and North, Sir William Russel, Sir Thomas Shirley, Sir Arthur Basset, Sir Walter Waller, Sir Gervase Clifton, and a select troop of five hundred gentlemen. He was received, on his arrival at Flushing, by his nephew Sir Philip Sidney, the governor; and every town, through which he passed, expressed their joy by acclamations and triumphal arches, as if his presence and the queen’s protection had brought them the most certain deliverance. The States, desirous of engaging Elizabeth still farther in their defence, and knowing the interest which Leicester possessed with her, conferred on him the title of governor and captain-general of the United Provinces, appointed a guard to attend him, and treated him, in some respects, as their sovereign. But this step had a contrary effect to what they expected. The queen was displeased with the artifice of the States, and the ambition of Leicester. She severely reprimanded both; and it was with some difficulty, that, after many humble submissions, they were able to appease her.
