CHAP XXI King, and returned with his comments on the margin. Their resolution shaped itself at last into the following form: 1571 May 'The envoy had come to treat with the King in person. 'The King should decline to hear or speak with him on any public matter. The envoy should be informed 'privately that his complaints and demands were alike 'preposterous. The disputes had notoriously commenced in the seizure of the Spanish treasure; and while the English harbours were dens of pirates from which the King's revolted subjects preyed upon his commerce, 'while the crews were recruited from English subjects, 'and guns and powder supplied to them from English 'arsenals, to make a grievance of the residence of a few persecuted Catholics in the King's dominions was in'tolerably monstrous.' ( This, and this alone, ought, in the opinion of the Council, to be the answer of the Spanish Government, and Philip at first wished to dismiss the envoy from the Court without so much as admitting him to his presence. When he consented at last to grant him an interview, it was to make the permission more insulting than a refusal. He was at the Palace of Aranjuez, thirty miles from Madrid. Cobham went down there, and the King saw him for a few minutes only; the common forms of hospitality were not extended to him; he was left to dine at an inn, and returned to the capital the same evening. The Council thought that for the King's credit some small present might be given to him; there was no precedent for the reception of an ambassador and his departure empty-handed. But Philip, being once launched upon the bold course, was more bitter than his advisers. 'Presents,' wrote the King in a side-note, ‘are given to envoys when they come on a mission of good Juno will, and they are given when they come to declare CHAP XXI war. But this man comes merely to threaten and 1571 terrify us. If we bestow a present on him he will boast of it, we shall dispirit the Catholics, and inflate the heretics with the belief that we are afraid.'1 De Feria in the character of an acquaintance delivered the private message. Cobham tried to argue that Alva had been the aggressor; but De Feria cut him short with saying, that he was sorry to hear an English ambassador condescending to falsehoods. He asked for the answer in writing, but he could not have it, and he was then sent for by the Council. Spinosa, the Cardinal President, made a difficulty in addressing a heretic, and would have transferred the duty to a lay member of the Cabinet. The words, however, it was thought would come with more imposing effect from one who might be supposed to speak in the name of God as well as of man. The Cardinal therefore swallowed his scruples, and thus delivered the reply of Spain to the Queen of England:— 'If that Queen would fulfil the office of a good neighbour and friend, his Majesty had given proofs already that he would not on his part be found wanting towards her. It would please him much if the differences between the two countries could be compounded, and as a step towards it his Majesty trusted that the Queen of England would at once restore the Spanish treasure. The details of the negotiation however were committed to the management of the Duke of Alva, and to him she was referred.' 2 1 'Lo que parece sobre el negocio de Cobham.'-Aranjuez, Mayo 14 é 19. MSS. Simancas. 2 Lo que parece se debe responder á Enrique Cobham de palabra, y СНАР ХХІ 1571 June With this answer and without his present Sir Henry Cobham returned to England, sick at heart with the same fears which haunted Cecil, and little dreaming then how soon he would again be at Madrid with the same message, to find the note of defiance dying away in prostration and humility. The Spanish Ambassador chuckled over the dismay with which the news of his failure was received. 'My 'Lord Burghley's burlesques," he said, 'had gone off so 'well hitherto that he despised danger and thought that 'he had taken a bond of fortune. He with his friends 'had made a jest of our endurance. His conscience stings him now, but his malice is inveterate. He is 'given over to reprobate courses and cannot turn to 'any good. His Majesty is wise and will provide 'against their tricks, though to see through them he requires more eyes than Argus had. I will do my part to make him respected, as the great Prince which 'he is, both by friends and enemies: but we must dis'semble and be as Proteus, and hide our purposes, and they shall pay for their iniquities at last as they 'deserve. The audacity of Burghley in sending Cob'ham with such a message was indeed marvellous; 'but knowing them as I do, I am surprised at nothing. 'We must provide in time. If this French marriage or league, or both together, come about, they can do us 'harm in the Provinces, but as certainly we can make a ' revolution in England; and I have no fear, if we are only prompt enough and do not allow this French busi'ness to consolidate itself. It need seem no work of ours, 'but merely a rebellion in which we may be called in to assist; and before the summer is over we can transfer เ 1 The pun is Don Guerau's. 'Y como á Milord Burghley todas las burlas hasta aqui le han salido bien,' &c.-Don Guerau to Cayas, July 12. MSS. Simancas. 'to their island the mischief which they tried to work CHAP XXI ' in Flanders.'1 Once more we go back to Ridolfi, who, leaving Alva, made his way with all speed to Rome. His commission was duly delivered, and the Pope, the Cardinals, and Don Juan de Cuniga sat in conclave upon it. Pius himself was in ecstasies, eager to begin, and seeing nothing but the bright side of the prospect. Don Juan attempted to moderate his transports by pointing to France; but the Pope would listen to nothing. As Christ's vicar he was in the secrets of Providence, and he answered that God would manage it.' This conviction Don Juan could not interfere with. He contented himself with insisting upon caution and with sending a careful account of Ridolfi's reception to his master: one curious point only he was able to mention, which it seems Ridolfi had told him. There was no hope that the Spanish property detained in England could be recovered by treaty, for not only those who had prompted the seizure of the treasure were unwilling to part with it, but the Catholics and the Queen of Scots intended to support them in their refusal, that they might compel Spain to go to war.2 But Philip now required no additional pressing. After dismissing Cobham he was only eager for Ridolfi's coming. He had learned from England that the Government was alarmed, and he was uneasy at delay as giving Elizabeth time to prepare-time perhaps to marry Anjou, or, still worse, time to make discoveries which might cost Norfolk and the Queen of Scots their heads. The same misgiving crossed his mind at first 1 Don Guerau to Cayas, July 12 and July 19, abridged. MSS. Si mancas. 2 Don Juan de Cuniga to Philip, May 11 and 17.-MSS. Simancas. 3 Philip II. to Don Guerau, June 20. MSS. Simancas. 1571 June CHAP XXI which had occurred to Alva, that Ridolfi might at bottom be an agent of Cecil; but it passed off; Don Guerau's letter satisfied him that on this ground there was nothing to fear. 1571 June At length, the last "He has arrived at last,' week in June, Ridolfi came. wrote Philip, giving an account to Don Guerau of his appearance. เ 'I have received your letter with those also from the Queen of Scots ' and the Duke of Norfolk. Ridolfi has brought me เ also a note from his Holiness. I am most anxious to เ To resolve to do something was by no means the same as to resolve what to do. Alva, it was seen, disapproved Ridolfi's method, briefly indicating another of his own; and in the Council Chamber at Madrid, to which Philip returned from Aranjuez in the beginning of July, there was held a remarkable discussion, the 1 Philip II. to Don Guerau, July 13. |