Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/168

 148 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 58. all other Protestant countries, must look to encounter the entire force which the Pope could direct against them ; and that she must at length adopt the open policy which Burghley had urged upon her so long, set her house in order, put an end to Scotch anarchy, ally her- self in earnest with the Netherlands and the German Princes, and prepare for the struggle which was to decide the fortunes of European liberty. The Prince of Orange was lying at Ruremonde wait- ing for the French to advance to relieve Mons. Eliza- beth remembered for the moment^ in the words of Wal- singham, that unless God had raised up the Prince to entertain Spain, she would have had the fire long since at her own door. There was no hope of French assist- ance now. She ordered Sir Thomas Gresham to raise thirty or forty thousand pounds and take it to Hamburgh for the Prince's use ; and she prepared to improve at last in seriousness the footing which she already held on the coast of Holland. Sir II. Gilbert, who was laying siege to Tregouse, wrote that both that town and Mid- dleburg could be reduced with a slight additional effort. The Queen, with the consent of the people, might then be placed in entire possession of Walcheren and the other islands. The Zealand fleet would hoist her flag ; the islands themselves would pay the expense both of that and of the troops which she might send to defend them ; and with the command of the Scheldt, and com- plete mistress of the seas, the Queen might dare the worst which France and Spain could do. 1 Sir Humfrey gilbert was not afraid of responsibility. ' Sir,' he