Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/362

 342 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 60. evaded, was now actually enforced. The Earl of West- moreland, the Countess of Northumberland, the Nor- tons, and the other waifs and strays from the rebellion of 1569, were informed that they must seek an asylum elsewhere. A seminary of English priests which had been established at Douay, was broken up by Re- quescens, to be received in France by the Duke of Guise, and provided with a new home at Rheims. Weary of ineffectual intrigues which had ended only in increased severities to the Catholics whom they had wished to befriend, the Spanish council had resolved, at least for the present, to turn their backs upon Eng- lish conspirators, and relinquish the hope of recovering England to the Church by revolution. 1 'Amazed/ ' incredulous/ the refugees struggled against their fate. 1 Spanish lay statesmen looked on these clerical incendiaries as coldly as Charles V. had looked on Pole. Secretary Aguilon writing from Paris to Cayas, says : 1 Yo no se porque no cierran alia, las puertas a todos los Ingleses, Esco- ceses y Irlandeses que van con in- venciones. Pues es cosa liana que el dia que su Mag d pensase empren- der contra alguna de aquellas pro- vincias, le romperian abievtamente Franceses la guerra, juntandose con los otros ; porque ni a ellos les esta bien que su Mag d tenga pie en ellas ni su Mag d que ellos, y entretanto no sirven las idas y venidas de los suso- dichos sino hacer mas dano a la pobre Reyna de Escocia y &. los Ga- tholicos. For mala que sea la Reyna de Inglaterra, estando las cosas de Flandes .como estan, conviene tem- porizar con ella, y aun dire mas adelante que despues de estar pacifi- cos aquellos estados les estara siempre bien el amistad y correspondencia de Inglaterra. Pues se ha visto el dano que haberla perdido les ha resultado.' Aguilon a Cayas, 5 de Maio, 1575 : TEULET, vol. v. Whatever may be thought of the chivalry of Elizabeth's conduct to Orange, language of this kind shows that she Avas no dupe to false pre- tences, and that in her unwillingness to precipitate a war she had real ground to go upon. The Spaniards were sincerely anxious to remain at peace with her, if the Pope and the priests would let them alone.