Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/454

 434 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [en. 6l. she and her council appeared estranged from the Spanish alliance, and that Spain had no friends in Eng- land except the Catholics. But the haughty mood of the public reception was a State dress assumed for the occasion, and the expressions about the Treaty of Ghent contained a meaning other than they seemed to bear. The Treaty of Ghent had secured immediate liberty of conscience, but the ultimate settlement of that question had been referred by it to the judgment of the King, and it was with this reservation, in her mind though not on her lips, that she insisted on the acceptance of it by Don John. She held to the letter of her threat. She sent a minister to the governor to demand, as she had said to Mendoza", a suspension of arms. ' She would not allow these countries to be reduced to servitude by him/ she said, ' nor yet be possessed by the French ; ' if the Treaty was accepted, ' the Estates were willing to yield all obedience and continue in the Catholic faith ; * and it was to the Treaty so interpreted that she required Don John to consent. 1 The London merchants exer- cised their powerful influence in favour of peace. At Mendoza's instigation a hint was sent from the city to the great banking houses of the Fuggers at Cologne, that they must not rely too much on the Queen's promises to endorse the bonds of the States. 2 The States in consequence could raise money only at a dis- count of 25 per cent., while the Queen insisted that the 1 Instructions to Mr Wilks sent to Don John, April, 1578: MSS. Flanders. 2 Mendoza a su Mag d, 5 de Mayo, 1578 : MSS. Simancas.