Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/480

 460 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. |_ CH - 6l - and prayed her name might not be so abused since she commanded him not to come, and the States entertained him.' l Sidney refused to carry such a monstrous mes- sage, or to go to the Netherlands at all on such condi- tions. ' I had rather/ said his uncle Leicester, describ- ing the scene to Walsingham, ' I had rather he perished in the sea than be the instrument of such discourage- ment. Both you and I, and almost all men, know the cause of Casimir's coming.' 2 Sussex, an Anglican of the semi-Catholic type, con- servative, Spanish, and hating revolutionists even Sussex joined in the universal disapproval. He sup- posed, perhaps with justice, that Elizabeth was enter- taining some crooked notion that by letting things take their course, and by giving no offence to the great powers, she might save herself for her own time, what- ever ultimately came of it. ' It resteth in God/ he wrote, ' to dispose her Majesty's heart as shall please him. Surely whoever shall think by device to put over matters for a time for the benefit of her person, al- though perhaps the same may be hurtful to England, and thereby divide the good of her from the good of the realm, shall in the end both deceive her and the realm. It is good to put over time when it bringeth good effects ; but to put over time when that only over- throweth all things is the most dangerous matter that may be.' 3 The States had by this time lost patience. Casimir's 1 Leicester to "Walsing-ham, August i, 1578 : MSS. Holland. 2 Ibid. 3 Sussex to Walsingham, August 6 : MSS. Ibid.