Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/156

 140 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 64. Advise me instantly when you hear that the pirate has arrived.' l England was as much surprised and almost as much disturbed as Spain. The London merchants trading to Cadiz expected that their ships and goods would be ar- rested in reprisal, and went in alarm to the council. The council told them that Drake was a private adven- turer, and that the King of Spain could not hold them responsible because a single English subject had com- mitted piracy. They were but half satisfied, and the rate of insurance rose heavily. 2 No such incisive mea- sures however were to be feared from Philip. Slow and decorous always, he was especially unwilling to act hastily with Portugal on his hands. He wrote again, saying that he had sent ships to watch Magellan's Straits, and that there was a chance that Drake's career might be ended before he could reach England. If this should be the case, nothing further need be said. Other- wise, and if he came back in safety, Mendoza was in- structed to lay a formal complaint before Elizabeth, of whose complicity the King affected to have no suspicion, to dwell upon the enormity of the proceeding, and firmly, but gently, 3 to require the restoration of the stolen pro- perty and the punishment of the offender. ' He under- stood,' the King continued, ' that English adventurers gave securities for good behaviour before sailing on their 1 Cayas to Mendoza, August, 1579 Mendoza to Cayas, September 13, 1579: MSS. Simancas. 3 ' Haga con la Reyna muy en- carescidos officios.' Puntos para respouder a Don B. de Mendoza, December, 1579: MSS. Simancas.