Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/371

 1583,} EXPULSION OF MENDOZA. 355 of France was gone. The spirit of the people, thus scandalously abandoned after their splendid struggle, was broken. The Prince of Parma, who alone, of all the parties interested, saw his way clearly, and had his work definitely cut out, pushed forward slowly but irresistibly. The towns which Alencon would have sold he recovered easily by force. On the sea-board he took Dunkirk, Gravelines, and Nieuporte, places which were- of vital moment to him when England's turn came to be attacked. On the other side, Ipres, Zutfen, and afterwards Bruges surrendered. Almost everything which had been gained by the great revolt of 1576, was again lost, and once more a languid despondency palsied the policy of England. The eifects of the raid of Ruthven had been undone by the rejection of Col. Stewart's overtures. Scotland had again fallen under anti-English influences, and was reopened to the designs of the Duke of Guise. On all sides the cause of free- dom, which so many times had been all but won, seemed finally collapsing ; and some general compromise something equivalent to a universal submission, by which the revolted Provinces would be restored to their master, and the Queen of Scots released and recognized in Parliament as heir-presumptive in England, appeared now inevitably approaching. Under these circumstances, Elizabeth reverted to the purpose which she had begun to execute in 1576. In the expected crash, she wished to be able to say that she had been no friend to the revolted Provinces. If she assisted in their overthrow