Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/118



HE fortifications necessary for the defence of Boulogne, the garrison, the fleet, the ordnance stores, the troops at Calais, on the Scottish Border, and in Ireland, were reported as likely to cost, in the six months from December to May, a hundred and four thousand pounds. The second instalment of the last subsidy—which had been collected, but was not yet paid into the treasury—would yield, it was calculated, a hundred thousand; but nearly half that sum was already due for the arrears of the past year. Upwards of forty thousand more would be, therefore, in instant requisition; and the King had coined down the crown plate, and had raised the last penny which he could for the present obtain by sale or mortgage of his estates. Parliament was to have met on the 1st of February; and as the nation was placed on its mettle by the Emperor's desertion, Parliament would no doubt be liberal. But a money bill could not