Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/93

 1 563. ] THE ENGLISH AT HA VRE. 73 self was on board a transport ready to sail. The Queen- mother sent M. de Lignerolles on board Clinton's ship to ask him to dine with her. He excused himself under the plea that he could not leave his men ; but he said to de Lignerolles ' that the plague of deadly infection had done for them that which all the force of France could never have done/ l Thus ended this unhappy enterprise in a disaster which, terrible as it seemed, was more desirable for Eng- land than success. Elizabeth's favouring star had pre- vented a conquest from being consummated which would have involved her in interminable war. Had it not been for the plague she might have held Havre ; but she could have held it only at a cost which, before many years were over, would have thrown her an ex- hausted and easy prey at the feet of Philip. The first thought of Warwick, ill as he was, 011 reaching Portsmouth, was for his brave companions. They had returned in miserable plight, and he wrote to the council to beg that they might be cared for. But there was no occasion to remind Elizabeth of such a duty as this : had she been allowed she would have gone at once at the risk of infection to thank them for their gallantry. 2 In a proclamation under her own hand she commended the soldiers who had faced that terrible siege to the care of the country ; she entreated every gentleman, she commanded every official, ecclesiastical or civil, in the realm to see to their 1 Clinton to Cecil, July 31 : Domestic MS8., Elizabeth. 2 Lord Robert Dudley to the Q,ueeu, August 7 : Domestic MSS., vol. xxix.