Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 9.djvu/320

 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 54. Francis and Henry would revive ; and in the event of a rupture with France, the Netherlands could not pos- sibly be held unless Elizabeth was at least neutral. Could a revolution be accomplished in England as easily as Don Guerau imagined, then indeed his diffi- culties would have disappeared; but Philip was less sanguine than his ambassador. With the first hint that peace in France was possible, he sent word to Elizabeth through Don Francis de Alava, that if the alliance be- tween the Crowns of England and Spain was broken, it should be through no fault of his. 1 When the Bull of Excommunication was published he had directed Alva generally to do what he could for the Queen of Scots. 2 Elizabeth might die or be murdered, and it was neces- sary to be prepared for contingencies. But, as has been already seen, he expressed the most serious displeasure at the step which the Pope had taken. He still hoped, he said, that his differences with Elizabeth might be composed in any way rather than by force ; and the Duke of Alva, in explaining the cause of the prepara- tions in the Scheldt, regretted that explanation should have been necessary between countries which were naturally friends, and added that ' since the Pope had been stalled he had done nothing that had so much dis- 1 ' Que por mi parte no se rompera la antigua amistad y alianc,a que entre nosotros hay, sino que se la conservaremos con toda buena cor- respondencia y que ella debe hacer lo mismo.' Philip to Alava, May 17: TEULET, vol. v. 2 ' Escribo de nuevo al Duque de Alva que tenga mucha cuenta con la reyna de Escocia y la anirae y la favorezca con palabras y otras en quanto fuese possible.' Philip to Don Guerau, June 30 : MSS. Si-