The  same  night  when  the  Queen  waa  with  Alencon  she  tried  to
dissuade  hira  from  the  Flemish  war,  saying  that  the  matter  was  a
grave  and  troublesome  one  for  him,  besides  being  dangerous  for
two  reasons :  first,  that  if  the  marriage  was  not  effected  he  would
get  no  help  from  his  brother,  as  he  might  see  by  his  fresh
declaration,  whilst  his  own  forces  would  be  insufficient  for  the
purpose,  especially  if  the  aid  of  the  rebel  States  themselves  failed
him.  She  said  they  were  as  tired  of  Orange  as  he  was  of  them,
and  it  was  very  unlikely,  therefore,  that  they  would  promote  hia
interests,  or  look  to  France  for  their  liberty.  The  second  reason
was  that,  if  she  were  to  marry  him,  her  people  and  Ministers  would
not  consent  to  contribute  any  sum  of  money  to  the  waging  of  a
war  against  so  powerful  a  sovereign  as  your  Majesty,  and  all  this
tended  to  dispose  her  to  find  some  peaceful  solution  of  the  situation,
rather  than  to  furnish  means  for  carrying  on  the  war.  She  said
that  consideration  of  these  two  points  would  prove  to  him  how
little  he  had  to  gain  in  the  enterprise,  whether  she  married  him  or


268  SPANISH  STATE  PAPERS,

1582,

not.  Alen90n  waa  excessively  perturbed,  and  replied,  amongst
other  arguments,  that  it  was  more  important  for  her  and  her
country  than  for  anyone  else  that  your  Majesty  should  be  kept
busy.  He  instantly  went  and  saw  Leicester,  to  whom,  doubtless,
he  gave  an  account  of  what  had  passed,  as  he  had  also  been  told
that  Sussex  was  advising  the  Queen  to  desist  from  disturbing  your
Majesty,  and  to  avoid  taking  upon  herself  the  heavy  responsibility
of  contributing  to  the  war.
