5 Dec.
Paris Archives,
K. 1564. 237. |
519. Document headed : "Advices from England."
Reports from London say that Leicester has arrived there,
accompanied by Drake and deputies from Holland and Zeeland,
who were going to petition the Queen to take them entirely as her
subjects. They had given Leicester 7,000 groat-pounds in money
as a present and a golden cup, and had also settled upon him an
income of 10,000 groat-pounds a year, secured on the best and
most easily realisable property in Holland and Zeeland. |
7 Dec.
Paris Archives,
K. 1564. 239. |
520. Bernardino De Mendoza to the King.
Since my last despatch about England, letters dated 24th ultimo
have been received from there reporting that Parliament had
adjudged the queen of Scotland to be deserving of the death
punishment, in accordance with the declaration which the Privy
Council had already made, in the same form as that made by the
Parliament on the rising of the duke of Norfolk, when the queen
of Scotland was condemned. Twenty-six Earls and Barons, and
forty-six gentlemen who represent the towns and counties in
Parliament, went to give an account of their decision to the Queen
(of England), and the Lord Chancellor, as their spokesman, made
a long harangue, to the effect that not only was the queen of
Scotland worthy of death, but that for the sake of her own
personal safety and the tranquillity of her realm, it was necessary
for the Queen to have the sentence carried into effect. The Queen
replied, thanking them warmly for the solicitude they showed for
her safety, and in acknowledgment of the same she prayed God
to give her grace to govern them well, and adopt the resolution
which might be most advantageous to the quietude of her realm.
The matter which they had laid before her she said was one of
much importance, because, in the first place, she would have to lay
hands on a woman, a near relative of her own, and an anointed
sovereign, who was, connected by ties of kinship with the
greatest monarchs in christendom, and she (the queen of England)
was of opinion that it would be well, before deciding, to listen to
what was said by the ambassadors sent by the Christian King and
the king of Scotland ; and with this she dismissed them. I understand
that she has given orders that directly Belièvre arrives in
England, the rumour is to be spread that the queen of Scotland
has been killed, in order to discover how he takes it. Belièvre,
however, has been forwarned of it, and has his instructions as to
what he should say when the news is told him. It is a plan of
Cecil's, arising out of the desire (as I wrote to your Majesty) to
sell to the French, on the best terms they can, what they do not
dream of carrying out. The English and French will have no
difficulty in agreeing on the point, because the King (of France)
and his mother are very well pleased that the queen of Scotland
should be alive and a prisoner, in order to prevent the succession of
your Majesty to the English throne, whilst the English see clearly
that the many advantages accruing to them from keeping the
queen of Scotland prisoner would change into as many dangers if
they made away with her. There is news that Belièvre has
embarked at Calais, and that the ambassador from the king of
Scotland had arrived in London, with orders to make every possible
effort to preserve the life of his King's mother, in conjunction with
the French ambassador, by whose advice he is to be ruled. These
letters from London say nothing of armaments or fitting out of
ships, but report the bringing to London as prisoners of most of
the principal people of the county of York, such as Constable,
Methan (?), Stapleton, Baboser (?), and Chatorne (?), accused of
complicity in the late conspiracy against the Queen, they having
offered to raise troops in favour of the queen of Scotland.—Paris,
7th December 1586. |
7 Dec.
Paris Archives,
K. 1564. 240. |
521. Bernardino De Mendoza to the King.
[Extract.]
The duke of Parma has sent a gentleman hither, named Hugo
Oen, to speak to the Dutch captain who offers to surrender Brille
and perform the two other services I have mentioned. His orders
are to ask the captain to get the herring fishery brought to
Dunkirk, in return for hostages, and he shall be paid the sum of
money he requests. As for Brille, as the English and rebels are
superior in numbers, and he, the Duke, cannot send help, he doubts
the possibility of holding it, and is disposed to decline the captain's
offer. Mendoza at great length argues to the King that the Duke
is mistaken. He (Mendoza) is the only old officer of the duke of
Alba left, and he pits his special knowledge of the country against
that of the duke of Parma, insisting that the possession of Brille
is of more importance even than that of Flushing. He urges with
much vehemence that the Dutch captain's offer should be accepted,
and writes a private letter to Idiaquez to the same effect. He
says he has quite convinced the duke of Parma's envoy that he is
right, and the latter asks Mendoza to supply the captain with
money in order that he may go back to Brille and arrange with
his friends, and then go to the duke of Parma to settle the time for
the execution of the project, when the money shall be paid to him.
He has accordingly given the captain 200 crowns, on the assurance
that the Duke would repay him. The captain is delighted, and
leaves his nephew here as a hostage.—Paris, 7th December 1586. |
