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fol.251r
Later Addition: Belgia: 1590: August:
May yt please your good L. I sent my last unto you the 29 of July, wherein I writ what I thought of the [event] of our busines: To knowe yt more directly by such as syt among the States, there is litell possibility, [For] ther cheifest doers among the Deputies ar men ill affected, & will signify nothing, & those that are otherwise are so narrowly observed, as they must be silent against their willes. Nevertheles I have had some speech within these 2 daies, with a righte honest gentleman & the most devoted to her Majesty of all the assembly, who hath told mee very flatly that in these affaires of her Majesty the Provinces wilbee led by theyr Deputies & that some few of the deputies by whom the rest ar overruled, will never condiscend to her Majestyes demaundes. Hee had many good reasons to parsuad him self unto yt, but these were the chiefest. First hee knew the ambition of the foresayd parties to bee so utterly voyd of any moderation, as having now in theyr handes the direction of this government, they will never suffer yt willingly to be otherwise disposed. Secondly they have given such occasyon of offence to her Majesty as they will alwaies bee afrayd of an after punishment yf she should hould the authority, which is dew unto her by the Treaty. Thirdly they have a speciall intent, which the course of their actions doth plainly discover, to advaunce Co. Maurice to the uttermost, & by meanes of his favour to be advaunced themselves. Which is easy enough to compasse, yf they might alwaies excercise a souvereyn [.]. For these respectes there shalbee nothing left unpractized to exclude her Majesty from all authority, And to cover theyr ambitious desseins with some couler of reason, hee shewed mee furder that they give yt out in all theyr meetinges, & the brute ys now among the people that her Majesty is purposed to send hether an other generall & doth require an absolute & Royall power to bee conferred upon him, which they do slanderously [.] altho they know the contrary as yf her Majesty intended by force or by cunning to possess theyr Townes & to parfourme fol.251vLater Addition: Belgia: 1590: August:
the same by some other which was attemted before by the L of Leicester. Those malitious parsuasyons are already cast about & wilbee sprinkled shortly in every parte of these Provinces. In which respect if her Majesty shalbe pleased to addresse her lettres to the severall Townes to such effect as hath bin signifyed, yt will prove a spetiall meanes to disturb their intentes & to accomplishe otherwise her Highnes desy[r] Moreoever having good opportunity to bee farder instr[ucted] of the inclination of this people, by the foresayd gentleman I questioned with him about the matter of peace, & theyr listening after Fraunce, & of sondry other pointes, which hee aunswered thus unto mee. That for certayn the motion of peace would be alwaies odious to the inhabitantes of these countreys: & that for many good causes, but for nothing so much as because in the contemplacion of theyr owne & the Ennemyes estate they would never yet con[ceave] what sufficient security can be yeilded unto them. His dout in that respect was that which I have signifyed heer of the great discontentmentes of theyr martiall people of the afflicted state of the poorer sort, & of the civill disagreementes. between the Provinces & Townes, & other officers among them: whereof men feare every day to see som daungerous effect. Astouching Fraunce, his opinion is [the] same as I have often declared, that some private par[sons] did affect yt, but not the generality, nor any men now then Brabanters & Fleminges. For which cause hee [willed her] Majesty to look well to zeeland, for that the chiefest [.] place, & those that govern that state are of those two Provinces, & addicted wholy to the French, But whether it were peace, or that conjunction with Fraunce that her Majesty most misliked, for preventing of both, yt behoved her greatly to be well assured of Flushing & the Briel./ in his opinion yt was to be held for a maxime, that so long as those two garrisons were well provided of [strength] & commaunded by her Highnes, there was no feare of these countreys fol.252rLater Addition: Belgia 1590: August:
for entering into /terms either of/ peace or other amity without her Majesties allowance. I demaunded him furder for somuch as he thought that the generall states did neither harken to peace nor to the French not as yt seemed by theyr dealing esteemed greatly of her Majesties assistaunce what cowrse he could imagine they had framed to themselves for the preservation of theyr State. To that hee aunsweryd that as far as he could conjecture by theyr manner of proceding, they were freely determined, to carry them selves in a neutrall sort, entertayning both her Majestyes alliance & also that of Fraunce, but to come to subjection to neither of both. And this was the cause that moved them to vallew so much the friendship of the French King & to endevor to confirm yt with all manner of good offices. In August last they accorded to lend him 30000 [.] of which there was a rest of 5000 unpayd, that ys now to be delivered to Monsieur de Haldaigne a gentleman sent hether from the King. who solliciteth also earnestly for a furder loane of 4000 [.] in powder & 20000 in coine wherof he supposed the states would fournish a third parte or no more at the most then the half of his demaund. There is also a speech of a farr greater somme, that should be borrowed heer of the Marchantes, & repayd at Bruge upon the customes of Salt. But I se no appearance of parsuading the marchantes without better assurance then he hath proposed, Upon this devise of neutrality, & theyr lending of mony we had many discourses, but one thing in spetiall I noted unto him, that altho theyr forwardnes to accommodat Fraunce were worthy commendacion; yet yt might evidently argue theyr small affection to her Majesty, for theyr ability was better then they would seem to make yt, & yet knowing the excessive charges that her Majesty hath sustayned not onely heer for defence of these countreys, but also defrayed of late in the voyage of Portugall, in the fol.252vLater Addition: Belgia: 1590: August:
expedition into Fraunce, in assisting the K. with great summes of mony, & in maintayning abroad a continuall [meanes] to annoy an ennemy, which they & their cause had many an enemy unto her, they will neither tollerat with her for the incompleatnes of her succours, nor have anyconsiderac[on of sparing her Treasure, but alwayes complayn of theyr owne necessity, & stand in contestation upon every right occasyon, yf the uttermost of the [Count] be not strictly reserved. Hee confessed unto me, that they were justly to be taxed, both for this, & for other inconsiderat, & ungratefull partes, but all was par[.] & brought out of [Tune], by the [coold] malice of some fewe, & the generall parsuasyon which almost all of them have, that her Highnes is so full embarqued in defence of these causes, as now she cannot break, nor devide her fortune from theyres without infinite daunger to her owne state, nevertheles yf her Highnes were desyrous to have her charges heer diminshed, there was meanes to parfourme yt to her general avantage, & as farr as he could parceave to more contentment of the States, then they have at this present. For they had gotten of late this peevishe apprehensyon, that altho the english troupes, that are heer in service, are farre incomplete yet hereafter at the finall reconing between her Majesty & the country, there wilbe that remboursment exacted in account, as yf they were complet wherupon to put them out of that [decay] of payeng for [men] then are heere in esse, & to ease therewithall her Majesties purse hee knew no better waie then to Easse at the least a third parte of the English companies, & to take a [precise] order, that theyr remaynder might be kept continually in theyr [fullnes] which he was fully parsuaded would be found by good computation to be neer as many souldiers in nomber as were heer in service at this present, And how soever yt fell out to the liking or disliking of the states, by the [Alegiance] of officers, yt would benefyt her Majesty in a round somme of money, & turne the state of these countryes to very littel prejudice. fol.253rLater Addition: Belgia: 1590: August:
I have delivered your L. astouching these affaires that concern her Hignes the opinion of a principall parson of the States assembly, as sufficient as any for his judgement & wisdome, & the most affectionat of them all to do her Majesties service, which he cannot demonstrate so often not so effectually as he would willingly, because he hath not alwaies the place of a Deputy, & also otherwise because they have him in suspition. Before our last dispatch to your L. Master Wilkes & I were resolved, to make a Jorney to Arnhem for the avauncement of our buisnes with the Councell of State: but hearing by report, that they were shortly to retourne, we thought yt better to attend theyr coming, with the states we have nothing farder to negotiate till we heare theyr aunswer from the Provinces, which yet we looke not for this moneth. Count Maurice ys newly elected Governor of Gelderland, but hath not /yet/ accepted yt, requiring time to deliberate. He is now at Bommel, & would attempt the recovery of the house of Hemart having altered his purpose concerning Zutphen. But some of the generall States are gon from hence to Bommel, to parsuade him to go forward with his first resolution. He hath left 400 men in the sconce before Nieumeghen, which yet in a manner is commaunded by the Towne, And for that & other causes is esteemed litell better then a frivolous expense of mony & time. For yf yt be taken by the ennemy which is posible enough espetially in a frost, all the Countrey in those quarters wilbee greatly dammifyed by yt: Among the Provinces that ar in discord the greatest breaches ar growen betwixt Holland & Frizeland, which are more exasperated lately for that Co. Maurice doth detract to send any forces to Count William, wherby they let slip a most notable opportunity, for taking in the Towne of Groeninghen. Which maketh many frises to suspect, & for my self in particular I have douted yt long that Count Maurice fol.253vLater Addition: Belgia: 1590: August:
is not willing to advaunce his Cosen so much, he himself aspiring to the Goverment of all. And whether Ortell in England, after such time as her Majesty had assented to take that course, whereto the Councell of state & Co. William did earnestly then entreat her, were not guilfull set a work by Barnevelt (for the Generall states were never privy to the matter) to induce her Majesty to undertake the enterprise, as for her self I cannot certainly affirme but I [misdout] yt very much & by the sequele of these doings yt will plainly appeare to the end onely to entangle the action, & to stay Co. William forwarding in yt any farther. According to that which was lately concluded in the circle of Collen, there have bin certayne Embassadors at Brussels, with Commission from the Princes of the Empire to require the Duke of Parma to withdraw his garrisons from out of those cityes & sconces, that are situat on the Rhine, having had their aunswear from the Duke they are now come hether to the states to deale with them to the same effect, The Dukes aunswer unto them because they came but to daie I cannot suddenly understand but I will make enquiry, & signify both that & the states resolution. And so for this present I take my humble leave. Hage. August 6. 90.