t complaining of the demand, let the negotiation drag, confining
himself to saying that he was looking for friends, not for masters. When
in April, 1596, it was known in London that Calais had been taken by the
Spaniards, Elizabeth sent word to Henry, then at Boulogne, that she would
send him prompt assistance if he promised, when Calais was recovered from
the Spaniards, to place it in the hands of the English. "If I must be
despoiled," answered Henry, "I would rather it should be by my enemies
than by my friends. In the former case it will be a reverse of fortune,
in the latter I might be accused of poltroonery." Elizabeth assured the
French ambassador, Harlay de Sancy, "that it had never been her intention
to keep Calais, but simply to take care that, in any case, this important
place should not remain in the hands of the common enemy whilst the king
was engaged in other enterprises; anyhow," she added, "she had ordered
the Earl of Essex, admiral of the English fleet raised against Spain, to
arm promptly in order to go to the king's assistance." There was anxiety
at that time in England about the immense preparations being made by
Philip for the invasion he proposed to attempt against England, and for
the putting to sea of his fleet, the Grand Armada. In conversation with
the high treasurer, Lord Burleigh, Elizabeth's chief minister, Sancy
found him even colder than his queen; Burleigh laid great stress upon all
that the queen had already done for France, and on the one million five
hundred thousand gold crowns she had lent to the king. "It would be more
becoming," he said, "in the king's envoys to thank the queen for the aid
she had already furnished than to ask for more; by dint of drawing water
the well had gone dry; the queen could offer the king only three thousand
men, on condition that they were raised at his own expense." "If the
king," replied Sancy, "must expect neither alliance nor effectual aid on
your part, he will be much obliged to the queen to let him know what
course she takes, because he, on his side, will take that which will be
most expedient for his affairs." Some of the king's councillors regarded
it as possible that he should make peace with the King of Spain, and did
not refrain from letting as much be understood. Negotiations in London
seemed to be broken off; the French ambassadors had taken leave of
Elizabeth. The news that came from Spain altered the tone of the English
government;