ed with the war which Elizabeth had planned; whether in fact he
should continue her general policy. Henry IV sent without delay one of
his most distinguished statesmen, who was moreover a Protestant,
Maximilian de Bethune, Duke of Sully, as Ambassador Extraordinary; and
Sully did not neglect to explain to the King the plan of an alliance
between the States of Europe under the lead of France, that should be
able to cope with the Austro-Spanish power, a plan which Sully had
entertained all his life. James gave the ambassador, as he wished, a
private audience in a retired chamber of his palace at Greenwich,
asked many questions, and listened with attention, for he loved
far-reaching schemes; but he was far from intending to embark on them.
As he had reached the throne without arms, so he wished to maintain
himself there by peaceful means.[316] It was natural that the Queen,
who had been excommunicated by the Pope, and had carried on a war for
life and death with the Spanish crown, should have intended to renew
the struggle with all her might: such designs suited her personal
position; but his own was different. Deeply penetrated by the idea of
legitimacy, he even hesitated whether he should support the
Netherlanders, who after all, in his judgment, were only rebels. To
the remark that it would be a loss for England herself if the taking
of Ostend, then besieged by the Spaniards, were not prevented, he
replied by asking unconcernedly whether this place had not belonged
in former times to the Spanish crown, and whether the English trade
had not flourished there for all that. In these first moments of his
reign however the difficulties of his government were already brought
into view, together with the opposition between different tendencies
latent in it. If he was unwilling to continue the policy of his
predecessor, yet he could not absolutely renounce it: there were
pledges which he could not break, interests which he could not
neglect. In order to meet his objections the argument employed by
Elizabeth was adduced, that she supported the Provinces only because
the agreements, in virtue of which they had submitted themselves to
the house of Burgundy, had been first broken by the other side.[317]
The King's tone of mind was such that this argument may well have had
an effect upon him. At last he consented to bestow further assistance,
although only indirectly. He conceded that one half of the sum which
Henry IV paid to the Sta