was won and to restore his mother to the throne. But
whether Mary were restored or no it seemed certain that in any attack on
Elizabeth Spain would find helpers from among the Scots.

[Sidenote: The League.]

Nor was the opportunity favourable in Scotland alone. In the Netherlands
and in France all seemed to go well for Philip's schemes. From the
moment of his arrival in the Low Countries the Prince of Parma had been
steadily winning back what Alva had lost. The Union of Ghent had been
broken. The ten Catholic provinces were being slowly brought anew under
Spanish rule. Town after town was regained. From Brabant Parma had
penetrated into Flanders; Ypres, Bruges, and Ghent had fallen into his
hands. Philip dealt a more fatal blow at his rebellious subjects in the
murder of the man who was the centre of their resistance. For years past
William of Orange had been a mark for assassin after assassin in
Philip's pay, and in 1584 the deadly persistence of the Spanish king was
rewarded by his fall. Reft indeed as they were of their leader, the
Netherlanders still held their ground. The union of Utrecht stood
intact; and Philip's work of reconquest might be checked at any moment
by the intervention of England or of France. But at this moment all
chance of French intervention passed away. Henry the Third was
childless, and the death of his one remaining brother, Francis of Anjou,
in 1584 left the young chief of the house of Bourbon, King Henry of
Navarre, heir to the crown of France. Henry was the leader of the
Huguenot party, and in January 1585 the French Catholics bound
themselves in a holy league to prevent such a triumph of heresy in the
realm as the reign of a Protestant would bring about by securing the
succession of Henry's uncle, the cardinal of Bourbon. The Leaguers
looked to Philip for support; they owned his cause for their own; and
pledged themselves not only to root out Protestantism in France, but to
help the Spanish king in rooting it out throughout the Netherlands. The
League at once overshadowed the Crown; and Henry the Third could only
meet the blow by affecting to put himself at its head, and by revoking
the edicts of toleration in favour of the Huguenots. But the Catholics
disbelieved in his sincerity; they looked only to Philip; and as long as
Philip could supply the Leaguers with men and money, he felt secure on
the side of France.

[Sidenote: Elizabeth attacks Philip.]

The vanishing of all hope of Fr