distance, as in
repelling any immediate invasion: and that, since hostility with Spain
was the unavoidable consequence of the present interests and situations
of the two monarchies, it were better to compensate that danger and loss
by the acquisition of such important provinces to the English empire.[*]

* Camden, p. 507. Bentivoglio, part ii. lib iv.

Amidst these opposite counsels, the queen, apprehensive of the
consequences attending each extreme, was inclined to steer a middle
course; and though such conduct is seldom prudent, she was not, in
this resolution, guided by any prejudice or mistaken affection. She was
determined not to permit, without opposition, the total subjection of
the revolted provinces, whose interests she deemed so closely connected
with her own: but foreseeing that the acceptance of their sovereignty
would oblige her to employ her whole force in their defence, would
give umbrage to her neighbors, and would expose her to the reproach of
ambition and usurpation,--imputations which hitherto she had carefully
avoided,--she immediately rejected this offer. She concluded a league
with the states on the following conditions: that she should send over
an army to their assistance, of five thousand foot and a thousand horse,
and pay them during the war; that the general, and two others whom she
should appoint, should be admitted into the council of the states; that
neither party should make peace without the consent of the other; that
her expenses should be refunded after the conclusion of the war; and
that the towns of Flushing and the Brille, with the Castle of Rammekins,
should, in the mean time, be consigned into her hands by way of
security.

The queen knew that this measure would immediately engage her in open
hostilities with Philip; yet was not she terrified with the view of the
present greatness of that monarch. The continent of Spain was at that
time rich and populous; and the late addition of Portugal, besides
securing internal tranquillity, had annexed an opulent kingdom to
Philip's dominions, had made him master of many settlements in the
East Indies, and of the whole commerce of those regions, and had much
increased his naval power, in which he was before chiefly deficient. All
the princes of Italy, even the pope and the court of Rome, were
reduced to a kind of subjection under him, and seemed to possess
their sovereignty on terms somewhat precarious. The Austrian branch in
Germany,