re Sluys, and the States doing
their best to counteract the schemes both of their enemy and of their
ally. De Loo made a visit, in July, to the camp of the Duke of Parma, and
received the warmest assurances of his pacific dispositions. "I am much
pained," said Alexander, "with this procrastination. I am so full of
sincerity myself, that it seems to me a very strange matter, this hostile
descent by Drake upon the coasts of Spain. The result of such courses
will be, that the King will end by being exasperated, and I shall be
touched in my honour--so great is the hopes I have held out of being able
to secure a peace. I have ever been and I still am most anxious for
concord, from the affection I bear to her sacred Majesty. I have been
obliged, much against my will, to take the field again. I could wish now
that our negotiations might terminate before the arrival of my fresh
troops, namely, 9000 Spaniards and 9000 Italians, which, with Walloons,
Germans, and Lorrainers, will give me an effective total of 30,000
soldiers. Of this I give you my word as a gentleman. Go, then, Andrew de
Loo," continued the Duke, "write to her sacred Majesty, that I desire to
make peace; and to serve her faithfully; and that I shall not change my
mind, even in case of any great success, for I like to proceed rather by
the ways of love than of rigour and effusion of bleed."

"I can assure you, oh, most serene Duke," replied Andrew, "that the most
serene Queen is in the very same dispositions with yourself."

"Excellent well then," said the Duke, "we shall come to an agreement at
once, and the sooner the deputies on both sides are appointed the
better."

A feeble proposition was then made, on the part of the peace-loving
Andrew, that the hostile operations against Sluy's should be at once
terminated. But this did not seem so clear to the most serene Duke. He
had gone to great expense in that business; and he had not built bridges,
erected forts, and dug mines, only to abandon them for a few fine words,
Fine words were plenty, but they raised no sieges. Meantime these pacific
and gentle murmurings from Farnese's camp had lulled the Queen into
forgetfulness of Roger Williams and Arnold Groenevelt and their men,
fighting day and night in trench and mine during that critical midsummer.
The wily tongue of the Duke had been more effective than his batteries in
obtaining the much-coveted city. The Queen obstinately held back her men
and money, confident