the first
event, the Duke, after sending a little assistance to Mucio, was to
effect his passage to England at once. In the second case, those troops,
even though successful, would doubtless be so much disorganized that it
might be still safe for Farnese to go on. In the third contingency--that
of an accord--it would be necessary for him to wait till the foreign
troops had disbanded and left France. He was to maintain all his forces
in perfect readiness, on pretext of the threatening aspect of French
matters and, so soon as the Swiss and Germane were dispersed, he was to
proceed to business without delay. The fleet would be ready in Spain in
all November, but as sea-affairs were so doubtful, particularly in
winter, and as the Armada could not reach the channel till mid-winter;
the Duke was not to wait for its arrival. "Whenever you see a favourable
opportunity," said Philip, "you must take care not to lose it, even if
the fleet has not made its appearance. For you may be sure that it will
soon come to give you assistance, in one way or another."

Farnese had also been strictly enjoined to deal gently with the English,
after the conquest, so that they would have cause to love their new
master. His troops were not to forget discipline after victory. There was
to be no pillage or rapine. The Catholics were to be handsomely rewarded
and all the inhabitants were to be treated with so much indulgence that,
instead of abhorring Parma and his soldiers, they would conceive a strong
affection for them all, as the source of so many benefits. Again the Duke
was warmly commended for the skill with which he had handled the peace
negotiation. It was quite right to appoint commissioners, but it was
never for an instant to be forgotten that the sole object of treating was
to take the English unawares. "And therefore do you guide them to this
end," said the King with pious unction, "which is what you owe to God, in
whose service I have engaged in this enterprise, and to whom I have
dedicated the whole." The King of France, too--that unfortunate Henry
III., against whose throne and life Philip maintained in constant pay an
organized band of conspirators--was affectionately adjured, through the
Spanish envoy in Paris, Mendoza,--to reflect upon the advantages to
France of a Catholic king and kingdom of England, in place of the
heretics now in power.

But Philip, growing more and more sanguine, as those visions of fresh
crowns and conquere