n expressed the belief of the age when he wrote that "money is the
principal part of the greatness of Spain; for by that they maintain
their veteran army. But in this part, of all others, is most to be
considered the ticklish and brittle state of the greatness of Spain.
Their greatness consisteth in their treasure, their treasure in the
Indies, and their Indies (if it be well weighed) are indeed but an
accession to such as are masters of the sea."

It was not for France to contest the maritime supremacy of Spain in the
sixteenth century. The wars of Francis I and Charles V bred a swarm of
corsairs who harassed Spanish trade and penetrated even to the West
Indies; but before 1559 the resources of the French Government were
mainly devoted to resisting the Hapsburgs in Europe, and after 1563 the
country was distracted by civil war. The Mediterranean proved, indeed,
an attractive field for French commercial expansion. The common enmity
of French and Turk toward the Hapsburg found expression in the
commercial treaty of 1536 between Solyman and Francis I, and in the
following half-century the "political and commercial influence of France
became predominant in the Moslem states." But in Western waters the
activity of France was slight. Without the naval strength to resist
Spain, she could not afford to offend Portugal, who was her effective
ally. Francis I interdicted expeditions to Brazil because the Portuguese
King protested, and Coligny's Huguenot colony in Florida was destroyed
by the Spaniard Menendez in 1565. Breton fishermen plied their trade off
the Grand Banks; but in this century the only French expedition having
permanent results for colonization was undertaken in 1534 and 1535 by
Jacques Cartier, who sailed up the St. Lawrence as far as Montreal, and
in the name of Francis I took possession of the country which was to be
known as New France.

The Dutch did yeoman service against the navy of Philip during the war
of independence, but the task of breaking the maritime power of Spain
fell mainly to England in the age of Elizabeth. Cabot's notable voyage
was without immediate result. Neither the frugal Henry VII, who gave
"L10 to him that found the new isle," nor his extravagant son, who was
engaged in separating England from Rome and in enriching the treasury
with the spoils of the monasteries, coveted the colonies of Spain or
greatly feared her power in Europe. But Elizabeth, seated on the throne
by precarious tenur