prosperity, so that, if it was for those objects the Prince had taken up
arms, it was now his duty to lay them down, and to do his utmost to
maintain peace and the Catholic religion. Finally, the envoy was to
intimate that if he chose to write to Don John, he might be sure to
receive a satisfactory answer. In these pacific instructions and
friendly expressions, Don John was sincere. "The name of your Majesty,"
said he, plainly, in giving an account of this mission to the King,
"is as much abhorred and despised in the Netherlands as that of the
Prince of Orange is loved and feared. I am negotiating with him, and
giving him every security, for I see that the establishment of peace,
as well as the maintenance of the Catholic religion, and the obedience
to your Majesty, depend now upon him. Things have reached that pass that
'tis necessary to make a virtue of necessity. If he lend an ear to my
proposals, it will be only upon very advantageous conditions, but to
these it will be necessary to submit, rather than to lose everything."

Don John was in earnest; unfortunately he was not aware that the Prince
was in earnest also. The crusader, who had sunk thirty thousand paynims
at a blow, and who was dreaming of the Queen of Scotland and the throne
of England, had not room in his mind to entertain the image of a patriot.
Royal favors, family prosperity, dignities, offices, orders, advantageous
conditions, these were the baits with which the Governor angled for
William of Orange. He did not comprehend that attachment to a half-
drowned land and to a despised religion, could possibly stand in the way
of those advantageous conditions and that brilliant future. He did not
imagine that the rebel, once assured not only of pardon but of
advancement, could hesitate to refuse the royal hand thus amicably
offered. Don John had not accurately measured his great antagonist.

The results of the successive missions which he despatched to the Prince