"What terms will you pledge for the repayment of the monies to be
advanced?" asked Burghley and Walsingham.

"But if her Majesty takes the sovereignty," answered the deputies, "there
will be no question of guarantees. The Queen will possess our whole
land, and there will be no need of any repayment."

"And we have told you over and over again," said the Lord Treasurer,
"that her Majesty will never think of accepting the sovereignty. She
will assist you in money and men, and must be repaid to the last farthing
when the war is over; and, until that period, must have solid pledges in
the shape of a town in each Province."

Then came interrogatories as to the amount of troops and funds to be
raised respectively by the Queen and the States for the common cause.
The Provinces wished her Majesty to pay one-third of the whole expense,
while her Majesty was reluctant to pay one-quarter. The States wished
a permanent force to be kept on foot in the Netherlands of thirteen
thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry for the field, and twenty-
three thousand for garrisons. The councillors thought the last item too
much. Then there were queries as to the expense of maintaining a force
in the Provinces. The envoys reckoned one pound sterling, or ten
florins, a month for the pay of each foot soldier, including officers;
and for the cavalry, three times as much. This seemed reasonable, and
the answers to the inquiries touching the expense of the war-vessels and
sailors were equally satisfactory. Nevertheless it was difficult to
bring the Queen up to the line to which the envoys had been limited by
their instructions. Five thousand foot and one thousand horse serving at
the Queen's expense till the war should be concluded, over and above the