landed property in England? Had he really ever held any other office but
that of master of the horse? "And then," asked one particular busy body,
who made himself very unpleasant on the Amsterdam Exchange, "why has her
Majesty forbidden all noblemen and gentlemen from coming hither, as was
the case at the beginning? Is it because she is hearkening to a peace?
And if it be so, quoth he, we are well handled; for if her Majesty
hath sent a disgraced man to amuse us, while she is secretly working
a peace for herself, when we--on the contrary--had broken off all our
negotiations, upon confidence of her Majesty's goodness; such conduct
will be remembered to the end of the world, and the Hollanders will
never abide the name of England again."

On such a bed of nettles there was small chance of repose for the
governor. Some of the rumours were even more stinging. So
incomprehensible did it seem that the proud sovereign of England should
send over her subjects to starve or beg in the streets of Flushing and
Ostend, that it was darkly intimated that Leicester had embezzled the
funds, which, no doubt, had been remitted for the poor soldiers. This
was the most cruel blow of all. The Earl had been put to enormous
charges. His household at the Hague cost him a thousand pounds a month.
He had been paying and furnishing five hundred and fifty men out of his
own purse. He had also a choice regiment of cavalry, numbering seven
hundred and fifty horse; three hundred and fifty of which number were
over and above those allowed for by the Queen, and were entirely at his
expense. He was most liberal in making presents of money to every
gentleman in his employment. He had deeply mortgaged his estates in
order to provide for these heavy demands upon him, and professed his
willingness "to spend more, if he might have got any more money for his
land that was left;" and in the face of such unquestionable facts--much
to the credit certainly of his generosity--he was accused of swindling