He knew not what to do, or which way to turn.

He had tampered with Imbue and his crew, but he had found that they were not the men for a person of his quality to deal with.

He had brought a large army into the field, and had not a stiver in his coffers.

He felt bitterly the truth of the Landgrave's warning--"that 'twas better to have thirty thousand devils at one's back than thirty thousand German troopers, with no money to give them;" it being possible to pay the devils with the sign of the cross, while the soldiers could be discharged only with money or hard knocks.
Queen Elizabeth, too, under whose patronage he had made this most inglorious campaign, was incessant in her reproofs, and importunate in her demands for reimbursement.

She wrote to him personally, upbraiding him with his high pretensions and his shortcomings.