was far too discreet, and much too good a friend to Philip II., to countenance this rebellion.

If he were to take up their quarrel, however, the King of Spain had a thousand means of foiling all his attempts.

As to the religious question--which they affirmed to be the sole cause of the war--he was not inclined to waste words upon that subject; nevertheless, so far as he in his simplicity could understand the true nature of a Christian, he could not believe that it comported with the doctrines of Jesus, whom they called their only mediator, nor with the dictates of conscience, to take up arms against their lawful king, nor to burn, rob, plunder, pierce dykes, overwhelm their fatherland, and reduce all things to misery and chaos, in the name of religion.
Thus moralizing and dogmatizing, the Prince concluded his letter, and so the correspondence terminated.

This last despatch was communicated at once both to the States-General and to the French government, and remained unanswered.

Soon afterwards the Netherlands and England, France and Spain, were engaged in that vast game of delusion which has been described in the preceding chapters.