We have borne so far with
their injuries, attributing them rather to temper and bad manners than
to deliberate purpose. But, seeing that no redress can be had, and that
the same treatment of us continues, I must consult my Sovereign's
pleasure. For the last time, I require your Majesty to punish this
outrage at Plymouth and preserve the peace between the two realms.'
No remonstrance could seem more just till the other side was heard. The
other side was that the Pope and the Catholic Powers were undertaking to
force the Protestants of France and Flanders back under the Papacy with
fire and sword. It was no secret that England's turn was to follow as
soon as Philip's hands were free. Meanwhile he had been intriguing with
the Queen of Scots; he had been encouraging Ireland in rebellion; he had
been persecuting English merchants and seamen, starving them to death in
the Inquisition dungeons, or burning them at the stake. The Smithfield
infamies were fresh in Protestant memories, and who could tell how soon
the horrid work would begin again at home, if the Catholic Powers could
have their way?
If the King of Spain and his Holiness at Rome would have allowed other
nations to think and make laws for themselves, pirates and privateers
would have disappeared off the ocean.
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