Parma had more sense than his master. He represented that he
could not cross without a fleet to cover his passage. His transport
barges would only float in smooth water, and whether the water was
smooth or rough they could be sent to the bottom by half a dozen English
cruisers from the Thames. Supposing him to have landed, either in Thanet
or other spot, he reminded Philip that he could not have at most more
than 25,000 men with him. The English militia were in training. The
Jesuits said they were disaffected, but the Jesuits might be making a
mistake. He might have to fight more than one battle. He would have to
leave detachments as he advanced to London, to cover his communications,
and a reverse would be fatal. He would obey if his Majesty persisted,
but he recommended Philip to continue to amuse the English with the
treaty till the Armada was ready, and, in evident consciousness that the
enterprise would be harder than Philip imagined, he even gave it as his
own opinion still (notwithstanding Cadiz), that if Elizabeth would
surrender the cautionary towns in Flanders to Spain, and would grant the
English Catholics a fair degree of liberty, it would be Philip's
interest to make peace at once without stipulating for further terms.
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