Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/184

1 64 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 58. desiring a reconciliation, of which Alva's correspond- ence leaves no kind of doubt, continued to determine the policy of Elizabeth and her cabinet. Sir Humfrey Gilbert was recalled in earnest, and the prospect of a liberal reconstruction of Europe having failed on the one hand, and Philip on the other having shown so great a disregard of the Pope as to be willing to renew his re- lations with England, Lord Burghley considered that it would be well if by some other means the great questions of the time could be amicably composed. In a remark- able conversation with de Gruaras he renewed the propos- als made long before by Henry VIII. to Philip's father. 1 He said that if the King of Spain would consent to some truly general council in which all opinions could be fairly represented, and if the practical abuses of the Holy See could be reformed, neither England nor Elizabeth would refuse to return to communion with Christendom. ' His mistress was neither Calvinist nor Huguenot, and she believed as much as Philip in the need of authority in the Church. The general interests of the world required reconciliation and peace, for the sake of which all parties ought to be ready to make sacrifices ; and to make a beginning, the Queen would feel herself happy if the King of Spain would allow her to mediate between the Crown of Spain and the Prince of Orange. 1 England, Lord Burghley said, was willing to restore the treasure which had been the original cause of the quarrel, to put down piracy and privateering, and to . 1 De Guaras to Alva, October 12, and November 4 : MSS.