Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/195

I572-] THE MASSACRE OF ST BARTHOLOMEW. 175 out danger of the Inquisition, and Philip, Alva, and Elizabeth became again nominally friends. The pro- visional character of the alliance was understood on both sides, and although other and more embarrassing conditions were verbally introduced, it was not thought desirable to strain a weak chain, and the . execution of them was tacitly suspended. Westmoreland and his companions continued a little longer unmolested at Louvain, and the Flemish mer- chants and artisans remained in London. The pirates still preyed on Spanish commerce, and the London citizens supplied what was wanting in their rulers by subscribing 250,000^. for the Prince of Orange. But the dreaded alliance between Elizabeth and the insur- gent Provinces was postponed, the two Governments re- turned to relations which were amicable in more than name, and Alva and the Queen of England left each other to settle their own difficulties in their own way without interfering with one another, and with a mutual security against France. The Prince of Orange had a terrible time before him; but the discourage- ment produced among the English Catholics by the open apostasy of Spain did more perhaps to advance the general interests of the Reformation than a Pro- testant league, which would have brought on every- where the internecine struggle between the two creeds. The fairer prospects of the previous summer had been ruined on the day of St Bartholomew. One country, at any rate, was to derive profit from the relaxation of Elizabeth's embarrassments. It is