ing on
both sides. The Estates wished to give Elizabeth sovereignty, which she
did not want; they did not wish to give her hard cash for her
assistance, which she did want, as well as to have towns pawned to her
as security. Walsingham was anxious for England to give the Estates open
support; the queen, as usual, blew hot and cold.

Walsingham and Leicester, however, carried the day. Leicester was
appointed to be general, and Philip Sidney was sent to be governor of
Flushing, at about the time when Drake was preparing for what is known
as the Carthagena Expedition. The direct intervention of the English
government in the Netherlands, where hitherto there had been no state
action, though many Englishmen were fighting as volunteers, was
tantamount to a declaration of war with Spain. But the haggling over
terms had made it too late to save Antwerp.

Leicester had definite orders to do nothing contradictory to the queen's
explicit refusal of both sovereignty and protectorate. But he was
satisfied that a position of supreme authority was necessary; and he had
hardly reached his destination when he was formally offered, and
accepted, the title of Governor-General (January 1586). The proposal had
the full support of young Maurice of Nassau, second son of William the
Silent, and destined to succeed his father in the character of
Liberator.

Angry as Elizabeth was, she did not withdraw Leicester. In fact, Parma
was privately negotiating with her; negotiations in which Burghley and
Hatton took part, but which did not wholly escape Walsingham. Parma had
no intention of being bound by these negotiations; they were pure
dissimulation on his part; and, possibly, but not probably, on
Elizabeth's. Parma, in fact, was nervous as to possible French action.
But their practical effect was to paralyse Leicester, and their object
to facilitate the invasion of England.

_II.--Leicester and the Armada_

In the spring, Parma was actively prosecuting the war. He attacked
Grave, which was valorously relieved by Martin Schenk and Sir John
Norris; but soon after he took it, to Leicester's surprise and disgust.
The capture of Axed by Maurice of Nassau and Sidney served as some
balance. Presently Leicester laid siege to Zutphen; but the place was
relieved, in spite of the memorable fight of Warnsfeld, where less than
six hundred English attacked and drove off a force of six times their
number, for reinforcements compelled their retreat. Thi