Note 202 — Chapter VII · 1570-1578

Spanish Calendar, vol. ii. Even after Philip knew that the plot had failed and that Norfolk was in the Tower, he did not abandon his hopes—for he was tenacious when once he had laboriously made up his mind. In the instructions given to the Duke of Medina Celi in November, 1571, when he was going to succeed Alba in the Netherlands, the King writes as follows: “As regards England you will proceed in conformity with what was communicated to you here and the Duke of Alba’s information, although I do not think there will be much to do at present, as the Queen has got scent of the business and has arrested the Duke of Norfolk and the principal people concerned. She has also made the Queen of Scotland’s prison straiter, and de Spes writes to me on the 21st October that they are all in great peril, for which I am very sorry, though I still have confidence that God, whose cause it is, will help us to forward the matter as we wish. You will therefore hold yourself ready, in case the Duke of Alba write to you at sea, to take any step with this end: in accordance with Clause iv. of your instructions. I have thought well to repeat it in this letter, which for greater security you will burn before you embark” (the words in italics have been added in the King’s own hand). Medina Celi is told that 200,000 crowns, half in gold, will be handed to him for the English business, and must not on any account be used for any other purpose, “but for this English affair, which I sincerely hope that God will guide in some unexpected way for the good of His cause.”—Spanish Calendar, vol. ii. 349.