It was no less a thing than that.
A few months ago all Europe had been cowering in confused alarm before
the shadow of a new Roman empire. Ever since the first triumph of
Luther, the cause of Reformation had been Steadily losing ground; on
England and the Low Countries hung its only hope, and with the fall of
Antwerp Europe saw itself on the eve of that "last great battle in the
west" which must decide its fate for centuries. In despair of the
result, each trembling power was trying to hide behind the other; each
was thrusting its neighbor forward to break the coming blow; and Philip
led the cheating till his hour should come. He was bent on crushing
Elizabeth; and then, with one foot on the ruins of her kingdom, he meant
to stamp down his rebellious Netherlands into the gloomy Catholicism in
which his own dark soul was sunk. As the fruit of his splendid
deliberation ripened, he strove to cheat Elizabeth into inactivity by a
hope that peace might yet be purchased by the betrayal of the
Netherlands.
Then in laughing gusts came over the Atlantic the rumors of his
exploits, till the full gale they heralded swept over Europe, whirling
into oblivion a hundred intrigues and bending the prestige of Spain like
a reed. The limitless possibilities of the new-born naval warfare had
been demonstrated, and the lesson startled Europe like a revelation.
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