An
unmeasured force was added to statecraft, and a new power had arisen.
The effect was immediate. Men saw the fountain of Spanish trade at
England's mercy; they knew how narrowly the Plate fleet had escaped, and
a panic palsied Philip's finance. The Bank of Seville broke; that of
Venice was in despair; and the King of Spain, pointed at as a bankrupt,
failed to raise a loan of half a million ducats. Parma was appalled.
With his brilliant capture of Antwerp he had seen himself on the brink
of that great exploit with which he hoped to crown his career; and now,
instead of a host armed at all points for the invasion of England, he
saw around him a broken army it was impossible to supply. In Germany the
Protestant princes raised their heads, and, seeing dawn at last, began
to shake off the lethargy into which despair had plunged them. England
was wild with joy. Burghley himself was almost startled from his
caution, and cried out with half a shudder that Drake was a fearful man
to the King of Spain.
For two years Philip had been at work upon his Armada. His ports were
crowded with its details; his storehouses were bursting with its
furniture; and Walsingham at last was able to convince the Queen, by a
paper stolen from the very closet of the Pope, that it was upon her head
the great engine was to crash.
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