[1035] The cardinal of Lorraine went so far as to offer, in a certain contingency, to put several strong frontier places into Alva's hands. In case the French king and his brothers should die without heirs the king of Spain might urge his own claim through his wife, as nearest of blood, to the crown of France. "The Salic law," adds the duke, "is but a jest. All difficulties will be easily smoothed away with the help of an army." Philip, in a marginal note to this letter, intimates his relish for the proposal. See Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 593.
[1036] The municipality of Brussels, alarmed at the interpretation which the duke, after Margaret's departure, might put on certain equivocal passages in their recent history, obtained a letter from the regent, in which she warmly commends the good people of the capital as zealous Catholics, loyal to their king, and, on all occasions, prompt to show themselves the friends of public order. See the correspondence, ap. Gachard, Analectes Belgiques, p. 343 et seq.
[1037] Documentos Inéditos, tom. IV. p. 481 et seq.
[1038] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 583.
[1039] The king's acknowledgments to his sister are condensed into the sentence with which he concludes his letter, or, more properly, his billet. This is dated October 13, 1568, and is published by Gachard, in the Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II., Appendix No. 119.
[1040] "Elle reçut," says De Thou with some humor, "enfin d'Espagne une lettre pleine d'amitié et de tendresse, telle qu'on a coûtume d'écrire à une personne qu'on remercie après l'avoir dépouillée de sa dignité." Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 439.
[1041] A copy of the original is to be found in the Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II., Appendix No. 118.
[1042] The letter has been inserted by Gachard in the Analectes Belgiques, pp. 295-300.
[1043] "Suplicar muy humilmente, y con toda afeccion, que V. M. use de clemencia y misericordia con ellos, conforme á la esperanza que tantas vezes les ha dado, y que tenga en memoria que cuanto mas grandes son los reyes, y se acercan mas á Dios, tanto mas deben ser imitadores de esta grande divina bondad, poder, y clemencia." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 603.
[1044] Ibid., loc. cit.