Thus it is clear that His Majesty, who is far away from these provinces and ill-informed, ordained (or rather it was ordained in his name) and presented to the States conditions which cannot be fulfilled without harming the interests of His Majesty or bringing about the destruction of the whole country, and which are moreover totally contrary to the king's declaration and promise. And yet Don John does not cease proclaiming these conditions everywhere, and using the pretext of religion and of the obedience due to the king – such peaceful and beautiful matters – to sow discord and dissension among the inhabitants of the country and to set them by the ears so that they will ruin each other (as Escovedo explicitly writes to the king of Spain). That is why the States, putting an end to the extravagantly subtle and dangerous religious disputes, are forced to unite more strongly and to ask for the help and assistance of other nations, even to ally themselves with foreign princes.