WE have seen how the conclusions of the Council of Trent affected France and Scotland. We have now to turn to the Netherlands. These were under the government of Philip II.'s half-sister, Margaret, widow of the Duke of Parma, with a state council, consisting of Baron de Berlaymont, a strong supporter of the Crown; Viglius van Aytta van Zuichem, a Frisian lawyer of the same opinions; Antoine Perrenot, Bishop of Arras, more usually known as Cardinal Granvelle ; William of Nassau, Prince of Orange; and Lamoral, Count Egmont. These two were, like the others, Roman Catholics, but unlike the others, they had a strong and warm feeling for the liberties of their country. The conglomeration of small fiefs which had been collected together under the Dukes of Burgundy, each endowed with different privileges and dissimilar constitutions, with a high-spirited nobility, and with numerous manufacturing and sea-port towns, were an inheritance full of difficulty, even for a native sovereign. A foreigner provided with a strong and alien kingdom, was almost certain to wish to simplify matters by reducing all the varieties of constitution to one dead level of despotism; and when to these elements of difficulty was added difference of religious faith, it was scarcely possible that a collision should be prevented.

Philip's first step towards bringing the Netherlands back to the faith was in itself a right one, and was proposed as early as 1560. There were only four bishoprics in the country-those of Arras, Cambray, Tourney, and Utrecht; and he obtained a bull authorising him to increase the number, so that there were to be three Metropolitan sees, each with six suffragan bishoprics, and each of these was to have a chapter of nine canons. They were to be endowed from the wealth of the

The new

bishoprics.

CAMEO III. Abbeys, which were enormously rich. Unfortunately there came coupled with the scheme, the intimation that these new appointments were to extend the work of the Inquisition, and this filled the Calvinists with alarm, while the measure was equally unpopular among Catholics, who hated change, and saw in the new prelates an army of officials appointed by the Pope and King of Spain, and hated the idea with all the force of Flemish vehemence and Dutch obstinacy. Cardinal Granvelle, Bishop of Arras, was credited with all that was unpopular, and the three chief members of the Flemish nobility, William, Prince of Orange, Lamoral, Count of Egmont, and Philippe de Montmorency, Count of Hoorn, together wrote a letter of remonstrance to the King, saying that as long as the Cardinal continued in the council, there was danger of disturbance and revolt.

William, though still young, was a grave, cool, resolute man, long in deciding, but perfectly firm and trustworthy; Egmont, very handsome, chivalrously loyal, and the most brilliant soldier in the Netherlands, was universally loved; Hoorn, the High Admiral, was a melancholy, unsocial man, but firm and honest. Charles V. had highly valued such vassals, but Philip had no feeling for anything not precisely formed on his narrow Spanish model, and viewed the least remonstrance as an insult and a crime. Moreover, Granvelle hated all these nobles, and even fancied that Hoorn kept an assassin prepared to murder him.

An unlucky act of folly added to the King's feeling against them. At a dinner given by the Baron of Grobbendeck, a great merchant at Antwerp, at which Egmont was present, much derision and contempt were expressed for the sumptuous liveries in which Granvelle's household and retainers were decked; and in joke, a competition arose, who should invent the most simple, yet grotesque uniform to be worn as a satire on the Cardinal's finery. It was Egmont who won, and in a few days all his followers appeared in plain grey cloth dresses with wide sleeves and no ornament but a small badge on one arm, which was something between a monk's cowl and a fool's cap and bells. This fool's cap livery instantly became the rage. Every one, gentle or simple, hastened to put it on to show love for Egmont and hatred for Granvelle, and all the grey cloth in Brabant was actually exhausted!

The Duchess of Parma, a jovial woman, with a man's voice and a moustache, was much amused at first, but when she found how the jest angered the Cardinal, and that he was making serious complaint to the King, she wrote to the Count, and in deference to her he changed the badge from a fool's cap to a bunch of arrows; but the offence was never forgotten nor forgiven.

However, Philip, after delaying his answer a long time, resolved on removing the Cardinal from his authority as prime minister, since the Duchess disliked him as much as the people did. Granvelle went no further than Burgundy, where he waited for some time in hopes of

being restored, but at last, finding that this was not to be, he proceeded CAMEO III. to Rome, and thence to Madrid, where he remained, a congenial counsellor to Philip in Flemish affairs.

The Netherlanders had so far prevailed, and perhaps this encouraged them in further tumults. Persecution of heretics went on, discontent continually broke out in violence. Remonstrances were bandied backwards and forwards, popular tumults arose, outrages happened on either side, while small Spanish garrisons were kept in the fortresses, and this was the state of things when, in 1564, Philip sent orders to his sister to have the decrees of the council proclaimed with the most stringent penalties that could be devised for forcing every heretic into the fold.

Margaret, knowing the temper of the people, was in great consternation on receiving such injunctions. The very persons who abhorred heresy and deemed it worthy only of the flame, and thought it wicked presumption in the laity to meddle with theology, knew very well what it was to try to bend a Dutchman's will, or to expect him quietly to see Italian priests and Spanish soldiers burning his neighbours, above all when it was done dead against the laws of his city or province. So after due consideration in the council, it was decided that the Regent should write a letter to the King, and send it to him by Count Egmont, who should represent to him the state of the country, and the danger that it would be absolutely lost to him if he persisted in enforcing these meaThe council in which this was decided was a very stormy one; the Prince of Orange made a strong speech on his determination not to see the consciences and liberties of his fellow-countrymen trampled upon; and matters looked so threatening that Viglius' distress of mind brought on a stroke of paralysis in the night, and he never recovered the full use of his judgment.

sures.

His place was for the time supplied by a Frisian Doctor of Laws, Joachim Hopper, the founder of the university of Douay. This foundation was for the young. Walloons, to save them from the temptations of Paris, but it became also the chief place of education for the Roman Catholics of England after the necessity of accepting the Thirty-nine Articles debarred them from study at Oxford or Cambridge. He had no compass of mind, but was plodding and trustworthy, and so sure to agree with the Duchess in everything, that his colleagues called him "Councillor Yes Madam."

Egmont set out in the January of 1565. He was escorted as far as Cambray by a whole party of Flemish and Dutch nobles, who held a series of banquets, and swore that if any ill befell him in Spain they would take vengeance on the person of Cardinal Granvelle. Counts Brederode and Calembourg were mere coarse rioters, and one of these feasts was the occasion of much mischief. The Archbishop of Cambray was one of the guests, and though Egmont, a true and chivalrous gentleman, treated him with due deference and respect, it was impossible to keep some of the other nobles from intolerable rudeness

Granvelle's

retirement.

1564.

CAMEO III.
The banquet

at Cambray
1565.

towards him about the new dioceses, and also from giving him challenges to drink, evidently intended to intoxicate him.

The Prelate was worked up to impatience, and when Count Brederode said it was dangerous to let so valuable a person as Count Egmont leave them at this crisis, he sneered and said, "It would not be hard to find another Egmont."

"Are we to bear such language from a priest ?" broke out Brederode in a rage.

"Look at home," cried Calembourg; "it would be easier to find five hundred such as you, than one Egmont."

The Archbishop tried to repair his false move by pledging Brederode in a draught of wine. It was rudely refused.

The tablecloth was removed and the real drinking bout began. One young man snatched the Prelate's biretta from his head and put it on his own, drank his health, and passed both cup and cap on to the next person. The cap went round to the Viscount of Ghent, who had the grace to restore it with a bow to its owner, but on this Brederode gave as a toast, "Confusion to Granvelle," insisting with foul language that all should join in the pledge.

The Archbishop tried to argue; but Brederode advanced with threatening gestures, and Egmont, unable to check him, entreated his guest to retire. The Prelate, however, only replied by reproaches, which added fuel to the fire, and Count Hoogstraten caught hold of a gilt bowl of water.

He was small in stature, and Egmont, in trying to keep order, unluckily said—

"Little man, little man, be quiet!"

"Little man!" shouted Hoogstraten; "I would have you to know that never did little man spring from my race," and he hurled bowl, water and all, at the Archbishop's head, though nothing but the water reached its mark.

Count Charles Mansfeld, who was quite a lad, rose to apologise, but the Archbishop was by this time too blind with indignation to see which were his friends, and cried

66

Begone! who is this boy who is preaching to me?”

This enraged Mansfeld, and he snapped his fingers in the Archbishop's face, but at last the Viscount of Ghent and another succeeded in getting the Prelate out of the room, exclaiming that he had only been invited to be insulted.

Egmont spent the following days in excuses and apologies, and he did manage to patch up a kind of reconciliation before they left Cambray on the 30th of January. Strange to say, this disgraceful scene was regarded even by Roman Catholics as so comical that it was represented in masquerade at the wedding festival of Dr. Hopper's daughter a few weeks later; no doubt because the Archbishop was very unpopular, as court Bishops always were; he was devoted to the Cardinal, and was a harsh man.

Egmont was received by the King in the most distinguished and

Egmont's

mission.

1565.

affectionate manner, greeted with an embrace, lodged sumptuously, CAMEO III. feasted and flattered. He often dined alone with the King, and was sent by him in his own coach to see the wonders of the new palace of the Escorial, which was being built to commemorate the battle of St. Quentin, in which Egmont had borne so distinguished a part. Altogether he was charmed, and being a warm-hearted man, brave and honourable, but affectionate and easily led, he saw things quite differently from what they appeared to him when Orange was at his side, and the men whose cause he had intended to plead seemed to him only traitors and heretics.

It was quite true that Philip believed in himself and his duty with a full and steadfast conviction, such as was enough to carry others along with him. He was fully in earnest when he fell on his knees before a crucifix and declared that he would rather not reign at all than reign over men who denied their Lord and Master; and his faith in his regal powers was equally entire.

He did not, however, enter much into public business with the Count, but granted him favours that enriched his estates, and proposed to him wealthy marriages for his eight daughters. Finally he was dismissed quite satisfied of the King's favour to the Netherlands, though not one of the points about which he came had been conceded; and to his protection was confided young Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma, who had just finished his education in Spain, and who was to join his mother at Brussels.

Of course Orange and his friends were bitterly disappointed in the result of Egmont's mission, but they seem to have known the man too well to suspect him of disloyalty, and only to have thought that his simplicity had been cajoled. As to the edicts, there was no change in the King's intentions. The Inquisition was actually proclaimed all over the Low Countries. The first announcement was met by showers of representations, petitions, and appeals, and in the meantime the young Duke of Parma added to the discontent by his haughty bearing. He had been taught that to be as Spanish as possible was the perfection of high breeding, and his pride and silence gave infinite offence. He made the Flemish nobles, sit below the salt when they dined with him, and treated even Egmont with distant contempt. They made up their minds that there was nothing in him—a great mistake, as they were to learn in after years. His mother was much grieved at the impression he produced, and spent whole days in weeping over the inevitable troubles that her brother's policy was producing; but in the midst of all these evil forebodings there were two splendid weddings. Hoorn's brother, Baron Montigny, married the daughter of Prince d'Espinay, and in the tournament that followed Orange, Hoorn, and Hoogstraten tilted as challengers against Egmont and two other knights.

The other wedding was that of the young Duke of Parma with the Infanta, Doña Maria of Portugal. She was very highly educated and well versed in the Scriptures, but she had been brought up in those