[903] William was generous enough to commend Hoorne for this step, expressing the hope that it might induce such a spirit of harmony in the royal council as would promote the interests of both king and country.
See the letter, written in Latin, dated from Breda, April 14, in Archives de la Maison d"Orange-Na.s.sau tom. III. p. 71.
[904] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 322.
[905] Correspondance de Marguerite d"Autriche, p. 235.
[906] "Egit ipsa privatim magnae Virgini grates, qud ejus ope tantam urbem sine praelio ac sanguine, Religioni Regique reddidisset." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 328.
[907] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p. 254.
[908] Gachard has transferred to his notes the whole of this sanguinary doc.u.ment. See Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 550, 551.
[909] "La peine et le mecontentement qu"il a eprouves, de ce que l"on a fait une chose si illicite, si indecente, et si contraire a la religion chretienne." Ibid., ubi supra.
[910] Viglius was not too enlightened to enter his protest against the right to freedom of conscience, which, in a letter to his friend Hopper, he says may lead every one to set up his own G.o.ds--"lares aut lemures"--according to his fancy. Yet the president was wise enough to see that sufficient had been done at present in breaking up the preachings. "Time and Philip"s presence must do the rest." (Epistolae ad Hopperum, p. 433.) "Those," he says in another letter, "who have set the king against the edict have greatly deceived him. They are having their ovation before they have gained the victory. They think they can dispose of Flemish affairs as they like at Toledo, when hardly a Spaniard dares to show his head in Brussels." Ibid., p. 428.
[911] Archives de la Maison d"Orange-Na.s.sau, tom. III. pp.
80-93.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 329.
[912] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 332.
[913] Groen"s inestimable collection contains several of Brederode"s letters, which may remind one in their tone of the dashing cavalier of the time of Charles the First. They come from the heart, mingling the spirit of daring enterprise with the careless gayety of the _bon vivant_, and throw far more light than the stiff, statesmanlike correspondence of the period on the character, not merely of the writer, but of the disjointed times in which he lived.
[914] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p.
255.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 50.--Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 327.--Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 533.
[915] Margaret"s success draws forth an animated tribute from the president of Mechlin. "De manera que los negocios de los payses bajos por la gracia de Dios y la prudencia de esta virtuosa Dama y Princesa con la asistencia de los buenos consejeros y servidores del Rey en buenos terminos y en efecto remediados, las villas reveldes y alteradas amazadas, los gueuses reducidos o huidos; los ministros y predicantes echados fuera o presos; y la autoridad de su Magestad establecida otra vez." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS.
[916] This was fulfilling the prophecy of the prince of Orange, who in his letter to Hoorne tells him, "In a short time we shall refuse neither bridle nor saddle. For myself," he adds, "I have not the strength to endure either." Archives de la Maison d"Orange-Na.s.sau, tom. III. p. 72.
[917] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 333.
[918] See Meteren, (Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 49,) who must have drawn somewhat on his fancy for these wholesale executions, which, if taken literally, would have gone nigh to depopulate the Netherlands.
[919] "Thus the gallowses were filled with carca.s.ses, and Germany with exiles." Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p. 257.
[920] "Ex trabibus decidentium templorum, infelicia conformarent patibula, ex quibus ipsi templorum fabri cultoresque penderent." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 333.
[921] "Le bruit de l"arrivee prochaine du duc, a la tete d"une armee, fait fuir de toutes parts des gens, qui se retirent en France, en Angleterre, au pays de Cleves, en Allemagne et ailleurs." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 546.
[922] Ibid., ubi supra.
[923] "Par les restrictions extraordinaires que V. M. a mises a mon autorite, elle m"a enleve tout pouvoir et m"a privee des moyens d"achever l"entier retabliss.e.m.e.nt des affaires de ce pays: a present qu"elle voit ces affaires en un bon etat, elle en veut donner l"honneur a d"autres, tandis que, moi seule, j"ai eu les fatigues et les dangers."
Ibid., p. 523.
[924] "Ou l"autorite du Roi est plus a.s.suree qu"elle ne l"etait au temps de l"Empereur." Ibid., p. 532.
[925] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p. 258.
[926] "Ledit eveque, dans la premiere audience qu"il lui a donnee, a use d"ailleurs de termes si etranges, qu"il l"a mis en colere, et que, s"il eut eu moins d"amour et de respect pour S. S., cela eut pu le faire revenir sur les resolutions qu"il a prises." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 488.
The tart remonstrance of Philip had its effect. Granvelle soon after wrote to the king, that his holiness was greatly disturbed by the manner in which his majesty had taken his rebuke. The pope, Granvelle added, was a person of the best intentions, but with very little knowledge of the world, and easily kept in check by those who show their teeth to him;--"_reprimese quando se le muestran los dientes._" Ibid., tom. II.
p. lviii.
[927] "Que lui et le temps en valaient deux autres." Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 199.
The hesitation of the king drew on him a sharp rebuke from the audacious Fray Lorenzo Villavicencio, who showed as little ceremony in dealing with Philip as with his ministers. "If your majesty," he says, "consulting only your own ease, refuses to make this visit to Flanders, which so nearly concerns the honor of G.o.d, his blessed Mother, and all the saints, as well as the weal of Christendom, what is it but to declare that you are ready to accept the regal dignity which G.o.d has given you, and yet leave to him all the care and trouble that belong to that dignity? G.o.d would take this as ill of your majesty, as you would take it of those of your va.s.sals whom you had raised to offices of trust and honor, and who took the offices, but left you to do the work for them! To offend G.o.d is a rash act, that must destroy both soul and body." Gachard, Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II., Rapport, p.
xlviii.
[928] "Ne extingui quidem posse sine ruina victoris." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 338.
Better expressed by the old Castilian proverb, "El vencido vencido, y el vencidor perdido."
[929] "At illos non armis sed beneficiis expugnari." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 339.
[930] Ibid., p. 340.
[931] "Ouy, et que plus est, oserions presques a.s.seurer Vostre Majeste plusieurs des mauvais et des princ.i.p.aulx, voiant ledit prince de Heboli, se viendront reconcilier a luy, et le supplier avoir, par son moien, faveur vers Vostre Majeste." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p.
519.
[932] The debate is reported with sufficient minuteness both by Cabrera (Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 7,) and Strada (De Bello Belgico, tom.
I. p. 338). They agree, however, neither in the names of the parties present, nor in the speeches they made. Yet their disagreement in these particulars is by no means so surprising as their agreement in the most improbable part of their account,--Philip"s presence at the debate.
[933] "Comme si c"eust este une saincte guerre." Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 52.
[934] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 350.
[935] "Il repete," says Gachard, "dans une depeche du 1er septembre, qu"au milieu des bruits contradictoires qui circulent a la cour, il est impossible de demeler la verite." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom.
I., Rapport, p. clvi.
[936] "Ceterum, ut jam jamque iturus, legit comites, conquisivit impedimenta, adornavit naves: mox hiemem, aut negotia varie causatus, primo prudentes, dein vulgum, diutissime provincias fefellit." Taciti Annales, I. xlvii.
[937] "Es la primera que se me da en mi vida de cosas desta cualidad en cuantas veces he servido, ni de su Magestad Cesarea que Dios tenga, ni de V. M." Doc.u.mentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 354.
[938] A magnanimous Castilian historian p.r.o.nounces a swelling panegyric on this little army in a couple of lines: "Los Soldados podian ser Capitanes, los Capitanes Maestros de Campo, y los Maestros de Campo Generales." Hechos de Sancho Davila, (Valladolid, 1713,) p. 26.
The chivalrous Brantome dwells with delight on the gallant bearing and brilliant appointments of these troops, whom he saw in their pa.s.sage through Lorraine. "Tous vieux et aguerrys soldatz, tant bien en poinct d"habillement et d"armes, la pluspart dorees, et l"autre gravees, qu"on les prenoit pl.u.s.tost pour capitanes que soldats." uvres, tom. I. p. 60.
[939]
"Corpus in Italia est, tenet intestina Brabantus; Ast animam nemo. Cur?
quia non habuit."
Borgnet, Philippe II. et la Belgique, p. 60.
[940] No two writers, of course, agree in the account of Alva"s forces.
The exact returns of the amount of the whole army, as well as of each company, and the name of the officer who commanded it, are to be found in the Doc.u.mentos Ineditos (tom. IV. p. 382). From this it appears that the precise number of horse was 1,250, and that of the foot 8,800, making a total of 10,050.