Yet the effect of the riots was destined to be most disastrous for a time to the reforming party. It furnished plausible excuses for many lukewarm friends of their cause to withdraw from all connection with it. Egmont denounced the proceedings as highly flagitious, and busied himself with punishing the criminals in Flanders. The Regent was beside herself with indignation and terror. Philip, when he heard the news, fell into a paroxysm of frenzy. "It shall cost them dear!" he cried, as he tore his beard for rage; "it shall cost them dear! I swear it by the soul of my father!" The Reformation in the Netherlands, by the fury of these fanatics, was thus made apparently to abandon the high ground upon which it had stood in the early summer. The sublime spectacle of the mult.i.tudinous field-preaching was sullied by the excesses of the image-breaking. The religious war, before imminent, became inevitable.
Nevertheless, the first effect of the tumults was a temporary advantage to the Reformers. A great concession was extorted from the fears of the d.u.c.h.ess Regent, who was certainly placed in a terrible position. Her conduct was not heroic, although she might be forgiven for trepidation.
Her treachery, however, under these trying circ.u.mstances was less venial.
At three o"clock in the morning of the 22nd of August, Orange, Egmont, Horn, Hoogatraaten, Mansfeld, and others were summoned to the palace.
They found her already equipped for flight, surrounded by her waiting-women, chamberlains and lackeys, while the mules and hackneys stood harnessed in the court-yard, and her body-guard were prepared to mount at a moment"s notice. She announced her intention of retreating at once to Mons, in which city, owing to Aerschot"s care, she hoped to find refuge against the fury of the rebellion then sweeping the country. Her alarm was almost beyond control. She was certain that the storm was ready to burst upon Brussels, and that every Catholic was about to be ma.s.sacred before her eyes. Aremberg, Berlaymont, and Noircarmes were with the d.u.c.h.ess when the other seigniors arrived.
A part of the Duke of Aerschot"s company had been ordered out to escort the projected flight to Mons. Orange, Horn, Egmont, and Hoogstraaten implored her to desist from her fatal resolution. They represented that such a retreat before a mob would be the very means of ruining the country. They denounced all persons who had counselled the scheme, as enemies of his Majesty and herself. They protested their readiness to die at her feet in her defence, but besought her not to abandon the post of duty in the hour of peril. While they were thus anxiously debating, Viglius entered the chamber. With tears streaming down her cheeks, Margaret turned to the aged President, uttering fierce reproaches and desponding lamentations. Viglius brought the news that the citizens had taken possession of the gates, and were resolved not to permit her departure from the city. He reminded her, according to the indispensable practice of all wise counsellors, that he had been constantly predicting this result. He, however, failed in administering much consolation, or in suggesting any remedy. He was, in truth, in as great a panic as herself, and it was, according to the statement of the d.u.c.h.ess, mainly in order to save the President from threatened danger, that she eventually resolved to make concessions. "Viglius," wrote Margaret to Philip, "is so much afraid of being cut to pieces, that his timidity has become incredible."
Upon the warm a.s.surance of Count Horn, that he would enable her to escape from the city, should it become necessary, or would perish in the attempt, a promise in which he was seconded by the rest of the seigniors, she consented to remain for the day in her palace.--Mansfeld was appointed captain-general of the city; Egmont, Horn, Orange, and the others agreed to serve under his orders, and all went down together to the townhouse. The magistrates were summoned, a general meeting of the citizens was convened, and the announcement made of Mansfeld"s appointment, together with an earnest appeal to all honest men to support the Government. The appeal was answered by a shout of unanimous approbation, an enthusiastic promise to live or die with the Regent, and the expression of a resolution to permit neither reformed preaching nor image-breaking within the city.
Nevertheless, at seven o"clock in the evening, the d.u.c.h.ess again sent for the seigniors. She informed them that she had received fresh and certain information, that the churches were to be sacked that very night; that Viglius, Berlaymont, and Aremberg were to be killed, and that herself and Egmont were to be taken prisoners. She repeated many times that she had been ill-advised, expressed bitter regret at having deferred her flight from the city, and called upon those who had obstructed her plan, now to fulfil their promises. Turning fiercely upon Count Horn, she uttered a volley of reproaches upon his share in the transaction. "You are the cause," said she, "that I am now in this position. Why do you not redeem your pledge and enable me to leave the place at once." Horn replied that he was ready to do so if she were resolved to stay no longer. He would at the instant cut his way through the guard at the Caudenberg gate, and bring her out in safety, or die in the effort. At the same time he a.s.sured her that he gave no faith to the idle reports flying about the city, reminded her that n.o.bles, magistrates, and citizens were united in her defence, and in brief used the same arguments which had before been used to pacify her alarm. The n.o.bles were again successful in enforcing their counsels, the d.u.c.h.ess was spared the ignominy and the disaster of a retreat before an insurrection which was only directed against statues, and the ecclesiastical treasures of Brussels were saved from sacrilege.
On the 25th August came the crowning act of what the Reformers considered their most complete triumph, and the Regent her deepest degradation. It was found necessary under the alarming aspect of affairs, that liberty of worship, in places where it had been already established, should be accorded to the new religion. Articles of agreement to this effect were accordingly drawn up and exchanged between the Government and Lewis of Na.s.sau, attended by fifteen others of the confederacy. A corresponding pledge was signed by them, that so long as the Regent was true to her engagement, they would consider their previously existing league annulled, and would a.s.sist cordially in every endeavor to maintain tranquillity and support the authority of his Majesty. The important Accord was then duly signed by the d.u.c.h.ess. It declared that the inquisition was abolished, that his Majesty would soon issue a new general edict, expressly and unequivocally protecting the n.o.bles against all evil consequences from past transactions, that they were to be employed in the royal service, and that public preaching according to the forms of the new religion was to be practised in places where it had already taken place. Letters general were immediately despatched to the senates of all the cities, proclaiming these articles of agreement and ordering their execution. Thus for a fleeting moment there was a thrill of joy throughout the Netherlands. The inquisition was thought forever abolished, the era of religious reformation arrived.
ETEXT EDITOR"S BOOKMARKS:
All denounced the image-breaking Anxiety to do nothing wrong, the senators did nothing at all Before morning they had sacked thirty churches Bigotry which was the prevailing characteristic of the age Enriched generation after generation by wealthy penitence Fifty thousand persons in the provinces (put to death) Furious fanaticism Lutheran princes of Germany, detested the doctrines of Geneva Monasteries, burned their invaluable libraries No qualities whatever but birth and audacity to recommend him Notre Dame at Antwerp Persons who discussed religious matters were to be put to death Premature zeal was prejudicial to the cause Purchased absolution for crime and smoothed a pathway to heaven Rearing gorgeous temples where paupers are to kneel Schism which existed in the general Reformed Church Storm by which all these treasures were destroyed (in 7 days) The n.o.blest and richest temple of the Netherlands was a wreck Tyrannical spirit of Calvinism Would not help to burn fifty or sixty thousand Netherlanders
ETEXT EDITOR"S BOOKMARKS THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, 1555-1566, Complete:
A pleasantry called voluntary contributions or benevolences A country disinherited by nature of its rights Absolution for incest was afforded at thirty-six livres Achieved the greatness to which they had not been born Advancing age diminished his tendency to other carnal pleasures Affecting to discredit them All offices were sold to the highest bidder All denounced the image-breaking All his disciples and converts are to be punished with death All reading of the scriptures (forbidden) Altercation between Luther and Erasmus, upon predestination An hereditary papacy, a perpetual pope-emperor An inspiring and delightful recreation (auto-da-fe) Announced his approaching marriage with the Virgin Mary Annual harvest of iniquity by which his revenue was increased Anxiety to do nothing wrong, the senators did nothing at all Arrested on suspicion, tortured till confession As ready as papists, with age, f.a.got, and excommunication Attacking the authority of the pope Attempting to swim in two waters Batavian legion was the imperial body guard Beating the Netherlanders into Christianity Before morning they had sacked thirty churches Bigotry which was the prevailing characteristic of the age Bishop is a consecrated pirate Bold reformer had only a new dogma in place of the old ones Brethren, parents, and children, having wives in common Burned alive if they objected to transubstantiation Burned, strangled, beheaded, or buried alive (100,000) Charles the Fifth autocrat of half the world Condemning all heretics to death Consign to the flames all prisoners whatever (Papal letter) Courage of despair inflamed the French Craft meaning, simply, strength Criminal whose guilt had been established by the hot iron Criminals buying Paradise for money Crusades made great improvement in the condition of the serfs Decrees for burning, strangling, and burying alive Democratic instincts of the ancient German savages Denies the utility of prayers for the dead Despot by birth and inclination (Charles V.) Difference between liberties and liberty Dispute between Luther and Zwingli concerning the real presence Dissimulation and delay Divine right Drank of the water in which, he had washed Endure every hardship but hunger English Puritans Enormous wealth (of the Church) which engendered the hatred Enriched generation after generation by wealthy penitence Erasmus encourages the bold friar Erasmus of Rotterdam Even for the rape of G.o.d"s mother, if that were possible Excited with the appearance of a gem of true philosophy Executions of Huss and Jerome of Prague Fable of divine right is invented to sanction the system Felix Mants, the anabaptist, is drowned at Zurich Few, even prelates were very dutiful to the pope Fiction of apostolic authority to bind and loose Fifty thousand persons in the provinces (put to death) Fishermen and river raftsmen become ocean adventurers For myself I am unworthy of the honor (of martyrdom) For women to lament, for men to remember Forbids all private a.s.semblies for devotion Force clerical--the power of clerks Furious fanaticism Gallant and ill-fated Lamoral Egmont Gaul derided the Roman soldiers as a band of pigmies German finds himself sober--he believes himself ill Govern under the appearance of obeying Great science of political equilibrium Great Privilege, the Magna Charta of Holland Guarantees of forgiveness for every imaginable sin Habeas corpus Halcyon days of ban, book and candle He knew men, especially he knew their weaknesses He did his best to be friends with all the world Heresy was a plant of early growth in the Netherlands His imagination may have a.s.sisted his memory in the task History shows how feeble are barriers of paper Holland, England, and America, are all links of one chain I would carry the wood to burn my own son withal In Holland, the clergy had neither influence nor seats Informer, in case of conviction, should be ent.i.tled to one half Inquisition of the Netherlands is much more pitiless Inquisition was not a fit subject for a compromise Insinuating suspicions when unable to furnish evidence Invented such Christian formulas as these (a curse) Inventing long speeches for historical characters July 1st, two Augustine monks were burned at Brussels King of Zion to be pinched to death with red-hot tongs Labored under the disadvantage of never having existed Learn to tremble as little at priestcraft as at swordcraft Let us fool these poor creatures to their heart"s content Licences accorded by the crown to carry slaves to America Little grievances would sometimes inflame more than vast Long succession of so many ill.u.s.trious obscure Look through the cloud of dissimulation Lutheran princes of Germany, detested the doctrines of Geneva Made to swing to and fro over a slow fire Maintaining the att.i.tude of an injured but forgiving Christian Man had only natural wrongs (No natural rights) Many greedy priests, of lower rank, had turned shop-keepers Monasteries, burned their invaluable libraries More accustomed to do well than to speak well No one can testify but a householder No calumny was too senseless to be invented No law but the law of the longest purse No qualities whatever but birth and audacity to recommend him Not of the stuff of which martyrs are made (Erasmus) Notre Dame at Antwerp Nowhere was the persecution of heretics more relentless Obstinate, of both s.e.xes, to be burned Often much tyranny in democracy One golden grain of wit into a sheet of infinite plat.i.tude Orator was, however, delighted with his own performance Others go to battle, says the historian, these go to war Panegyrists of royal houses in the sixteenth century Pardon for murder, if not by poison, was cheaper Pardon for crimes already committed, or about to be committed Paying their pa.s.sage through, purgatory Perpetually dropping small innuendos like pebbles Persons who discussed religious matters were to be put to death Petty pa.s.sion for contemptible details Philip, who did not often say a great deal in a few words Planted the inquisition in the Netherlands Poisoning, for example, was absolved for eleven ducats Pope and emperor maintain both positions with equal logic Power to read and write helped the clergy to much wealth Premature zeal was prejudicial to the cause Procrastination was always his first refuge Promises which he knew to be binding only upon the weak Purchased absolution for crime and smoothed a pathway to heaven Rashness alternating with hesitation Readiness to strike and bleed at any moment in her cause Rearing gorgeous temples where paupers are to kneel Repentant females to be buried alive Repentant males to be executed with the sword Revocable benefices or feuds Ruinous honors Sale of absolutions was the source of large fortunes to the priests Same conjury over ignorant baron and cowardly hind Scaffold was the sole refuge from the rack Schism which existed in the general Reformed Church Scoffing at the ceremonies and sacraments of the Church Secret drowning was subst.i.tuted for public burning Sharpened the punishment for reading the scriptures in private Slavery was both voluntary and compulsory Soldier of the cross was free upon his return Sonnets of Petrarch Sovereignty was heaven-born, anointed of G.o.d St. Peter"s dome rising a little nearer to the clouds St. Bartholomew was to sleep for seven years longer Storm by which all these treasures were destroyed (in 7 days) Tanchelyn Taxation upon sin Ten thousand two hundred and twenty individuals were burned That vile and mischievous animal called the people The n.o.blest and richest temple of the Netherlands was a wreck The Gaul was singularly unchaste The vivifying becomes afterwards the dissolving principle The bad Duke of Burgundy, Philip surnamed "the Good,"
The egg had been laid by Erasmus, hatched by Luther These human victims, chained and burning at the stake They had at last burned one more preacher alive Thousands of burned heretics had not made a single convert Thus Hand-werpen, hand-throwing, became Antwerp To think it capable of error, is the most devilish heresy of all To prefer poverty to the wealth attendant upon trade Torquemada"s administration (of the inquisition) Tranquillity of despotism to the turbulence of freedom Two witnesses sent him to the stake, one witness to the rack Tyrannical spirit of Calvinism Understood the art of managing men, particularly his superiors Upon one day twenty-eight master cooks were dismissed Villagers, or villeins We believe our mothers to have been honest women When the abbot has dice in his pocket, the convent will play William of Na.s.sau, Prince of Orange Wiser simply to satisfy himself Would not help to burn fifty or sixty thousand Netherlanders
MOTLEY"S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, 1566-1574, Complete THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC
By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY 1855
VOLUME 2, Book 1., 1566 1566 [CHAPTER VIII.]
Secret policy of the government--Berghen and Montigny in Spain-- Debates at Segovia--Correspondence of the d.u.c.h.ess with Philip-- Procrastination and dissimulation of the King--Secret communication to the Pope--Effect in the provinces of the King"s letters to the government--Secret instructions to the d.u.c.h.ess--Desponding statements of Margaret--Her misrepresentations concerning Orange, Egmont, and others--Wrath and duplicity of Philip--Egmont"s exertions in Flanders--Orange returns to Antwerp--His tolerant spirit--Agreement of 2d September--Horn at Tournay--Excavations in the Cathedral--Almost universal attendance at the preaching-- Building of temples commenced--Difficult position of Horn--Preaching in the Clothiers" Hall--Horn recalled--Noircarmes at Tournay-- Friendly correspondence of Margaret with Orange, Egmont, Horn, and Hoogstraaten--Her secret defamation of these persons.
Egmont in Flanders, Orange at Antwerp, Horn at Tournay; Hoogstraaten at Mechlin, were exerting themselves to suppress insurrection and to avert ruin. What, meanwhile, was the policy of the government? The secret course pursued both at Brussels and at Madrid may be condensed into the usual formula--dissimulation, procrastination, and again dissimulation.
It is at this point necessary to take a rapid survey of the open and the secret proceedings of the King and his representatives from the moment at which Berghen and Montigny arrived in Madrid. Those ill-fated gentlemen had been received with apparent cordiality, and admitted to frequent, but unmeaning, interviews with his Majesty. The current upon which they were embarked was deep and treacherous, but it was smooth and very slow. They a.s.sured the King that his letters, ordering the rigorous execution of the inquisition and edicts, had engendered all the evils under which the provinces were laboring. They told him that Spaniards and tools of Spaniards had attempted to govern the country, to the exclusion of native citizens and n.o.bles, but that it would soon be found that Netherlanders were not to be trodden upon like the abject inhabitants of Milan, Naples, and Sicily. Such words as these struck with an unaccustomed sound upon the royal ear, but the envoys, who were both Catholic and loyal, had no idea, in thus expressing their opinions, according to their sense of duty, and in obedience to the King"s desire, upon the causes of the discontent, that they were committing an act of high treason.
When the news of the public preaching reached Spain, there were almost daily consultations at the grove of Segovia. The eminent personages who composed the royal council were the Duke of Alva, the Count de Feria, Don Antonio de Toledo, Don Juan Manrique de Lara, Ruy Gomez, Quixada, Councillor Tisnacq, recently appointed President of the State Council, and Councillor Hopper. Six Spaniards and two Netherlanders, one of whom, too, a man of dull intellect and thoroughly subservient character, to deal with the local affairs of the Netherlands in a time of intense excitement! The instructions of the envoys had been to represent the necessity of according three great points--abolition of the inquisition, moderation of the edicts, according to the draft prepared in Brussels, and an ample pardon for past transactions. There was much debate upon all these propositions. Philip said little, but he listened attentively to the long discourses in council, and he took an incredible quant.i.ty of notes. It was the general opinion that this last demand on the part of the Netherlanders was the fourth link in the chain of treason. The first had been the cabal by which Granvelle had been expelled; the second, the mission of Egmont, the main object of which had been to procure a modification of the state council, in order to bring that body under the control of a few haughty and rebellious n.o.bles; the third had been the presentation of the insolent and seditious Request; and now, to crown the whole, came a proposition embodying the three points--abolition of the inquisition, revocation of the edicts, and a pardon to criminals, for whom death was the only sufficient punishment.
With regard to these three points, it was, after much wrangling, decided to grant them under certain restrictions. To abolish the inquisition would be to remove the only instrument by which the Church had been accustomed to regulate the consciences and the doctrines of its subjects.
It would be equivalent to a concession of religious freedom, at least to individuals within their own domiciles, than which no concession could be more pernicious. Nevertheless, it might be advisable to permit the temporary cessation of the papal inquisition, now that the episcopal inquisition had been so much enlarged and strengthened in the Netherlands, on the condition that this branch of the inst.i.tution should be maintained in energetic condition. With regard to the Moderation, it was thought better to defer that matter till, the proposed visit of his Majesty to the provinces. If, however, the Regent should think it absolutely necessary to make a change, she must cause a new draft to be made, as that which had been sent was not found admissible. Touching the pardon general, it would be necessary to make many conditions and restrictions before it could be granted. Provided these were sufficiently minute to exclude all persons whom it might be found desirable to chastise, the amnesty was possible. Otherwise it was quite out of the question.
Meantime, Margaret of Parma had been urging her brother to come to a decision, painting the distracted condition of the country in the liveliest colors, and insisting, although perfectly aware of Philip"s private sentiments, upon a favorable decision as to the three points demanded by the envoys. Especially she urged her incapacity to resist any rebellion, and demanded succor of men and money in case the "Moderation"
were not accepted by his Majesty.
It was the last day of July before the King wrote at all, to communicate his decisions upon the crisis which had occurred in the first week of April. The disorder for which he had finally prepared a prescription had, before his letter arrived, already pa.s.sed through its subsequent stages of the field-preaching and the image-breaking. Of course these fresh symptoms would require much consultation, pondering, and note-taking before they could be dealt with. In the mean time they would be considered as not yet having happened. This was the masterly procrastination of the sovereign, when his provinces were in a blaze.
His masterly dissimulation was employed in the direction suggested by his councillors. Philip never originated a thought, nor laid down a plan, but he was ever true to the falsehood of his nature, and was indefatigable in following out the suggestions of others. No greater mistake can be made than to ascribe talent to this plodding and pedantic monarch. The man"s intellect was contemptible, but malignity and duplicity, almost superhuman; have effectually lifted his character out of the regions of the common-place. He wrote accordingly to say that the pardon, under certain conditions, might be granted, and that the papal inquisition might cease--the bishops now being present in such numbers, "to take care of their flocks," and the episcopal inquisition being, therefore established upon so secure a basis. He added, that if a moderation of the edicts were still desired, a new project might be sent to Madrid, as the one brought by Berghen and Montigny was not satisfactory. In arranging this wonderful scheme for composing the tumults of the country, which had grown out of a determined rebellion to the inquisition in any form, he followed not only the advice, but adopted the exact language of his councillors.
Certainly, here was not much encouragement for patriotic hearts in the Netherlands. A pardon, so restricted that none were likely to be forgiven save those who had done no wrong; an episcopal inquisition stimulated to renewed exertions, on the ground that the papal functionaries were to be discharged; and a promise that, although the proposed Moderation of the edicts seemed too mild for the monarch"s acceptance, yet at some future period another project would be matured for settling the matter to universal satisfaction--such were the propositions of the Crown.
Nevertheless, Philip thought he had gone too far, even in administering this meagre amount of mercy, and that he had been too frank in employing so slender a deception, as in the scheme thus sketched. He therefore summoned a notary, before whom, in presence of the Duke of Alva, the Licentiate Menchaca and Dr. Velasco, he declared that, although he had just authorized Margaret of Parma, by force of circ.u.mstances, to grant pardon to all those who had been compromised in the late disturbances of the Netherlands, yet as he had not done this spontaneously nor freely, he did not consider himself bound by the authorization, but that, on the contrary, he reserved his right to punish all the guilty, and particularly those who had been the authors and encouragers of the sedition.
So much for the pardon promised in his official correspondence.
With regard to the concessions, which he supposed himself to have made in the matter of the inquisition and the edicts, he saved his conscience by another process. Revoking with his right hand all which his left had been doing, he had no sooner despatched his letters to the d.u.c.h.ess Regent than he sent off another to his envoy at Rome. In this despatch he instructed Requesens to inform the Pope as to the recent royal decisions upon the three points, and to state that there had not been time to consult his Holiness beforehand. Nevertheless, continued Philip "the prudent," it was perhaps better thus, since the abolition could have no force, unless the Pope, by whom the inst.i.tution had been established, consented to its suspension. This matter, however, was to be kept a profound secret. So much for the inquisition matter. The papal inst.i.tution, notwithstanding the official letters, was to exist, unless the Pope chose to destroy it; and his Holiness, as we have seen, had sent the Archbishop of Sorrento, a few weeks before, to Brussels, for the purpose of concerting secret measures for strengthening the "Holy Office" in the provinces.
With regard to the proposed moderation of the edicts, Philip informed Pius the Fifth, through Requesens, that the project sent by the d.u.c.h.ess not having been approved, orders had been transmitted for a new draft, in which all the articles providing for the severe punishment of heretics were to be retained, while alterations, to be agreed upon by the state and privy councils, and the knights of the Fleece, were to be adopted--certainly in no sense of clemency. On the contrary, the King a.s.sured his Holiness, that if the severity of chastis.e.m.e.nt should be mitigated the least in the world by the new articles, they would in no case receive the royal approbation. Philip further implored the Pope "not to be scandalized" with regard to the proposed pardon, as it would be by no means extended to offenders against religion. All this was to be kept entirely secret. The King added, that rather than permit the least prejudice to the ancient religion, he would sacrifice all his states, and lose a hundred lives if he had so many; for he would never consent to be the sovereign of heretics. He said he would arrange the troubles of the Netherlands, without violence, if possible, because forcible measures would cause the entire destruction of the country. Nevertheless they should be employed, if his purpose could be accomplished in no other way.
In that case the King would himself be the executor of his own design, without allowing the peril which he should incur, nor the ruin of the provinces, nor that of his other realms, to prevent him from doing all which a Christian prince was bound to do, to maintain the Catholic religion and the authority of the Holy See, as well as to testify his personal regard for the reigning pontiff, whom he so much loved and esteemed.
Here was plain speaking. Here were all the coming horrors distinctly foreshadowed. Here was the truth told to the only being with whom Philip ever was sincere. Yet even on this occasion, he permitted himself a falsehood by which his Holiness was not deceived. Philip had no intention of going to the Netherlands in person, and the Pope knew that he had none. "I feel it in my bones," said Granvelle, mournfully, "that n.o.body in Rome believes in his Majesty"s journey to the provinces." From that time forward, however, the King began to promise this visit, which was held out as a panacea for every ill, and made to serve as an excuse for constant delay.
It may well be supposed that if Philip"s secret policy had been thoroughly understood in the Netherlands, the outbreak would have come sooner. On the receipt, however, of the public despatches from Madrid, the administration in Brussels made great efforts to represent their tenor as highly satisfactory. The papal inquisition was to be abolished, a pardon was to be granted, a new moderation was to be arranged at some indefinite period; what more would men have? Yet without seeing the face of the cards, the people suspected the real truth, and Orange was convinced of it. Viglius wrote that if the King did not make his intended visit soon, he would come too late, and that every week more harm was done by procrastination than could be repaired by months of labor and perhaps by torrents of blood. What the precise process was, through which Philip was to cure all disorders by his simple presence, the President did not explain.
As for the measures propounded by the King after so long a delay, they were of course worse than useless; for events had been marching while he had been musing. The course suggested was, according to Viglius, but "a plaster for a wound, but a drag-chain for the wheel." He urged that the convocation of the states-general was the only remedy for the perils in which the country was involved; unless the King should come in person. He however expressed the hope that by general consultation some means would be devised by which, if not a good, at least a less desperate aspect would be given to public affairs, "so that the commonwealth, if fall it must, might at least fall upon its feet like a cat, and break its legs rather than its neck."
Notwithstanding this highly figurative view of the subject; and notwithstanding the urgent representations of d.u.c.h.ess Margaret to her brother, that n.o.bles and people were all clamoring about the necessity of convening the states general, Philip was true to his instincts on this as on the other questions. He knew very well that the states-general of the Netherlands and Spanish despotism were incompatible ideas, and he recoiled from the idea of the a.s.sembly with infinite aversion. At the same time a little wholesome deception could do no harm. He wrote to the d.u.c.h.ess, therefore, that he was determined never to allow the states-general to be convened. He forbade her to consent to the step under any circ.u.mstances, but ordered her to keep his prohibition a profound secret. He wished, he said, the people to think that it was only for the moment that the convocation was forbidden, and that the d.u.c.h.ess was expecting to receive the necessary permission at another time. It was his desire, he distinctly stated, that the people should not despair of obtaining the a.s.sembly, but he was resolved never to consent to the step, for he knew very well what was meant by a meeting of the States-general.
Certainly after so ingenuous but secret a declaration from the disciple of Macchiavelli, Margaret might well consider the arguments to be used afterward by herself and others, in favor of the ardently desired measure, as quite superfluous.
Such then was the policy secretly resolved upon by Philip; even before he heard of the startling events which were afterwards to break upon him. He would maintain the inquisition and the edicts; he would exterminate the heretics, even if he lost all his realms and his own life in the cause; he would never hear of the national representatives coming together. What then were likely to be his emotions when he should be told of twenty thousand armed heretics a.s.sembling at one spot, and fifteen thousand at another, in almost every town in every province, to practice their blasphemous rites; when he should be told of the whirlwind which had swept all the ecclesiastical acc.u.mulations of ages out of existence; when he should read Margaret"s despairing letters, in which she acknowledged that she had at last committed an act unworthy of G.o.d, of her King, and of herself, in permitting liberty of worship to the renegades from the ancient church!
The account given by the d.u.c.h.ess was in truth very dismal. She said that grief consumed her soul and crimson suffused her cheeks while she related the recent transactions. She took G.o.d to witness that she had resisted long, that she had past many sleepless nights, that she had been wasted with fever and grief. After this penitential preface she confessed that, being a prisoner and almost besieged in her palace, sick in body and soul, she had promised pardon and security to the confederates, with liberty of holding a.s.semblies to heretics in places where the practice had already obtained. These concessions had been made valid until the King by and with the consent of the states-general, should definitely arrange the matter. She stated, however, that she had given her consent to these two demands, not in the royal name, but in her own. The King was not bound by her promise, and she expreesed the hope that he would have no regard to any such obligation. She further implored her brother to come forth as soon as possibe to avenge the injuries inflicted upon the ancient church, adding, that if deprived of that consolation, she should incontinently depart this life. That hope alone would prevent her death.
This was certainly strong language. She was also very explicit in her representations of the influence which had been used by certain personages to prevent the exercise of any authority upon her own part.
"Wherefore," said Margaret, "I eat my heart; and shall never have peace till the arrival of your Majesty."
There was no doubt who those personages were who, as it was pretended, had thus held the d.u.c.h.ess in bondage, and compelled her to grant these infamous concessions. In her secret Italian letters, she furnished the King with a tissue of most extravagant and improbable falsehoods, supplied to her mainly by Noircarmes and Mansfeld, as to the course pursued at this momentous crisis by Orange, Egmont, Horn, and Hoogstraaten. They had all, she said, declared against G.o.d and against religion.--Horn, at least, was for killing all the priests and monks in the country, if full satisfaction were not given to the demands of the heretics. Egmont had declared openly for the beggars, and was levying troops in Germany. Orange had the firm intention of making himself master of the whole country, and of dividing it among the other seigniors and himself. The Prince had said that if she took refuge in Mons, as she had proposed, they would instantly convoke the states-general, and take all necessary measures. Egmont had held the same language, saying that he would march at the head of forty thousand men to besiege her in that city. All these seigniors, however, had avowed their determination to prevent her flight, to a.s.semble the estates, and to drag her by force before the a.s.sembly, in order to compel her consent to every measure which might be deemed expedient. Under all these circ.u.mstances, she had been obliged to defer her retreat, and to make the concessions which had overwhelmed her with disgrace.
With such infamous calumnies, utterly disproved by every fact in the case, and unsupported by a t.i.ttle of evidence, save the hearsay reports of a man like Noircarmes, did this "woman, nourished at Rome, in whom no one could put confidence," dig the graves of men who were doing their best to serve her.
Philip"s rage at first hearing of the image-breaking has been indicated.
He was ill of an intermittent fever at the wood of Segovia when the news arrived, and it may well be supposed that his wrath at these proceedings was not likely to a.s.suage his malady. Nevertheless, after the first burst of indignation, he found relief in his usual deception. While slowly maturing the most tremendous vengeance which anointed monarch ever deliberately wreaked upon his people, he wrote to say, that it was "his intention to treat his va.s.sals and subjects in the provinces like a good and clement prince, not to ruin them nor to put them into servitude, but to exercise all humanity, sweetness, and grace, avoiding all harshness."
Such were the avowed intentions of the sovereign towards his people at the moment when the terrible Alva, who was to be the exponent of all this "humanity, sweetness, and grace," was already beginning the preparations for his famous invasion of the Netherlands.
The essence of the compact agreed to upon the 23d August between the confederates and the Regent, was that the preaching of the reformed religion should be tolerated in places where it had previously to that date been established. Upon this basis Egmont, Horn, Orange, Hoogstraaten, and others, were directed once more to attempt the pacification of the different provinces.
Egmont departed for his government of Flanders, and from that moment vanished all his pretensions, which at best had been, slender enough, to the character of a national chieftain. During the whole of the year his course had been changeful. He had felt the influence of Orange; he had generous instincts; he had much vanity; he had the pride of high rank; which did not easily brook the domination of strangers, in a land which he considered himself and his compeers ent.i.tled by their birth to rule.
At this juncture, however, particularly when in the company of Noircarmes, Berlaymont, and Viglius, he expressed, notwithstanding their calumnious misstatements, the deepest detestation of the heretics. He was a fervent Catholic, and he regarded the image-breaking as an unpardon able crime. "We must take up arms," said he, "sooner or later, to bring these Reformers to reason, or they will end by laying down the law for us." On the other hand, his anger would be often appeased by the grave but gracious remonstrances of Orange. During a part of the summer, the Reformers had been so strong in Flanders that upon a single day sixty thousand armed men had been a.s.sembled at the different field-preachings within that province. "All they needed was a Jacquemart, or a Philip van Artevelde," says a Catholic, contemporary, "but they would have scorned to march under the banner of a brewer; having dared to raise their eyes for a chief, to the most ill.u.s.trious warrior of his ages." No doubt, had Egmont ever listened to these aspirations, he might have taken the field against the government with an invincible force, seized the capital, imprisoned the Regent, and mastered the whole country, which was entirely defenceless, before Philip would have had time to write more than ten despatches upon the subject.
These hopes of the Reformers, if hopes they could be called, were now destined to be most bitterly disappointed. Egmont entered Flanders, not as a chief of rebels--not as a wise pacificator, but as an unscrupulous partisan of government, disposed to take summary vengeance on all suspected persons who should fall in his way. He ordered numerous executions of image-breakers and of other heretics. The whole province was in a state of alarm; for, although he had not been furnished by the Regent with a strong body of troops, yet the name of the conqueror at Saint Quentin and Gravelines was worth many regiments. His severity was excessive. His sanguinary exertions were ably seconded also by his secretary Bakkerzeel, a man who exercised the greatest influence over his chief, and who was now fiercely atoning for having signed the Compromise by persecuting those whom that league had been formed to protect. "Amid all the perplexities of the d.u.c.h.ess Regent," Says a Walloon historian, "this virtuous princess was consoled by the exploits of Bakkerzeel, gentleman in Count Egmont"s service. On one occasion he hanged twenty heretics, including a minister, at a single heat."
Such achievements as these by the hands or the orders of the distinguished general who had been most absurdly held up as a possible protector of the civil and religious liberties of the country, created profound sensation. Flanders and Artois were filled with the wives and children of suspected I thousands who had fled the country to escape the wrath of Egmont. The cries and piteous lamentations of these unfortunate creatures were heard on every side. Count Louis was earnestly implored to intercede for the persecuted Reformers. "You who have been so n.o.bly gifted by Heaven, you who have good will and singular bounty written upon your face," said Utenhove to Louis, "have the power to save these poor victims from the throats of the ravenous wolves." The Count responded to the appeal, and strove to soften the severity of Egmont, without, however, producing any very signal effect. Flanders was soon pacified, nor was that important province permitted to enjoy the benefits of the agreement which had been extorted, from the d.u.c.h.ess. The preachings were forbidden, and the ministers and congregations arrested and chastised, even in places where the custom had been established previously to the 23d August. Certainly such vigorous exertions upon the part both of master and man did not savor of treason to Philip, and hardly seemed to indicate the final doom of Egmont and Bakkerzeel.
The course of Orange at Antwerp was consistent with his whole career. He honestly came to arrange a pacification, but he knew that this end could be gained only by loyally maintaining the Accord which had been signed between the confederates and the Regent. He came back to the city on the 26th August, and found order partially re-established. The burghers having at last become thoroughly alarmed, and the fury of the image-breakers entirely appeased, it had been comparatively easy to restore tranquillity. The tranquillity, however, rather restored itself, and when the calm had succeeded to the tempest, the placid heads of the burgomasters once, more emerged from the waves.
Three image-breakers, who had been taken in the act, were hanged by order of the magistrates upon the 28th of August. The presence of Orange gave them courage to achieve these executions which he could not prevent, as the fifth article of the Accord enjoined the chastis.e.m.e.nt of the rioters.
The magistrates chose that the "chastis.e.m.e.nt" on this occasion should be exemplary, and it was not in the power of Orange to interfere with the regular government of the city when acting according to its laws. The deed was not his, however, and he hastened, in order to obviate the necessity of further violence, to prepare articles of agreement, upon the basis of Margaret"s concessions. Public preaching, according to the Reformed religion, had already taken place within the city. Upon the 22d, possession had been taken of at least three churches. The senate had deputed pensionary Wesenbeck to expostulate with the ministers, for the magistrates were at that moment not able to command. Taffin, the Walloon preacher, had been tractable, and had agreed to postpone his exercises.