History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, Vols. 1 and 2

by William Hickling Prescott

ALVA's PROCEEDINGS.

Yet there were some things he deemed necessary to be done, if it were only for their effect on the public mind, before entering on the campaign. On the twenty-eighth of May, sentence was passed on the prince of Orange, his brother Louis, and their noble companions. They were pronounced guilty of contumacy in not obeying the summons of the council, and of levying war against the king. For this they were condemned to perpetual banishment, and their estates confiscated to the use of the crown. The sentence was[{353}] signed by the duke of Alva.[1104] William's estates had been already sequestrated, and a body of Spanish troops was quartered in his town of Breda.

Another act, of a singular nature, intimated pretty clearly the dispositions of the government. The duke caused the Hôtel de Culemborg, where he had fixed his own residence before the regent's departure, and where the Gueux had held their meetings on coming to Brussels, to be levelled with the ground. On the spot a marble column was raised, bearing on each side of the base the following inscription: "Here once stood the mansion of Florence Pallant,"—the name of the count of Culemborg,—"now razed to the ground for the execrable conspiracy plotted therein against religion, the Roman Catholic Church, the king's majesty, and the country."[1105] Alva by this act intended doubtless to proclaim to the world, not so much his detestation of the confederacy—that would have been superfluous—as his determination to show no mercy to those who had taken part in it. Indeed, in his letters, on more than one occasion, he speaks of the signers of the Compromise as men who had placed themselves beyond the pale of mercy.

But all these acts were only the prelude to the dismal tragedy which was soon to be performed. Nearly nine months had elapsed since the arrest of the Counts Egmont and Hoorne. During all this time they had remained prisoners of state, under a strong guard, in the castle of Ghent. Their prosecution had been conducted in a deliberate, and indeed dilatory manner, which had nourished in their friends the hope of a favorable issue. Alva now determined to bring the trial to a close,—to pass sentence of death on the two lords, and to carry it into execution before departing on his expedition.

It was in vain that some of his counsellors remonstrated on the impolicy, at a crisis like the present, of outraging the feelings of the nation, by whom Egmont in particular was so much beloved. In vain they suggested that the two nobles would serve as hostages for the good behavior of the people during his absence, since any tumult must only tend to precipitate the fate of the prisoners.[1106] Whether it was that Alva distrusted the effect on his master of the importunities, from numerous quarters, in their behalf; or, what is far more likely, that he feared lest some popular rising, during his absence, might open the gates to his prisoners, he was determined to proceed at once to their execution. His appetite for vengeance may have been sharpened by mortification at the reverse his arms had lately experienced; and he may have felt that a blow like the present would be the most effectual to humble the arrogance of the nation.

There were some other prisoners of less note, but of no little consideration, who remained to be disposed of. Their execution would prepare the public mind for the last scene of the drama. There were nineteen persons who, at this time, lay in confinement in the castle of Vilvoorde, a fortress of great strength, two leagues distant from Brussels. They were chiefly men of rank, and for the most part members of the Union. For these latter, of course, there was no hope. Their trials were now concluded, and they were only[{354}] waiting their sentences. On the ominous twenty-eighth of May, a day on which the Council of Blood seems to have been uncommonly alert, they were all, without exception, condemned to be beheaded, and their estates were confiscated to the public use.

On the first of June, they were brought to Brussels, having been escorted there by nine companies of Spanish infantry, were conducted to the great square in front of the Hôtel de Ville, and, while the drums beat to prevent their last words from reaching the ears of the by-standers, their heads were struck off by the sword of the executioner. Eight of the number, who died in the Roman Catholic faith, were graciously allowed the rites of Christian burial. The heads of the remaining eleven were set upon poles, and their bodies left to rot upon the gibbet, like those of the vilest malefactors.[1107]

On the second of June, ten or twelve more, some of them persons of distinction, perished on the scaffold, in the same square in Brussels. Among these was Villers, the companion of Hoogstraten in the ill-starred expedition to Brabant, in which he was made prisoner. Since his captivity he had made some disclosures respecting the measures of Orange and his party, which might have entitled him to the consideration of Alva. But he had signed the Compromise.

On the following day, five other victims were led to execution within the walls of Vilvoorde, where they had been long confined. One of these has some interest for us, Casembrot, lord of Backerzele, Egmont's confidential secretary. That unfortunate gentleman had been put to the rack more than once, to draw from him disclosures to the prejudice of Egmont. But his constancy proved stronger than the cruelty of his persecutors. He was now to close his sufferings by an ignominious death; so far fortunate, however, that it saved him from witnessing the fate of his beloved master.[1108] Such were the gloomy scenes which ushered in the great catastrophe of the fifth of June.[{355}]

THE EXAMINATION.