The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1569-70 | Page 7

penny was the real crime for which
they were suffering. The King, therefore, although far from clement,
was not extremely rigorous. He refused the object of the appeal, but he
did not put the envoys to death by whom it was brought to Madrid.
This would have certainly been the case in matters strictly religious, or
even had the commissioners arrived two years before, but even Philip
believed, perhaps, that for the moment almost enough innocent blood
had been shed. At any rate he suffered the legates from Utrecht to
return, not with their petition, granted, but at least with their heads
upon their shoulders. Early in the following year, the provinces still
remaining under martial law, all the Utrecht charters were taken into
the possession of government, and deposited in the castle of
Vredenberg. It was not till after the departure of Alva, that they were
restored; according to royal command, by the new governor,

Requesens.
By the middle of the year 1569, Alva wrote to the King, with great
cheerfulness of tone, announcing that the estates of the provinces had
all consented to the tax. He congratulated his Majesty upon the fact that
this income might thenceforth be enjoyed in perpetuity, and that it
would bring at least two millions yearly into his coffers, over and
above the expenses of government. The hundredth penny, as he
calculated, would amount to at least five millions.
He was, however, very premature in his triumph, for the estates were
not long in withdrawing a concession which had either been wrung
from them by violence or filched from them by misrepresentation.
Taking the ground that the assent of all had been stipulated before that
of any one should be esteemed valid, every province now refused to
enforce or to permit the collection of the tenth or the twentieth penny
within their limits. Dire were the threatenings and the wrath of the
Viceroy, painfully protracted the renewed negotiations with the estates.
At last, a compromise was effected, and the final struggle postponed.
Late in the summer it was agreed that the provinces should pay two
millions yearly for the two following years, the term to expire in the
month of August, 1571. Till that period, therefore, there was
comparative repose upon the subject.
The question of a general pardon had been agitated for more than a year,
both in Brussels and Madrid. Viglius, who knew his countrymen better
than the Viceroy knew them, had written frequently to his friend
Hopper, on the propriety of at once proclaiming an amnesty. There had
also been many conferences between himself and the Duke of Alva,
and he had furnished more than one draught for the proposed measure.
The President knew full well that the point had been reached beyond
which the force of tyranny could go no further. All additional pressure,
he felt sure, could only produce reaction, the effect of which might be
to drive the Spaniards from the Netherlands. There might then be
another game to play. The heads of those who had so assiduously
served the government throughout its terrible career might, in their turn,
be brought to the block, and their estates be made to enrich the
Treasury. Moreover, there were symptoms that Alva's favor was on the
wane. The King had not been remarkably struck with the merits of the
new financial measures, and had expressed much, anxiety lest the trade

of the country should suffer. The Duke was known to be desirous of his
recal. His health was broken, he felt that he was bitterly detested
throughout the country, and he was certain that his enemies at Madrid
were fast undermining his credit. He seemed also to have a dim
suspicion that his mission was accomplished in the Netherlands; that as
much blood had been shed at present as the land could easily absorb.
He wrote urgently and even piteously to Philip, on the subject of his
return. "Were your Majesty only pleased to take me from this country,"
he said, "I should esteem it as great a favor as if your Majesty had
given me life." He swore "by the soul of the Duchess," that he "would
rather be cut into little pieces" than retire from his post were his
presence necessary, but he expressed the opinion that through his
exertions affairs had been placed in such train that they were sure to
roll on smoothly to the end of time. "At present, and for the future," he
wrote, "your Majesty is and will be more strictly obeyed than any of
your predecessors;" adding, with insane self-complacency, "and all this
has been accomplished without violence." He also assured his Majesty
as to the prosperous condition of financial affairs. His tax was to work
wonders. He had conversed with capitalists who had