The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1577 part 1 | Page 5

there was no resolution he might not take, even
to leaving everything and coming upon them when they least expected
him, although he were to receive a bloody punishment in consequence.
He, too, suggested the Empress, who had all the qualities which he
lacked himself, or Madame de Parma, or Madame de Lorraine, as each
of them was more fit to govern the provinces than he pretended to be.
"The people," said he, plainly, "are beginning to abhor me, and I abhor
them already." He entreated Perez to get him out of the country by fair
means or foul, "per fas aut per nefas." His friends ought to procure his
liberation, if they wished to save him from the sin of disobedience, and
even of infamy. He expressed the most unbounded confidence in the
honor of his correspondent, adding that if nothing else could procure
his release, the letter might be shown to the King. In general, the
Governor was always willing that Perez should make what changes he
thought advisable in the letters for his Majesty, altering or softening
whatever seemed crude or harsh, provided always the main point--that
of procuring his recal--were steadily kept in view, in this, said the
Governor, vehemently, my life, my honor, and my soul are all at stake;
for as to the two first, I shall forfeit them both certainly, and, in my

desperate condition, I shall run great risk of losing the last.
On the other hand, Perez was profuse in his professions of friendship
both to Don John and to Escovedo; dilating in all his letters upon the
difficulty of approaching the King upon the subject of his brother's
recal, but giving occasional information that an incidental hint had been
ventured which might not remain without effect. All these letters, were,
however, laid before Philip, for his approval, before being despatched,
and the whole subject thoroughly and perpetually discussed between
them, about which Perez pretended that he hardly dared breathe a
syllable to his Majesty. He had done what he could, he said, while
reading, piece by piece, to the King, during a fit of the gout, the official
despatches from the Netherlands, to insinuate such of the arguments
used by the Governor and Escovedo as might seem admissible, but it
was soon obvious that no impression could be made upon the royal
mind. Perez did not urge the matter, therefore, "because," said he, "if
the King should suspect that we had any other object than his interests,
we should all be lost." Every effort should be made by Don John and
all his friends to secure his Majesty's entire confidence, since by that
course more progress would be made in their secret plans, than by
proceedings concerning which the Governor wrote "with such fury and
anxiety of heart." Perez warned his correspondent, therefore, most
solemnly, against the danger of "striking the blow without hitting the
mark," and tried to persuade him that his best interests required him to
protract his residence in the provinces for a longer period. He informed
Don John that his disappointment as to the English scheme had met
with the warmest sympathy of the King, who had wished his brother
success. "I have sold to him, at as high a price as I could," said Perez,
"the magnanimity with which your Highness had sacrificed, on that
occasion, a private object to his service."
The minister held the same language, when writing, in a still more
intimate and expansive style, to Escovedo. "We must avoid, by a
thousand--leagues, the possibility of the King's thinking us influenced
by private motives," he observed; "for we know the King and the
delicacy of these matters. The only way to gain the good-will of the
man is carefully to accommodate ourselves to his tastes, and to have
the appearance of being occupied solely with his interests." The letter,
like all the rest, being submitted to "the man" in question before being

sent, was underlined by him at this paragraph and furnished with the
following annotation: "but you must enlarge upon the passage which I
have marked--say more, even if you are obliged to copy the letter, in
order that we may see the nature of the reply."
In another letter to Escovedo, Perez enlarged upon the impropriety, the
impossibility of Don John's leaving the Netherlands at that time. The
King was so resolute upon that point, he said, that 'twas out of the
question to suggest the matter. "We should, by so doing, only lose all
credit with him in other things. You know what a terrible man he is; if
he should once suspect us of having a private end in view, we should
entirely miss our mark." Especially the secretary was made acquainted
with the enormous error which would be committed