ecorous for
her, whom he did not disdain to call his sister, that she should remain
longer in a place of which the authority was so much abridged, or rather
annihilated."[994] She sent her secretary, Machiavelli, with her
despatches, requesting an immediate reply from Philip, and adding that,
if it were delayed, she should take silence for assent, and forthwith
leave the country.

[Sidenote: THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD.]

The duke of Alva was entirely resigned to the proposed departure of
Margaret. However slight the restraint her presence might impose on his
conduct, it exacted more deference than was convenient, and compelled
him to consult appearances. Now that he had shown his hand, he was
willing to play it out boldly to the end. His first step, after the
arrest of the lords, was to organize that memorable tribunal for
inquiring into the troubles of the country, which has no parallel in
history save the revolutionary tribunal of the French republic. The duke
did not shrink from assuming the sole responsibility of his measures. He
said, "it was better for the king to postpone his visit to the
Netherlands, so that his ministers might bear alone the odium of these
rigorous acts. When these had been performed, he might come like a
gracious prince, dispensing promises and pardon."[995]

This admirable coolness must be referred in part to Alva's consciousness
that his policy would receive the unqualified sanction of his master.
Indeed, his correspondence shows that all he had done in the Low
Countries was in accordance with a plan preconcerted with Philip. The
arrest of the Flemish lords, accordingly, gave entire satisfaction at
the court of Madrid, where it was looked on as the first great step in
the measures of redress. It gave equal contentment to the court of Rome,
where it was believed that the root of heresy was to be reached only by
the axe of the executioner. Yet there was one person at that court of
more penetration than those around him, the old statesman, Granvelle,
who, when informed of the arrest of Egmont and Hoorne, inquired if the
duke had "also drawn into his net the _Silent one_,"--as the prince of
Orange was popularly called. On being answered in the negative, "Then,"
said the cardinal, "if he has not caught him, he has caught
nothing."[996]

CHAPTER II.

CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA.

The Council of Blood.--Its Organization.--General Prosecutions.--Civil
War in France.--Departure of Margaret.--Her adm