to save the interests of
Vargas from suffering by his absence." In conclusion he tells the duke,
that Vargas should give no heed to what is said of the suits, since he
must be assured, after the letter he has received under the royal hand,
that his sovereign fully approves his conduct.[1083] But if Vargas, by
his unscrupulous devotion to the cause, won the confidence of his
employers, he incurred, on the other hand, the unmitigated hatred of the
people,--a hatred deeper, it would almost seem, than even that which
attached to Alva; owing perhaps to the circumstance that, as the
instrument for the execution of the duke's measures, Vargas was brought
more immediately in contact with the people than the duke himself.

As we have already seen, many, especially of those who dwelt in the
border provinces, escaped the storm of persecution by voluntary exile.
The suspected parties would seem to have received, not unfrequently,
kindly intimations from the local magistrates of the fate that menaced
them.[1084] Others, who lived in the interior, were driven to more
desperate courses. They banded together in considerable numbers, under
the name of the "wild _Gueux_,"--"_Gueux sauvages_,"--and took refuge in
the forests, particularly of West Flanders. Thence they sallied forth,
fell upon unsuspecting travellers, especially the monks and
ecclesiastics, whom they robbed, and sometimes murdered. Occasionally
they were so bold as to invade the monasteries and churches, stripping
them of their rich ornaments, their plate and other valuables, when,
loaded with booty, they hurried back to their fastnesses. The evil
proceeded to such a length, that the governor-general was obliged to
order out a strong force to exterminate the banditti, while at the same
time he published an edict, declaring that every district should be held
responsible for the damage done to property within its limits by these
marauders.[1085]

It might be supposed that, under the general feeling of resentment
provoked by Alva's cruel policy, his life would have been in constant
danger from the hand of the assassin. Once, indeed, he had nearly fallen
a victim to a conspiracy headed by two brothers, men of good family in
Flanders, who formed a plan to kill him while attending mass at an abbey
in the neighborhood of Brussels.[1086] But Alva was not destined to fall
by the hand of violence.

We may well believe that wise and temperate men, like Viglius, condemned
the duke