his
political life, which it is probably doing no injustice to the nobles to
suppose they did not take much pains to correct. The favorite of the
prince is rarely the favorite of the people. But no minister had ever
been so unpopular as Granvelle in the Netherlands. He was hated by the
nobles for his sudden elevation to power, and for the servile means, as
they thought, by which he had risen to it. The people hated him, because
he used that power for the ruin of their liberties. No
administration--none certainly, if we except that of the iron Alva--was
more odious to the nation.

[Sidenote: LEAGUE AGAINST GRANVELLE.]

Notwithstanding Granvelle's constancy, and the countenance he received
from the regent and a few of the leading councillors, it was hard to
bear up under this load of obloquy. He would gladly have had the king
return to the country, and sustain him by his presence. It is the burden
of his correspondence at this period. "It is a common notion here," he
writes to the secretary, Perez, "that they are all ready in Spain to
sacrifice the Low Countries. The lords talk so freely, that every moment
I fear an insurrection.... For God's sake, persuade the king to come, or
it will lie heavy on his conscience."[555] The minister complains to the
secretary that he seems to be entirely abandoned by the government at
home. "It is three months," he writes, "since I have received a letter
from the court. We know as little of Spain here as of the Indies. Such
delays are dangerous, and may cost the king dear."[556]--It is clear his
majesty exercised his royal prerogative of having the correspondence all
on one side. At least his own share in it, at this period, was small,
and his letters were concise indeed in comparison with the voluminous
epistles of his minister. Perhaps there was some policy in this silence
of the monarch. His opinions, nay, his wishes, would have, to some
extent, the weight of laws. He would not, therefore, willingly commit
himself. He preferred to conform to his natural tendency to trust to the
course of events, instead of disturbing them by too precipitate action.
The cognomen by which Philip is recognized on the roll of Castilian
princes is "the Prudent."

CHAPTER VII.

GRANVELLE COMPELLED TO WITHDRAW.

League against Granvelle.--Margaret desires his Removal.--Philip
deliberates.--Granvelle dismissed.--Leaves the Netherlands.

1562-1564.

While the state of feeling towards Granvelle