the attempt. He proposed and insisted that the Count of Egmont
should be instructed accordingly. He avowed in conclusion that he was a
Catholic himself and intended to remain in the Faith, but that he could
not look on with pleasure when princes strove to govern the souls of men,
and to take away their liberty in matters of conscience and religion.

Here certainly was no daintiness of phraseology, and upon these leading
points, thus slightly indicated, William of Orange poured out his
eloquence, bearing conviction upon the tide of his rapid invective. His
speech lasted till seven in the evening, when the Duchess adjourned the
meeting. The council broke up, the Regent went to supper, but the effect
of the discourse upon nearly all the members was not to be mistaken.
Viglius was in a state of consternation, perplexity, and despair. He felt
satisfied that, with perhaps the exception of Berlaymont, all who had
listened or should afterwards listen to the powerful arguments of Orange,
would be inevitably seduced or bewildered. The President lay awake,
tossing and tumbling in his bed, recalling the Prince's oration, point by
point, and endeavoring, to answer it in order. It was important, he felt,
to obliterate the impression produced. Moreover, as we have often seen,
the learned Doctor valued himself upon his logic.

It was absolutely necessary, therefore, that in his reply, next day, his
eloquence should outshine that of his antagonist. The President thus
passed a feverish and uncomfortable night, pronouncing and listening to
imaginary harangues. With the dawn of day he arose and proceeded to dress
himself. The excitement of the previous evening and the subsequent
sleeplessness of his night had, however, been too much for his feeble and
slightly superannuated frame. Before he had finished his toilet, a stroke
of apoplexy stretched him senseless upon the floor. His servants, when
they soon afterwards entered the apartment, found him rigid, and to all
appearance dead. After a few days, however, he recovered his physical
senses in part, but his reason remained for a longer time shattered, and
was never perhaps fully restored to its original vigor.

This event made it necessary that his place in the council should be
supplied. Viglius had frequently expressed intentions of retiring, a
measure to which he could yet never fully make up his mind. His place was
now temporarily supplied by his friend and countryman, Joachim Hopper,