Blood" from the merciless nature of its transactions. Anyone who chose
to give evidence against his friends was assured that he would have a
generous reward for such betrayals. The Duke of Alva was President of
the Council and had the right of final decision in all cases. Few were
saved from the sword or the stake, since by blood alone the rebel and
the heretic were to be crushed and Philip's sovereignty established
firmly in the Netherlands.

In 1568 William of Orange was ordered to appear before the court and,
on his refusal, was declared an outlaw. His eldest son was captured at
the University of Louvain and sent to the Spanish court that he might
unlearn the principles in which he had been educated.

Orange issued a justification of his conduct, but even this was held to
be an act of defiance against the authority of Philip. The once loyal
subject determined to expel the King's troops from the Low Countries,
believing himself chosen by God to save the reformers from the pitiless
oppression of the Spanish. He had {90} already changed his views on
religion. Prudence seemed to have forsaken the astute Prince of
Orange. He proceeded to raise an army, though he had not enough money
to pay his mercenaries. He was preparing for a struggle against a
general, second to none in Europe, a general, moreover, who had
veterans at his command and the authority of Spain behind him. Yet the
first disaster did not daunt either William of Orange or his brother
Louis of Nassau, who was also a chivalrous leader of the people. "With
God's help I am determined to go on," were the words inspired by Alva's
triumph. There were Reformers in other countries ready to send help to
their brethren in religion. Elizabeth of England had extended a
welcome to thousands of Flemish traders. It was William's constant
hope that she would send a force openly to his assistance.

Elizabeth, however, did not like rebels and was not minded to show
sympathy with the enemies of Philip, who kept his troops from an attack
on England. She would secretly encourage the Beggars to take Spanish
ships, but she would not send an army of sufficient strength to ensure
a decisive victory for the Reformers of the Netherlands.

[Illustration: Last Moments of Count Egmont (Louis Gallait)]

Alva exulted in the loss of prestige which attended his enemy's flight
from the Huguenot camp in the garb of a German peasant. He regarded
William as a dead man, since