med composure, but filled with
the fury of a discovered traitor and a humiliated despot.

A fleet under the command of Count Horn, the admiral of the United
Provinces, waited at Flessingue to form his escort to Spain. At
the very moment of his departure, William of Nassau, prince of
Orange and governor of Zealand, waited on him to pay his official
respects. The king, taking him apart from the other attendant
nobles, recommended him to hasten the execution of several gentlemen
and wealthy citizens attached to the newly introduced religious
opinions. Then, quite suddenly, whether in the random impulse of
suppressed rage, or that his piercing glance discovered William's
secret feelings in his countenance, he accused him with having
been the means of thwarting his designs. "Sire," replied Nassau,
"it was the work of the national states."--"No!" cried Philip,
grasping him furiously by the arm; "it was not done by the states,
but by you, and you alone!"--Schiller. The words of Philip were:
"_No,_no_los_estados_; _ma_vos,_vos,_vos!_" Vos thus used in
Spanish is a term of contempt, equivalent to _toi_ in French.

This glorious accusation was not repelled. He who had saved his
country in unmasking the designs of its tyrant admitted by his
silence his title to the hatred of the one and the gratitude
of the other. On the 20th of August, Philip embarked and set
sail; turning his back forever on the country which offered the
first check to his despotism; and, after a perilous voyage, he
arrived in that which permitted a free indulgence to his ferocious
and sanguinary career.

For some time after Philip's departure, the Netherlands continued
to enjoy considerable prosperity. From the period of the Peace
of Cateau-Cambresis, commerce and navigation had acquired new
and increasing activity. The fisheries, but particularly that of
herrings, became daily more important; that one alone occupying
two thousand boats. While Holland, Zealand and Friesland made this
progress in their peculiar branches of industry, the southern
provinces were not less active or successful. Spain and the colonies
offered such a mart for the objects of their manufacture that
in a single year they received from Flanders fifty large ships
filled with articles of household furniture and utensils. The
exportation of woollen goods amounted to enormous sums. Bruges
alone sold annually to the amount of four million florins of
stuffs of Spanish, and as much of Engli