f these establishments,
but the political rights of the abbots whom they were to succeed;
and the whole of the ecclesiastical order become gradually
represented (after the death of the then living abbots) by the
creatures of the crown.

The consequences of this vital blow to the integrity of the national
institutions were evident; and the indignation of both clergy
and laity was universal. Every legal means of opposition was
resorted to, but the people were without leaders; the states
were not in session. While the authority of the pope and the king
combined, the reverence excited by the very name of religion, and
the address and perseverance of the government, formed too powerful
a combination, and triumphed over the national discontents which
had not yet been formed into resistance. The new bishops were
appointed; Granvelle securing for himself the archiepiscopal
see of Mechlin, with the title of primate of the Low Countries.
At the same time Paul IV. put the crowning point to the capital
of his ambition, by presenting him with a cardinal's hat.

The new bishops were to a man most violent, intolerant, and it
may be conscientious, opponents to the wide-spreading doctrines
of reform. The execution of the edicts against heresy was confided
to them. The provincial governors and inferior magistrates were
commanded to aid them with a strong arm; and the most unjust and
frightful persecution immediately commenced. But still some of
these governors and magistrates, considering themselves not only
the officers of the prince, but the protectors of the people,
and the defenders of the laws rather than of the faith, did not
blindly conform to those harsh and illegal commands. The Prince
of Orange, stadtholder of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht, and
the count of Egmont, governor of Flanders and Artois, permitted
no persecutions in those five provinces. But in various places
the very people, even when influenced by their superiors, openly
opposed it. Catholics as well as Protestants were indignant at
the atrocious spectacles of cruelty presented on all sides. The
public peace was endangered by isolated acts of resistance, and
fears of a general insurrection soon became universal.

The apparent temporizing or seeming uncertainty of the champions
of the new doctrines formed the great obstacle to the reformation,
and tended to prolong the dreadful struggle which was now only
commencing in the Low Countries. It was a matter of great