part. He
in the meantime retired to France, to let the public indignation
subside; but before he could assume sufficient confidence again to
face the country he had so basely injured his worthless existence
was suddenly terminated, some thought by poison--the common solution
of all such doubtful questions in those days--in the month of June
in the following year. He expired in his twenty-ninth year.

A disgusting proof of public ingratitude and want of judgment
was previously furnished by the conduct of the people of Antwerp
against him who had been so often their deliverer from such various
dangers. Unable to comprehend the greatness of his mind, they
openly accused the Prince of Orange of having joined with the
French for their subjugation, and of having concealed a body
of that detested nation in the citadel. The populace rushed to
the place, and having minutely examined it, were convinced of
their own absurdity and the prince's innocence. He scorned to
demand their punishment for such an outrageous calumny; but he was
not the less afflicted at it. He took the resolution of quitting
Flanders, as it turned out, forever; and he retired into Zealand,
where he was better known and consequently better trusted.

In the midst of the consequent confusion in the former of these
provinces, the prince of Parma, with indefatigable vigor, made
himself master of town after town; and turned his particular
attention to the creation of a naval force, which was greatly
favored by the possession of Dunkirk, Nieuport, and Gravelines.
Native treachery was not idle in this time of tumult and confusion.
The count of Renneberg, governor of Friesland and Groningen,
had set the basest example, and gone over to the Spaniards. The
prince of Chimay, son of the duke of Arschot, and governor of
Bruges, yielded to the persuasions of his father, and gave up
the place to the prince of Parma. Hembyse also, amply confirming
the bad opinion in which the Prince of Orange always held him,
returned to Ghent, where he regained a great portion of his former
influence, and immediately commenced a correspondence with the
prince of Parma, offering to deliver up both Ghent and Termonde.
An attempt was consequently made by the Spaniards to surprise
the former town; but the citizens were prepared for this, having
intercepted some of the letters of Hembyse; and the traitor was
seized, tried, condemned, and executed on the 4th of August, 1584.
He was upward of s