and was far from being entirely acceptable to Orange.  He had no trust in the good faith of either Philip or his representative, and, though he recommended Holland and Zeeland to acquiesce in the treaty and acknowledge Don John as governor-general, it was with the secret resolve to keep a close watch upon his every action, and not to brook any attempt to interfere with religious liberty in the two provinces, in which he exercised almost sovereign power and with whose struggles for freedom he had identified himself.

The undertaking of Don John with regard to the Spanish troops was punctually kept.  Before the end of April they had all left the country; and on May 1 the new governor-general made his state entry into Brussels.  It was to outward appearances very brilliant.  But the hero of Lepanto found himself at once distrusted by the Catholic nobles and checkmated by the influence and diplomacy of the ever watchful William of Orange.  Chafing at his impotence, and ill-supported by the king, who sent no reply to his appeals for financial help, Don John suddenly left the capital and, placing himself at the head of a body of Walloon troops, seized Namur.  Feeling himself in this stronghold more secure, he tried to bring pressure on the States-General to place in his hands wider powers and to stand by him in his efforts to force Orange to submit to the authority of the king.  His efforts were in vain.  William had warned the States-General and the nobles of the anti-Spanish party in Brabant and Flanders that Don John was not to be trusted, and he now pointed to the present attitude of the governor-general, as a proof that his suspicions were well-founded.  Indeed the eyes of all true patriots began to turn to the prince, who had been quietly strengthening his position, not only in Holland and Zeeland, where he was supreme, but also in Utrecht and Gelderland; and popular movements in Brussels and elsewhere took place in his favour.  So strongly marked was the Orange feeling in the capital that the States-General acceded to the general wish that the prince should be invited to come in person to Brussels.  Confidence was expressed by Catholics no less than by Protestants that only under his leadership could the country be delivered from Spanish tyranny.  A deputation was sent, bearing the invitation; but for a while William hesitated in giving an affirmative reply.  On September 23, however, he made his entry into Brussels amidst general demonstrations of joy and was welcomed as “the Restorer and Defender of the Father-land’s liberty.”  Thus, ten years after he had been declared an outlaw and banished, did the Prince of Orange return in triumph to the town which had witnessed the execution of Egmont and Hoorn.  It was the proudest day of his life and the supreme point of his career.

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CHAPTER V

WILLIAM THE SILENT