his Majesty would avoid great mischief.  Many grand seigniors, governors, and others, had thought it necessary to give this notice, in order that the King might prevent the ruin of the country.  If, however, his Majesty were willing, as they hoped, to avoid discontenting all for the sake of satisfying one, it was possible that affairs might yet prosper.  That they might not be thought influenced by ambition or by hope of private profit, the writers asked leave to retire from the state council.  Neither their reputation, they said, nor the interests of the royal service would permit them to act with the Cardinal.  They professed themselves dutiful subjects and Catholic vassals.  Had it not been for the zeal of the leading seigniors, the nobility, and other well-disposed persons, affairs would not at that moment be so tranquil; the common people having been so much injured, and the manner of life pursued by the Cardinal not being calculated to give more satisfaction than was afforded by his unlimited authority.  In conclusion, the writers begged his Majesty not to throw the blame upon them, if mischance should follow the neglect of this warning.  This memorable letter was signed by Guillaume, de Nassau, Lamoral d’Egmont, and Philippes de Montmorency (Count Horn).  It was despatched undercover to Charles de Tisnacq, a Belgian, and procurator for the affairs of the Netherlands at Madrid, a man whose relations with Count Egmont were of a friendly character.  It was impossible, however, to keep the matter a secret from the person most interested.  The Cardinal wrote to the King the day before the letter was written, and many weeks before it was sent, to apprize him that it was coming, and to instruct him as to the answer he was to make.  Nearly all the leading nobles and governors had adhered to the substance of the letter, save the Duke of Aerschot, Count Aremberg, and Baron Berlaymont.  The Duke and Count had refused to join the league; violent scenes having occurred upon the subject between them and the leaders of the opposition party.  Egmont, being with a large shooting party at Aerschot’s country place, Beaumont, had taken occasion to urge the Duke to join in the general demonstration against the Cardinal, arguing the matter in the rough, off-hand, reckless manner which was habitual with him.  His arguments offended the nobleman thus addressed, who was vain and irascible.  He replied by affirming that he was a friend to Egmont, but would not have him for his master.  He would have nothing to do, he said, with their league against the Cardinal, who had never given him cause of enmity.  He had no disposition to dictate to the King as to his choice of ministers, and his Majesty was quite right to select his servants at his own pleasure.  The Duke added that if the seigniors did not wish him for a friend, it was a matter of indifference to him.  Not one of them was his superior; he had as large a band of noble followers and friends as the best of them, and