This commission, which was dated Dillenburg, 6th April, 1568, was a somewhat startling document.  It authorized the Count to levy troops and wage war against Philip, strictly for Philip’s good.  The fiction of loyalty certainly never went further.  The Prince of Orange made known to all “to whom those presents should come,” that through the affection which he bore the gracious King, he purposed to expel his Majesty’s forces from the Netherlands.  “To show our love for the monarch and his hereditary provinces,” so ran the commission, “to prevent the desolation hanging over the country by the ferocity of the Spaniards, to maintain the privileges sworn to by his Majesty and his predecessors, to prevent the extirpation of all religion by the edicts, and to save the sons and daughters of the land from abject slavery, we have requested our dearly beloved brother Louis Nassau to enrol as many troops as he shall think necessary.”

Van der Bergh, Hoogstraaten, and others, provided with similar powers, were also actively engaged in levying troops; but the right hand of the revolt was Count Louis, as his illustrious brother was its head and heart.  Two hundred thousand crowns was the sum which the Prince considered absolutely necessary for organizing the army with which he contemplated making an entrance into the Netherlands.  Half this amount had been produced by the cities of Antwerp, Amsterdam, Leyden, Harlem, Middelburg, Flushing, and other towns, as well as by refugee merchants in England.  The other half was subscribed by individuals.  The Prince himself contributed 50,000 florins, Hoogstraaten 30,000, Louis of Nassau 10,000, Culemberg 30,000, Van der Bergh 30,000, the Dowager-countess Horn 10,000, and other persons in less proportion.  Count John of Nassau also pledged his estates to raise a large sum for the cause.  The Prince himself sold all his jewels, plate, tapestry, and other furniture, which were of almost regal magnificence.  Not an enthusiast, but a deliberate, cautious man, he now staked his all upon the hazard, seemingly so desperate.  The splendor of his station has been sufficiently depicted.  His luxury, his fortune, his family, his life, his children, his honor, all were now ventured, not with the recklessness of a gambler, but with the calm conviction of a statesman.

A private and most audacious attempt to secure the person:  of Alva and the possession of Brussels had failed.  He was soon, however, called upon to employ all his energies against the open warfare which was now commenced.

According to the plan of the Prince, the provinces were to be attacked simultaneously, in three places, by his lieutenants, while he himself was waiting in the neighborhood of Cleves, ready for a fourth assault.  An army of Huguenots and refugees was to enter Artois upon the frontier of France; a second, under Hoogstraaten, was to operate between the Rhine and the Meuse; while Louis of Nassau was to raise the standard of revolt in Friesland.