horrible years—­two simples which the patient could hardly be so unreasonable as to reject—­unlimited despotism and religious persecution.  The whole matter lay in a nut-shell, but it was a nut-shell which enclosed the flaming edicts of Charles the Fifth, with their scaffolds, gibbets, racks, and funeral piles.  The Prince and the states-general spurned such pacific overtures, and preferred rather to gird themselves for the combat.

That there might be no mistake about the matter, Don John, immediately after receiving the letter, issued a proclamation to enforce the King’s command.  He mentioned it as an acknowledged fact that the states-general had long ago sworn the maintenance of the two points of royal and Catholic supremacy, according to the practice under the Emperor Charles.  The states instantly published an indignant rejoinder, affirming the indisputable truth, that they had sworn to the maintenance of the Ghent Pacification, and proclaiming the assertion of Don John an infamous falsehood.  It was an outrage upon common sense, they said, that the Ghent treaty could be tortured into sanctioning the placards and the Inquisition, evils which that sacred instrument had been expressly intended to crush.

A letter was then formally addressed to his Majesty, in the name of the Archduke Matthias—­and of the estates, demanding the recal of Don John and the, maintenance of the Ghent Pacification.  De Seller, in reply, sent a brief, deprecatory paper, enclosing a note from Don John, which the envoy acknowledged might seem somewhat harsh in its expressions.  The letter contained, indeed, a sufficiently fierce and peremptory summons to the states to obey the King’s commands with regard to the system of Charles the Fifth, according to their previous agreement, together with a violent declaration of the Governor’s displeasure that they had dared to solicit the aid of foreign princes.  On the 18th of February came a proposition from De Seller that the Prince, of Orange should place himself in the hands of Don John, while the Prince of Parma, alone and without arms, would come before the assembly, to negotiate with them upon these matters.  The reply returned by the states-general to this absurd suggestion expressed their regret that the son of the Duchess Margaret should have taken part with the enemy of the Netherlanders, complained of the bull by which the Pope had invited war against them as if they had been Saracens, repeated their most unanswerable argument—­that the Ghent Pacification had established a system directly the reverse of that which existed under Charles the Fifth—­and affirmed their resolution never more to submit to Spanish armies, executioners, edicts, or inquisitions, and never more to return to the principles of the Emperor and of Alva.  To this diplomatic correspondence succeeded a war of words and of pamphlets, some of them very inflammatory and very eloquent.  Meantime, the preparations for active hostilities were proceeding