He therefore endeavored to repair the breach, if possible, and thus save the Union.  Mirambeau, in his conferences with the estates, suggested, on his part, all that words could effect.  He expressed the hope that the estates would use their discretion “in compounding some sweet and friendly medicine” for the present disorder; and that they would not judge the Duke too harshly for a fault which he assured them did not come from his natural disposition.  He warned them that the enemy would be quick to take advantage of the present occasion to bring about, if possible, their destruction, and he added that he was commissioned to wait upon the Duke of Anjou, in order to assure him that, however alienated he might then be from the Netherlands, his Majesty was determined to effect an entire reconciliation.

The envoy conferred also with the Prince of Orange, and urged him most earnestly to use his efforts to heal the rupture.  The Prince, inspired by the sentiments already indicated, spoke with perfect sincerity.  His Highness, he said, had never known a more faithful and zealous friend than himself, He had begun to lose his own credit with the people by reason of the earnestness with which he had ever advocated the Duke’s cause, and he could not flatter himself that his recommendation would now be of any advantage to his Highness.  It would be more injurious than his silence.  Nevertheless, he was willing to make use of all the influence which was left to him for the purpose of bringing about a reconciliation, provided that the Duke were acting in good faith.  If his Highness were now sincerely desirous of conforming to the original treaty, and willing to atone for the faults committed by him on the same day in so many cities—­offences which could not be excused upon the ground of any affronts which he might have received from the citizens of Antwerp—­ it might even now be possible to find a remedy for the past.  He very bluntly told the envoy, however, that the frivolous excuses offered by the Duke caused more bitterness than if he had openly acknowledged his fault.  It were better, he said, to express contrition, than to excuse himself by laying blame on those to whom no blame belonged, but who, on the contrary, had ever shown themselves faithful servants of his Highness.

The estates of the Union, being in great perplexity as to their proper course, now applied formally, as they always did in times of danger and doubt, to the Prince, for a public expression of his views.  Somewhat reluctantly, he complied with their wishes in one of the most admirable of his state papers.