of July, 1577, in which a conspiracy against his life and liberty was revealed.  It was believed by the Governor that Count Lalain, who had secretly invited him to a conference, had laid an ambush for him.  It was known that the country was full of disbanded soldiers, and the Governor asserted confidently that numbers of desperadoes were lying in wait for him in every village alehouse of Hainault and Flanders.  He called on the states to ferret out these conspirators, and to inflict condign punishment upon their more guilty chiefs; he required that the soldiers, as well as the citizens, should be disarmed at Brussels and throughout Brabant, and he justified his seizure of Namur, upon the general ground that his life was no longer safe, except in a fortress.

In reply to the letter of the Governor, which was dated the 24th of July, the states despatched Marolles, Archdeacon of Ypres, and the Seigneur de Bresse, to Namur, with a special mission to enter into the whole subject of these grievances.  These gentlemen, professing the utmost devotion to the cause of his Majesty’s authority and the Catholic religion, expressed doubts as to the existence of the supposed conspiracy.  They demanded that Don John should denounce the culprits, if any such were known, in order that proper chastisement might be instantly inflicted.  The conversation which ensued was certainly unsatisfactory.  The Governor used lofty and somewhat threatening language, assuring Marolles that he was at that moment in possession, not only of Namur but of Antwerp citadel; and the deputies accordingly departed, having accomplished very little by their journey.  Their backs were scarcely turned, when Don John, on his part, immediately appointed another commission, consisting of Rassinghem and Grobbendonck, to travel from Namur to Brussels.  These envoys carried a long letter of grievances, enclosing a short list of demands.  The letter reiterated his complaints about conspiracies, and his protestations of sincerity.  It was full of censure upon the Prince of Orange; stigmatized his intrigues to obtain possession of Amsterdam without a proper “Satisfaction,” and of Utrecht, to which he had no claim at all.  It maintained that the Hollanders and Zealanders were bent upon utterly exterminating the Catholic religion, and that they avowed publicly their intention to refuse obedience to the assembly-general, should it decree the maintenance of the ancient worship only.  His chief demands were that the states should send him a list of persons qualified to be members of the general assembly, that he might see whether there were not individuals among them whom he might choose to reject.  He further required that, if the Prince of Orange did not instantly fulfil the treaty of Ghent, the states should cease to hold any communication with him.  He also summoned the states to provide him forthwith with a suitable body-guard.