The victor gained many friends by his victory, and one enemy.  The bitterness of that foe was likely, in the future, to outweigh all the plaudits of his friends.  The Duke of Alva had strongly advised against giving battle to De Thermes.  He depreciated the triumph after it had been gained, by reflections upon the consequences which would have flowed, had a defeat been suffered instead.  He even held this language to Egmont himself after his return to Brussels.  The conqueror, flushed with his glory, was not inclined to digest the criticism, nor what he considered the venomous detraction of the Duke.  More vain and arrogant than ever, he treated his powerful Spanish rival with insolence, and answered his observations with angry sarcasms, even in the presence of the King.  Alva was not likely to forget the altercation, nor to forgive the triumph.

There passed, naturally, much bitter censure and retort on both sides at court, between the friends and adherents of Egmont and those who sustained the party of his adversary.  The battle of Gravelines was fought over daily, amid increasing violence and recrimination, between Spaniard and Fleming, and the old international hatred flamed more fiercely than ever.  Alva continued to censure the foolhardiness which had risked so valuable an army on a single blow.  Egmont’s friends replied that it was easy for foreigners, who had nothing at risk in the country, to look on while the fields of the Netherlands were laid waste, and the homes and hearths of an industrious population made desolate, by a brutal and rapacious soldiery.  They who dwelt in the Provinces would be ever grateful to their preserver for the result.  They had no eyes for the picture which the Spanish party painted of an imaginary triumph of De Thermos and its effects.  However the envious might cavil, now that the blow had been struck, the popular heart remained warm as ever, and refused to throw down the idol which had so recently been set up.

1558-1559 [Chapter iii.]

Secret negotiations for peace—­Two fresh armies assembled, but inactive—­Negotiations at Cercamp—­Death of Mary Tudor—­Treaty of Cateau Cambresis—­Death of Henry ii.—­Policy of Catharine de Medici —­Revelations by Henry ii. to the Prince of Orange—­Funeral of Charles V. in Brussels—­Universal joy in the Netherlands at the restoration of peace—­Organization of the government by Philip, and preparations for his departure—­Appointment of Margaret of Parma as Regent of the Netherlands—­Three councils—­The consulta—­The stadholders of the different provinces—­Dissatisfaction caused by the foreign troops—­Assembly of the Estates at Ghent to receive the parting instructions and farewell of the King—­Speech of the Bishop of Arras—­Request for three millions—­Fierce denunciation of heresy on the part of Philip—­Strenuous enforcement of the edicts commanded—­Reply by the States of Arthois—­Unexpected conditions—­