Such were the tenor and the motives of the documents which he scattered—­broadcast at this crisis.  They were addressed to the estates of nearly every province.  Those bodies were urgently implored to appoint deputies to a general congress, at which a close and formal union between Holland and Zealand with the other provinces might be effected.  That important measure secured, a general effort might, at the same time, be made to expel the Spaniard from the soil.  This done, the remaining matters could be disposed of by the assembly of the estates-general.  His eloquence and energy were not without effect.  In the course of the autumn, deputies were appointed from the greater number of the provinces, to confer with the representatives of Holland and Zealand, in a general congress.  The place appointed for the deliberations was the city of Ghent.  Here, by the middle of October, a large number of delegates were already assembled.

Events were rapidly rolling together from every quarter, and accumulating to a crisis.  A congress—­a rebellious congress, as the King might deem it—­was assembling at Ghent; the Spanish army, proscribed, lawless, and terrible, was strengthening itself daily for some dark and mysterious achievement; Don John of Austria, the King’s natural brother, was expected from Spain to assume the government, which the State Council was too timid to wield and too loyal to resign, while, meantime, the whole population of the Netherlands, with hardly an exception, was disposed to see the great question of the foreign soldiery settled, before the chaos then existing should be superseded by a more definite authority.  Everywhere, men of all ranks and occupations—­the artisan in the city, the peasant in the fields—­were deserting their daily occupations to furbish helmets, handle muskets, and learn the trade of war.  Skirmishes, sometimes severe and bloody, were of almost daily occurrence.  In these the Spaniards were invariably successful, for whatever may be said of their cruelty and licentiousness, it cannot be disputed that their prowess was worthy of their renown.  Romantic valor, unflinching fortitude, consummate skill, characterized them always.  What could half-armed artisans achieve in the open plain against such accomplished foes?  At Tisnacq, between Louvain and Tirlemont, a battle was attempted by a large miscellaneous mass of students, peasantry, and burghers, led by country squires.  It soon changed to a carnage, in which the victims were all on one side.  A small number of veterans, headed by Vargas, Mendoza, Tassis, and other chivalrous commanders, routed the undisciplined thousands at a single charge.  The rude militia threw away their arms, and fled panic-struck in all directions, at the first sight of their terrible foe.  Two Spaniards lost their lives and two thousand Netherlanders.  It was natural that these consummate warriors should despise such easily slaughtered victims.  A single stroke of the iron flail, and the chaff was