their nation, they had not forgotten. At the table of the Elector
of Brandenburg much mirth was caused by the gravity of the
statesmen of Holland, who, sober themselves, confuted out of
Grotius and Puffendorf the nonsense stuttered by the tipsy nobles
of the Empire. One of those nobles swallowed so many bumpers that
he tumbled into the turf fire, and was not pulled out till his
fine velvet suit had been burned.5

In the midst of all this revelry, business was not neglected. A
formal meeting of the Congress was held at which William
presided. In a short and dignified speech, which was speedily
circulated throughout Europe, he set forth the necessity of firm
union and strenuous exertion. The profound respect with which he
was heard by that splendid assembly caused bitter mortification
to his enemies both in England and in France. The German
potentates were bitterly reviled for yielding precedence to an
upstart. Indeed the most illustrious among them paid to him such
marks of deference as they would scarcely have deigned to pay to
the Imperial Majesty, mingled with the crowd in his antechamber,
and at his table behaved as respectfully as any English lord in
waiting. In one caricature the allied princes were represented as
muzzled bears, some with crowns, some with caps of state. William
had them all in a chain, and was teaching them to dance. In
another caricature, he appeared taking his ease in an arm chair,
with his feet on a cushion, and his hat on his head, while the
Electors of Brandenburg and Bavaria, uncovered, occupied small
stools on the right and left; the crowd of Landgraves and
Sovereign dukes stood at humble distance; and Gastanaga, the
unworthy successor of Alva, awaited the orders of the heretic
tyrant on bended knee.6