On the other hand, he was too sagacious not to know the inevitable
consequence of opposition to the will of Philip. He was therefore most
eager to escape the dilemma. He was a scholar, and could find more
agreeable employment among his books. He had accumulated vast wealth,
and was desirous to retain it as long as possible. He had a learned head
and was anxious to keep it upon his shoulders. These simple objects
could be better attained in a life of privacy. The post of president of
the privy council and member of the "Consulta" was a dangerous one. He
knew that the King was sincere in his purposes. He foresaw that the
people would one day be terribly in earnest. Of ancient Frisian blood
himself, he knew that the, spirit of the ancient Batavians and Frisians
had not wholly deserted their descendants. He knew that they were not
easily roused, that they were patient, but that they would strike at last
and would endure. He urgently solicited the King to release him, and
pleaded his infirmities of body in excuse. Philip, however, would not
listen to his retirement, and made use of the most convincing arguments
to induce him to remain. Four hundred and fifty annual florins, secured
by good reclaimed swamps in Friesland, two thousand more in hand, with a
promise of still larger emoluments when the King should come to the
Netherlands, were reasons which the learned doctor honestly confessed
himself unable to resist. Fortified by these arguments, he remained at
his post, continued the avowed friend and adherent of Granvelle, and
sustained with magnanimity the invectives of nobles and people. To do
him justice, he did what he could to conciliate antagonists and to
compromise principles. If it had ever been possible to find the exact
path between right and wrong, the President would have found it, and
walked in it with respectability and complacency.

In the council, however, the Cardinal continued to carry it with a high
hand; turning his back on Orange and Egmont, and retiring with the