Majesty's interests so little at heart. It seemed indecent in the eyes
of the excellent Frisian, that a wife pleading for her husband, a mother
for her, eleven children, so soon to be fatherless, should indulge in
strong language!

The statutes of the Fleece were obstacles somewhat more serious. As,
however, Alva had come to the Netherlands pledged to accomplish the
destruction of these two nobles, as soon as he should lay his hands upon
them, it was only a question of form, and even that question was, after a
little reflection, unceremoniously put aside.

To the petitions in behalf of the two Counts, therefore, that they should
be placed in the friendly keeping of the Order, and be tried by its
statutes, the Duke replied, peremptorily, that he had undertaken the
cognizance of this affair by commission of his Majesty, as sovereign of
the land, not as head of the Golden Fleece, that he should carry it
through as it had been commenced, and that the Counts should discontinue
presentations of petitions upon this point.

In the embarrassment created by the stringent language of these statutes,
Doctor Viglius found an opportunity to make himself very useful. Alva
had been turning over the laws and regulations of the Order, but could
find no loophole. The President, however, came to his rescue, and
announced it as his legal opinion that the Governor need concern himself
no further on the subject, and that the code of the Fleece offered no
legal impediment to the process. Alva immediately wrote to communicate
this opinion to Philip, adding, with great satisfaction, that he should
immediately make it known to the brethren of the Order, a step which was
the more necessary because Egmont's advocate had been making great
trouble with these privileges, and had been protesting at every step of