misery he remembered favors received from humble persons. "Send a little
cup, worth at least a hundred florins, to Hartmann Wolf," he wrote to his
brother; "you can take as much silver out of the coffer, in which there
is still some of my chapel service remaining."--"You will observe that
Affenstein is wanting a horse," he wrote on another occasion; "please
look him out one, and send it to me with the price. I will send you the
money. Since he has shown himself so willing in the cause, one ought to
do something for him."

The contest between the Duke and the estates, on the subject of the tenth
and twentieth penny had been for a season adjusted. The two years' term,
however, during which it had been arranged that the tax should be
commuted, was to expire in the autumn of 1571. Early therefore in this
year the disputes were renewed with greater acrimony than ever. The
estates felt satisfied that the King was less eager than the Viceroy.
Viglius was satisfied that the power of Alva was upon the wane. While
the King was not likely openly to rebuke his recent measures, it seemed
not improbable that the Governor's reiterated requests to be recalled
might be granted. Fortified by these considerations, the President,
who had so long been the supple tool of the tyrant, suddenly assumed
the character of a popular tribune. The wranglings, the contradictions,
the vituperations, the threatenings, now became incessant in the council.
The Duke found that he had exulted prematurely, when he announced to the
King the triumphant establishment, in perpetuity, of the lucrative tax.
So far from all the estates having given their consent, as he had
maintained, and as he had written to Philip, it now appeared that not
one of those bodies considered itself bound beyond its quota for the two
years. This was formally stated in the council by Berlaymont and other
members. The wrath of the Duke blazed forth at this announcement. He
berated Berlaymont for maintaining, or for allowing it to be maintained,