almost every man in the country. Don John, soon after his arrival at
Luxemburg, had despatched messengers to the states-general, informing
them of his arrival. It was not before the close of the month of
November that the negotiations seriously began. Provost Fonck, on the
part of the Governor, then informed them of Don John's intention to enter
Namur, attended by fifty mounted troopers. Permission, however, was
resolutely refused, and the burghers of Namur were forbidden to render
oaths of fidelity until the Governor should have complied with the
preliminary demands of the estates. To enunciate these demands
categorically, a deputation of the estates-general came to Luxemburg.
These gentlemen were received with courtesy by Don John, but their own
demeanour was not conciliatory. A dislike to the Spanish government;
a disloyalty to the monarch with whose brother and representative they
were dealing, pierced through all their language. On the other hand,
the ardent temper of Don John was never slow to take offence. One of the
deputies proposed to the Governor, with great coolness, that he should
assume the government in his own name, and renounce the authority of
Philip. Were he willing to do so, the patriotic gentleman pledged
himself that the provinces would at once acknowledge him as sovereign,
and sustain his government. Don John, enraged at the insult to his own
loyalty which the proposition implied, drew his dagger and rushed towards
the offender. The deputy would, probably, have paid for his audacity
with his life had there not been by-standers enough to prevent the
catastrophe. This scene was an unsatisfactory prelude to the opening
negotiations.

On the 6th of December the deputies presented to the Governor at
Luxemburg a paper, containing their demands, drawn up in eight articles,
and their concessions in ten. The states insisted on the immediate
removal of the troops, with the understanding that they were never to