Don John, having conceded so much, was soon obliged to concede the whole.
The Emperor Rudolph had lately succeeded his father, Maximilian. The
deceased potentate, whose sentiments on the great subject of religious
toleration were so much in harmony with those entertained by the Prince
of Orange, had, on the whole, notwithstanding the ties of relationship
and considerations of policy, uniformly befriended the Netherlands, so
far as words and protestations could go, at the court of Philip. Active
co-operation; practical assistance, he had certainly not rendered. He
had unquestionably been too much inclined to accomplish the impossibility
of assisting the states without offending the King--an effort which, in
the homely language of Hans Jenitz; was "like wishing his skin washed
without being wet." He had even interposed many obstacles to the free
action of the Prince, as has been seen in the course of this history, but
nevertheless, the cause of the Netherlands, of religion, and of humanity
had much to lose by his death. His eldest son and successor, Rudolph the
second, was an ardent Catholic, whose relations with a proscribed prince
and a reformed population could hardly remain long in a satisfactory
state. The New Emperor had, however, received the secret envoys of
Orange with bounty, and was really desirous of accomplishing the
pacification of the provinces. His envoys had assisted at all the
recent deliberations between the estates and Don John, and their vivid
remonstrances removed, at this juncture, the last objection on the part
of the Governor-General. With a secret sigh, he deferred the darling and
mysterious hope which had lighted him to the Netherlands, and consented
to the departure of the troops by land.

All obstacles having been thus removed, the memorable treaty called the
Perpetual Edict was signed at Marche en Famine on the 12th, and at
Brussels on the 17th of February, 1577. This document, issued in the
name of the King, contained nineteen articles. It approved and ratified