population had come forth to do him honor. Women and children clustered
upon every roof and balcony, but a painful incident again marred the
tranquillity of the occasion. An apothecary's child, a little girl of
ten years, leaning eagerly from a lofty balcony, lost her balance
and fell to the ground, directly before the horses of the Prince's
carriage. She was killed stone dead by the fall. The procession
stopped; the Prince alighted, lifted the little corpse in his arms, and
delivered it, with gentle words and looks of consolation, to the unhappy
parents. The day seemed marked with evil omens, which were fortunately
destined to prove fallacious. The citizens of Utrecht became more than
ever inclined to accept the dominion of the Prince, whom they honored and
whom they already regarded as their natural chief. They entertained him
with banquets and festivities during his brief visit, and it was certain
before he took his departure that the treaty of "Satisfaction" would not
be long delayed. It was drawn up, accordingly, in the autumn of the same
year, upon the basis of that accepted by Harlem and Amsterdam--a basis
wide enough to support both religions, with a nominal supremacy to the
ancient Church.

Meantime, much fruitless correspondence had taken place between Don John
and the states Envoys; despatched by the two parties to each other, had
indulged in bitterness and recrimination. As soon as the Governor, had
taken: possession of Namur Castle, he had sent the Seigneur, de
Rassinghem to the states-general. That gentleman carried with him copies
of two anonymous letters, received by Don John upon the 19th and 21st of
July, 1577, in which a conspiracy against his life and liberty was
revealed. It was believed by the Governor that Count Lalain, who had
secretly invited him to a conference, had laid an ambush for him. It was
known that the country was full of disbanded soldiers, and the Governor
asserted confidently that numbers of desperadoes were lying in wait for