gold," should be salutary for all-men who were now driven forward with a
whip, laughed to scorn by their new masters, and forced to drink the
bitter draught of humiliation along with the sweet poison of bribery.
They were warned to study well the intercepted letters of Curiel, in
order fully to fathom the deep designs and secret contempt of the enemy.

Such having been the result of the negotiations between the states-
general and the Walloon provinces, a strong deputation now went forth
from those provinces, towards the end of April, to hold a final colloquy
with Parma, then already busied with the investment of Maestricht. They
were met upon the road with great ceremony, and escorted into the
presence of Farnese with drum, trumpet, and flaunting banners.
He received them with stately affability, in a magnificently decorated
pavilion, carelessly inviting them to a repast, which he called an
afternoon's lunch, but which proved a most sumptuous and splendidly
appointed entertainment. This "trifling foolish banquet" finished, the
deputies were escorted, with great military parade, to the lodgings which
had been provided for them in a neighbouring village. During the period
of their visit, all the chief officers of the army and the household were
directed to entertain the Walloons with showy festivals, dinners,
suppers, dances, and carousals of all kinds. At one of the most
brilliant of these revels--a magnificent ball, to which all the matrons
and maids of the whole country round had been bidden--the Prince of Parma
himself unexpectedly made his appearance. He gently rebuked the
entertainers for indulging in such splendid hospitality without,
at least, permitting him to partake of it. Charmingly affable to the
ladies assembled in the ball-room, courteous, but slightly reserved,
towards the Walloon envoys, he excited the admiration of all by the
splendid decorum of his manners. As he moved through the halls,
modulating his steps in grave cadence to the music, the dignity and grace