s were often wrung from
innocent people, who could not support the agony of torture, preferring
to be punished for crimes they had not committed than to bear it. And
this punishment was almost invariably to be hanged or burned alive at
the stake.

At the time when William was put in control of the three small states
that we have spoken of, Philip had left the Low Countries for Spain,
and had placed the government of his dominions in the Netherlands in
the hands of his half sister, Margaret the Duchess of Parma, and under
her rule the cruel measures enacted by Philip against the Protestants
were ruthlessly carried out.

As Governor under Philip, William was expected to apply these measures
himself, and on one occasion was ordered to put to death certain people
who were accused of heresy. Being unwilling to do this he sent them
private warning, suffering them to escape before his men came to arrest
them; and from this time on he followed a course of action that soon
brought him into disfavor with the Duchess of Parma who suspected him
of treachery and wrote to the King of Spain accusing William of many
crimes.

Greater and greater grew the unrest and dissatisfaction throughout the
Netherlands. And one curious sign of this was in the formation of a
society of noblemen who called themselves "The Beggars." This
organization had come about in the following manner. Three hundred or
more noblemen had presented to Margaret a request that the Inquisition
be abolished and the edicts against the Protestants revoked. Some of
her advisors laughed at the request of the Flemish nobles, referring to
them scornfully as "beggars," and the term came to their ears. At once
they took the word for their watch cry and dressed themselves in the
costume of beggars with wallets and begging bowls, declaring that they
would not resume their ordinary dress until their requests had been
granted. And this organization did a great deal to fan the opposition
to Spain, which was increasing every day throughout the Netherlands,
into a flame of rebellion.

Another disturbance soon took place that made the King of Spain more
bitterly angry against the Low Countries than any other thing that
could have happened. A storm against the Catholic faith swept through
the country and churches were sacked and the holy images destroyed in
every province. Mobs marched through the streets attired in the sacred
vestments of the priests that they had torn from the al