stately demeanor of the duchess.[951] At the close
of the interview Alva withdrew to his own quarters at Culemborg
House,--the place, it will be remembered, where the Gueux held their
memorable banquet on their visit to Brussels.

[Sidenote: MARGARET DISGUSTED.]

The following morning, at the request of the council of state, the duke
of Alva furnished that body with a copy of his commission. By this he
was invested with the title of captain-general, and in that capacity was
to exercise supreme control in all military affairs.[952] By another
commission, dated two months later, these powers were greatly enlarged.
The country was declared in a state of rebellion; and, as milder means
had failed to bring it to obedience, it was necessary to resort to arms.
The duke was therefore commanded to levy war on the refractory people,
and reduce them to submission. He was moreover to inquire into the
causes of the recent troubles, and bring the suspected parties to trial,
with full authority to punish or to pardon as he might judge best for
the public weal.[953] Finally, a third commission, of more startling
import than the two preceding, and which, indeed, might seem to
supersede them altogether, was dated on the first of March, 1567. In the
former instruments the duke was so far required to act in subordination
to the regent, that her authority was declared to be unimpaired. But by
virtue of this last commission he was invested with supreme control in
civil as well as military affairs; and persons of every degree,
including the regent herself, were enjoined to render obedience to his
commands, as to those of the king.[954] Such a commission, which placed
the government of the country in the hands of Alva, was equivalent to a
dismissal of Margaret. The title of "regent," which still remained to
her, was an empty mockery; nor could it be thought that she would be
content to retain a barren sceptre in the country over which she had so
long ruled.

It is curious to observe the successive steps by which Philip had raised
Alva from the rank of captain-general of the army to supreme authority
in the country. It would seem as if the king were too tenacious of power
readily to part with it; and that it was only by successive efforts, as
the conviction of the necessity of such a step pressed more and more on
his mind, that he determined to lodge the government in the hands of
Alva.

Whether the duke acquainted the council with the ful