nds, she quitted
her retirement to take part with him in the direction of public affairs.
It was but for a moment; and her present departure from the Netherlands
may be regarded as the close of her political existence.

[Sidenote: HER ADMINISTRATION REVIEWED.]

The government of Margaret continued from the autumn of 1559 to the end
of 1567, a period of eight years. It was a stormy and most eventful
period; for it was then that the minds of men were agitated to their
utmost depths by the new doctrines which gave birth to the revolution.
Margaret's regency, indeed, may be said to have furnished the opening
scenes of that great drama. The inhabitants of the Low Countries were
accustomed to the sway of a woman. Margaret was the third of her line
that had been intrusted with the regency. In qualifications for the
office she was probably not inferior to her predecessors. Her long
residence in Italy had made her acquainted with the principles of
government in a country where political science was more carefully
studied than in any other quarter of Europe. She was habitually
industrious; and her robust frame was capable of any amount of labor. If
she was too masculine in her nature to allow of the softer qualities of
her sex, she was, on the other hand, exempt from the fondness for
pleasure and from most of the frivolities which belonged to the women of
the voluptuous clime in which she had lived. She was stanch in her
devotion to the Catholic faith; and her loyalty was such, that, from the
moment of assuming the government, she acknowledged no stronger motive
than that of conformity to the will of her sovereign. She was fond of
power; and she well knew that, with Philip, absolute conformity to his
will was the only condition on which it was to be held.

With her natural good sense, and the general moderation of her views,
she would, doubtless, have ruled over the land as prosperously as her
predecessors, had the times been like theirs. But, unhappily for her,
the times had greatly changed. Still Margaret, living on the theatre of
action, and feeling the pressure of circumstances, would have gone far
to conform to the change. But unfortunately she represented a prince,
dwelling at a distance, who knew no change himself, allowed no
concessions to others,--whose conservative policy rested wholly on the
past.

It was unfortunate for Margaret, that she never fully possessed the
confidence of Philip. Whether from distrust of her