ars of the
by-standers, their heads were struck off by the sword of the
executioner. Eight of the number, who died in the Roman Catholic faith,
were graciously allowed the rites of Christian burial. The heads of the
remaining eleven were set upon poles, and their bodies left to rot upon
the gibbet, like those of the vilest malefactors.[1107]

On the second of June, ten or twelve more, some of them persons of
distinction, perished on the scaffold, in the same square in Brussels.
Among these was Villers, the companion of Hoogstraten in the ill-starred
expedition to Brabant, in which he was made prisoner. Since his
captivity he had made some disclosures respecting the measures of Orange
and his party, which might have entitled him to the consideration of
Alva. But he had signed the Compromise.

On the following day, five other victims were led to execution within
the walls of Vilvoorde, where they had been long confined. One of these
has some interest for us, Casembrot, lord of Backerzele, Egmont's
confidential secretary. That unfortunate gentleman had been put to the
rack more than once, to draw from him disclosures to the prejudice of
Egmont. But his constancy proved stronger than the cruelty of his
persecutors. He was now to close his sufferings by an ignominious death;
so far fortunate, however, that it saved him from witnessing the fate of
his beloved master.[1108] Such were the gloomy scenes which ushered in
the great catastrophe of the fifth of June.

[Sidenote: THE EXAMINATION.]

CHAPTER IV.

TRIALS OF EGMONT AND HOORNE.

The Examination.--Efforts in their Behalf.--Specification of
Charges.--Sentence of Death.--The Processes reviewed.

1568.

Nine months had now elapsed since the Counts Egmont and Hoorne had been
immured within the strong citadel of Ghent. During their confinement
they had met with even less indulgence than was commonly shown to
prisoners of state. They were not allowed to take the air of the castle,
and were debarred from all intercourse with the members of their
families. The sequestration of their property at the time of their
arrest had moreover reduced them to such extreme indigence, that but for
the care of their friends they would have wanted the common necessaries
of life.[1109]

During this period their enemies had not been idle. We have seen, at the
time of the arrest of the two nobles, that their secretaries and their
private papers had been also seized. "Backerzele,"