t eminent jurists of the country, and a personal
friend of her husband. In her name, he addressed letters to several of
the German princes, and to the Emperor Maximilian, requesting their good
offices in behalf of her lord. He also wrote both to Alva and the king,
less to solicit the release of Egmont--a thing little to be
expected--than to obtain the removal of the cause from the Council of
Blood to a court consisting of the knights of the Golden Fleece. To this
both Egmont and Hoorne had a good claim, as belonging to that order, the
statutes of which, solemnly ratified by Philip himself, guarantied to
its members the right of being tried only by their peers. The frank and
independent tone with which the Flemish jurist, himself also one of the
order, and well skilled in the law, urged this claim on the Spanish
monarch, reflects honor on his memory.

Hoorne's wife, also a German lady of high connection, and his
step-mother, the countess-dowager, were unwearied in their exertions in
his behalf. They wrote to the knights of the Golden Fleece, in whatever
country residing, and obtained their written testimony to the
inalienable right of the accused to be tried by his brethren.[1114] This
was obviously a point of the last importance, since a trial by the
Council of Blood was itself equivalent to a condemnation.

Several of the electors, as well as other princes of the empire,
addressed Philip directly on the subject, beseeching him to deal with
the two nobles according to the statutes of the order. Maximilian wrote
two letters to the same purpose; and, touching on the brilliant services
of Egmont, he endeavored to excite the king's compassion for the
desolate condition of the countess and her children.[1115]

[Sidenote: SPECIFICATION OF CHARGES.]

But it was not foreigners only who interceded in behalf of the lords.
Mansfeldt, than whom Philip had not a more devoted subject in the
Netherlands, implored his sovereign to act conformably to justice and
reason in the matter.[1116] Count Barlaimont, who on all occasions had
proved himself no less stanch in his loyalty, found himself now in an
embarrassing situation,--being both a knight of the order and a member
of the Council of Troubles. He wrote accordingly to Philip, beseeching
his majesty to relieve him from the necessity of either acting like a
disloyal subject or of incurring the reproaches of his brethren.[1117]

Still more worthy of notice is the interference of Car