for him to go out after
dark. Placards were posted up in Brussels menacing his life if he
persisted in the prosecution of Egmont.[1188] He held such menaces as
light as he did the entreaties of the countess, or the arguments of her
counsel. Far from being moved by personal considerations, no power could
turn him from that narrow path which he professed to regard as the path
of duty. He went surely, though it might be slowly, towards the mark,
crushing by his iron will every obstacle that lay in his track. We
shudder at the contemplation of such a character, relieved by scarcely a
single touch of humanity. Yet we must admit there is something which
challenges our admiration in the stern, uncompromising manner, without
fear or favor, with which a man of this indomitable temper carries his
plans into execution.

It would not be fair to omit, in this connection, some passages from
Alva's correspondence, which suggest the idea that he was not wholly
insensible to feelings of compassion,--when they did not interfere with
the performance of his task. In a letter to the king, dated the ninth of
June, four days only after the death of the two nobles, the duke says:
"Your majesty will understand the regret I feel at seeing these poor
lords brought to such an end, and myself obliged to bring them to
it.[1189] But I have not shrunk from doing what is for your majesty's
service. Indeed, they and their accomplices have been the cause of very
great present evil, and one which will endanger the souls of many for
years to come. The Countess Egmont's condition fills me with the
greatest pity, burdened as she is with a family of eleven children, none
old enough to take care of themselves;--and she too a lady of so
distinguished rank, sister of the count-palatine, and of so virtuous,
truly Catholic, and exemplary life.[1190] There is no man in the country
who does not grieve for her! I cannot but commend her," he concludes,
"as I do now, very humbly, to the good grace of your majesty, beseeching
you to call to mind that if the count, her husband, came to trouble at
the close of his days, he formerly rendered great service to the
state."[1191] The reflection, it must be owned, came somewhat late.

In another letter to Philip, though of the same date, Alva recommends
the king to summon the countess and her children to Spain; where her
daughters might take the veil, and her sons be properly educated. "I do
not believe," he adds, "that there