to affidavits of witnesses in behalf of the prosecution. (Proces du
Comte d'Egmont, pp. 267-322.) But their testimony bears almost
exclusively on the subject of Egmont's dealings with the
sectaries,--scarcely warranting the Flemish editor's assertion in his
preface, that he has been able to furnish "all the elements of the
conviction of the accused by the duke of Alva."

M. de Bavay's work is one of the good fruits of that patriotic zeal
which animates the Belgian scholars of our time for the illustration of
their national history. It was given to the public only the last year,
after the present chapter had been written. In addition to what is
contained in former publications, it furnishes us with complete copies
of the defence of Egmont, as prepared both by himself and his counsel,
and with the affidavits above noticed of witnesses on the part of the
government. It has supplied me, therefore, with valuable materials,
whether for the correction or the corroboration of my previous
conclusions.

[1141] The resistance, to which those who signed the Compromise were
pledged, was to the Inquisition, in case of its attempt to arrest any
member of their body. Ante, Book II.

[1142] By the famous statute, in particular, of Edward the Third, the
basis of all subsequent legislation on the subject. Some reflections,
both on this law and the laws which subsequently modified it, made with
the usual acuteness of their author, may be found in the fifteenth
chapter of Hallam's Constitutional History of England.

[1143] The original document is to be found in the archives of Brussels,
or was in the time of Vandervynckt, who, having examined it carefully,
gives a brief notice of it. (Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. pp. 256,
257.) The name of its author should be cherished by the historian, as
that of a magistrate who, in the face of a tyrannical government, had
the courage to enter his protest against the judicial murders
perpetrated under its sanction.

[1144] Among other passages, see one in a letter of Margaret to the
king, dated March 23, 1567. "Ceulx de son conseil icy, qui s'employent
tout fidelement et diligemment en son service, et entre aultres le comte
d'Egmont dont je ne puis avoir synon bon contentement." Correspondance
de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 235.

[1145] M. de Gerlache, in a long note to the second edition of his
history, enters into a scrutiny of Egmont's conduct as severe as that by
the attorney-general himself