y and reputation."[396]

Such then was the condition of the country at the time when the sceptre
passed from the hands of Charles the Fifth into those of Philip the
Second;--its broad plains teeming with the products of an elaborate
culture; its cities swarming with artisans, skilled in all kinds of
ingenious handicraft; its commerce abroad on every sea, and bringing
back rich returns from distant climes. The great body of its people,
well advanced in the arts of civilization, rejoiced in "such abundance
of all things," says a foreigner who witnessed their prosperity, "that
there was no man, however humble, who did not seem rich for his
station."[397] In this active development of their powers, the
inquisitive mind of the inhabitants naturally turned to those great
problems in religion which were agitating the neighboring countries of
France and Germany. All the efforts of Charles were unavailing to check
the spirit of inquiry; and in the last year of his reign he bitterly
confessed the total failure of his endeavor to stay the progress of
heresy in the Netherlands.[398] Well had it been for his successor, had
he taken counsel by the failure of his father, and substituted a more
lenient policy for the ineffectual system of persecution. But such was
not the policy of Philip.

CHAPTER II.

SYSTEM ESTABLISHED BY PHILIP.

Unpopular Manners of Philip.--He enforces the Edicts.--Increase of
Bishoprics.--Margaret of Parma Regent.--Meeting of the
States-General.--Their spirited Conduct.--Organization of the
Councils.--Rise and Character of Granvelle.--Philip's Departure.

1559.

Philip the Second was no stranger to the Netherlands. He had come there,
as it will be remembered, when very young, to be presented by his father
to his future subjects. On that occasion he had greatly disgusted the
people by that impenetrable reserve which they construed into
haughtiness, and which strongly contrasted with the gracious manners of
the emperor. Charles saw with pain the impression which his son had left
on his subjects; and the effects of his paternal admonitions were
visible in a marked change in Philip's deportment on his subsequent
visit to England. But nature lies deeper than manner; and when Philip
returned, on his father's abdication, to assume the sovereignty of the
Netherlands, he wore the same frigid exterior as in earlier days.

His first step was to visit the different provinces, and receive from
them their oat