esting
alike tenderness for the feelings of the nation and respect for its
institutions.

Having thus shown the general aspect of things when the duchess of Parma
entered on her regency, towards the close of 1559, it is time to go
forward with the narrative of the prominent events which led to the War
of the Revolution.

We have already seen that Philip, on leaving the country, lodged the
administration nominally in three councils, although in truth it was on
the council of state that the weight of government actually rested. Even
here the nobles who composed it were of little account in matters of
real importance, which were reserved for a _consulta_, consisting,
besides the regent, of Granvelle, Count Barlaimont, and the learned
jurist Viglius. As the last two were altogether devoted to Granvelle,
and the regent was instructed to defer greatly to his judgment, the
government of the Netherlands may be said to have been virtually
deposited in the hands of the bishop of Arras.

At the head of the Flemish nobles in the council of state, and indeed in
the country, taking into view their rank, fortune, and public services,
stood Count Egmont and the prince of Orange. I have already given some
account of the former, and the reader has seen the important part which
he took in the great victories of Gravelines and St. Quentin. To the
prince of Orange Philip had also been indebted for his counsel in
conducting the war, and still more for the aid which he had afforded in
the negotiations for peace. It will be proper, before going further, to
give the reader some particulars of this celebrated man, the great
leader in the war of the Netherlands.

William, prince of Orange, was born at Dillenburg, in the German duchy
of Nassau, on the twenty-fifth of April, 1533. He was descended from a
house, one of whose branches had given an emperor to Germany; and
William's own ancestors were distinguished by the employments they had
held, and the services they had rendered, both in Germany and the Low
Countries. It was a proud vaunt of his, that Philip was under larger
obligations to him than he to Philip; and that, but for the house of
Nassau, the king of Spain would not be able to write as many titles as
he now did after his name.[496]

When eleven years old, by the death of his cousin Rene he came into
possession of a large domain in Holland, and a still larger property in
Brabant, where he held the title of Lord of Breda. To these w