e them
with those which she wrote to Philip the year preceding. In the new
coloring given to the portraits it is hard to recognize a single
individual. She cannot speak too highly of the services of the
lords,--of the prince of Orange, and Egmont above all,--of their
devotion to the public weal and the interests of the sovereign. She begs
her brother again and again to testify his own satisfaction by the most
gracious letters to those nobles that he can write.[608] The suggestion
seems to have met with little favor from Philip. No language, however,
is quite strong enough to express Margaret's disgust with the character
and conduct of her former minister, Granvelle. It is he that has so long
stood betwixt the monarch and the love of the people. She cannot feel
easy that he should still remain so near the Netherlands. He should be
sent to Rome.[609] She distrusts his influence, even now, over the
cabinet at Madrid. He is perpetually talking, she understands, of the
probability of his speedy return to Brussels. The rumor of this causes
great uneasiness in the country. Should he be permitted to return, it
would undoubtedly be the signal for an insurrection.[610]--It is clear
the duchess had sorely suffered from the tyranny of Granvelle.[611]

[Sidenote: ASCENDANCY OF THE NOBLES.]

But notwithstanding the perfect harmony which subsisted between Margaret
and the principal lords, it was soon seen that the wheels of government
were not destined to run on too smoothly. Although the cardinal was
gone, there still remained a faction of _Cardinalists_, who represented
his opinions, and who, if few in number, made themselves formidable by
the strength of their opposition. At the head of these were the viscount
de Barlaimont and the President Viglius.

The former, head of the council of finance, was a Flemish noble of the
first class,--yet more remarkable for his character than for his rank.
He was a man of unimpeachable integrity, stanch in his loyalty both to
the Church and to the crown, with a resolute spirit not to be shaken,
for it rested on principle.

His coadjutor, Viglius, was an eminent jurist, an able writer, a
sagacious statesman. He had been much employed by the emperor in public
affairs, which he managed with a degree of caution that amounted almost
to timidity. He was the personal friend of Granvelle, had adopted his
views, and carried on with him a constant correspondence, which is among
our best sources of infor