rge, as we have seen, was now so
much increased, that the yearly deficiency in the revenue, according to
the regent's own statement, amounted to six hundred thousand
florins;[629] and she knew of no way of extricating the country from its
embarrassments, unless the king should come to its assistance. The
convocation of the states-general was insisted on as the only remedy for
these disorders. That body alone, it was contended, was authorized to
vote the requisite subsidies, and to redress the manifold grievances of
the nation.--Yet, in point of fact, its powers had hitherto been little
more than to propose the subsidies for the approbation of the several
provinces, and to _remonstrate_ on the grievances of the nation. To
invest the states-general with the power of _redressing_ these
grievances would bestow on them legislative functions which they had
rarely, if ever, exercised. This would be to change the constitution of
the country, by the new weight it would give to the popular element; a
change which the great lords, who had already the lesser nobles entirely
at their disposal,[630] would probably know well how to turn to
account.[631] Yet Margaret had now so entirely resigned herself to their
influence, that, notwithstanding the obvious consequences of these
measures, she recommended to Philip both to assemble the states-general
and to remodel the council of state;[632]--and this to a monarch more
jealous of his authority than any other prince in Europe!

To add to the existing troubles, orders were received from the court of
Madrid to publish the decrees of the Council of Trent throughout the
Netherlands. That celebrated council had terminated its long session in
1563, with the results that might have been expected,--those of widening
the breach between Protestant and Catholic, and of enlarging, or at
least more firmly establishing, the authority of the pope. One good
result may be mentioned, that of providing for a more strict supervision
of the morals and discipline of the clergy;--a circumstance which caused
the decrees to be in extremely bad odor with that body.

It was hoped that Philip would imitate the example of France, and reject
decrees which thus exalted the power of the pope. Men were led to expect
this the more, from the mortification which the king had lately
experienced from a decision of the pontiff on a question of precedence
between the Castilian and French ambassadors at his court. This delicate