matter, long pending, had been finally determined in favor of France by
Pius the Fifth, who may have thought it more politic to secure a fickle
ally than to reward a firm one. The decision touched Philip to the
quick. He at once withdrew his ambassador from Rome, and refused to
receive an envoy from his holiness.[633] It seemed that a serious
rupture was likely to take place between the parties. But it was not in
the nature of Philip to be long at feud with the court of Rome. In a
letter to the duchess of Parma, dated August 6, 1564, he plainly
intimated that in matters of faith he was willing at all times to
sacrifice his private feelings to the public weal.[634] He subsequently
commanded the decrees of the Council of Trent to be received as law
throughout his dominions, saying that he could make no exception for the
Netherlands, when he made none for Spain.[635]

The promulgation of the decrees was received, as had been anticipated,
with general discontent. The clergy complained of the interference with
their immunities. The men of Brabant stood stoutly on the chartered
rights secured to them by the "_Joyeuse Entree_". And the people
generally resisted the decrees, from a vague idea of their connection
with the Inquisition; while, as usual when mischief was on foot, they
loudly declaimed against Granvelle as being at the bottom of it.

In this unhappy condition of affairs, it was determined by the council
of state to send some one to Madrid to lay the grievances of the nation
before the king, and to submit to him what in their opinion would be the
most effectual remedy. They were the more induced to this by the
unsatisfactory nature of the royal correspondence. Philip, to the great
discontent of the lords, had scarcely condescended to notice their
letters.[636] Even to Margaret's ample communications he rarely
responded, and when he did, it was in vague and general terms, conveying
little more than the necessity of executing justice and watching over
the purity of the Faith.

The person selected for the unenviable mission to Madrid was Egmont,
whose sentiments of loyalty, and of devotion to the Catholic faith, it
was thought, would recommend him to the king; while his brilliant
reputation, his rank, and his popular manners would find favor with the
court and the people. Egmont himself was the less averse to the mission,
that he had some private suits of his own to urge with the monarch.

This nomination was warmly