opies of the despatches,
with extracts from the letters to herself, to be sent to the governors
and the councils of the several provinces, with orders that they should
see to their faithful execution. Officers, moreover, were to be
appointed, whose duty it was to ascertain the manner in which these
orders were fulfilled, and to report thereon to the government.

The result was what had been foreseen. The publication of the
despatches--to borrow the words of a Flemish writer--created a sensation
throughout the country little short of what would have been caused by a
declaration of war.[680] Under every discouragement, men had flattered
themselves, up to this period, with the expectation of some change for
the better. The constantly increasing number of the Reformers, the
persevering resistance to the Inquisition, the reiterated remonstrances
to the government, the general persuasion that the great nobles, even
the regent, were on their side, had all combined to foster the hope that
toleration, to some extent, would eventually be conceded by Philip.[681]
This hope was now crushed. Whatever doubts had been entertained were
dispelled by these last despatches, which came like a hurricane,
sweeping away the mists that had so long blinded the eyes of men, and
laying open the policy of the crown, clear as day, to the dullest
apprehension. The people passed to the extremity of despair. The Spanish
Inquisition, with its train of horrors, seemed to be already in the
midst of them. They called to mind all the tales of woe they had heard
of it. They recounted the atrocities perpetrated by the Spaniards in the
New World, which, however erroneously, they charged on the Holy Office.
"Do they expect," they cried, "that we shall tamely wait here, like the
wretched Indians, to be slaughtered by millions?"[682] Men were seen
gathering into knots, in the streets and public squares, discussing the
conduct of the government, and gloomily talking of secret associations
and foreign alliances. Meetings were stealthily held in the woods, and
in the suburbs of the great towns, where the audience listened to
fanatical preachers, who, while discussing the doctrines of religious
reform, darkly hinted at resistance. Tracts were printed, and widely
circulated, in which the reciprocal obligations of lord and vassal were
treated, and the right of resistance was maintained; and, in some
instances, these difficult questions were handled with decided ability