mont's personal vanity made him more accessible to
their approaches. It was this, perhaps, quite as much as any feeling of
loyalty, which, notwithstanding the affront put on him, as he conceived,
by the king, induced him to remain at Brussels, and supply the place in
the councils of the regent which William had left vacant. Yet we find
one of Granvelle's correspondents speaking of Egmont as too closely
united with the lords to be detached from them. "To say truth," says the
writer, "he even falters in his religion; and whatever he may say to-day
on this point, he will be sure to say the contrary to-morrow."[722] Such
a man, who could not be true to himself, could hardly become the leader
of others.

[Sidenote: DESIGN OF THE CONFEDERATES.]

"They put Egmont forward," writes the regent's secretary, "as the
boldest, to say what other men dare not say."[723] This was after the
despatches had been received. "He complains bitterly," continues the
writer, "of the king's insincerity. The prince has more _finesse_. He
has also more credit with the nation. If you could gain him, you will
secure all."[724] Yet Philip did not try to gain him. With all his
wealth, he was not rich enough to do it. He knew this, and he hated
William with the hatred which a despotic monarch naturally bears to a
vassal of such a temper. He perfectly understood the character of
William. The nation understood it too; and, with all their admiration
for the generous qualities of Egmont, it was to his greater rival that
they looked to guide them in the coming struggle of the revolution.

CHAPTER X.

THE CONFEDERATES.

Design of the Confederates.--They enter Brussels.--The Petition.--The
Gueux.

1566.

The party of the malecontents in the Netherlands comprehended persons of
very different opinions, who were by no means uniformly satisfied with
the reasonable objects proposed by the compromise. Some demanded entire
liberty of conscience. Others would not have stopped short of a
revolution that would enable the country to shake off the Spanish yoke.
And another class of men without principle of any kind--such as are too
often thrown up in strong political fermentations--looked to these
intestine troubles as offering the means of repairing their own fortunes
out of the wreck of their country's. Yet, with the exception of the
last, there were few who would not have been content to accept the
compromise as the basis of their demands.

The winter