xception,
as soon as it dared, of those who had committed sacrilege in the recent
riots. These men were outlawed.

[Sidenote: Civil war]

No longer fearing a religious war the Calvinists started it themselves.
Louis of Nassau, a brother of Prince William, hired German mercenaries
and invaded Flanders, where he won some slight successes. In Amsterdam
the great Beggar Brederode entered into negotiations with Huguenots and
English friends. The first battle between the Beggars and the
government troops, [Sidenote: March 13, 1567] near Antwerp, ended in a
rout for the former.

Philip now ordered ten thousand Spanish veterans, led by Alva, to march
from Italy to the Netherlands. Making their way through the Free
County of Burgundy and Lorraine they entered Brussels on August 9,
1567. [Sidenote: Alva 1508-83] Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of
Alva, had won experience and reputation as a soldier in the German
wars. Though self-controlled and courtly in manner, his passionate
patriotism and bigotry made him a fit instrument to execute Philip's
orders to make the Netherlands Spanish and Catholic. He began with no
uncertain hand, building forts at Antwerp and quartering his troops at
Brussels where their foreign manners and Roman piety gave offence to
the citizens. On September 9 he arrested the counts of Egmont and
Horn, next to Orange the chief leaders of the patriotic party. Setting
up a tribunal, called the Council of {258} Troubles, to deal with cases
of rebellion and heresy, he inaugurated a reign of terror. He himself
spent seven hours a day in this court trying cases and signing
death-warrants. Not only heretics were punished but also agitators and
those who had advocated tolerance. Sincere Catholics, indeed, noted
that the crime of heresy was generally the mere pretext for dealing
with patriots and all those obnoxious to the government. [Sidenote:
Executions] For the first time we have definite statistics of the
numbers executed. For instance, on January 4, 1568, 48 persons were
sentenced to death, on February 20, 37; on February 21, 71; on March
20, 55; and so on for day after day, week in and week out. On March 3
at the same hour throughout the whole land 1500 men were executed. The
total number put to death during the six years of Alva's administration
has been variously estimated at from 6,000 to 18,000. The lower number
is probably nearer the truth, though not high enough. Emigration on a
h