Such sanguinary projects were indignantly rebuked by Orange.

He maintained that the confederates were entitled to be treated with respect.

Many of them, he said, were his friends--some of them his relations--and there was no reason for refusing to gentlemen of their rank, a right which belonged to the poorest plebeian in the land.

Egmont sustained these views of the Prince as earnestly as he had on a previous occasion appeared to countenance the more violent counsels of Meghen.
Meantime, as it was obvious that the demonstration on the part of the confederacy was soon about to be made, the Duchess convened a grand assembly of notables, in which not only all the state and privy councillors, but all the governors and knights of the Fleece were to take part.

On the 28th of March, this assembly was held, at which the whole subject of the Request, together with the proposed modifications of the edicts and abolition of the inquisition, was discussed.