Philip the Second would not easily have believed that, within a century after his death, his greatgrandson would implore the greatgrandson of William the Silent to exercise the authority of a sovereign at Brussels.

[298] The offer was in one sense tempting; but William was too wise to accept it.

He knew that the population of the Spanish Netherlands was firmly attached to the Church of Rome.

Every act of a Protestant ruler was certain to be regarded with suspicion by the clergy and people of those countries.

Already Gastanaga, mortified by his disgrace, had written to inform the Court of Rome that changes were in contemplation which would make Ghent and Antwerp as heretical as Amsterdam and London.