The Revolt of The Netherlands, book 2 | Page 2

as it were, the approaching form in the shadow which outran it.
With an artifice rich in resources he came to the aid of Philip's more
inactive mind, formed into perfect thought his master's crude ideas
while they yet hung on his lips, and liberally allowed him the glory of
the invention. Granvella understood the difficult and useful art of
depreciating his own talents; of making his own genius the seeming
slave of another; thus he ruled while he concealed his sway. In this
manner only could Philip II. be governed. Content with a silent but real
power, Granvella did not grasp insatiably at new and outward marks of
it, which with lesser minds are ever the most coveted objects; but every
new distinction seemed to sit upon him as easily as the oldest. No
wonder if such extraordinary endowments had alone gained him the
favor of his master; but a large and valuable treasure of political secrets

and experiences, which the active life of Charles V. had accumulated,
and had deposited in the mind of this man, made him indispensable to
his successor. Self-sufficient as the latter was, and accustomeded to
confide in his own understanding, his timid and crouching policy was
fain to lean on a superior mind, and to aid its own irresolution not only
by precedent but also by the influence and example of another. No
political matter which concerned the royal interest, even when Philip
himself was in the Netherlands, was decided without the intervention of
Granvella; and when the king embarked for Spain he made the new
regent the same valuable present of the minister which he himself had
received from the Emperor, his father.
Common as it is for despotic princes to bestow unlimited confidence on
the creatures whom they have raised from the dust, and of whose
greatness they themselves are, in a measure, the creators, the present is
no ordinary instance; pre-eminent must have been the qualities which
could so far conquer the selfish reserve of such a character as Philip's
as to gain his confidence, nay, even to win him into familiarity. The
slightest ebullition of the most allowable self-respect, which might
have tempted him to assert, however slightly, his claim to any idea
which the king had once ennobled as his own, would have cost him his
whole influence. He might gratify without restraint the lowest passions
of voluptuousness, of rapacity, and of revenge, but the only one in
which he really took delight, the sweet consciousness of his own
superiority and power, he was constrained carefully to conceal from the
suspicious glance of the despot. He voluntarily disclaimed all the
eminent qualities, which were already his own, in order, as it were, to
receive them a second time from the generosity of the king. His
happiness seemed to flow from no other source, no other person could
have a claim upon his gratitude. The purple, which was sent to him
from Rome, was not assumed until the royal permission reached him
from Spain; by laying it down on the steps of the throne he appeared, in
a measure, to receive it first from the hands of majesty. Less politic,
Alva erected a trophy in Antwerp, and inscribed his own name under
the victory, which he had won as the servant of the crown--but Alva
carried with him to the grave the displeasure of his master. He had
invaded with audacious hand the royal prerogative by drawing
immediately at the fountain of immortality.

Three times Granvella changed his master, and three times he
succeeded in rising to the highest favor. With the same facility with
which he had guided the settled pride of an autocrat, and the sly
egotism of a despot, he knew how to manage the delicate vanity of a
woman. His business between himself and the regent, even when they
were in the same house, was, for the most part, transacted by the
medium of notes, a custom which draws its date from the times of
Augustus and Tiberius. When the regent was in any perplexity these
notes were interchanged from hour to hour. He probably adopted this
expedient in the hope of eluding the watchful jealousy of the nobility,
and concealing from them, in part at least, his influence over the regent.
Perhaps, too, he also believed that by this means his advice would
become more permanent; and, in case of need, this written testimoney
would be at hand to shield him from blame. But the vigilance of the
nobles made this caution vain, and it was soon known in all the
provinces that nothing was determined upon without the minister's
advice.
Granvella possessed all the qualities requisite for a perfect statesman in
a monarchy governed by despotic principles, but was absolutely
unqualified for republics which are