History of the United Netherlands, 1585 part 3 | Page 5

burgomaster and three deputies," wrote Parma to Philip, "were
here until the 12th July. We discussed (30th July, 1585) the points and
form of a capitulation, and they have gone back thoroughly satisfied.
Sainte Aldegonde especially was much pleased with the long interview
which he had with me, alone, and which lasted more than three hours. I
told him, as well as my weakness and suffering from the tertian fever
permitted, all that God inspired me to say on our behalf."
Nevertheless, if Sainte Aldegonde and his colleagues went away

thoroughly satisfied, they had reason, soon after their return, to become
thoroughly dejected. The magistrates and burghers would not listen to a
proposition to abandon the three points, however strongly urged to do
so by arguments drawn from the necessity of the situation, and by
representations of Parma's benignity. As for the burgomaster, he
became the target for calumny, so soon as his three hours' private
interview became known; and the citizens loudly declared that his head
ought to be cut off, and sent in a bag, as a present, to Philip, in order
that the traitor might meet the sovereign with whom he sought a
reconciliation, face to face, as soon as possible.
The deputies, immediately after their return, made their report to the
magistrates, as likewise to the colonels and captains, and to the deans
of guilds. Next day, although it was Sunday, there was a session of the
broad council, and Sainte Aldegonde made a long address, in which--as
he stated in a letter to Richardot--he related everything that had passed
in his private conversation with Alexander. An answer was promised to
Parma on the following Tuesday, but the burgomaster spoke very
discouragingly as to the probability of an accord.
"The joy with which our return was greeted," he said, "was followed by
a general disappointment and sadness, so soon as the result was known.
The want of a religious toleration, as well as the refusal to concede on
the other two points, has not a little altered the hearts of all, even of the
Catholics. A citadel and a garrison are considered ruin and desolation
to a great commercial city. I have done what I can to urge the
acceptance of such conditions as the Prince is willing to give, and have
spoken in general terms of his benign intentions. The citizens still
desire peace. Had his Highness been willing to take both religions
under his protection, he might have won all hearts, and very soon all
the other Provinces would have returned to their obedience, while the
clemency and magnanimity of his Majesty would thus have been
rendered admirable throughout the world."
The power to form an accurate conception as to the nature of Philip and
of other personages with whom he was dealing, and as to the general
signs of his times, seems to have been wanting in the character of the
gifted Aldegonde. He had been dazzled by the personal presence of
Parma, and he now spoke of Philip II., as if his tyranny over the
Netherlands--which for twenty years had been one horrible and uniform

whole--were the accidental result of circumstances, not the necessary
expression of his individual character, and might be easily changed at
will--as if Nero, at a moment's warning, might transform himself into
Trajan. It is true that the innermost soul of the Spanish king could by
no possibility be displayed to any contemporary, as it reveals itself,
after three centuries, to those who study the record of his most secret
thoughts; but, at any rate, it would seem that his career had been
sufficiently consistent, to manifest the amount of "clemency and
magnanimity" which he might be expected to exercise.
"Had his Majesty," wrote Sainte Aldegonde, "been willing, since the
year sixty-six, to pursue a course of toleration, the memory of his reign
would have been sacred to all posterity, with an immortal praise of
sapience, benignity, and sovereign felicity."
This might be true, but nevertheless a tolerating Philip, in the year 1585,
ought to have seemed to Sainte Aldegonde an impossible idea.
"The emperors," continued the burgomaster, "who immediately
succeeded Tiberius were the cause of the wisdom which displayed
itself in the good Trajan--also a Spaniard--and in Antoninus, Verus, and
the rest: If you think that this city, by the banishment of a certain
number of persons, will be content to abandon the profession of the
reformed faith, you are much mistaken. You will see, with time, that
the exile of this religion will be accompanied by a depopulation and a
sorrowful ruin and desolation of this flourishing city. But this will be as
it pleases God. Meantime I shall not fail to make all possible exertions
to induce the citizens to consent to a reconciliation with his Majesty.