OF

COUNTS EGMONT AND HORN.

THE two counts were, a few weeks after their arrest, conveyed to Ghent, under an escort of 3000 Spaniards, where they were confined in the citadel for more than eight months. Their trial commenced in due form, before the Council of Twelve, and the Solicitor-General, John Du Bois, conducted the proceedings. The indictment against Egmont consisted of ninety counts, and that against Horn of sixty. It would oc

cuppy too much space to introduce them here. Every action, however innocent, every omission of duty, was interpreted on the principle which had been laid down in the opening of the indictment, "that the two counts, in conjunction with the Prince of Orange, had planned the overthrow of the royal authority in the Netherlands, and the usurpation of the go vernment of the country;" the expulsion of Granvella; the embassy of Egmont to Madrid; the confederacy of the Gueux; the concessions which they made to the Protestants in the provinces under their government; all were made to have a connexion with, and a reference to, this deliberate desig Thus importance was attached to the most insignificant occur rences, and one action made to darken and discolour another. By taking care to treat each of the charges as in itself a treasonable offence, it was the more easy to justify a sentence of high treason by the whole.

The accusations were sent to each of the prisoners, who were required to reply to them within five days. After doing so, they were allowed to employ solicitors and advocates. who were permitted free access to them; but as they were accused of treason, their friends were prohibited from visiting them. Count Egmont employed for his solicitor Von Landas, and made choice of a few eminent advocates from Brussels,

Their first step was to demur against the tribunal which was

to try then, since, by the privilege of their Order, they, as Knights of the Golden Fleece, were amenable only to the king himself, the Grand Master. But this demurrer was overruled, and they were required to produce their witnesses, in default of which they were to be proceeded against in contumaciam. Egmont had satisfactorily answered to eighty-two counts, while Count Horn had refuted the charges against him, article by article. The accusation and the defence are still extant; on that defence, every impartial tribunal would have acquitted them both. The Procurator Fiscal pressed for the production of their evidence, and the Duke of Alva issued his repeated commands to use despatch. They delayed, however, from week to week, while they renewed their protests against the illegality of the court. At last, the duke assigned them nine days to produce their proofs; on the lapse of that period, they were to be de clared guilty, and as having forfeited all right of defence.

During the progress of the trial, the relations and friends of the two counts were not idle. Egmont's wife, by birth a duchess of Bavaria, addressed petitions to the princes of the German empire, to the Emperor, and to the King of Spain. The Countess Horn, mother of the imprisoned count, who was connected by the ties of friendship or of blood with the principal royal families of Germany, did the same. All alike protested loudly against this illegal proceeding, and appealed to the liberty of the German empire, on which Horn, as a count of the empire, had special claims; the liberty of the Netherlands, and the privileges of the Order of the Golden Fleece were likewise insisted upon. The Countess Egmont succeeded in obtaining the intercession of almost every German court in behalf of her husband. The King of Spain and his viceroy were besieged by applications in behalf of the accused, which were referred from one to the other, and made light of by both. Countess Horn collected certificates from all the Knights of the Golden Fleece in Spain, Germany, and Italy, to prove the privileges of the Order. Alva rejected them, with a declaration that they had no force in such a case as the present. The crimes of which the counts are accused, relate to the affairs of the Belgian provinces, and he, the duke, was appointed by the king sole judge of all matters connected with those countries."

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Four months had been allowed to the Solicitor-General to

draw up the indictment, and five were granted to the two counts to prepare for their defence. But instead of losing their time and trouble in adducing their evidence, which, perhaps, would have profited them but little, they preferred wasting it in protests against the judges, which availed them still less. By the former course, they would probably have delayed the final sentence, and in the time thus gained, the powerful intercession of their friends might perhaps have not been ineffectual. By obstinately persisting in denying the competency of the tribunal which was to try them, they furnished the duke with an excuse for cutting short the proceedings. After the last assigned period had expired, on the 1st of June, 1568, the Council of Twelve declared them guilty, and on the 4th of that month, sentence of death was pro nounced against them.

The execution of twenty-five noble Netherlanders, who were beheaded in three successive days, in the market place at Brussels, was the terrible prelude to the fate of the two counts. John Casembrot von Beckerzeel, Secretary to Count Eg mont, was one of the unfortunates, who was thus rewarded for his fidelity to his master, which he stedfastly maintained even upon the rack, and for his zeal in the service of the king, which he had manifested against the Iconoclasts. The others had either been taken prisoners, with arms in their hands, in the insurrection of the Gueux," or apprehended and condemned as traitors, on account of having taken a part in the petition of the nobles.

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The duke had reason to hasten the execution of the sen tence. Count Louis of Nassau had given battle to the Count of Aremberg, near the monastery of Heiligerlee in Gröningen, and had the good fortune to defeat him. Immediately after his victory, he had advanced against Gröningen, and laid siege to it. The success of his arms had raised the courage of his faction, and the Prince of Orange, his brother, was close at hand with an army to support him. These circumstances made the duke's presence necessary in those distant provinces; but he could not venture to leave Brussels, before the fate of two such important prisoners was decided. The whole nation loved them, which was not a little increased by their unhappy fate. Even the strict Papists disapproved of the execution of these eminent nobles. The slightest advantage

which the arms of the rebels might gain over the duke, or even the report of a defeat, would cause a revolution ir Brussels, which would immediately set the two counts at liberty. Moreover, the petitions and intercessions which came to the viceroy, as well as to the King of Spain, from the German princes, increased daily; nay, the Emperor Maximilian II. himself caused the countess to be assured "that she had nothing to fear for the life of her spouse." These powerful applications might at last turn the king's heart in fa vour of the prisoners. The king might, perhaps, in reliance on his viceroy's usual dispatch, put on the appearance of yielding to the representations of so many sovereigns, and rescind the sentence of death, under the conviction that his mercy would come too late. These considerations moved the duke not to delay the execution of the sentence, as soon as it was pronounced.

On the day after the sentence was passed, the two counts were brought, under an escort of 3,000 Spaniards, from Ghent to Brussels, and placed in confinement in the Brodhause, in the great market place. The next morning the Council of Twelve were assembled; the duke, contrary to his custom, attended in person, and both the sentences, in sealed envelopes, were opened, and publicly read by Secretary Pranz The two counts were declared guilty of treason, as having favoured and promoted the abominable conspiracy of the Prince of Orange, protected the confederated nobles, and been convicted of various misdemeanors against their king, and the church, in their governments and other appointments. Both were sentenced to be publicly beheaded, and their heads were to be fixed upon pikes, and not taken down without the duke's express command. All their possessions, fiefs, and rights escheated to the royal treasury. The sentence was signed only by the Duke and the Secretary Pranz, without asking or caring for the consent of the other members of the council.

During the night between the 4th and 5th of June, the sentences were brought to the prisoners, after they had already gone to rest. The duke gave them to the Bishop of Ypres, Martin Rithov, whom he had expressly summoned to Brussels to prepare the prisoners for death. When the bishop received this commission, he threw himself at the feet of the duke, and supplicated him with tears in his eyes for mercy-at least for

respite for the prisoners; but he was answered in a rough and angry voice, that he had been sent for from Ypres, not to oppose the sentence, but by his spiritual consolation to reconcile the unhappy noblemen to it.

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Egmont was the first to whom the bishop communicated the sentence of death. That is, indeed, a severe sentence !' exclaimed the count, turning pale, and with a faltering voice. "I did not think that I had offended his majesty so deeply as to deserve such treatment. If, however, it must be so, I submit to my fate with resignation. May this death atone for my offence, and save my wife and children from suffering! This, at least, I think I may claim for my past services. As for death, I will meet it with composure, since it so pleases God and my king." He then pressed the bishop to tell him seriously and candidly if there was no hope of pardon. Being answered in the negative, he confessed and received the sacrament from the priest, repeating after him the mass with great devoutness. He asked what prayer was the best and most effective to recommend him to God in his last hour. On being told that no prayer could be more effectual than the one which Christ himself had taught, he prepared immediately to repeat the Lord's prayer. The thoughts of his family interrupted him; he called for pen and ink, and wrote two letters, one to his wife, the other to the king; the latter was as follows:

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Far as I

Sire, This morning I have heard the sentence which your majesty has been pleased to pass upon me. have ever been from attempting any thing against the person or the service of your majesty, or against the only true, old, and Catholic religion; I yet submit myself with patience to the fate which it has pleased God to ordain I should suffer. If, during the past disturbances, I have omitted, advised, or done any thing that seems at variance with my duty, it was most assuredly performed with the best intentions, or was forced upon me by the pressure of circumstances. I therefore pray

your majesty to forgive me, and in consideration of my past services, show mercy to my unhappy wife, my poor children, and servants. In a firm hope of this, I commend myself tɔ the infinite mercy of God.

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"Your Majesty's most faithful vassal and servant, LAMORAL COUNT EGMONT.

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Brussels, June 5th, 1568, uear my last moments."