The Silent Prince/Chapter 23
CHAPTER XXIII.
A GRIM PAGE OF HISTORY.
Alva was bent upon proving himself an accomplished financier, as he was indisputably a skilful commander, and he promised his sovereign an annual income of five hundred thousand ducats from the confiscations which were to follow the executions. For this purpose the Council of Blood was organized, which terrible tribunal has had no equal in the annals of history. So thoroughly did this institution perform its self-appointed task, that in less than three months from the time of its erection eighteen hundred human beings had suffered death. The Duke of Alva was president of this Council, and his coadjutors were appointed by himself. Noircarmes and Berlaymont, and two Spaniards, Del Rio and de Vargas, composed the working force of the Council. To each of these men the shedding of blood was an exhilarating pastime.
The greatest terror prevailed. The grass began to grow in the streets of the cities. All business was suspended. The country was like a vast sepulchre. Everywhere firesides were desolated. Surely the image-breaking was amply revenged. At the bar of divine judgment, where a single human life is counted of more value than any relics however revered, perhaps this terrible account will be justly balanced.
It is not our purpose to drag the reader through the seas of blood, which the savage bigotry of that age caused to be spilled. The most meagre details of this human butchery are sufficient. But the finger of History points to a page in her record darker than the rest: it is the invasion of the Netherlands by the Duke of Alva. The deeds of atrocity and fiendish hate which are herein recorded are unparalleled. The records of this period are numerous, and the truth is stated in unequivocal terms by both Dutchman and Spaniard. In the last analysis, it is out of the mouth of the Spaniard that the Spaniard is judged and condemned.
Who can forget Naarden? Alva and his soldiers entered the town. The three thousand starved men, women and children were persuaded to lay down their arms and surrender peaceably, trusting to the fair speech of their conqueror.
"Place yourselves at once under my protection!" said Alva. "I will conduct myself toward you as God shall give me grace. Do otherwise, and you can have neither truce nor friendship with me."
And how did the Iron Duke keep his promises? Only sixty out of the three thousand human beings escaped. Every house was burned to the ground. This merciless butchery was accomplished to the sound of that terrible battle-cry, "Santiago! Santiago! España! España! á sangre, á carne, á fuego, á sacco!" (St. James, Spain, blood, flesh, fire, sack!)
And who can forget Mookerhyde, where the gallant Louis of Nassau fell, and Antwerp, and Haarlem, and Leyden? Call them battles, if you please, if battle it is when sick men, helpless women and little children kneel to receive the death blow! At every step which Alva and his soldiers took, the lust for slaughter found ample satisfaction.
Let us hasten from these scenes. The sickening smell of blood is everywhere, and God's pure air is polluted by the odor.
In the reception-room formerly used by the Regent for private audiences, sat the Duke of Alva and Baron Berlaymont.
The pen-pictures of Alva, which history has kept alive, lead one to infer that he was a repulsive, blood-thirsty villain in appearance. Such was not the case. It is true that Alva possessed few virtues, and for a kind of patient vindictiveness and ferocity he was not excelled by the beasts of the forest, and but rarely equalled by any human being. Still there was nothing forbidding in his personal appearance. He was tall and spare, with the precision of movement and erectness of figure which characterized the soldier. His complexion was sallow, and his eyes deep-set and gray. As he sat opposite Baron Berlaymont, his brow wrinkled with thought, he looked more like a scholar than a general. A long silvery-white beard descended in two streams upon his breast, and added to the dignity of his presence.
"The people of Antwerp desire mediation," the Baron was saying. "Would it not be well to relax severity, at least for a time? I judge the miscreants are thoroughly subdued."
Alva regarded his companion haughtily. "Mediation," he said at length, in a harsh voice, "I came to the Netherlands to conquer, not to mediate! Do you think I am afraid of the burghers of Antwerp? In my day I have crushed men of iron. Shall I fear these men of butter? As to the other matter about which you spoke a few moments ago: you wish me to grant you certain powers, which will enable you to conduct a system of espionage disastrous to the enemies of the King."
"That is what I stated, your Excellency."
"I am not sure that this is a wise thing for me to do," said Alva thoughtfully. "I have always been in the habit of attending to hazardous experiments myself. I do not like to trust such matters to unknown hands."
"I feel confident that I could greatly assist your Excellency if you would favor me with your confidence. I have the advantage over you in one particular: I know these heretic rebels thoroughly. I understand their methods and their motives better than a stranger and a foreigner possibly could. And as to my loyalty to the King, the odium which attaches to my name on my native soil ought to assure you on that point."
Alva was silent for a few moments, then he said, "Do you think that you could decoy the Prince of Orange back to Holland? If we do not catch that man we have accomplished nothing."
"I cannot hope to succeed where the Duke of Alva has failed," replied the Baron. "There is one thing to be said in favor of Prince William: he is not in leading strings. He knows his own mind, and no man living can sway him against his will."
"You are right. Would that I could capture that smooth-tongued, lying hypocrite, pretending to be a loyal subject of Philip and concocting treasonable schemes in his fertile brain all the while. Place that man within my grasp, Baron Berlaymont, and you shall name your own price for your services."
"I cannot do that," said the Baron. "It would be folly for me to hold out any such prospect to you. Prince William is in Germany on his own estates. We cannot so much as lay a finger on him. But fortunately for us, the Prince's followers are less sagacious. I can find out the plans of the Prince and foil them, which will answer our purpose quite as well as to secure the person of Orange. He is too far away to exert his wonderful influence upon the people, and really at his distance I regard him as comparatively harmless. But you must grant me freedom of action along this line of tactics, else I can accomplish nothing. Grant me this, and I will guarantee to alienate the Prince and his followers."
"Very well. Baron. Consider yourself as endowed with the necessary power. See that you make good use of it, for the authority of God and the supremacy of the King."
"Thanks, your Excellency."
The Baron retired after saluting the Duke.
Alva immediately summoned his confidential adviser, Juan Vargas, and laid the matter before him. "It goes against the grain," said the Duke, "that I am compelled against my better judgment to take this Fleming into my confidence."
"Perhaps he will be able to serve you," returned Vargas.
"That is just the point. He can serve me, and I do not wish to be under obligations to a single Netherlander, good or bad."
"When you are through using him you can easily put him out of the way," suggested Vargas.
"I do not feel so sure of that. If this man were not so prominent socially, the matter would be less difficult. But he is a rich nobleman, a loyal subject of the King, and a devoted Catholic. What just cause could I have for removing him? It is expedient for us to at least keep up the semblance of justice."
"I have a plan," said Vargas. "Betray the Baron into the hands of the heretic rebels. They will be only too glad to give him a short shrift."
"That is precisely what we will do, Vargas. An unfortunate accident which leads us to send the Baron Berlaymont into the hands of his enemies will be a matter which the Netherlanders can discuss at large. I shall thereby gain my end, and my hand will be invisible. We will spare him for a time, as he promises to be a valuable tool."