At length, many of the Catholic nobility, and even the Pope himself, remonstrated with Philip on these pro ceedings ; but, at the instigations of the inquisitors in Madrid, Alva and Vargas were authorised to continue the prosecutions; and they sheaved themselves most wil ling agents in the service. In the mean time, the prince of Orange, and several other noblemen, who had left the Netherlands before Alva's arrival, and whose es tates he had confiscated, made an attempt to relieve their oppressed country; but, after a few partial succes ses, they were forced to retire into Germany. Before Alva marched to oppose the prince of Orange, he put to death eighteen persons of rank, who had been seiz ed at his first arrival in the Low Countries; tortured Casembrat, lord of Beckerzel, count Egmont's secre tary, to make him accuse his master, and then ordered his body to be drawn asunder by horses ; and brought to a formal trial, condemned, and beheaded, counts Horn and Egmont. After his success over the prince and his party, thc duke displayed his arrogance, by causing statue ol hin.scll to be erected in the citadel of Antwerp, by which he is represented as triumphing his ene mies ; and he gave additional proofs of his sanguinary disposition, by murdering the greater part of his pri soners, as well as by bringing to the scaffold all who were suspected of having favoured the insurgents. Ile denounced as rebels even the innocent persons who fled to other countries, and threatened to punish as traitors any ol their triends who should hold intercourse them. His vanity was flattered, and his bloody zeal was stimulated by a present of a consecrated hat and sword, which lie received, about this time, from the Pope, and which was usually bestowed only upon princes. lie bail now completely subdued or extirpated the reformers, and had established the rites and ceremonies of the Ito mish church in all the provinces. But his arbitrary measures soon excited new and formidable disturban ces. Ile was much in need of money for the payment of his troops, and for defraying the expense of the for tifications which he had erected. He considered the Flemings as so thoroughly subjected that they would not dare to resist any of his demands ; and he proceed ed to impose the most ruinous alai oppressive taxes. In spite of the counsels of his sovereign's most faithful and experienced ministers, the remonstrances of the states, and the refusal of several provinces, he deter mined to enforce the levying of these contributions. A general revolt was the consequence. '['he states assem bled at Dort, and invited the prince of Orange to aid them in the recovery of their liberty. War raged in all its horrors throughout the Netherlands; and the most shocking barbarities were committed by Alva and his son Frederic de Toledo. After a variety of military ope rations, which it is not the business of this article to detail, carried on by both parties with the utmost bra very and skill, and which was attended with various turns of success, the Protestants increased in strength. and the Spanish court became convinced that a change of measures was necessary. Alva was not ignorant of the representations which were made against his pro ceedings; and apprehending that his office might soon be conferred upon another, he resolved to solicit his re cal. This he requested upon the pretence, that the moisture of the climate, and the fatigues which he had undergone, injured the state of his health. Philip con
sented that he should retire from the regency, and he left the Low Countries in 1573, after a government of five years and a half. During the first five years after his return to Spain, he continued to enjoy the favour and confidence of his sovereign ; but the arrogance of his manners rendered him so intolerable, that Philip at length embraced the following opportunity to dismiss him from his presence. His son Don Garcia de Toledo had debauched one of the maids of honour, under a promise of marriage. Philip put him under arrest, and gave orders that he should not be released till he should consent to fulfil his engagement. Alva, however, as sisted his son to make his escape ; and, in order to de feat the king's intention, concluded a marriage between Don Garcia and a daughter of the marquis de Villcna. Philip was so provoked by this contempt of his author ity, that he banished the duke from court, and confined him to the castle of Uzeda. Alva bore this indignity with the utmost impatience, and procured intercessions to be made in his behalf by the Pope, and some other foreign princes. But all his applications were ineffer teal ; and he continued in confinement nearly two years, when he was very unexpectedly called by Phi lip, in 1580, to take the command of the army which he had prepared for the conquest of Portugal. The duke, without hesitation, accepted the appointment of his sovereign, and immediately set out to receive his instructions. But he in vain solicited permission to pay his respects to Philip in person ; and was ordered to join the army without being admitted to his presence. Ile conducted this expedition with great ability, but with his usual treachery and cruelty. He rendered Philip master of Portugal in less than one year, but he himself did not long enjoy the fruits of his success. He died in the 74th year of his age, A. D. 1582.
Historians are all agreed as to the character of Alva, and represent him as a most inhuman tyrant. In private intercourse he was haughty and arrogant, morose and severe, revengeful and relentless. In a military capa city, he was one of the ablest commanders of the age in which he lived; inured from his infancy to the use of arms, and possessed of consummate skill in the art of war ; proudly brave, prudently cautious, penetrating, pa tient, and persevering. These talents, however, as they were generally engaged in the worst of causes, only rendered him a greater scourge to his fellow-creatures. In his government of the Netherlands, he shelved him self either utterly incapable to consult for the good of his province, or cruelly determined to destroy its pros perity. He received it in a state of tranquillity, but soon filled it with disturbances and devastation. By his in tolerant system of taxation, and his neglect of the mar ine department, he ruined its extensive commerce. By his oppressive measures, and bloody persecutions, he greatly reduced the amount of its population. In the space of five years and an half, more than a hundred and twenty thousand of its most industrious and ingeni ous inhabitants were Forced to take refuge in other coun tries. Eighteen thousand, according to his own state ment, were brought to the scaffold ; and a still greater number were put to the sword. See Robertson's Hist. of Charles V. Watson's Hist. of Philip II. Modern Univ. Hist. vol. xxxi (q)