The duke of Medina-Celi proceeded rapidly to Brussels, where he was ceremoniously received by Alva, who, however, refused to resign the government, under the pretext that the term of his appointment had not expired, and that he was resolved first to completely suppress all symptoms of revolt in the northern provinces.  He succeeded in effectually disgusting La Cerda, who almost immediately demanded and obtained his own recall to Spain.  Alva, left once more in undisputed possession of his power, turned it with increased vigor into new channels of oppression.  He was soon again employed in efforts to effect the levying of his favorite taxes; and such was the resolution of the tradesmen of Brussels, that, sooner than submit, they almost universally closed their shops altogether.  Alva, furious at this measure, caused sixty of the citizens to be seized, and ordered them to be hanged opposite their own doors.  The gibbets were actually erected, when, on the very morning of the day fixed for the executions, he received despatches that wholly disconcerted him and stopped their completion.

To avoid an open rupture with Spain, the queen of England had just at this time interdicted the Dutch and Flemish privateers from taking shelter in her ports.  William de la Marck, count of Lunoy, had now the chief command of this adventurous force.  He was distinguished by an inveterate hatred against the Spaniards, and had made a wild and romantic vow never to cut his hair or beard till he had avenged the murders of Egmont and Horn.  He was impetuous and terrible in all his actions, and bore the surname of “the wild boar of the Ardennes.”  Driven out of the harbors of England, he resolved on some desperate enterprise; and on the 1st of April he succeeded in surprising the little town of Brille, in the island of Voorn, situate between Zealand and Holland.  This insignificant place acquired great celebrity from this event, which may be considered the first successful step toward the establishment of liberty and the republic.

Alva was confounded by the news of this exploit, but with his usual activity he immediately turned his whole attention toward the point of greatest danger.  His embarrassment, however, became every day more considerable.  Lunoy’s success was the signal of a general revolt.  In a few days every town in Holland and Zealand declared for liberty, with the exception of Amsterdam and Middleburg, where the Spanish garrisons were too strong for the people to attempt their expulsion.

The Prince of Orange, who had been ou the watch for a favorable moment, now entered Brabant at the head of twenty thousand men, composed of French, German, and English, and made himself master of several important places; while his indefatigable brother Louis, with a minor force, suddenly appeared in Hainault, and, joined by a large body of French Huguenots under De Genlis, he seized on Mons, the capital of the province, on the 25th of May.