Note 973 — Chapter I

The duchess, in a letter to Philip, September 8, 1567, says that a hundred thousand people fled the country on the coming of Alva! (Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 357.) If this be thought a round exaggeration, dictated by policy or by fear, still there are positive proofs that the emigration at this period was excessive. Thus, by a return made of the population of London and its suburbs, this very year of 1567, it appears that the number of Flemings was as large as that of all other foreigners put together. See Bulletins de l'Académie Royale de Bruxelles, tom. XIV. p. 127.