The nobles now flocked to Brussels to be present at the Emperor's abdication. The Prince of Orange arrived from the camp near Liége, and his young wife, Anne of Egmont, was hospitably entertained by the Duchess of Aerschot. Friday, the 25th of October, was the day fixed for the great ceremony. On this afternoon, at three o'clock, the Emperor left the Casino with Philip and the Duke of Savoy, and rode to the palace on his mule. An hour later he entered the great hall, hung with the tapestries of Gideon's Fleece, wearing his mourning robes and the collar of the Order, and leaning on the Prince of Orange's arm. He was followed by Mary of Hungary, Philip, and the Duke of Savoy, who took their places on the daïs at the Emperor's side, while the Knights of the Fleece, the great nobles and Ambassadors, occupied seats below. The deputies, over a thousand in number, who thronged the hall, rose to their feet to receive the Emperor, and then sat down to hear the chief Councillor, Philibert of Brussels, deliver a speech, explaining the reasons for His Majesty's abdication. Then Charles himself addressed the vast assembly. In moving words he recalled the day, forty years before, when, a boy of fifteen, he had been declared of age by his grandfather, the Emperor Maximilian, and glanced briefly at the long record of wars and journeys, and the other chief events of his reign. Finally he commended his successor to them, asking them to serve his son as well as they had served him, and begging his loyal subjects to pardon him for any injustice which he might unwittingly have done them. Tears rolled down the great Emperor's cheeks as he spoke these last words, and Sir Thomas Gresham, who was present, says that there was not a dry eye in the whole assembly. Christina was present on this memorable occasion. In contemporary prints she is represented standing by the side of the Regent's chair, listening with breathless attention to every word that fell from her uncle's lips. She saw the pathetic scene between the father and son, when Charles, raising Philip from his knees and clasping him in his arms, gave him the investiture of the Provinces, and, turning to the deputies, in a broken voice asked them to excuse his tears, which flowed for love of them. And she listened with still greater emotion to the touching words in which Mary begged the Emperor and the States to forgive whatever mistakes she had made out of ignorance or incapacity, and thanked them from the depth of her heart for their unfailing love and loyalty. Her speech produced a fresh burst of tears, after which Charles thanked his sister for her long and faithful services, and Maes, the Pensionary of Antwerp, bore eloquent testimony to the undying love and gratitude which the States felt for the Queen who had governed them so well.