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William e* <8vm&, 1. p. 2). 
 
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AMALIA VAN SOLMS (page 238) 
 IV^/e of Prince Frederick Henry 
 
YOUNG PEOPLE'S 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 HOLLAND 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 
 atbe Bibetjjibe pcejjS, <!i:amliriSoe 
 
 1903 
 
: 1903 BY WILLIAM ELLl 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 Published March, 1903 
 
 COPYRIGHT 1903 BY WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
To 
 SISTER MARGARET 
 
 FIRST COMRADE IN MY TRAVELS THROUGH 
 THE NETHERLANDS 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Holland had a great part in the making 
 of the civilization of Europe. By a very un- 
 usual training amid the elements of nature, 
 the Dutch were educated to take a noble part 
 in bringing about the modern world of ideas 
 and forces. To win first their own land from 
 the waters, to make it habitable, and then to 
 gain the dominion of the seas, were notable 
 triumphs of mind over matter. To lead in 
 intellectual liberty and freedom in religion, in 
 the enlargement of the bounds of human 
 knowledge, and in the union and reconcilia- 
 tion of the Orient and the Occident, were 
 surely great things to be done by a country 
 so small in area and a people so few in num- 
 bers. 
 
 In this outline of Dutch history for young 
 people, I have laid emphasis upon things visi- 
 ble and tangible and upon persons and events 
 rather than upon theories and tendencies. I 
 
 vii 
 
PREFACE 
 
 have given most space to the picturesque part 
 of the Netherlands story, to the early move- 
 ments of nations, the origin of cities, the cru- 
 sades, the counts, feudalism, the eighty years' 
 war for freedom, and those modem move- 
 ments that have shown the varied life, both of 
 the old republic and of the modem kingdom 
 which fulfilled the hopes of republican days. 
 
 Every American should know the history 
 of the Netherlands, the fatherland of millions 
 of Americans and the storehouse of prece- 
 dents in federal government from which those 
 who made our nation borrowed most freely. 
 Nowhere in Europe, except in England, can 
 one find the origin of so much that is deepest 
 and best in our national life — including the 
 highest jewel of civilization, religious liberty 
 — as in Holland, as John Adams and Benja- 
 min Franklin long ago confessed. 
 
 In a larger work, for adults, laying less stress 
 upon the picturesque and romantic elements, 
 I hope to show more fully what the northern 
 Netherlands have accomplished, what their 
 mark has been upon the world at large, what 
 have been their colonial experiences, what 
 
PREFACE 
 
 problems they have solved, and, in a word, 
 what they have contributed in many lines of 
 achievement to the sum of human civilization. 
 
 W. E. G. 
 
 Ithaca, N. Y., February, 1903. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. The Age of the Terpen . . . . i 
 
 II. Life in the Days before Letters . 9 
 
 III. The Coming of the Romans ... 17 
 
 IV. The Franks and the Frisians . . 28 
 V. Charles the Great 37 
 
 VI. Feudalism : the Lord and his Vassals 44 
 
 VII. The Crusaders in Asia ... 54 
 
 VIII. The First Counts of Holland . . 63 
 
 IX. The House of Hainault ... 80 
 
 X. The Cods and Hooks . . . -85 
 
 XI. Jacqueline of Bavaria ... go 
 
 XII. The House of Burgundy . . . 107 
 
 XIII. The Charter of the Great Privilege 116 
 
 XIV. The Dutch under the House of Aus- 
 
 tria 122 
 
 XV. The Old World before Gunpowder and 
 
 Printing 129 
 
 XVI., The Seventeen States under One Head 140 
 
 XVII. Orange and the Beggars . . . 147 
 XVIII. Hedge Preaching and the Storming of 
 
 Images 156 
 
 XIX. March of the Spaniards — Flight of 
 
 the Flemings 164 
 
 XX. The Battle of Heiligerlee . . .171 
 XXI. The Victories of the Water Beggars 179 
 XXII. Naarden, Haarlem, Alkmaar, and Ley- 
 den 188 
 
 XXIII. England helps Holland .... 206 
 
 XXIV. Prince Maurice the Union General . 222 
 
 xi 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 XXV. The Bloom of the Republic . . . 237 
 XXVI. The Parliamentary Republic . . 246 
 XXVII. Dutch Stadholder and British King . 254 
 XXVIII. The Two Republics — Dutch and Ameri- 
 can 262 
 
 XXIX. The Fall of the Republic . . . 267 
 XXX. The Batavtan Republic and the King- 
 dom OF Holland .... 274 
 XXXI. " The Dutch have taken Holland " . 283 
 XXXII. Belgium and Holland united and sepa- 
 rated 288 
 
 XXXIII. The Two Queens, Emma and Wilhel- 
 
 MiNA 295 
 
 XXXIV. The Reign of Queen Wilhelmina . . 299 
 
 Appendix 307 
 
 Index 317 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Amalia van Solms (page 238). . . . Frontispiece. 
 From an engraving after the painting by G. v. Honthorst 
 
 Escape to the Terpen from the Floods. ... 6 
 
 From Arend's " Geschiedenis des Vaderland " 
 
 Roman Roads and Architecture in the Nether- 
 lands 20 
 
 From an engraving after the original by F. v. Bleyswyck 
 
 Claudius Civilis attacking the Roman Camp . . 24 
 
 From an engraving after the original by L. F, du Bourg 
 
 The Refusal of Radbod 34 
 
 From an engraving after the original by L. F. du Bourg 
 
 The Haarlem Crusaders capturing Damietta . 70 
 
 From an engraving of the eighteenth century 
 
 Battle on the Ice between Frisians and Hol- 
 landers 82 
 
 From an engraving of the eighteenth century 
 
 The Widow of Count Albert renouncing her 
 
 Claim 92 
 
 From Arend's " Geschiedenis des Vaderland" 
 
 Jacqueline going forth to shoot at the Popin- 
 jay 100 
 
 From Arend's " Geschiedenis des Vaderland " 
 
 A Broken Dike 112 
 
 From an engraving of the eighteenth century 
 
 Riots in North Holland on Account of Heavy 
 
 Taxes 124 
 
 From an engraving after the original by T. Folkema 
 xiii 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 Preaching outside the Walls of Antwerp . . 158 
 
 From an engraving of the eighteenth century 
 
 The Women Soldiers of Haarlem 192 
 
 From an engraving of the eighteenth century 
 
 Naval Battle in the Zuyder Zee, 1573 .... 196 
 
 From an engraving after the original by H. Vettewinkel 
 
 The Relief of Leyden 202 
 
 From an engraving after the original by H. P. Oosterhuis 
 
 The Assault on Coevorden 226 
 
 From the original painting by Wouvermans 
 
 The Great Synod of Dort 234 
 
 • From an engraraig by B. Picart 
 
 WiLLLAM v., Hereditary Stadholder 258 
 
 From an engraving after the original by P. v. Nymegen 
 
 Johannes de Graeff 264 
 
 From the painting in the New Hampshire House of Re- 
 presentatives, Concord, N. H. 
 
 The French bombarding Willemstad 270 
 
 From an engraving after the original by Hausdorff and Bult- 
 huis 
 
 Founders of the Constitution 284 
 
 From an engraving after the original by J. W. Pieneman 
 
 Entry of the Dutch Army into Brussels . . . 290 
 
 From a lithograph after a sketch made at the time 
 
 Queen Wilhelmina 296 
 
 From a photograph 
 
 The Joyous Entry into Amsterdam, 1898 . . . 300 
 From a photograph 
 
 XIV 
 
YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF 
 HOLLAND 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE AGE OF THE TERPEN 
 
 I AM about to tell you the story of a land that 
 is very wonderful, because it lies for the most 
 part below the level of the sea. One would 
 not suppose that there are people who dwell 
 beneath the line of low tide, but there are, and 
 they do not live in a mine or down at a ship's 
 bottom, either. They have farms and gardens 
 and cows and horses lower than the surface, 
 not only of the rivers, but of the ocean. The 
 tops of many of the houses are on a line with 
 the decks of steamers passing along, and in 
 some cases even the chimneys are lower than 
 the keels of rowboats. Down in the deep 
 polders, or bottoms of the drained lakes, it is 
 like living in a washbowl or a cellar, yet it is 
 bright, green, and sunny there. 
 
 The cows graze where the fishes used to 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 feed, and the flowers bloom where seaweed 
 once grew. To-day as we rush through that 
 country on the flying express train — for one 
 can travel the whole length of the land in day- 
 light — we see very few swamps, marshes, or 
 waste spaces. Having climbed up to the top 
 of the great church towers, and looking down, 
 we see the whole land dotted with cities, towns, 
 and villages. Hundreds of canals cross the 
 landscape, and there are many hollows, rich and 
 low, made of drained land, called " polders." 
 About five millions of people live and work and 
 enjoy themselves in this curious country, set be- 
 tween the sand hills and the sea, between Bel- 
 gium and Germany. Altogether the Nether- 
 lands are in area less than one fourth of Iowa. 
 One would hardly look in such a place for a 
 country fit for human beings to live in. Yet the 
 people are very happy in their cosy homes, and 
 the kingdom is like a garden. How was it 
 made? 
 
 Long, long ago, before a baby cried or a boy 
 played in this part of the world, the great 
 rivers of Europe had begun to flow. Down 
 out of what is now Switzerland, and into and 
 through Germany, the Rhine forced its way. 
 The melting ice on the mountains kept the 
 stream always full and often in flood. From 
 
THE AGE OF THE TERPEN 
 
 the south there were two rivers, called the 
 Maas and the Scheldt, which brought water 
 and mud from France and Belgium. These 
 three rivers, after descending from the high 
 to the low lands, rolled their waters over the 
 muddy flats, which they had already helped 
 to make by bringing down sand, gravel, and 
 different kinds of earth. Every year they 
 spread more soil over the low countries by 
 the sea. 
 
 Other forces helped to make the Dutch do- 
 main and get it into shape. The sun shone 
 hot in summer and dried up the waters, and so, 
 here and there, above the swamps and fens, 
 land was seen. By and by something like a 
 seashore appeared. By the work of the wind 
 and the waves, great lines and heaps of sand 
 began to form into banks or dunes. In course 
 of time these dunes, or hills of sand, have be- 
 come like great sea walls, to make a coast and 
 keep out the ocean. They rise from fifty to 
 three hundred feet in height, and are many 
 rods wide. The dunes furnish homes for birds 
 and rabbits. Sometimes they give soil enough 
 for the raising of potatoes, provided no storm 
 comes up to blow the farm away or ingulf it 
 with more sand. 
 
 Within this country, birds, beasts, and reptiles 
 3 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 lived before men. At first there was hardly 
 anything except swamps within and rivers, 
 lakes, and lagoons near the seashore. Wher- 
 ever the land did come nearly up to or just 
 above the water, there was a thick growth of 
 reeds, rushes, and grasses, in which millions of 
 wild fowl lived, feeding upon the fishes and in- 
 sects that were to be found on the sand and in 
 the vegetation. Wherever patches of dry land 
 appeared, formed of sand and sand only, there 
 was little or no growth of trees, but wherever 
 the rivers overflowed, leaving a top dressing of 
 mud, or " sea clay " mixed with the sand, there 
 trees grew, so that by and by great forests 
 arose. Ages afterward, when men spoke a 
 language in which " holt " or " hout " meant 
 wood, then the holt-land or hout-land, that is, 
 wood-land, was called Holland. 
 
 Many animals roamed in these forests. 
 There were wild boars, with hard and sharp 
 tusks, terrible to their enemies. Shaggy, fierce, 
 and bold, these fellows, swift on the hoof and 
 strong in the snout, lived on acorns, beechnuts, 
 and what they could root up out of the ground. 
 Then there were wolves, swift, strong, with terri- 
 ble teeth, and able to stand a good deal of hunger 
 and cold. There were bears that fed on many 
 kinds of food. Having warm coats, they could 
 
 4 
 
THE AGE OF THE TERPEN 
 
 Stand the bitterly cold winters in this part of 
 the world. Finding some hollow tree or hole 
 in the ground, the brown bear could live all 
 winter, eating nothing, but sleeping most of 
 the time. 
 
 Looking at the map of the Netherlands to- 
 day, you will see that Zeeland consists of a net- 
 work of islands formed chiefly by the Scheldt 
 river finding its way to the sea. Then from 
 the point where the Rhine enters Gelderland 
 you will find another wonderful network of 
 streams flowing with the Maas and the Waal 
 westward to the sea, making more islands. 
 Further north is the Zuyder Zee, with the Ijssel 
 and the Eem and the Vecht rivers flowing into 
 it. Beyond North Holland and Friesland 
 again is a line of half a dozen islands. Where 
 there are no natural rivers the Dutch dig 
 canals, for their inland commerce is very great. 
 Every morning the newspapers announce the 
 depth of water in each stream, so that the men 
 may know whether they can sail, row, or pole 
 their boats where they want to go. When they 
 meet in the morning their greeting is not " How 
 do you do ? " but, literally, " How do you 
 sail ? " 
 
 What was the appearance of the country 
 when the first human beings came into it? 
 
 5 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 Who were they ? How did they look ? What 
 did they wear ? What did they find to eat ? 
 How did they work, build, fight, and hunt? 
 Above all, how did they defend themselves 
 against the water from heaven and earth, the 
 rain and the waves, the river and the sea 
 floods ? 
 
 We cannot tell exactly, but we know that 
 the men of that time had to work hard for a 
 living, and to find food and clothes for their 
 children. In such a country, with more water 
 than solid land, their first care was not to get 
 drowned. Perhaps it took more thought to be 
 able to guard against the waters than to fight 
 the wolves and bears. Sometimes the wind 
 would blow long and hard from the west and 
 drive the ocean waves over the land. In the 
 spring time, when in Switzerland the snow 
 melted and in the French mountains the rain 
 fell heavily, the waters spread over the coun- 
 try and the land was lost from sight again. 
 Then between storm and flood these shaggy 
 men, half naked or dressed in wolf or bear 
 skins, had to fight for their lives against the 
 water as their foe. 
 
 How did they do it ? And how were their 
 wives able to guard their babies, rear their 
 children, and dwell in safety till the waters 
 
 6 
 
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THE AGE OF THE TERPEN 
 
 went down, so that they could live once more 
 in their huts and hunt and fish, or perhaps cul- 
 tivate the ground ? Yet it is from the cold, 
 stormy lands of northwestern Europe we get 
 our dear word " home." 
 
 Well, these men first won a shelter bybuild- 
 ing mounds of tough clay which they raised a 
 few feet above the level of some piece of hard 
 ground. Sometimes they drove in stakes of 
 wood to keep the mound or little hill firm when 
 the waters rushed in around it. These mounds 
 were called " terpen." In time, many hundreds 
 of these terpen dotted the land, and, in the 
 course of history, when men became more 
 numerous, stronger, and more civilized, the 
 terp became the centre of the town. On it 
 houses were built or the great church rose up 
 toward the sky. Yet on many of the terpen 
 no village rose, and these became grassy knolls 
 that look very pretty on the flat landscape. 
 Trees have grown on their rich soil, the cattle 
 have grazed up and down upon them and used 
 them for shade in summer, and to-day picnic 
 parties play and dance and eat luncheon there. 
 The terpen are the relics of the early Dutch 
 world before history was written. 
 
 Let us get acquainted with the men and wo- 
 men, the boys and girls, who lived upon these 
 
 7 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 mounds. Even in our day we can see just how 
 many kinds of people have dwelt upon or 
 visited the terpen, from the earliest to the lat- 
 est times, from the men who saw the now ex- 
 tinct reindeers, antelopes, and beavers down to 
 those who have looked upon Queen Wilhel- 
 mina and her inauguration. In later times 
 chemists have found that the earth in these 
 terpen is very rich in black mould, for much of 
 it is the prized sea clay, which everywhere in 
 the Netherlands makes the soil that the farmer 
 values most. Large areas of the Netherlands 
 consist only of sand, which is nearly worthless ; 
 but the clays deposited by the sea, river, and 
 stream, and the drained fen land, can always be 
 made into good pasture or grain fields. When 
 the sea clay, out of the old marshes, is put 
 upon the sand, then rye, oats, and grass grow 
 finely. This is the reason why the terpen, 
 once out in the country beyond the towns or 
 cities, are not now often to be seen. They 
 have been cut down and sold at so much a cart 
 load. I have seen men with spades digging 
 them down and hauling away this " pay dirt " 
 to enrich their fields. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 LIFE IN THE DAYS BEFORE LETTERS 
 
 What else do we find in the terpen ? 
 
 Many things, for each one is Hke a layer 
 cake or plum pudding, rich in delights to the 
 men on the outlook for curiosities of past ages. 
 Under the first two or three feet we find bits 
 of crockery or porcelain, buttons, horseshoes, 
 or such things as are modern and have been 
 known only in recent times. In the next few 
 feet below we find coins minted in the old 
 days when many Dutch cities had the right to 
 stamp money, together with images of the 
 saints, crosses, and things belonging to the 
 middle ages. A yard or so further down we 
 are very apt to fall upon Roman coins and 
 images of Mars, Venus, and Apollo, with odds 
 and ends of things used in the time when the 
 Roman soldier camped in the land. Toward 
 the bottom we reach relics of the very ancient 
 days, before the time of iron and steel, such 
 as bronze swords, daggers, and spearheads. 
 Either with these, or still lower down, are 
 
 9 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 things made of stone and bone, such as we 
 may pick up among our fields where the red 
 Indians lived. The earth or the animals fur- 
 nished material for the needles, combs, scra- 
 pers, chisels, arrowheads, fishhooks, tools, and 
 ornaments which the people used who lived 
 long ago before the time of written history. 
 
 These terpen are to be seen especially in 
 Friesland and Groningen. Perhaps the men 
 who first made them lived about the same time 
 as those who raised the dolmens, or heaped 
 stones, in Drenthe, called Hunnebeden, or 
 "giants' graves." There are fifty or sixty of 
 these dolmens left yet, and we see them best at 
 Rolde. Each one consists of a dozen stones, 
 more or less, which are laid around to form a 
 kind of wall, or huge box, and on top of these 
 are placed two or three of the larger boulders, 
 each as big as a cart. How did these great 
 rocks get where they are ? 
 
 Well, ages ago, when most of Holland was 
 under the water of the ocean, great glaciers, 
 from which icebergs are made, extended all the 
 way down from Norway to France and the 
 Netherlands. They brought with them, as ice- 
 bergs do, large masses of rock, besides millions 
 of pebbles and many cubic miles of gravel. 
 In later ages they floated around and above 
 
LIFE IN THE DAYS BEFORE LETTERS 
 
 the land that was to be, and sometimes they 
 grounded. When the ice melted, this stony 
 material from Sweden and Norway was left on 
 Dutch soil. Thus, whether by iceberg or by 
 glacier or both, Drenthe was covered with 
 these boulders, and other parts of the country 
 were filled with the " drift," or small stones and 
 gravel. 
 
 This time of the world's history has been 
 named Ragnarok, or " The Twilight of the 
 Gods." In the mythology or fairy tales of the 
 Norsemen, we are told about Woden, who was 
 a great hero living during the age of the gla- 
 ciers, and of Thor, who, with his mighty ham- 
 mer, helped to shape the world. 
 
 No doubt the men who lived in Drenthe 
 and raised these tombs, or altars, or whatever 
 they were, worked very hard with the lever and 
 the roller, prying and turning over these huge 
 stones. It must have cost great labor to get 
 them into position. We can imagine the boys 
 and girls of this wild age looking on and being 
 interested, while the women cooked the food 
 and worked equally hard to take care of the 
 babies and to make the husbands and fathers 
 comfortable. 
 
 We can only guess how people lived in 
 those far-away times by studying tribes of 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 savages whose ways of life are somewhat like 
 those of the terpen folks. This we know, how- 
 ever, that they had to toil hard to live. With 
 stone knives they skinned the animals killed 
 with spear or arrow, and cut the flesh into 
 pieces for boiling or roasting. Their axes 
 were made of chipped or sharpened flints 
 tied to wooden handles, and with these they 
 cracked open the marrow bones. 
 
 To split wood, make boats, and provide fuel 
 for warmth with such tools meant a good deal 
 of labor. Yet even in those days the people 
 played as well as worked. We can see in the 
 museums, from what has been found in the 
 terpen, that boys and girls, men and women, 
 were as fond of adorning themselves then as 
 we are now. They bound up their hair, first 
 with withes or cords, and then with bands of 
 bronze. We can handle their hairpins, hair- 
 rings, bracelets, finger rings, necklaces, dia- 
 dems, and various ornaments and implements 
 made to hold clothing together. The girls 
 and women in those days, as in ours, liked to 
 look pretty. The men took great pains and 
 care with their weapons to make them sharp 
 and powerful. 
 
 With the clay, which they could easily dig 
 up all around them, they moulded urns, jars, 
 
LIFE IN THE DAYS BEFORE LETTERS 
 
 plates, cups, and many kinds of cooking and 
 drinking vessels. By baking the clay in the 
 fire, they made it hard, so that they were able 
 to keep not only food but water and liquids. 
 To grind their grain they made hand-mills 
 out of stones. In summer the men hunted 
 and fished, enjoying the sweet breath of the 
 woods and meadows. In winter they tied on 
 their feet skates made of bone and glided over 
 the smooth ice. I have no doubt that though 
 we could not, yet they did enjoy their kind of 
 life. 
 
 In religion these people worshiped gods 
 who were a good deal like themselves, yet per- 
 haps they were as truly religious, according to 
 their light, as we are. They had no temples 
 or sacred buildings, but certain trees were holy, 
 and no one must tread in those parts of the 
 forest that were counted sacred, without being 
 clean in body and pure in thought. The trees 
 in the groves of the gods were believed to have 
 powers of healing. Many a mother brought 
 her sick baby before the sacred fir or the vine- 
 covered oak, praying to the god Woden to 
 heal the child. Often men in disease were 
 carried a long distance by their friends and 
 laid before the holy trees, hoping for health 
 again. Sometimes their religion took what 
 
 13 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 seems to us a very cruel form. They feared 
 the wrath of the gods, who, they thought, de- 
 lighted in war and death. Very tall figures, 
 made in human shape of plaited osiers or wil- 
 low branches, were filled with prisoners taken 
 in battle, or with people who were believed to 
 have wrought witchcraft, or who were supposed 
 to have made the gods angry. Then this great 
 wooden framework, full of human beings, was 
 set on fire and all within were burned to ashes. 
 This was supposed to please the gods, who 
 loved blood and slaughter, even as the warriors 
 themselves did. When a chief or great man 
 died, they laid his body upon a very high pile 
 of wood and ranged around him his servants, 
 who were then put to death. They led up his 
 horse and his dog, and these also they killed 
 with their stout knives. Then they placed all 
 the dead bodies on the heap, setting the whole 
 on fire. All this they did in the hope that the 
 master would not be lonely, but have company 
 in the spirit world. Often the wife died thus 
 with her husband. 
 
 Yet there were bright days too, for these 
 people were much like ourselves. They liked to 
 have their fun and frolic. They showed their 
 gladness when winter had gone and summer 
 had come. They marked the passing of time 
 
LIFE IN THE DAYS BEFORE LETTERS 
 
 when the spring days began to lengthen and 
 the autumn nights grew shorter, and again 
 when the hours between sunrise and sunset 
 were fewer and there was less time fpr outdoor 
 life. The long nights made them gather 
 round the fireplace and tell wonderful stories 
 of great heroes and gods, and of men and wo- 
 men who had set shining examples of duty or 
 prowess. They celebrated what we call the 
 sun's solstices, the winter one, which comes on 
 December 2 2d, near our Christmas, and the 
 summer one, which comes on June 21st, and 
 also the equinoxes of the spring and autumn. 
 
 Perhaps one of the greatest days of all the 
 year was the May festival, when the women 
 and children put flowers on their heads, 
 wreathed them over their shoulders and around 
 their waists, and made long garlands of green- 
 ery decked with blossoms. A great tree was 
 cut down, and drawn out from the forest into 
 the open. Its branches were chopped off and 
 it was set up as the May pole, around which 
 the people danced and sang, while one pretty 
 maiden was made the queen. To her they all 
 paid honors. 
 
 Thus, long, long before such things as clocks 
 or almanacs were known, or there was any 
 exact method of keeping time or marking his- 
 
 15 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 tory, the centuries slipped away, while the land 
 was forming into its present shape, or rather 
 toward it. Further south, below what is now 
 the Zuyder Zee, stretched great wastes of sand 
 called the Veluwe, or Vile land, while in the 
 great island next south to it was the Betuwe, 
 or the Better Land or meadow. Still further 
 south and to the southwest, between hill and 
 sea, was more of the low land which now forms 
 Belgium. 
 
 How many people there were in all these 
 lowlands before Christ was born we cannot 
 tell. Living amid their own swamps, occupied 
 as they were in fishing and in hunting, and 
 often at war, they hardly knew, except by 
 vague and strange reports, of the bright, sunny 
 lands in the south, where dwelt people who 
 had cities, streets, canals and aqueducts, 
 houses of brick and marble, painting, sculp- 
 ture, and books. About these things the peo- 
 ple in the north of Europe knew and cared no 
 more than the savage Indians of America used 
 to care for farms, shops, or stores. They were 
 in love with their wild life as fishermen and 
 hunters and worshipers of Woden. To them 
 these marshy lowlands, under cloudy skies and 
 often hidden in fog, made home. 
 
 i6 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE COMING OF THE ROMANS 
 
 It was wonderful and exciting news when 
 in the year 54 b. c. swift runners brought word 
 that the south men, the Romans, were march- 
 ing by the thousands toward the Rhine. From 
 their lookouts in the treetops, these stalwart 
 men of the north saw the flashing brass hel- 
 mets of the Roman soldiers. At first they 
 were afraid of them. They saw that these 
 warriors from sunny lands wore tunics, or short 
 coats, with greaves on their lower limbs, but not 
 leggings or trousers, like the men of colder 
 climes. At night they wrapped themselves in 
 cloaks. They carried short, iron swords, and 
 shields made strong with hide and metal. On 
 their bodies they had armor, their shoulders 
 being especially well guarded with bands and 
 plates of bronze. 
 
 These southern men were not, as a rule, so 
 tall as those in the north. Indeed, many of 
 them seemed to the Germans to be mere boys. 
 So the tribesmen plucked up courage, gathered 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 themselves together, and went out with their 
 spears and swords, expecting to drive the Ro- 
 mans away and kill them all, but they had 
 made a great mistake. The Romans were 
 not only brave, but they were cool and obeyed 
 orders. They stood together close in ranks 
 and could not be driven back, even when the 
 heavier tribesmen rushed at them in great 
 crowds. 
 
 It was the Roman discipline that conquered. 
 These " boys " kept their ground, first receiv- 
 ing the blows of the barbarians upon their 
 shields, and then thrusting the enemy through 
 with their short swords. There was no steel 
 in those days, and if a soldier bent his sword, 
 he put it under his foot and straightened it 
 out again. In the end, Caesar, who had eight 
 legions, or about fifty thousand men, conquered 
 the Netherlands south of the Rhine. Other 
 generals followed Caesar, and soon the golden 
 eagles and banner of Rome were seen all over 
 the land. The Batavians, or the men who lived 
 on the island of Betuwe — famous for its pas- 
 tures — and the regions around, were such good 
 fighters on horseback that they were invited, 
 13 B. c, to enter the Roman army. This they 
 did, becoming the life or body guard of the 
 Roman emperor. They served as Batavian 
 
THE COMING OF THE ROMANS 
 
 cavalry in many campaigns, even in far-off 
 southern Europe and in Greece, once deciding 
 a great battle by their valor. 
 
 The history of the Netherlands becomes 
 brighter after the Romans entered the country, 
 for these southerners understood vi^riting, and 
 letters bring light. Caesar has told his story 
 in Latin, which, though it seems to the school- 
 girls and schoolboys beginning it hard to 
 translate, is very clear. Yet Csesar wrote only 
 about the earliest wars. We wish some other 
 Romans, during the following centuries, had 
 written equally well about later events and 
 their own lives and work ; for very many people 
 came up from Italy and the southern countries, 
 and thousands of them lived in the Nether- 
 lands during five hundred years. They built 
 roads, canals, and forts, laid out farms, and 
 reared houses and temples. They made a very 
 large walled camp on the seashore near Ley- 
 den, which they called the House towards Brit- 
 ain. One general, named Drusus, 1 1 b. c, 
 had a long canal cut, which joined the waters 
 of the Rhine and the Ijssel rivers, so that they 
 flowed to Lake Flevo, where is now the Zuyder 
 Zee, and out to the German Ocean through the 
 Vlie. After that, a Roman galley could be 
 rowed from inland Germany to the British 
 
 19 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 Isles, or enter from the North Sea into the 
 heart of Europe. 
 
 One of the canals, dug near Le)'den and 
 called the Vliet, is probably the same one down 
 which, many centuries later, the Pilgrim Fa- 
 thers began their journey to America. 
 
 We know fairly well what cities there were 
 in the times of the empire and where the gar- 
 risons were placed. While the Romans had 
 their farms, the natives kept their marks, 
 or divisions of land, and thus the one set of 
 men learned a great deal from the other. A 
 mark was a tract of land owned by a tribe or 
 family in common. All the people could cut 
 wood from the forest for their fires or to make 
 houses or tools, and all were allowed to keep 
 their pigs in the woods, or to let their cows 
 graze upon the meadows, for the land of the 
 community was free to all. On the other hand, 
 the Romans measured and divided their land 
 into farms, each owned by one person. In 
 later ages some of the Roman laws and cus- 
 toms were adopted by these Germanic tribes 
 that became Dutch and English, so that not a 
 few Latin words, now spelled " farm," " canal," 
 " street," " port," or " common," have remained 
 in our language. Even the "common," or 
 " green," which we see in our towns and vil- 
 
ROJIAN ROADS AND A 
 
lETURE IN THE NETHERLANDS 
 
THE COMING OF THE ROMANS 
 
 lages, is a relic of these old days. In time the 
 Romans became Christians, and thus, through 
 them, one of the greatest blessings brought 
 into this northern land was the religion of 
 Jesus, which softened manners and kindled in 
 men's hearts the greatest of all hopes. 
 
 Let us look at some of the Roman cities in 
 the far north. Beginning at the south, there 
 was Noviomagum, which is now called Ny- 
 megen. We must remember that these. Latin 
 names, sooner or later, became changed into 
 Dutch, and that the names we now see on the 
 map have grown out of the Latin ; as, for ex- 
 ample, Vianen, from Fanum Dianae, or Diana's 
 Shrine. In some cases the Latin name, like 
 Lugdunum, now perhaps the city of Leyden, 
 was only the southern man's way of pronoun- 
 cing Lugdun, the name already there, which 
 has in it " lug," now our word " look." Among 
 the islands of Zeeland, Roman sailors and mer- 
 chants lived and had their altars and temples, 
 but we do not know the exact place of any 
 ancient town or city there. " Utrecht " is only 
 the late form changed from words meaning the 
 Upper or Old Ford, near a settlement, where 
 the water was so low as to be easily crossed. 
 Further on the west was the great camp on 
 the seashore, called the House toward Britain, 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 which was the place whence the Roman ships 
 could sail over to the British islands to supply 
 the garrisons there, and to which galleys could 
 row or sail from the direction of sunset. A 
 little south was a colony at the place now 
 called Voorburg. Further up in the north 
 was the Flevo castle, standing about where 
 Hoorn now is. Just north of Lake Flevo, 
 which has since become the Zuyder Zee, was 
 a holy forest, far-stretching and gloomy, in 
 which were many sacred trees. To the north- 
 east was Groningen. The channels of most of 
 the Dutch rivers were then as they are now. 
 
 The natives had not only their witches and 
 wizards, but also their fortune-tellers and those 
 whom they called weird women, who foretold 
 that which would come to pass. One of them, 
 living near the spot where the river Lippe 
 flowed into the Rhine, was the virgin Velleda. 
 She dwelt alone in the forest, far above the 
 ground, in a tower or platform built in the 
 trees. Many people believed that she could 
 not only see into the future, but could assure 
 success to those whom she favored. This wo- 
 man was a great friend of a native noble named 
 Claudius. His parents had not so called him 
 when a boy, but on becoming a soldier in the 
 Roman army, he took the name of Claudius 
 
 22 
 
THE COMING OF THE ROMANS 
 
 Civilis, which shows that he was a Roman 
 citizen. He served twenty-five years in the 
 legions and under the golden eagles, fighting 
 for the empire wherever he was sent. He 
 lived a long time in Italy, in the city on the 
 Tiber, but he never lost his love for his people 
 or his country in the north. 
 
 When Claudius and his brother were charged 
 with crime, they were sent prisoners to Rome. 
 His brother was put to death, but he escaped. 
 He then determined to free his country also. 
 Coming home, he told Velleda, the fortune- 
 teller, his ambition. She promised that if he 
 would lead his countrymen, he could drive away 
 the Romans and become emperor. When 
 she told others that Claudius was their cham- 
 pion, the tribes rallied round him. Knowing 
 how to build battering rams and engines to 
 throw stones and darts, he attacked, a. d. 70, 
 his enemy's camps. Yet although he won 
 some victories, he was not very successful. 
 The Romans beat back his forces or persuaded 
 them to desert their leader. Crafty as they 
 were, they even sent to Velleda and won her 
 over to their cause. She now began to fore- 
 tell the ruin of Civilis and the triumph of his 
 enemies. 
 
 We do not know what became of Claudius 
 23 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 Civilis, but after him the natives gathered to- 
 gether and chose another leader, whose name 
 was Brinio. Theirs was a rough kind of an 
 election. Had we been there we should have 
 seen thousands of warriors of various tribes 
 met together, with their spears and swords and 
 shields. Stalwart fellows, with long mustaches 
 and streaming hair, or with their locks bound 
 up in a knot, dressed in leather or skins with 
 the fur on, bearing shields of hide or wicker- 
 work, held a council and made many speeches. 
 Then after it had been pretty well agreed who 
 should be chief, a half dozen or more strong 
 warriors would lead out the elected man. Pla- 
 cing him upon their big shields, they hoisted 
 him up in the air, resting the burden on their 
 shoillders. Standing on this platform of hu- 
 man muscle, holding his sword in one hand 
 and gesturing with the other, Brinio addressed 
 his warriors in a rousing speech. He had on 
 a tunic, held together by a belt, in which a 
 knife was thrust. Over his shoulders hung a 
 skin mantle, a hide was wrapped around his 
 legs, and on his feet were sandals. The great 
 crowd of war-men set up a shout, hailed him as 
 their chief, and rattled the fiat of their swords 
 and spears against their shields. Then he led 
 them forth to battle. 
 
 24 
 
f - -?> a^r - >^ 
 
 
 o 
 
 a: 
 
 H 
 
 o 
 z 
 
 < 
 
 Q 
 o 
 
THE COMING OF THE ROMANS 
 
 These events took place in the years 69 and 
 70, when in the far east another Roman army 
 under Titus was besieging Jerusalem. 
 
 But in A. D. 70 it was not yet for either a 
 Claudius or a Brinio to make headway against 
 the Romans. The southern rulers still held 
 their camps, garrisons, and cities, marched up 
 and down the roads, and collected the taxes in 
 the northern lowlands. There were others 
 besides soldiers among these people from the 
 sunny south, for the women had come to make 
 homes as well as camps. The boys and girls 
 born in the settlements amid this watery land 
 were sent to Italy for their education. To- 
 day, as the spade and plough disturb the soil, 
 mirrors, bracelets, images, jewelry, sculpture, 
 children's toys, and many a pretty thing brought 
 from the land on the Mediterranean are turned 
 up. Dutch writers tell wonderful stories of the 
 Roman world passed away. 
 
 By and by, in the latter part of the third 
 century, when tribes of men from the north 
 and east broke into the land and captured the 
 Roman camps and cities, the cohorts were 
 sent to the frontier, and they drove back these 
 new Germans from over the border. On the 
 eastern frontier, then as now, most of the land 
 was swampy or sandy, but a strip of hard soil 
 
 25 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 crossed it, making a gateway into the Low 
 Country. Here the Romans built a camp and 
 formed a garrison, at what is now called Coe- 
 vorden, as well as at Groningen. Thus the 
 invaders were held back, for the great empire 
 of Rome was still strong and the legions were 
 kept in splendid discipline. 
 
 But gradually most of the soldiers found in 
 the Roman army were men of northern birth. 
 They did not enjoy fighting for the distant 
 emperor in Italy. They favored their own 
 countrymen more and more. At any rate, 
 about the middle of the fifth century, the Ger- 
 manic tribes all united together, and resolved 
 to drive the Romans southward, and to occupy 
 the whole land for themselves. Encouraged 
 by their weird women, and led by brave and 
 stalwart leaders, they streamed over the land. 
 Though sometimes beaten back, they captured, 
 one after the other, the Roman camps and 
 castles, and were finally successful In a few 
 years most of the marble images and altars 
 were overthrown, and the Roman temples de- 
 faced and ruined. The jewels, ornaments, toys, 
 and pretty things brought from Italy became 
 playthings for the barbarian children. The 
 mosaic floors sank under the earth. The very 
 places where there were Roman houses and 
 
 26 
 
THE COMING OF THE ROMANS 
 
 gardens were overgrown with bushes and for- 
 gotten. Trees sprang up, forests covered the 
 ploughed land, and once more much of the 
 country was as wild as nature could make it. 
 The arts of brickmaking and stonebuilding 
 were forgotten, and the story of the Romans 
 became myth and fairy tale. 
 
 By the sixth century, Germans, Franks, Sax- 
 ons, and Angles had occupied the whole land, 
 and new tribes, along with the Frisians, filled 
 the country. There was pagan darkness again, 
 as of old. It is now time for us to look again 
 towards the Mediterranean, to see what next 
 the bright sunny south, rich in glorious cities 
 and Christian temples, will send into this land 
 of forest, fen, and marsh. Now that in these 
 warmer south countries, so much nearer Pales- 
 tine, the church had, for the pnost part, taken 
 the place of the pagan temple, we should ex- 
 pect the rays of Christianity to shine brightly 
 in the far north also. Even to this day the 
 Latin motto of Utrecht University means, 
 " Sun of (Divine) Justice shine on us," while 
 that of her child in the new world, Rutgers 
 College, at New Brunswick, in New Jersey, 
 means, " Sun of (Divine) Justice shine also on 
 the West." 
 
 27 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE FRANKS AND THE FRISIANS 
 
 Like the great floods from river and sea that 
 from time to time roll over the Netherlands, 
 hiding for a while the face of the country be- 
 neath the waters, while leaving new deposits 
 of soil, so was the great overstreaming of the 
 nations from the north and east during the 
 fifth and sixth centuries, that filled the land 
 with new people. The men and boys marched 
 on foot, the women and little folk traveled in 
 wagons. When they reached the seashore, 
 thousands of them sailed on westward over the 
 North Sea and settled in England. 
 
 When we look again at the Low Countries, 
 we find them occupied chiefly by two great 
 peoples, called the Frisians on the north and 
 the Franks on the south. Between these two 
 peoples there was often war, but in time of 
 peace much trade and barter. Their lan- 
 guages were not very different, so that they 
 could talk easily with each other. The Fri- 
 sians were really a mixture of many people. 
 
 28 
 
THE FRANKS AND THE FRISIANS 
 
 Their language was very much like that of 
 the tribes that had crossed the North Sea into 
 England, and have since been called " the 
 Anglo-Saxons." We can see now how this 
 general likeness of the speech of the Teutonic 
 tribes would help to spread the religion of 
 Jesus when missionaries came into the land. 
 The Netherlanders were pagans, and if they 
 were to be converted to Christianity, the work 
 must be done, as it is always done when a 
 nation changes or improves its religion, by 
 missionaries. 
 
 Most of the old Celtic tribes that had lived 
 in the Low Countries were driven further south 
 below the Rhine, which was now the general 
 boundary, no longer between Romans and 
 Germans, but between the new nations. The 
 neighbors of the new Netherlanders were called 
 Franks, or Spear-men, as the Saxons were 
 Knife-men. These Prankish tribes were de- 
 scendants of the same people who had lived in 
 the regions along the river Rhine in Cesar's 
 day, and with whom the Romans had come into 
 contact. The Franks entered the Netherlands 
 between the years 300 and 361 a. d. When in 
 the fifth century they began to move southward, 
 they made a confederacy and called them- 
 selves Franks, which then meant freemen. 
 
 29 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 There were two divisions of them. One was 
 the Salic, or Salian, group of tribes, living 
 around the lower or western Rhine and the 
 Maas and the Scheldt rivers. These took 
 their name from the river Ijssel, which was 
 then called Sala. 
 
 The other group of Franks came from the 
 middle or eastern part of the river Rhine, in 
 and about the region of which the city of Co- 
 logne is the centre. These were called the 
 Riparian, or River, Franks, because of their 
 riparian situation ; for the word means by the 
 side of, or belonging to, the banks of a river. 
 " Rijp " is the ending of many Dutch names of 
 places that once stood on a river, like Dronrijp, 
 for example, in Friesland. Indeed, in those 
 times, the savage Netherlanders were like our 
 North American Indians, fond of living near 
 rivers or streams, in which they could catch 
 fish for food and beavers for clothing. Other 
 animals, besides the human sort, made their 
 haunts near the water, finding it a good place 
 for daily food. 
 
 The Franks moved into what was then called 
 Gaul, and gave it the name of France. They 
 raised a flag with the colors red, white, and 
 blue in it; and overthrowing the imperial 
 power and driving out the Roman soldiers, 
 
 30 
 
THE FRANKS AND THE FRISIANS 
 
 they set up a kingdom of their own. They 
 extended their conquests by going up and 
 back into their old home-land, pushing the 
 Frisians northward. Yet active as they were 
 in the arts of war, the Christian missionaries 
 from Rome and Ireland were equally busy in 
 the arts of peace. During the long years of 
 both peace and war, the Franks were taught 
 the religion of Jesus, until it became their 
 own. 
 
 This was the wonderful thing, that Ireland 
 was then an island of saints and full of Chris- 
 tian light. About the year 388, a Latin gen- 
 tleman's son, named Succat (brave in battle), 
 was carried captive to Ireland and there made 
 a slave. When he gained his freedom, he 
 went over to Gaul to be educated. Becom- 
 ing a Christian pastor, he resolved to return 
 to Ireland, and did so in a. d. 432. As a mis- 
 sionary he taught the good news of God's love, 
 winning great success, as all missionaries do 
 who have strength, perseverance, wisdom, and 
 gentleness, and who not only preach, but live 
 the pure gospel of Christ. Ireland became a 
 Christian country, and her people sent out mis- 
 sionaries to Scotland, France, and the Nether- 
 lands. 
 
 When the Franks first raised the flag of war 
 31 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 against the Romans, they chose three colors, 
 red, white, and blue. The three stripes were 
 placed vertically, that is, up and down. This 
 first flag of freedom has ever since been con- 
 spicuous. To-day, after the white lilies of the 
 Bourbons, it is the flag of the republic of 
 France. The same colors are those of the 
 Netherlands and of the United States, as well 
 as of other countries under their influence. 
 
 One of the great kings of the Franks, the 
 first, A. D. 500, was Clovis. Another was Dago- 
 bert, who became sole ruler of the Frankish 
 empire. He collected the laws and framed 
 them into a code. About the beginning of 
 the seventh century, the Franks gradually 
 secured victory over the Frisians. Then, at 
 Utrecht, in a. d. 628, Dagobert, having author- 
 ity over the whole country, gave protection 
 to the missionaries when they wished to go up 
 further north and preach the gospel. The sav- 
 age Frisians there* were slow to give up their 
 gods, sacred trees, and old traditions. 
 
 Looking back to the seventh century, we 
 can see a little wooden church rising up in 
 Utrecht, and hear prayers to God in Christ ; 
 but the pagan Frisians turn jealous eyes on 
 this building, and their priests are sullen and 
 hostile. By and by they burn down the church, 
 
 32 
 
THE FRANKS AND THE FRISIANS 
 
 but it is soon rebuilt. The missionaries go 
 forth and preach. With their axes they cut 
 down the trees sacred to Woden and Thor, 
 and build churches amid the groves. 
 
 So Christianity moves, now forward, now 
 backward, yet ever onward. About a. d. 679, 
 from near York in England, a city which, hav- 
 ing been first Briton and then Roman, was at 
 this time Anglo-Saxon, Wilfried the mission- 
 ary reached the Netherlands. On the coast 
 of England he got on board one of the little 
 wooden ships of the period, to sail down into 
 France, expecting then to travel across the 
 country. He was going to Rome to see the 
 Pope. 
 
 The North Sea is often very stormy, and 
 Wilfried's ship was blown over to the coast of 
 Friesland. Adgillus, the king of the Frisians, 
 having many enemies among the Franks, 
 wanted to be friendly with Wilfried. This 
 was because Nebroin, who was the great court- 
 master of the king of the Franks, was a friend 
 of Wilfried. So Adgillus gave Wilfried per- 
 mission to preach the gospel. He had no 
 trouble in making himself understood by these 
 people, strangers though they were. In those 
 days the language which both the people in 
 the British Islands and those in the Nether- 
 
 33 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 lands spoke was about the same. The Anglo- 
 Saxons and the Frisians belonged to the one 
 race, and the English language was not yet 
 separated from the German. His preaching 
 was welcomed, and many thousand Frisians 
 were baptized. 
 
 On his return to England in 680, Wilfried 
 secured permission to have other missionaries 
 cross the North Sea to Friesland. One of the 
 most celebrated of the number was Willibrord, 
 who had been a pupil of Wilfried in earlier 
 days. He is now spoken of as " the apostle of 
 the Frisians." He studied twelve years in Ire- 
 land, and in 690 he went over to the Nether- 
 lands, landing near Utrecht. Here he was 
 joined by a band of eleven other English mis- 
 sionaries. The chief ruler, who was a Frank, 
 named Pepin the Big, welcomed him and 
 treated him well. He also had the patronage 
 of King Charles Martel, who had beaten the 
 Saracens in battle. With his band of preach- 
 ers and teachers, Willibrord went all through 
 the northern Netherlands. By the year 700, 
 many thousands of the Frisians had become 
 Christians, putting away their old ideas and 
 customs. Not a few of the converted pagan 
 priests became pastors of villages of Christian 
 
 34 
 

THE FRANKS AND THE FRISIANS 
 
 people. The images of the gods, the holy 
 marks on the trees, the rude stone altars of 
 sacrifice passed away. In the old sacred places 
 rose houses of worship, in which the heavenly 
 Father alone was adored. 
 
 But from time to time there would be a re- 
 action. It is not easy for men to change their 
 religion, and conversion was often brought 
 about by force. The Frisian king, Radbod, 
 had been compelled to obey the Frankish rule 
 and come into the Christian Church, a. d. 718, 
 to be baptized. The ancient fonts, still to be 
 seen in the museums, were as large as tubs. 
 The ca!ndidate for baptism stepped into the 
 vessel, and could be not only sprinkled but 
 dipped. When the royal Radbod had put one 
 leg into the font, he stopped and asked Wol- 
 fram the missionary whether through baptism 
 he could enter heaven. 
 
 " Certainly," answered the bishop. 
 
 " But," replied Radbod, " how is it with my 
 father, and my grandfather, and all my ances- 
 tors who have not been baptized ? Are they 
 not in heaven .? " 
 
 " No," answered Wolfram the pastor, " they 
 are in hell. Only the baptized Christians go 
 to heaven." 
 
 35 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 " Then I '11 think it over before I am bap- 
 tized. I had rather be with my own kindred 
 in hell than with you and yours in heaven." 
 Thereupon he drew out his foot and went 
 away. 
 
 36 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 CHARLES THE GREAT 
 
 Religion and politics were mixed together in 
 those early days, and some of the bishops were 
 rather in a hurry about forcing the Frisians 
 to accept their religion from Rome. Rad- 
 bod's son, Poppo, who succeeded his father as 
 nominal king, refused to be a Christian. He 
 rebelled against the Prankish dominion, and 
 called out his tribesmen to battle. He was 
 beaten, and with thousands of his men, per- 
 ished on the bloody field of war, a. d. 750. 
 After this, Christianity was enforced as the 
 law of the land. 
 
 Soon another Anglo-Saxon missionary from 
 England, Winfried, whose Roman or clerical 
 name was Boniface, began preaching and teach- 
 ing in Frisia. He worked so hard among the 
 Germanic tribes, both east and west, that he 
 has been called " the apostle of Germany." 
 Ever anxious to turn the people from pagan- 
 ism, he did not hesitate to compel them by 
 force, not only to believe the gospel, but to be 
 
 37 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 Christians of the Roman sort. Indeed, most 
 of the British missionaries were rough and se- 
 vere, and not at all like the wise and gentle 
 Patrick of Ireland. So it came to pass that 
 Boniface lost his life. 
 
 In the year 755, he went up into the region 
 in which lies the pretty little city of Dokkum. 
 On Easter Sunday, after having taught and 
 baptized his converts, who were dressed in 
 white, he gave them the communion. In the 
 midst of the feast, the pagan Frisians, with 
 patriotic motives, and also in the name of 
 their gods, slew him and fifty other Christians. 
 Boniface was made a saint in the Roman cal- 
 endar. Christianity was gradually established, 
 yet only after many wars ; for the natives often 
 rose in rebellion against their Prankish mas- 
 ters and tried to be free again, and, perhaps 
 also, to be pagans, as their priests wanted them 
 . to be. 
 
 When the Saxons and Frisians joined to- 
 gether to fight against Charlemagne, or Charles 
 the Great, Wittekind was their leader, and won 
 a great victory over the Franks. Then Charle- 
 magne took a cruel revenge in the year 782, 
 by putting 4500 Saxons to the sword. This 
 made all the Saxon tribes rise up again under 
 Wittekind ; but they were beaten, and after 
 
 38 
 
CHARLES THE GREAT 
 
 a while, Wittekind and the other chiefs came, 
 in 785, to France, and received baptism as 
 Christians. Now for the first time since the 
 Roman empire fell, all the Netherlands were 
 united under one ruler. Henceforth Chris- 
 tianity was the faith of all the people in the 
 Low Countries. 
 
 Charles the Great had reared a new empire 
 which he hoped would be like that of Rome. 
 He restored order, established courts, and built 
 schools. He was wise in the government of 
 his subjects, who belonged to many nations. 
 When on Christmas Day, a. d. 800, he was in 
 Rome, and was worshiping in the cathedral, 
 Pope Leo IH. put upon his head the iron 
 crown of imperial dominion. The forehead 
 band on the inside was said to have been made 
 of a nail from the true cross on which Jesus 
 was crucified. Thus with the blessing of the 
 Pontiff he ruled his great empire. 
 
 Knowing how fiercely patriotic the Frisians 
 were, and that they loved to call themselves 
 " free Frisians," Charles gave them great free- 
 dom, and let them have their own laws, while ' 
 they agreed to obey the chief officers which he 
 appointed over them. There were other ways 
 in which liberty was granted the Frisians, as 
 seen in their famous book of laws called " The 
 
 39 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 Asega Book." This shows both their ancient 
 customs and the Prankish additions, and is a 
 very interesting work. Indeed, it is from the 
 Frisians that we get our word " book," and 
 many other terms used in ordinary conver- 
 sation. 
 
 Charles the Great was one of the mightiest 
 men in European history. He brought nearly 
 the whole of central Europe under govern- 
 ment, and led the wild and warlike peoples 
 into the ways of civilization. Whole tribes had 
 been accustomed to move about in wagons, 
 like gypsies, or to wander on foot, like tramps, 
 and thus to keep up their savagery. Charles 
 induced the rovers to settle down as farmers, 
 and to begin work in tilling the soil, to love 
 peace, and to engage in trade and commerce. 
 He gathered learned men about his court, set 
 up schools in different parts of the empire, 
 and fixed the church neighborhoods. He 
 may be called the great civilizer of barbarian 
 Europe. Born a. d. 742, he died a. d. 814. 
 
 After a great man dies, many stories gather 
 about his name. To most people in the middle 
 ages, Charlemagne seemed to be more like an 
 ogre, a giant, or a good fairy, than a real man. 
 He and his captains became the heroes of 
 many legends and romances. In the Nether- 
 
 40 
 
CHARLES THE GREAT 
 
 lands his favorite dwelling-place was at Ny- 
 megen, on the Waal river, whence he could 
 look up and down the beautiful valley. There 
 he spent his winters in making laws and ruling 
 his great empire, or in preparing for those 
 campaigns which he carried on in summer. 
 To-day it is delightful to stroll in the Walkof, 
 or pretty park in this fine old Dutch city, and 
 call up the wonderful things now told of him 
 in story, painted in picture, or sung in opera, 
 or to sit among the ruins of the chapel in 
 which he and his people once worshiped a 
 thousand years ago. When the curfew bell 
 rings in Nymegen, it is called " Kaiser Karel's 
 bell." Among Dutch people, Charlemagne is 
 known as Karel de Groot, or Charles the Great. 
 But there is a Japanese proverb which says, 
 " The great general has no son ; " that is, he 
 has no heir who inherits his brain and power 
 and can carry on his work. Sometime after 
 the great Charles had died, his grandsons met 
 at Verdun in 843 and divided their inheritance; 
 for the Prankish empire could not last, as did 
 that of the Romans, for twelve hundred years. 
 The many elements then in Europe were not 
 well mixed together. There was no common 
 language and no real patriotism. The peoples 
 living in what is now France, Germany, and 
 
 41 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 Italy wished to be by themselves. Further- 
 more, the old pagan civilization had to pass 
 away entirely before the new Christian civiliza- 
 tion could be fully formed. 
 
 From the time of the great treaty made 
 at Verdun in the year 843, between Charle- 
 magne's three grandsons, the empire was di- 
 vided up into as many kingdoms. From that 
 time forth the peoples that had been develop- 
 ing themselves during the previous three and 
 a half centuries had the opportunity to become 
 new and separate nations. They began to be, 
 what for a thousand years they have been, 
 Italians, French, and Germans. 
 
 The Netherlanders in the time of Charle- 
 magne and his first successors lived under a 
 very different kind of political life from that to 
 which their old Germanic ancestors had been 
 accustomed. In the ancient days, the tribes- 
 men came together first in their villages, and 
 each tribe elected its own chief. Then, in a 
 great assembly, they chose the general of all 
 the tribes. But when conquered by the Ro- 
 mans, this method of election passed away, for 
 the people were governed by officers sent out 
 from Rome. When the Franks set up their 
 empire again, they followed the same Roman 
 
 policy. The people had no elections, but 
 
 42 
 
CHARLES THE GREAT 
 
 simply submitted to the governors who were 
 sent by the Prankish king to command the 
 army, to rule the country and districts, and to 
 hold the courts, According to Charlemagne's 
 directions, these officers, who were called 
 "dukes," " earls," " counts," " margraves," or by 
 other titles, respected the local customs, and 
 this made the people feel that they were still 
 enjoying some liberty. Rebellion was rare, 
 and in the Netherlands good order was the 
 rule. 
 
 These old names, " duke," " earl," " count," 
 " baron," remain in our language, but are no 
 longer signs of ownership of land. Whether 
 in China, Japan, France, or England, the titles 
 last after the reality of power has passed away. 
 Let us now glance at that condition of society 
 called feudalism. The one great difference 
 between the United States of America and 
 European or Asiatic countries is that in Amer- 
 ica there never was any feudalisrn save a rude 
 sort among the Iroquois Indians. 
 
 43 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 FEUDALISM : THE LORD AND HIS VASSALS 
 
 The people had never lost their local liberty, 
 and were governed by edicts sent out from a 
 great emperor whom very few of them ever 
 saw, and whose language was different from 
 their own. Gradually it came to pass that 
 their own " count," or local ruler, whom they 
 saw often, became more important in their eyes 
 than the emperor who was far away. It was 
 the habit of the count to hold an assembly of 
 his vassals several times a year, to discuss 
 matters of law and custom. Then every man 
 appeared in his presence. When war broke 
 out, all the strong men got ready for the cam- 
 paign. The count's under-officers went to 
 meet him, to get their orders from him. Then 
 coming back, each called out his own company 
 of vassals, or soldiers. Every man able to bear 
 arms was expected to appear ready for war. 
 He must have a shield, a spear, and a cuirass, 
 or breast-plate, a bow, and a quiver with twelve 
 arrows in it. 
 
 44 
 
FEUDALISM 
 
 Step by step there began a new system of 
 society, which is called feudalism. All over 
 the world, except among savages, this system 
 has at some time been the rule. Men coming 
 up into civilized life pass through feudalism as 
 a stage of progress, just as boyhood is a stage 
 between babyhood and manhood. In savage 
 life there is only one class of people. In our 
 day and country, there are many classes, — 
 farmers, mechanics, merchants, sailors, soldiers, 
 lawyers, doctors, ministers, etc., but in feu- 
 dalism there are only two classes of society, 
 those who own land and those who do not. 
 The landowners or landlords are, of course, 
 very few, but the lacklands, or landless ones, 
 are many. The two chief landowners are 
 the baron and the bishop. The baron builds 
 a great castle, with thick walls of brick or 
 stone, which has a defensive belt of armor in 
 the shape of water in a moat. Then, pulling 
 up the drawbridge, he is safe from the rest 
 of the world ; for he has food and drink within, 
 and brave men on the walls and turrets to de- 
 fend him and his company. The miserable 
 poor people, afraid to live in villages or in the 
 country, when armed men, who are usually rob- 
 bers, are moving about, gather round the base 
 of the castle built on the rock, or behind the 
 
 45 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 moated grange. There they huddle together 
 in hovels made of timber and wattle-work, 
 smeared with mud, hardly daring to call their 
 lives their own. In time of danger and during 
 the winter they live a wretched, and in time of 
 war a horrible, life. In summer they are only 
 too glad to have a little holiday, or to enjoy an 
 entertainment in looking at a procession of 
 knights or priests, or the lords and ladies of 
 the castle riding or hawking, in watching a 
 tournament or gathering for sport, and occa- 
 sionally sharing a "largess," or gift of extra 
 food, game from the hunt, or spoil of war. 
 Their daughters unprotected, and their sons 
 made servants, they live more like serfs than 
 freemen. 
 
 Thus over most of Europe during the 
 period of feudalism, from the ninth to the six- 
 teenth century, we see only a few large cities 
 and towns, with many villages gathered around 
 castles, cathedrals, and churches. There is 
 very little dwelling in the country, either by 
 individuals or in hamlets, as in the old days 
 of primitive freedom. Single farmhouses are 
 almost unknown. 
 
 The other great landlord, or landholder, 
 the bishop, dwelt near the big brick or stone 
 church, usually in a palace. He had control 
 
 46 
 
FEUDALISM 
 
 also of the monasteries and nunneries, be- 
 sides enjoying or directing the revenues of the 
 country. The people, who were very ignorant, 
 imagined that their superiors in the Church 
 could open the gates of heaven to them when 
 they died. Hardly thinking about salvation 
 in this life, and hoping only to be saved in 
 heaven after death, they usually gave while 
 they lived all the money which priest and 
 bishop demanded. On his death-bed, instead of 
 leaving his property to his wife and children, 
 the father was very apt to make his will just as 
 the monk or priest told him to do. In the long 
 course of centuries, enormous tracts of land 
 came into possession of the Church. Matters 
 were made worse by so many men becoming 
 priests or monks, and thus saving themselves 
 from hard work. In some of the towns, a ma- 
 jority of the people, male and female, belonged 
 to the religious orders, which fattened upon 
 the poverty of the working-people. 
 
 There was another side to feudalism, for it 
 had a bright as well as a dark side. The might 
 of the knight often helped the weak and re- 
 dressed the wrong of the oppressed. In the 
 castle were developed lovely manners and win- 
 ning politeness. Woman was honored. The 
 baron's wife became a lady, and his daughters 
 
 47 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 were treated with gentleness. Thus grew 
 up the wonderful and beautiful institution of 
 chivalry. 
 
 Nor were all the monks idle fellows. Many 
 of them were teachers and makers of books. 
 They kept alive what little learning there was, 
 by copying the old manuscripts and maintain- 
 ing schools. Often they made roads and built 
 dikes, or kept them in repair. They helped 
 in many ways to create comfort in the home 
 and prosperity in the cities. 
 
 The raids of the Norsemen, which began as 
 early as a. d. 8io, also aided the growth of feu- 
 dalism, and of these men and their attacks we 
 must now give an account. 
 
 The Netherlands are nearer the North Pole 
 than we are, for they lie above the fiftieth 
 parallel of north latitude, which is as far north 
 as are Labrador and Hudson's Bay and the 
 lower part of Alaska on our continent. Still 
 further northward and eastward lie Denmark, 
 Sweden, and Norway. The coasts of these 
 lands are rich in bays and rivers running into 
 the sea. These are called viks, and the men 
 living near the viks, vikings. These " bay- 
 men," or " creekers," were a daring set of peo- 
 ple, whom we call the Norsemen. They were 
 fond of the sea and of living in boats. There 
 
 48 
 
FEUDALISM 
 
 was not much to eat in their cold, foggy, and 
 rocky country. So driven forth, not only by 
 hunger, but by thirst of adventure, they sailed 
 down toward the sunnier, richer countries of 
 the south. They liked to dash out from Jut- 
 land and Scandinavia and the coasts and isl- 
 ands in the Baltic Sea, and come southward to 
 the Netherlands, and down through the British 
 Isles to rob, burn, and kill. 
 
 In England these pirates were called East- 
 men or Danes, but on the continent they were 
 called North-men, Norse, or Normans. No 
 Christianity had yet come among them, and, 
 fierce pagans as they were, they liked to go 
 into the Christian churches to defile and burn 
 them. But woe be to Dane or Norman if 
 caught at such business. He was skinned 
 alive, and his hide nailed on the church door, 
 or he was taken down to the seashore and had 
 his head cut off. 
 
 These skillful seamen from the north built 
 small, sharp, open vessels, by which they were 
 able to go up the narrow rivers of Europe. 
 Thus they scoured not only the coasts of Eng- 
 land, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, 
 but went far inland. Landing in the morning 
 at a village, they would leave it at night a level 
 mass of smoking ashes, with the dead and 
 
 49 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 wounded lying around. Then they sailed 
 away again, with their boats loaded with plun- 
 der or filled with men and women to be sold 
 for slaves. 
 
 By and by, about the middle of the ninth 
 century, instead of arriving in small raiding 
 parties, the Vikings came in great fleets, and 
 their armies were able to besiege and take 
 cities. Often they would spend a winter or 
 longer in one place, and in time even made 
 permanent settlements. Later on, they scat- 
 tered themselves and went further afield, visit- 
 ing Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, and Russia, 
 while in the far west they even dared to go 
 out into the deep sea. They settled Iceland 
 and made colonies in America. 
 
 These bold sailors had no compasses or 
 charts. By night they followed the stars and 
 steered by them. When the fog covered the 
 sea, so they could not discern anything, they 
 sent out the raven, as Noah did from the ark, 
 to find land. If the raven returned, they knew 
 there was no land. If the raven never came 
 back, they turned their prows in the direction 
 of its flight and soon reached some shore. At 
 first their boats were so small that, when they 
 met with an obstacle, they could take them up 
 on their shoulders and carry them overland 
 
 5° 
 
FEUDALISM 
 
 from one water-course to another. Later, they 
 built great galleys with masts and sails. The 
 prow was high, and was usually ornamented 
 or carved with a dragon's head or terrible fig- 
 ure of some kind. Behind this prow, a man 
 who acted as the lookout stood on a platform 
 watching ahead, while on another raised deck 
 toward the stern were the chieftains or the 
 steersmen. 
 
 How could the people of the Netherlands 
 live amid such alarms ? Their whole country, 
 especially along the rivers and seacoast, was 
 in constant danger from these cruel pirates, 
 who not only burned, robbed, and killed, but 
 carried their captives away into slavery. The 
 people on the coast and along the rivers were 
 in continual terror. By degrees they left their 
 homes and settled around the baron's castle, 
 becoming his slaves. They gave themselves 
 up to the churches and monasteries, as serfs for 
 life. In this way the bishops and the barons 
 grew richer and richer and the people poorer 
 and poorer, thousands of them being nothing 
 but slaves. 
 
 Yet there was a difference even among the 
 slaves, for there were various classes of them. 
 The church slaves were treated more kindly 
 and had many more rights than the slaves of 
 
 51 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 the barons, who in some cases were hardly more 
 than brutes. There was also a class called the 
 villagers, or villeins, who were a little above the 
 absolute slaves. 
 
 For a time, even the free Frisians were 
 conquered and held in bondage. Godfrey 
 the Norman- was king over them during a 
 part of the ninth century. Every Frisian had 
 to wear a halter around his neck, until God- 
 frey was killed. Then the Frisians were again 
 free. 
 
 While the country was thus kept in alarm 
 by the raids of the Norse pirates, the power of 
 the German emperor, who lived far away, be- 
 came less and less, while that of the dukes and 
 barons who lived in the land increased. Men 
 cared more for the strong hand that could im- 
 mediately protect them than for some crowned 
 head hundreds of miles off. The castles and 
 monasteries became the real centres of power. 
 Soon all the land in the country was owned 
 by the barons or the bishops. Their retainers, 
 as well as the knights and the monks, lived off 
 the people, who were taught that they owed 
 their very life to their masters. Dark and 
 dreary for the mass of the people was the 
 age of feudalism. From the ninth to the thir- 
 teenth century, most of the common folk were 
 
 5- 
 
FEUDALISM 
 
 poor, wretched, and hopeless. Humanity was 
 setthng down into stagnation. Something 
 must come forth to stir and rouse society from 
 its torpor. What should it be ? 
 
 53 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE CRUSADERS IN ASIA 
 
 Every morning, out of the black night, light 
 dawns in the east. So in history. All the 
 great religions have come out of Asia, and so 
 have many of the best ideas and inventions. 
 Over darkest Europe, in the eleventh century, 
 we note streaks of light and an influence which 
 moved Europe to new life. 
 
 It came about in this way. From the time 
 that the Christian missionaries first entered 
 northern Europe, preaching the gospel and 
 telling the story of Christ's life, people longed 
 to visit the Holy Land to see Bethlehem and 
 Jerusalem. Men, and even women, had trav- 
 eled to Palestine, making pious pilgrimage to 
 the place of Jesus' birth and sepulchre. Little 
 or nothing was done to hinder them ; but in 
 the year 1065 the Seljuk Turks overran and 
 conquered Syria. Then these proud fellows 
 began to insult and treat very cruelly the pil- 
 grims from the Christian countries. 
 
 These holy and traveled people were called 
 54 
 
THE CRUSADERS IN ASIA 
 
 " palmers," because they brought home a palm 
 branch from Syria and laid it on the parish 
 church altar, or they made a cross of slips of 
 palm and sewed it on their hats. They usu- 
 ally carried a long staff also, often with a piece 
 tied at right angles near the upper end, thus 
 making a cross above their heads. On their 
 return home, they fixed a scallop shell, picked 
 up in Palestine, to their dress. This was to 
 show that they had been pilgrims to the Holy 
 Land. 
 
 In fact, during the middle ages, many classes 
 and various sorts of people were marked in 
 some way on their dress. The Jews and other 
 persons not considered Christians, the lepers 
 and diseased people generally, were forced to 
 sew on their clothing a round, square, or con- 
 ical mark. Those who had broken the law 
 by committing some felony, such as theft, 
 arson, blasphemy, etc., had a scarlet letter, the 
 initial of their crime, at first branded on their 
 foreheads, and later sewed upon their breasts, 
 as R for robbery, D for drunkard, etc. 
 
 The stories of cruelty to Christian pilgrims 
 at the hands of the Turks lost nothing in the 
 telling. Fiery preachers went all over Europe 
 speaking to great crowds in the churches and 
 fields. Not in one country only, but in several 
 
 55 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 of them, people were roused to go to Pales- 
 tine and recover the sacred places from the 
 Turks. As they brooded over the matter, 
 they went wild over it. Many thousands of all 
 ages started in crowds to go to the Far East. 
 They swarmed together, not knowing where 
 they could get food to eat or how to find ships 
 to cross the seas ; but they went. No doubt 
 with very many, it was as much to get rid of 
 work, or to be free from slavery, or to enjoy 
 novelty and adventure, as it was with any 
 Christian motive, that they thus set their faces 
 towards the sunrise. 
 
 These wars for the cross began by the move- 
 ment of a rabble, made up of four great armies, 
 gathered from the very dregs of Christendom. 
 A man named Walter the Penniless com- 
 manded the first host of twenty thousand, who 
 were almost all destroyed by the Bulgarians. 
 Another swarm of forty thousand men, women, 
 and children was led by Peter the Hermit, 
 who had been in the Holy Land, and who 
 went about preaching in several countries, 
 rousing the people. The Turks, at Nice, de- 
 stroyed this mob. Another band of fifteen 
 thousand, chiefly Germans, was killed or scat- 
 tered in Hungary. The last of the four mobs, 
 made up of people from France and Eng- 
 
 56 
 
THE CRUSADERS IN ASIA 
 
 land, numbering, it is said, 200,000, also went 
 to pieces on the road, and the expedition 
 amounted to nothing. After the lower classes 
 had tried and failed, the priests and the soldiers 
 joined forces for a new enterprise. By this 
 time the Syrians, Turks, Arabs, and the Ma- 
 hometan peoples of the East were called by 
 the general name of " Saracens," which means 
 Eastern people. 
 
 In 1095 at Clermont, in France, in a great 
 council, which was addressed by the Pope, a 
 crusade was decided upon under the patronage 
 of the Church. The knights and the nobles 
 took part. Six splendid armies, led by the 
 Southern Netherlanders, were formed, and 
 moved towards the rising sun. Godfrey de 
 Bouillon, with other great warriors, captured 
 Nice and besieged Antioch. After wonderful 
 battles, they reached Jerusalem, but only forty 
 thousand of the half million of men that 
 started, remained. The city was taken and 
 Godfrey made king. 
 
 From this time forth, crusading was a regu- 
 lar occupation, for the Saracens rallied, and 
 various expeditions from Europe were neces- 
 sary to drive them back. Even the children 
 joined in the holy war. In bands numbering 
 tens of thousands, they left France and Ger- 
 
 57 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 many, expecting that the Mediterranean Sea 
 would open a path, so that they could walk dry- 
 shod to Palestine. They thought, for they 
 were so taught, that the Turks would be con- 
 verted by miracles. No such unnecessary 
 things happened, however; but thousands of 
 boys and girls died of hunger, cold, and fatigue 
 on the road, were drowned, or were taken and 
 made slaves. A few returned home. 
 
 At last these movements eastward, which 
 had lasted for over two hundred years, came 
 to an end. The Saracens still held the Holy 
 Land. The Christians had wasted millions 
 of money and hundreds of thousands of lives. 
 What was the use of all this waste, and what 
 came of it ? 
 
 We answer, much every way. Society in 
 Europe was roused from its stagnation and 
 stirred up to newer and better life. In the 
 first place, slavery was nearly destroyed by the 
 crusades. The slaves that enlisted to fight 
 under the banner of the cross were made free. 
 In this way thousands, on their return from 
 Palestine, became free men. Other thousands 
 of human beings, sold or mortgaged by the cru- 
 sading knights, were bought by the churches 
 and monasteries, and even without their stir- 
 ring a step their position in life was greatly im- 
 
 58 
 
THE CRUSADERS IN ASIA 
 
 proved. With so many serfs abroad, free 
 labor at home became more and more the rule, 
 and the condition of the freemen, mechanics, 
 and traders was far better than it had been. 
 Population increased. The people formed 
 themselves into guilds and communities. As 
 they grew richer, they were able to have law 
 equal for all, instead of the mere will or pleasure 
 of the lord of the castle or of the land. Thus 
 villages and towns, having their own rights, 
 grew up. By and by the castles, moats, and 
 thick masonry of the barons were no longer 
 the only means of protection, for the towns also 
 could afford to build walls to defend those who 
 lived inside, with towers to watch enemies and 
 gates to keep them out. They began to guard 
 themselves, not only from foreigners and rob- 
 bers, but even from the lord of the land, when 
 he was cruel and unjust ; or from the bishop, 
 who was often as bad as the baron. 
 
 But more than this, these people of the 
 North learned a great deal in their travels in 
 the South and East. Going out from the land 
 of storms and fog, of rain and cold, where, be- 
 sides the daily food of bread and cheese or 
 meat, beer and butter were almost the only 
 luxuries, they entered into the bright and sunny 
 world of the South. Here rice and figs grew, 
 
 59 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 and oil and wine, while fruits of many sorts 
 abounded. In these warmer lands they be- 
 held the wonderful relics of the old Roman 
 world — splendid churches, richer and grander 
 cities, finer houses, and inventions that aston- 
 ished' them. When these men, who thought 
 they were honoring God because they sewed a 
 cross on their coats, reached Syria, they met 
 with a great surprise. The Saracens, whom 
 they had been taught to regard as black devils, 
 were found to be elegant in appearance and 
 refined in manners. Many of them dressed in 
 silks or other fine clothing, and wore jewels 
 and superb weapons, such as the rude Nether- 
 landers had never seen. Many of the Saracens 
 could read, and were learned in many sciences, 
 such as astronomy, medicine, and mathematics. 
 The crusaders discovered also that their ene- 
 mies, whom they had been taught to hate as 
 outcasts and infidels, were not only brave, but 
 were moral men, often superior in character to 
 themselves. All this astonished them. 
 
 In other ways, travel to Asia opened the 
 eyes of the crusaders. They learned that those 
 who talked most about religion and the war 
 for the cross loved money rather too much, 
 and kept up the campaigns for glory and gain 
 rather than for love to God. In the East they 
 
 60 
 
THE CRUSADERS IN ASIA 
 
 saw trees and flowers very different from those 
 in the West and North. They brought back 
 many seeds, both for the mind and for the soil. 
 With new kinds of flowers to enjoy, and with 
 food growing up out of the earth which their 
 fathers had never seen ; with new stories to tell, 
 and new books and writings to read, and with 
 trade, both overland and by sea, enriching the 
 Italians and the other European peoples, the 
 age of commerce began. Among the first to 
 profit by their opportunities were the Nether- 
 landers. 
 
 Feudalism was the age of the knight and 
 the horse. Except the priests and churchmen, 
 no one was considered of any great value in 
 society unless he owned land or horses, or 
 served some one who did own them, and knew 
 how to ride and fight. As trade and com- 
 merce became of more importance, there was 
 less need of the knight. So feudalism gradu- 
 ally passed away, while the merchant took the 
 place of the knight, and the skilled mechanic 
 that of the soldier. 
 
 One bright flower grew out of the old state 
 of things. Looking back at the inheritances 
 from the feudal ages, we may count chivalry 
 as the best of all. It was a school of fine 
 manners. Courtesy, generosity, valor, and skill 
 
 6i 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 in arms and on horseback were the virtues in 
 which the good knight was trained. Chivalry 
 marks the transition from violence to culture. 
 It gave rise to the literature of the chroniclers, 
 such as that of Froissart, who tells so many 
 delightful stories ; and to the songs and stories 
 of the troubadours, who were the wandering 
 singers of the middle ages. Cervantes, in his 
 " Don Quixote," makes fun of the silly knight 
 who, on his nag Rozinante, charges at a wind- 
 mill. There were other witty writers who ridi- 
 culed the extravagancies of the feudal period. 
 Yet it was during this time that traditions 
 of manners, poetry, and art, which still have 
 force in our society, were created. Men's 
 minds were so expanded by coming into con- 
 tact with Greek and Oriental civilization, and 
 the new methods of trade and ownership of 
 land, and the cultivation of it, that Europe was 
 well prepared to enter the higher school of life 
 and thought in the great Reformation. Most of 
 the titles and polite customs of our day, such 
 as the use of " sir " and " madame," " Mr." and 
 " Mrs.," bowing, and taking o£E the hat, and 
 various other courtesies of daily life, have come 
 down to us from the feudal age, to be no 
 longer the sole monopoly of knights and titled 
 ladies, but the property of everybody. 
 
 63 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE FIRST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 
 
 Up to this time we have not met with the 
 name of Holland, or indeed with many people 
 having names. We have known of tribes, and 
 of Romans, Netherlanders, and Germanic peo- 
 ples, but not much of individuals. People at 
 large did not have family names. The great 
 majority of girls were named after the Virgin 
 Mary, or Elisabeth, the mother of John the 
 Baptist, and the majority of boys after their 
 fathers, the oldest son taking his parent's par- 
 ticular name, with the word " son " after it, the 
 others having only their given names, usually 
 borrowed from those of the saints in the calen- 
 dar. It was not until the people of northern 
 Europe had the Bible in their own tongues, 
 and could read it, that there was much variety 
 in this respect. Then names were borrowed 
 by wholesale and in great variety from the 
 pages of Holy Scripture. 
 
 We have seen that the Netherlands were 
 once part of the Prankish empire, which had 
 
 63 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 fallen to pieces after the death of Charlemagne. 
 Charles the Simple was the last of the line 
 called Carlovingian, and after him came Henry 
 the Fowler, who ruled over the Franks and 
 Netherlanders. In 925 the Low Countries 
 passed from the control of France and were 
 put under that of Germany, being still part of 
 the empire. On Easter evening, the 20th of 
 April, in the year 922, this King Charles the 
 Simple gave to Count Dirk I. that part of the 
 country called Holland. The name Dirk is 
 the short form of Theodoric, a favorite saint's 
 name. Dirk is reckoned the first count of 
 Holland, perhaps because he was the first man 
 to possess the monastery of Egmond; and from 
 him the line of succession and the thread of 
 Dutch history continue unbroken. We can 
 now begin to think of Dutchmen as distinct 
 from Germans. 
 
 It is wonderful how much history depends 
 upon a few drops of ink on a sheet of parch- 
 ment or paper. There may be mighty men 
 who do great things, but unless some one 
 writes about them, to celebrate their deeds and 
 make them famous, we know nothing of them 
 except in myths or fairy tales, in which it is 
 hard to separate fact from fiction. " Life with- 
 
 64 
 
THE FIRST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 
 
 out letters is death," and it is like black night 
 where there are no writings. 
 
 Egmond Abbey, now in ruins, was one of 
 the oldest monasteries in North Holland. It 
 was built first of wood and afterwards of brick. 
 There, for hundreds of years, almost all the 
 manuscripts which told the early history of 
 the Netherlands were kept. In this abbey the 
 monks sat by their rude oaken tables, each 
 with his ink-horn and parchment, and copied 
 out what could be read in the Latin chronicles. 
 They also listened to the accounts of old men 
 who remembered what had happened in days 
 gone by. They heard travelers and strangers 
 from far countries tell the news, or relate their 
 stories. Thus they wrote down many fasci- 
 nating annals and anecdotes, which serve us 
 as material for history. They began also the 
 first museums. In Egmond Abbey was the 
 fountain of the stream of Holland's history. 
 
 Almost all we know of Count Dirk I., the 
 founder of the Holland House, is, that in this 
 sandy region of Egmond, near the sea, he 
 established a nunnery and built a wooden 
 church, which he dedicated to St. Adelbert, 
 the English missionary who had come over 
 with Willibrord. Dirk died probably in the 
 year 923. 
 
 65 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 The word "count " means " companion," that 
 is, of the emperor. The count was the ruler, 
 in place of the emperor, over a certain portion 
 of the empire. The counts of Holland, sixteen 
 in number, and one countess, ruled their do- 
 main from A. D. 923 to A. D. 1299. During this 
 period the little states of the Netherlands, with 
 the names of which we are now so familiar, Hol- 
 land, Utrecht, Brabant, Flanders, etc., began 
 to take form, and the cities of Dordrecht, The 
 Hague, Amsterdam, etc., were built. It was 
 a time of petty wars and quarrels about land, 
 trade, and power. The count and the bishop, 
 the Hollanders and the Frisians, the Zee- 
 landers and the Flemings, the upper classes 
 and the lower, were often at war. Under the 
 feudal system all the land was supposed to be- 
 long to the emperor. He could give it away 
 to this or that servant, as he pleased. Or he 
 could order off one vassal to this place or that, 
 and compel another to take the place vacated. 
 This is exactly what I saw done in the feudal 
 system of Japan, under which I lived in 1870- 
 187 1. It was like playing a game of chess 
 on a large scale, the pieces being noblemen, 
 differing in rank and value; but all Europe 
 was like a chessboard. The contest was be- 
 tween the count and the bishop, the emperor 
 
 66 
 
THE FIRST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 
 
 and his vassals. Indeed, our game of chess, 
 which has come to us from Asia, and takes its 
 name from the Shah of Persia, is only a minia- 
 ture of mediaeval history, and represents in 
 play that which took place in actual history. 
 
 Yet neither the rulers nor the people were 
 always at war. There were many sunny days 
 of peace, many great churches and castles 
 built, and wonderful things accomplished, chief 
 among which was the building of the dikes. 
 
 Holland is like a fortress, in a constant state 
 of siege by the waters, fresh and salt, of rivers 
 and of ocean, that in times of storm attack and 
 would destroy it. Now, in these days of skill- 
 ful engineering, it is like a modern ship built 
 in water-tight compartments. But the land 
 was not of old protected, as it is now, from the 
 river and sea floods, by the dikes or walls of 
 earth, wood, and stone which form its armor 
 of defense. 
 
 Every dike or dam in the Netherlands is 
 like the steel plates of a battleship. It is put 
 on both as a shield to ward off real danger, 
 and to keep the country afloat. Yet both the 
 word, and the thing for making this ship-like 
 hollow land water-tight, are quite modern, no 
 city whose name ends in " dam " being older 
 than the twelfth century. Only those towns 
 
 67 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 built on hard and dry ground were of old safe 
 from the waters. 
 
 In 1 1 70 the ocean flood rolled in over Hol- 
 land, Friesland, and Utrecht, and thousands 
 of people were drowned. It was a curious 
 sight when boys and men, standing on the 
 walls of the cities, threw down their nets and 
 caught fish thus brought to their doors. The 
 Netherlands suffered again and again from 
 this overstreaming of the waters, until finally 
 her people had made it on all sides a dike-clad 
 land, in which they could sleep safely ; but they 
 spent many hundred millions of money to 
 secure this. 
 
 The relations between Scotland and the 
 Netherlands have been very close from the 
 twelfth century. Through the marriage of a 
 Scottish princess, they were centred in Zee- 
 land.. At the little town of Veer, the Scottish 
 merchants were allowed to settle and to have 
 the monopoly, or sole right, of trade between 
 Holland and Scotland. Many of them married 
 Dutch ladies and grew rich, or became magis- 
 trates. They traded the wool of the sheep 
 that grazed amid the heather of Scotland for 
 the butter and cheese which the mild-eyed 
 cows of the Netherlands produced. By and 
 by these Scotsmen in Veer built a very fine 
 
 68 
 
THE FIRST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 
 
 store and trading-house of oak and stone, deco- 
 rated on the outside with ironwork, showing 
 the Scottish thistle and its prickly leaves. This 
 edifice is still standing, and next door to it is 
 the house of the chief of the company, both 
 buildings being kept in order by the Dutch 
 government. Veer is much the same word as 
 our word " ferry." The town arms represent 
 two men ; each is on a tower, holding a shield ; 
 between the towers a boat is passing on the 
 canal, which joins the different waters in one 
 stream. Thus the town arms tell the story of 
 geography and history. 
 
 The crusades took place during the age 
 of the counts, and the Dutch won some glory 
 in them. In the month of May, 1217, Count 
 William sailed with twelve large ships down 
 the river Maas. Remaining part of a year in 
 Portugal, he sailed to Syria and later over to 
 Egypt. 
 
 Then followed one of the most brilliant epi- 
 sodes in all the history of the Dutch crusades. 
 A victory was gained which is celebrated in 
 Haarlem at nine o'clock every evening by 
 ringing the bells in the great church. This 
 carillon is called " the Damietje," because it 
 celebrates the capture, in 12 19, of Damietta, in 
 Egypt, which was accomplished on this wise. 
 69 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 The city lay on the east branch of the Nile. 
 Out in the river was a great rock, on which a 
 fort had been built. Between the city and the 
 fort was a mighty chain of iron. It was neces- 
 sary first to capture the fort, and then break 
 the chain, so as to let in the fleet. The Dutch- 
 men grappled their vessels together and, by 
 means of four tall masts, built a high tower on 
 the decks. Near the top of this floating castle 
 of wood, they fastened, by means of chains and 
 pulleys, a sort of drawbridge. Running their 
 vessels close up to the walls of the fort, they 
 lowered their drawbridge until one end of it 
 lay on the parapet. Then streaming out over 
 the walls into the fort, the brave fellows cap- 
 tured it and raised their flag. The other ships 
 broke the chain, and so the whole fleet getting 
 under the city walls, the sailors and soldiers 
 soon conquered Damietta. William returned 
 in triumph to Holland, ruled four years longer, 
 and died in 1224. 
 
 Haarlem's coat of arms is a sword laid on a 
 shield between four stars, and surmounted by 
 a Maltese cross. On each side is a lion, and 
 over the shield are tall branches, on which 
 hang bells with the motto, Vicit Vim Virtus, 
 or " Courage conquered force." It was given 
 to the brave Haarlemmers, who were chiefly 
 
 70 
 
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THE FIRST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 
 
 engaged in the capture of Damietta, by the 
 emperor Frederick Barbarossa, in the presence 
 of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. By this time, 
 also, coins, with the arms of Holland stamped 
 on them, were in general circulation. Count 
 William also gave to the city of Middelburg, 
 in 1253, a charter of liberties, which is still 
 sacredly preserved. 
 
 Meanwhile, at home trade and commerce 
 were increasing, and as the towns grew richer 
 and larger, the count had to take their advice 
 in regard to war or treaties. If the towns were 
 against him-, he could not fight, for he could 
 get no money. War or peace depended on 
 their mint and vote. Thus, gradually, a na- 
 tional assembly, or congress, was formed. This 
 congress was called the " states," or " states- 
 general," because the " states," or " estates," 
 were made up of the delegates from each town, 
 and also from the open country ; that is, the 
 cities and the nobility. The states-general was 
 composed of the states particularly united in 
 one body. This body voted the money to be 
 given to the count for the public good. 
 
 In all cases of extra expense, the count was 
 obliged to ask for money from the cities as a 
 favor, and not as a right. Such money was 
 raised by taxes laid upon houses and upon 
 
 71 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 lands. For centuries this request of the count 
 for a tax was called " bede," or prayer. It was 
 a settled principle that there should be "no 
 taxation without consent ; " that is, the states, 
 and not the prince or count, were to fix the 
 amount of money to be given. This has since 
 become the settled principle in all nations hav- 
 ing representative institptions. 
 
 The rulers of Europe were beginning to see 
 the evils of the feudal system, and to curb the 
 power of the nobles, who lived in their fortified 
 castles and cared little or nothing for the poor 
 people, besides often plundering them. In 
 Frisia the feudal system never took deep root, 
 and even the nobles did not have, as in France, 
 Spain, England, and parts of Germany, the 
 privilege of coining money or of putting men 
 to death for crime. Nevertheless, they could 
 tax the people heavily, and this they often did. 
 From the time of Floris V., the people became 
 more attached to the count, who granted many 
 valuable charters and favored the commons 
 rather than the nobles, who were vexed at the 
 count. The nobles and vassals were free from 
 taxation, and when Floris tried to make them 
 pay their share of money for good government, 
 they rebelled. The revolt was quieted, though 
 the leader was banished. 
 
THE FIRST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 
 
 Falconry was one of the sports of the middle 
 ages most cultivated by the nobles, and ladies 
 as well as gentlemen took part in it. Falcons 
 were trained to mount up into the air and, with 
 their fierce claws and sharp beaks, to catch 
 and kill the little birds flying about, of which 
 the country was full. Even the large and help- 
 less ones, as cranes and storks, were attacked 
 and brought down by these living arrows of 
 the air. The hunter-bird was kept hooded, so 
 that it could not see until it was let loose. The 
 men who took care of the game-birds carried 
 them on their wrists. When there were many 
 of them, the falconer would have a half dozen 
 perching on a hoop, which he kept around him 
 and held on straps from his shoulders. 
 
 This custom of hunting birds with birds is 
 very ancient in the Far East, as in China and 
 Japan, and was introduced into Europe from 
 the East, coming, as printing probably also did 
 later, with the Tartars to Russia. One king 
 was so fond of the sport (as Charlemagne 
 had also been) that he was called Henry the 
 Fowler, and one emperor wrote a little book 
 on the subject of hunting with birds. So un- 
 erring was the falcon in darting upon the prey 
 and catching it, even at long distances, that 
 when firearms were invented the cannon were 
 
 73 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 named after the different kinds of falcons, as 
 well as after quick-darting reptiles and beasts 
 of prey. The female bird was the stronger 
 and the larger. The male, being smaller and 
 weaker, was called falconet. There were offi- 
 cers in charge of the falcons, and it requires 
 almost a small dictionary to give and define 
 the meaning of all the words about the subject. 
 The time of the chase was either early in the 
 morning or towards evening. 
 
 When proper game was discovered, the tiny 
 hood was pulled off the falcon's eyes. Imme- 
 diately the trained bird of prey darted like an 
 arrow high into the air, rose in rapid circles 
 above, and then suddenly swooped upon its 
 victim. When the bird to be seized was large 
 and powerful, with strong wings and sharp 
 beak, the falcon had to be very cautious and 
 cunning in turning, wheeling, and striking at 
 the right moment. Sometimes " the plucky fal- 
 con had its leg broken," as says the proverb of 
 Japan. Having won her prize, she swept in 
 large circles over the head of the falconer, and 
 finally presented him the booty. This he put 
 in his game bag, and then gave the falcon food 
 to encourage her. Some falcons were trained 
 to soar high in the air, others on a lower but 
 wider range. Some were best for the inland 
 
 74 
 
THE FIRST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 
 
 country, others for the seashore, river banks, 
 and the marshes ; for in the Netherlands the 
 birds are numerous everywhere. 
 
 In Holland the huntsmen were often helped 
 by trained dogs. Herons were very plentiful, 
 and if they saw the falcon they would keep 
 among the rushes and be safe. In this case, 
 the sportsmen beat a drum and scared them, so 
 they rose up in the air. Then the dogs were 
 sent into their hiding-places to bark and keep 
 the herons from coming to cover again. In 
 this way the poor creatures were easily seized. 
 The largest species of hawks and eagles were 
 trained to catch even foxes and hares. 
 
 The ladies also rode out on horseback with 
 the knights and yeomen and mightily enjoyed 
 the excitement of hunting. This was almost 
 the only outdoor sport in which the women 
 took part, and a crowd usually gathered round 
 the castle gate on hawking days. It was a 
 very pretty sight to see the lords and ladies 
 gayly dressed, and the falconers picturesquely 
 arrayed, issuing in a cavalcade from beneath 
 the battlements, to hunt on the moors and 
 lowlands. 
 
 It was at one of these falcon parties in 1296 
 that Count Floris was slain at Utrecht by 
 jealous nobles who hated him for political 
 
 75 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 reasons. The lords of Amstel and Woerden 
 were at feud, or quarrel, and he came hoping 
 to reconcile them. So it came to pass that 
 when he was called early on that fateful morn- 
 ing in 1296 to go out hawking, he gladly 
 dressed himself and was soon ready. These 
 old feudal lords were great drinkers. Before 
 starting out, Floris asked Amstel to drain a 
 " stirrup cup " to Saint Gertrude. This famous 
 lady of. the middle ages had, about the middle 
 of the seventh century, founded the church 
 at Geertruydenburg, and was the patron saint 
 of travelers. The men were only too glad to 
 drink to her honor, and as they quaffed the 
 liquor when fresh in the saddle, they called it 
 a " stirrup cup." 
 
 Amstel was a traitor. Taking the beaker 
 from his master's hand, he said, " God protect 
 you, I will ride forward." He drank the con- 
 tents and then galloped away. Floris was so 
 eager to see the sport from the beginning 
 that, instead of taking his trusty knights with 
 him, he rode away with only two pages. About 
 two miles from the city he met several of the 
 nobles. To these he said " good-morning," 
 and received a falcon, which he put upon his 
 wrist ; but at this point Woerden seized the 
 bridle of the count's horse and said to him, 
 
 76 
 
THE FIRST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 
 
 " You shall drive us no more. You are our 
 prisoner." Taking this as a joke the count 
 laughed, but when another noble snatched 
 the falcon rudely from his wrist, Floris drew 
 his sword. Then Velsen, another nobleman, 
 threatened to cleave his head if he made any 
 movement. After imprisoning him in the 
 gloomy castle of Muiden, which is still stand- 
 ing, they slew him near Naarden. 
 
 In the church of St. Lawrence, at Alkmaar, 
 there is a splendid tomb reared to the memory 
 of Floris ; and well he deserves it, for he was 
 one of the greatest of the counts of Holland. 
 He founded the order of the Knights of St. 
 James in 1290. He was a builder of roads 
 and dikes and greatly improved the country 
 and its trade. He was a brave soldier, a wise 
 ruler, and always the protector of the people 
 against the nobles. He was a finely formed 
 man, with a ruddy face and handsome features. 
 Active in his habits and loving outdoor life, 
 he was also skillful in music and eloquent in 
 speech. 
 
 Many of the wicked nobles had to fly the 
 country. Some died in exile. Others were 
 captured in the castle whither they had fled. 
 Others were tortured and then put to death 
 for their great crimes. Indeed, just at a time 
 
 77 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 when the towns were rising in strength and 
 power, the feudal lords lost their power and 
 influence by their own folly. From this time 
 forth the common people gained greatly in 
 freedom, wealth, and privilege. 
 
 The son of the dead count was John, then 
 in England. Here he married the princess 
 Elizabeth, and with his nobles and many pre- 
 sents returned to Holland ; but he was very 
 young and had but a short and stormy career. 
 He died of malarial fever in 1299. As he left 
 no children, and as there was no other heir to 
 the countship, the line of the house of Holland 
 came to an end, and the succession was trans- 
 ferred to the house, or family, of Hainault. 
 
 Thus ended sadly a long and heroic line 
 of sixteen counts and one countess. These 
 rulers, take them all in all, were brave and 
 wise. Under their riile, from the year 923 to 
 that of 1299, the country was raised from a 
 half-drained marsh to be one of the rich states 
 of Europe, whose help or alliance the kings of 
 other lands were glad to have. Under them 
 good laws were made and good government 
 established, while for the most part the people 
 lived happily and the country increased in 
 freedom, in trade, in wealth, and in learning. 
 It is no wonder that the Dutch look back to 
 
 78 
 
THE FIRST COUNTS OF HOLLAND 
 
 the era of the ancient counts of Holland as a 
 kind of golden age. Not only are their tombs 
 in the churches reverently visited and looked 
 upon, but in the Binnen Hof, at the centre 
 of the city of The Hague, there is a splendid 
 memorial in ornamental ironwork, richly deco- 
 rated in colors and gold ; while in the niches 
 of the various town halls there are handsome 
 statues, which the people of to-day delight 
 to look upon. In every family and school, 
 the story of the counts of Holland is told 
 and heard with equal delight to narrator and 
 listener. 
 
 The names of these sixteen counts of Hol- 
 land were, Dirk I., Dirk 11., Arnold, Dirk HI., 
 Dirk IV., Floris I., Dirk V., Floris II., Dirk 
 VI., Floris III., Dirk VII., William I., Floris 
 IV., William II., Floris V., and John I. The 
 Countess Ada, daughter of Dirk VII., ruled 
 but a few weeks, married Lodewijk, Count 
 van Loon, and was succeeded by her uncle, 
 William I. 
 
 79 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE HOUSE OF HAINAULT 
 
 The new ruler, the count of Avennes, also 
 named John, visited Holland and was acknow- 
 ledged by the nobles, towns, and commons as 
 the land's lord. Yet among the nobility the 
 party of Van Borselen was still against him. 
 They had much power, and they even got aid 
 from the emperor of Germany. Some fight- 
 ing took place both on land and water. It 
 came to pass in the next year that Count John 
 gave to his brother Guy the government of 
 Holland and Zeeland. 
 
 This was the signal for troubles with the 
 warrior-bishop of Utrecht, and when, after a 
 few skirmishes, these were over, the Flemings 
 and the Zeelanders fought in a great naval 
 battle near Zierikzee. When Count John died, 
 late in 1 299, his son, William the Good, suc- 
 ceeded, and the long and wasteful wars be- 
 tween Holland and Flanders were over; and 
 Count William III, and his people enjoyed 
 for a while the quiet of home life, 
 
 80 
 
THE HOUSE OF HAINAULT 
 
 William, beginning in 1304, made alliances 
 honorable and advantageous to Holland, but 
 he had much anxiety and trouble because of 
 the mixed politics of Europe, and the quarrels 
 between the papal and imperial factions ; for 
 at this time there were two popes, one at 
 Avignon and one at Rome. 
 
 A daughter, born to him and named Mar- 
 garet, became the wife of Louis of Bavaria, 
 emperor of Germany. It was a proud day for 
 the Netherlanders when Margaret of Holland 
 was crowned empress in 1328. 
 
 William's younger daughter, Philippa, was 
 married to King Edward III. of England. A 
 body of three thousand Netherlandish soldiers 
 set sail from Dordrecht and went over to Eng- 
 land to support her husband, the young king, 
 in his wars. 
 
 At home, William became the sole ruler of 
 Friesland, without interference of the bishop 
 of Utrecht. The Frisians showed their loyalty 
 •in the old hearty way of their forefathers. 
 They made Count William stand upon a shield. 
 Then, after some stalwart men had lifted it in 
 the air, and he stood over their heads, they 
 all did him homage by shouting in unison. 
 William had. what was called a brilliant foreign 
 policy, but at home he was in want of money. 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 for he spent more than he earned. He was 
 very fond of tournaments, but these, with their 
 flags and decorations, arms and armor, ban- 
 quets and servants, were very expensive. When 
 he took a journey, which was very often, or 
 when one of his four daughters was married, 
 he called upon the towns for large sums of 
 money to pay the cost. All this made his peo- 
 ple grumble. The men of Kennemer Land 
 declined to pay, unless he gave them a charter 
 of privileges ; but he refused, and took away 
 from them even what they had had. He 
 treated the people of Dordrecht in the same 
 surly manner, so that he became very un- 
 popular. 
 
 The Hollanders were industrious, and did 
 not like a count who was wasteful. Although 
 in William's lifetime Holland won renown 
 abroad, yet his government was not a happy 
 one for the people. The Dutch thought that 
 he did too much for Hainault, and not enough 
 for Holland, and neglected the business inter- 
 ests of the country. During his time, also, 
 many Dutch clothmakers went over to Eng- 
 land and settled there, because King Edward 
 HI. had forbidden the export of wool, which 
 was the basis of English trade abroad. 
 
 82 
 
BATTLE ON THE ICE BETWEEN FRISIANS AND HOLLANDERS 
 
THE HOUSE OF HAINAULT 
 
 The plague that troubled other parts of 
 Europe was but slightly felt in Holland, and 
 the price of rye, which at that time almost all 
 the people of Europe used, fell from fifteen 
 pence to three and a half pence a bushel. Few 
 people could afford to eat wheat bread, even 
 though a penny was then worth five or six 
 times more than at the present time. 
 
 William III., called also William the Pious, 
 the Master of Knights, and Chief of Princes, 
 died in 1337. He left four daughters: Mar- 
 garet, empress of Germany ; Philippa, queen of 
 England ; Joanna, the countess of Julieres ; and 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 His only son, William, became count under 
 the title of William IV. He raised money for 
 his wars by borrowing from the townspeople. 
 They were only too glad to furnish him with 
 the cash, provided he would grant them more 
 rights and greater privileges. Thus the cus- 
 tom of public loans grew up, and through it 
 life in the cities became richer and more joyous. 
 
 William's reign was very short. In a battle 
 with the Frisians, on the very spot where their 
 ancient kings held their supreme court, he lost 
 his army and his life. His dying childless left 
 the land in turmoil. 
 
 83 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAXD 
 
 It is now time to look at internal politics ; 
 for as the people were getting more and more 
 rights and power, they formed powerful parties, 
 and with very Dutch names. 
 
 84 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE CODS AND HOOKS 
 
 After the death of William IV., as stated in 
 our last chapter, it became a serious question 
 who was the ruler of Holland. His decease 
 was the signal for an outbreak of riot and civil 
 war that lasted through several generations. 
 It was a time when the old feudalism was 
 breaking up, and the cities were becoming 
 more and more powerful as against the nobles, 
 there being much hostility and jealousy be- 
 tween the two. Two great parties were formed, 
 which had names very suitable in a watery 
 country in which the people lived largely by 
 fishing. They were called the " Codfishes " 
 and the " Fishhooks." The nobles and citizens 
 of the larger cities were, as a rule, Cods. The 
 country folk and people of the smaller towns 
 were the Hooks. 
 
 The cod is a voracious creature, able to eat 
 up the little fishes ; but the fishhook, in the 
 hands of a fisherman, can catch him and carry 
 him off. The Codfishes were the more numer- 
 
 85 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 ous, but the Fishhooks were the stronger. It 
 is said that the Cods first got their name from 
 their armor, which looked like the scales of a 
 fish. Oftentimes brothers and relations of the 
 same family, and men who were neighbors 
 in the same city, were divided between these 
 parties. Many a squabble took place along 
 the canals and at the bridges, during which 
 there was great uproar and much blood was 
 shed. 
 
 Holland had always been an undivided he- 
 reditary estate. Margaret, the eldest daughter 
 of William III., and empress of Germany, con- 
 sidered that she was ruler of the country ; and 
 though it was winter, she traveled at once into 
 Holland, before Edward, king of England, 
 and husband of her sister Philippa, could pre- 
 sent his wife's claim. The Dutchmen, finding 
 her so anxious to rule, at once took advantage 
 of their opportunity and obtained from her 
 rights and privileges for which they had long 
 been waiting. Having accepted the homage 
 of the Dutch people, she returned to her hus- 
 band in Bavaria. She sent her second son, 
 William, to rule Holland while she should be 
 absent, giving him sole authority and reserv- 
 ing for herself only a pension. 
 
 Margaret's husband, the emperor, died in 
 86 
 
THE CODS AND HOOKS 
 
 1347, and since her son William did not pay 
 the pension he had promised, she returned to 
 Holland to be its ruler. She obliged her son 
 William to retire to Hainault ; but he did not 
 like this arrangement. So he stirred up trou- 
 ble, and thus Holland was plunged into fresh 
 wars ; for the quarrels between the mother and 
 son only furnished fuel to the fire of hatred 
 between the nobles and people. 
 
 In this fourteenth century, the Dutch were 
 not the only people that were suffering from 
 the break-up of the old feudalism. In Ger- 
 many and France also, the people and the no- 
 bility were arrayed against each other. France 
 became a field of blood. The awful Jacquerie, 
 or insurrection of the French peasantry against 
 the nobles, took place in May, 1358. During 
 three weeks or more, the oppressed lower 
 classes broke loose against their masters, the 
 lords and ladies of France. They burned or 
 destroyed the houses of the rich and killed 
 many nobles, committing other horrible crimes. 
 They were finally beaten in battle and put 
 down. 
 
 In Holland the nobles, and the large cities 
 
 forming the Codfish party, took the side of 
 
 William V., and invited him to come into 
 
 Holland to lead them. The people of the 
 
 87 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 country and smaller towns were mostly on 
 Margaret's side, and she was supported also 
 by Brederode and some of the popular nobles. 
 The partisans were distinguished by the color 
 of their hats, blue or white. Finding the 
 Hooks were not very strong, Margaret asked 
 for help from the king of England. The 
 Cods seized and destroyed seventeen castles 
 belonging to the Hook nobles, and though in 
 a naval battle Margaret's allies defeated their 
 enemies and pursued them, yet, in the river 
 Maas, William's sailors defeated those of Mar- 
 garet, and Brederode was taken prisoner. The 
 houses and castles of the Hook nobles which 
 remained were torn to pieces or set on fire, 
 and the Hook nobles were banished. 
 
 Margaret crossed over to England and was 
 soon followed by William, who there married 
 Matilda, the daughter of the duke of Lanca- 
 shire. Then peace was made and mother and 
 son were reconciled. William received Hol- 
 land, Zeeland, and Friesland in fief, while to 
 Margaret, Hainault was assigned, and she was 
 allowed a pension also. She died in 1356. 
 Then William of Bavaria became the acknow- 
 ledged count of Holland. Thus the Nether- 
 lands passed out from the control of the house 
 of Hainault, which had furnished three counts 
 
THE CODS AND HOOKS 
 
 and one countess as rulers of Holland, and 
 held power during fifty years, from 1299 to 
 1349 A. D. 
 
 Now began the Bavarian dynasty in Hol- 
 land, which was to last seventy-nine years. As 
 the Dutch call the house of Hainault, " Het 
 Huis van Henegouwen," so they speak of the 
 house of Bavaria as " Het Huis van Beijeren." 
 
 89 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 JACQUELINE OF BAVARIA 
 
 The counts of Holland belonging to the house 
 of Bavaria, three in number, one of whom had 
 little to do with the northern Netherlands, were 
 occupied chiefly with troubles in Ghent, where 
 the people were fiercely democratic, and in 
 fighting the Frisians, who loved liberty. The 
 fourth and last ruler of this line in the Nether- 
 lands was Jacqueline, or Jacoba, as the Dutch 
 call her. As she is the best known of the 
 four, we shall devote most of this chapter to 
 her life and her many adventures and sorrows. 
 Count Albert ruled forty-six years, dying in 
 1404. His daughters were married to noble- 
 men of high rank, and his sons became emi- 
 nent in office. He had the misfortune to live 
 in an evil age. Although he was mild and 
 just, the country was in constant turmoil dur- 
 ing his whole lifetime ; for he could not control 
 the Hooks and Cods, or make his subjects 
 obey him. When he died, he was so poor, 
 and had so many debts, that his widow, in 
 
 90 
 
JACQUELINE OF BAVARIA 
 
 order to be free of them, had to renounce all 
 claim to his estate, or " boedel," — a word 
 which has since become American slang and 
 is spelled " boodle." 
 
 In this ancient ceremony, the widow first 
 chose a guardian. Then the body of the count 
 was placed on a bier and brought before the 
 door of the court. The widow, having bor- 
 rowed clothes from some other woman, and 
 keeping in her hands, or on her person, no- 
 thing whatever that she had received from her 
 late husband, walked out from her house to 
 the corpse with a straw in her hand. This 
 straw she handed to her guardian, thus re- 
 nouncing and surrendering in her name all 
 interest in the estate of her husband, and in 
 all debts due to or from him. This custom 
 of using a straw was also common among the 
 Franks, compacts being broken by breaking a 
 straw. 
 
 In 141 7 the Frisians obtained from the 
 emperor a charter confirming their independ- 
 ence. William VI. died this same year and 
 was succeeded by his daughter Jacoba, or 
 Jacqueline. 
 
 This wonderful woman was destined to be 
 sadly famous, and to suffer many troubles and 
 sorrows. Her father. Count William, had 
 
 91 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 formed an alliance between her and the son of 
 the king of France, which country was suffer- 
 ing from the rival factions of Burgundy and 
 Orleans. It, was while the house of Burgundy 
 was in the ascendant that John, the king's 
 second son, was betrothed to Jacqueline. Both 
 were so young that they were not married till 
 141 5, when she was declared heir to Hainault, 
 Holland, and Friesland. 
 
 When his brother Louis died without chil- 
 dren, John became dauphin, or heir apparent to 
 the French crown. Yet when envoys came to 
 invite John to the French court. Count William 
 was afraid to allow the husband of his only 
 daughter and child to go to his home ; for 
 not only was civil war raging, but King Henry 
 of England had invaded France and fought 
 the battle of Agincourt, in which 9000 French 
 knights were killed. Added to this, the Or- 
 leans faction disliked the young dauphin and 
 his father. So both remained in Hainault. 
 
 During the truce between the French and 
 English, much diplomacy went on. William 
 went to Paris, leaving the dauphin at Com- 
 piegne, while he should arrange the terms of 
 his reception. But when he heard that he 
 would be seized by the men in power, he left 
 Paris and hurried to Compiegne, there to find 
 
 92 
 
THE WIDOW OF COUNT ALBERT RENOUNCING HER CLAIM 
 
JACQUELINE OF BAVARIA 
 
 his son-in-law dying. It was believed that the 
 young man had been killed by wearing a mag- 
 nificent suit of armor which had been lined 
 with poison. 
 
 In those days it was quite a common thing 
 for polite murderers to get rid of their ene- 
 mies, not only by putting poison in their food, 
 but by presenting them with cunningly made 
 rings. These had a spur or orifice, within 
 which was a drop of poison, as strong as the 
 venom which oozes from a rattlesnake's fangs. 
 The dauphin, delighted with his beautiful ar- 
 mor, had quickly put it on and worn it, so that 
 the poison entered his body and he died. 
 
 Jacqueline's father was now in a terrible 
 situation. The succession to power had been 
 settled upon his daughter, on condition that 
 her husband should be ruler ; for most of the 
 Hollanders disliked to be ruled by a woman. 
 On previous occasions they had almost re- 
 belled, declaring that they would not be ver- 
 vrouwd, or " womaned." William was afraid 
 that his brother John, who had been elected 
 bishop of Liege, would seize the authority, so 
 he assembled the nobles of the towns of Hol- 
 land in congress. They swore to acknowledge 
 Jacqueline as their ruler, in case he, William, 
 should die without a son. This was just what 
 
 93 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 happened; for only a few weeks later, in 141 7, 
 as we have said, this handsome and gallant 
 count, this knight who so often bore away 
 prizes at the tournaments, lay a corpse. 
 
 It was during the early years of Jacqueline 
 that new sources of wealth were developed. 
 One was the greater use of the windmill, first 
 introduced in 1329, and the other was the 
 general curing of herring by the fishermen. 
 The gold mines of the Dutch are not in their 
 muddy ground, but lie in the ocean, in their 
 brains, and in their habits of industry, which 
 are better than gold. The herring fisheries 
 had already begun and brought in plenty of 
 nourishment for the people. Yet, unlike grain, 
 this kind of food could not be kept long. When 
 a Dutchman discovered how to cure or dry the 
 fish, so that they could be kept over from one 
 month to another, and even carried to distant 
 countries and sold, then a great stream of gold 
 rolled from many lands into the Netherlands. 
 
 William Beukels, a poor fisherman of Bier- 
 vliet, in Zeeland, showed, in 1 350, that herring 
 could be dried in smoke and thus preserved. 
 By salting them, they could be packed in kegs 
 and barrels and exported to foreign countries, 
 and even to the ends of the earth. Others had 
 tried to do this, but Beukels was the one who 
 
 94 
 
JACQUELINE OF BAVARIA 
 
 succeeded. There are even people who say 
 that our word " pickle " is derived from his 
 name; but this term comes rather from the 
 older Dutch word " pekel," or brine of vinegar 
 and salt, of which the Dutch were always very 
 fond. 
 
 The herrings appear annually in great shoals 
 around the coast and near the surface of the 
 water. The larger fishes prey on them, swal- 
 lowing many at a time, while the gulls and 
 other sea birds swoop upon them and get fat 
 by eating them. Yet they are very uncertain, 
 and come and go without any known reason. 
 Long before the English and Scotch people 
 became interested in the herring fisheries, the 
 Dutch had already got rich by them, and a 
 proverb declared that " Amsterdam is built on 
 herring bones." 
 
 Hundreds of years after Beukels invented 
 the pickling of herring, the great emperor, 
 Charles V., made a pilgrimage to the tomb of 
 this humble fisherman, and there ate one of 
 the cured fish, in gratitude for the invention. 
 Likewise, from time to time, did other kings 
 and queens. 
 
 To-day, in the church at Biervliet, there is a 
 stained glass window commemorating the fish- 
 erman who brought what was better than gold 
 
 95 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 mines to the Netherlands. Although Scotland 
 in our day has excelled Holland in bloaters, 
 red herring, and in fisheries generally, yet the 
 herring still fills a large part of Holland's horn 
 of plenty, and brings riches to the people. 
 Every year, when the first herrings are caught, 
 they are drawn in a coach and six horses to 
 the royal palace. At the shops, a crown of 
 green leaves is hung out to show that these 
 fresh delicacies are for sale. Smoked, dried, 
 pickled, kippered, eaten fresh when baked, 
 boiled, or broiled, or made into salads or pas- 
 ties, they are the every-day food of millions 
 of people. The Dutch have many pet names 
 and proverbs about them. White herring 
 are called "green," the soused herring are 
 "pickled," and smoked are "red." Our word 
 " keg," or " cag," is derived from the Dutch 
 " kaken," which means " to barrel up." When 
 people have to sit close together, they say they 
 are " packed like herrings." The Dutch also 
 were the first to learn how to make the enor- 
 mous seines, or nets, to catch herrings by the 
 thousand. The first one was used at Hoorn. 
 Millions of dollars are made annually in the 
 catch and sale of this valuable fish. 
 
 The young widow, Jacqueline, though only 
 seventeen years old, was a wonderful creature, 
 
 96 
 
JACQUELINE OF BAVARIA 
 
 very beautiful and lovely, and as brave as a 
 man. Her people were very fond of her, and 
 she in return loved them and gave them char- 
 ters and privileges; but the ambition of her 
 uncle, John the bishop, gave her endless 
 trouble, and her great beauty and charm were 
 sources of sorrow rather than of joy to her. 
 
 In those days many wicked and worthless 
 men became bishops for political purposes and 
 selfish ambition. John, though he wanted to 
 be bishop, did not take the priest's orders; but 
 William made him bishop, and then he wished 
 to be ruler of Holland, against Jacqueline's 
 right. She resisted. Both uncle and niece 
 raised armies to fight each other, and war broke 
 out. John was called " the Ungodly," or the 
 " Pitiless." The great danger to her country 
 from this wicked uncle led the young countess 
 to marry her cousin, John IV., duke of Bra- 
 bant, and lord of Antwerp, who was even 
 younger than herself. He and his brother 
 Philip were sons of that Antony, duke of Bra- 
 bant, who was killed at the battle of Agincourt. 
 The older of the two brothers was weak and 
 tyrannical, the younger was crafty and cruel. 
 As Jacqueline took a husband for political rea- 
 sons and not for love, she had many new and 
 unlooked-for miseries from both these men. 
 
 97 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 The wedding took place in the spring of 
 1418. Upon this, her uncle John resolved to 
 give up his bishopric, marry a wife, and go into 
 politics. So he obtained permission from the 
 Pope, and took to himself Elizabeth of Luxem- 
 bourg. He then assumed the title of count. 
 This caused civil war to break out at once ; 
 for there could not be two counts of Holland 
 any more than two suns in the same sky. 
 
 The Netherlanders, especially those belong- 
 ing to the Hook party, stood by Jacqueline, 
 while others, mostly of the Cod party, ranged 
 themselves with the ex-bishop John. The 
 struggle was for " boodle," or the spoils of 
 office ; for politicians were as eager, as hungry, 
 and covetous then as now. After some blood- 
 shed and much quarreling, which kept the 
 country in turmoil, it came to pass that, through 
 the folly of Jacqueline's worthless husband, 
 who was feeble in body and mind, lazy and 
 uncertain, she lost most of her possessions. 
 
 This John was a petty tyrant. He ordered 
 his wife to send away her Dutch ladies from 
 court, and he put Brabant ladies in their places. 
 When Jacqueline reached the age of twenty- 
 one years, she was a bright and vigorous wo- 
 man, and her spirit revolted against her fate. 
 Unable to bear the wretchedness of her posi- 
 
 98 
 
JACQUELINE OF BAVARIA 
 
 tion, she secretly left the court, and, with her 
 mother, traveled to Calais. Thence she fled 
 to England, where she was warmly welcomed 
 by Henry V., who gave her twelve hundred 
 pounds sterling a year. When the little Eng- 
 lish baby that became Henry VI. was baptized, 
 Jacqueline held him at the font. 
 
 Jacqueline's beauty brought her into fresh 
 trouble. The king's brother Humphrey, the 
 duke of Gloucester, fell in love with her, but 
 she could not be married without permission 
 of the Pope. At this time there were two 
 popes, one at Rome and one at Avignon. One 
 of them, Benedict XHL, granted a divorce. 
 The English duke and the Dutch countess, 
 Humphrey and Jacqueline, were wedded to- 
 ward the end of the year 1422. This marriage 
 gave great offense both in England and in the 
 Netherlands. The new husband and wife in- 
 vaded Hainault, and some of the cities wel- 
 comed them; but soon their Dutch enemies 
 won victories, in which many of their English 
 soldiers were put to death. When the duke 
 of Burgundy challenged the duke of Gloucester 
 to single combat, he, either out of cowardice 
 or to prepare himself, went over to England, 
 leaving Jacqueline in Mons. There she was 
 seized by the citizens and given into the hands 
 
 99 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 of the deputies of her late husband, John of 
 Brabant. 
 
 The unhappy woman was taken to Ghent, 
 to be kept until the other Pope, Martin V., 
 should decide upon the question of her mar- 
 riage; but this time Jacqueline was too clever 
 for them. In some way she obtained the cloth- 
 ing of her page, and, putting on male disguise, 
 escaped into Holland, where the citizens gave 
 her a warm welcome. The next year her 
 uncle, John the Ungodly, died from poison, 
 after naming as his heir Jacqueline's cousin, 
 Philip of Burgundy. 
 
 Jacqueline remained at Gouda waiting for 
 help from England. She was very fond of 
 outdoor exercise, shooting at the popinjay, 
 riding horseback, and distributing prizes to 
 contestants. Sometimes she rode at the head 
 of her troops and won victories. The English 
 came over and helped the Hook party. A 
 great battle was fought between the allies and 
 the Cods, in which the former were beaten, 
 over a thousand soldiers, with many nobles of 
 Zeeland, being slain. Thus Jacqueline had to 
 part with the whole of this rich province. In 
 the north, also, several combats between the 
 Cods and the Hooks went against her. She 
 retreated once more to Gouda. 
 
 lOO 
 
JACQUELINE GOING FORTH TO SHOOT AT THE POPINJAY 
 
JACQUELINE OF BAVARIA 
 
 Jacqueline's great opponent was her cousin 
 and brother-in-law, Philip of Burgundy, who 
 secured for himself from her former husband, 
 John, the title of governor and heir of Holland. 
 While John gave up all pretense of governing, 
 Philip proceeded to treat the Dutch people 
 with great cruelty. 
 
 The fortunes of Jacqueline were now at a 
 low ebb. She had only four towns that ac- 
 knowledged her. To add to her troubles, the 
 Pope declared her last marriage unlawful, and 
 forbade her ever marrying again. Heroic wo- 
 man as she was, she appealed to the general 
 council of the Church against the Pope. In 
 England, the English women sympathized 
 strongly with her. They came to Parliament, 
 petitioning the lords and bishops that the 
 cowardly duke of Gloucester should assist 
 his Dutch wife and be faithful to her ; but he 
 forsook the Countess Jacqueline and married 
 another woman, Eleanor Cobham. 
 
 This cruel desertion was a keen pang to a 
 beautiful and high-spirited woman, a princess 
 of true birth, and the real ruler of Holland. 
 She remained in Gouda in grief and inaction, 
 and when Philip and his army, backed by 
 the Cods, appeared before the walls, she was 
 obliged to yield and make a new and humili- 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 ating treaty. She promised not to appeal to 
 the Pope, to surrender her country to Philip 
 as ruler, and not to marry again without his 
 consent and that of her mother, and of the 
 estates of towns, nobles, and clergy. If she 
 should remarry, her subjects were to be released 
 from her control, and she was to be degraded 
 from her rank and be no longer countess. 
 
 Thus, deprived of all real authority, Jacque- 
 line left Gouda, that had so long been faithful 
 to her, and went to live in the pretty little town 
 of Goes. To-day some fragments of her castle 
 remain in Goes, and in Gouda there is a fine 
 chalice, superbly enameled and gilded, which 
 the people still prize highly as the gift of 
 Jacqueline to the guild of archers in 1425. 
 The pretty blue and white' porcelain called 
 Delftware is associated with Jacqueline's name ; 
 for during her enforced leisure in the convent, 
 she amused herself and beguiled her time 
 in moulding and decorating the clay, which, 
 when fired or baked, gave a new glory to com- 
 mon earth. " Borselen " became " porcelain." 
 
 Philip went back to Flanders and appointed 
 as his stadholder, or lieutenant, Francis van 
 Borselen, to rule over Holland and Zeeland. 
 
 Having now no wealth or title to bestow, 
 most of Jacqueline's party, the Hooks, deserted 
 
 102 
 
JACQUELINE OF BAVARIA 
 
 the unfortunate lady; but Francis van Borse- 
 len, though one of the Cods, was ever ready to 
 help her with money and advice. He proved 
 himself her true friend, so that now, being 
 more a woman than a politician, she, probably 
 for the first time in her life, loved truly. When 
 he pressed her to marry him, she agreed, 
 though she well knew what would be the pen- 
 alty of a secret marriage ; for all around her 
 were Philip's spies, who kept him informed of 
 what was going on. Yet love conquered and 
 made her a slave. She was married. 
 
 This was just what her crafty and cruel 
 enemy, Philip, wanted. He now had this 
 beautiful woman, who was only thirty-five years 
 old, as much in his power as the falcon that 
 holds the dove in its beak and claws. He ar- 
 rested Francis van Borselen at The Hague, 
 and brought him to Rupelmonde, giving out 
 that he was to be a prisoner for life. This 
 he knew would lead the loving Jacqueline, 
 in order to save him, to yield up her title of 
 countess and the allegiance of her subjects. 
 Philip therefore gave to van Borselen other 
 offices, but he was no longer stadholder, and 
 Jacqueline was no more a princess. Yet, 
 though now only a plain woman, passing her 
 days in obscurity, and with but a small pension, 
 103 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 it may be that these last were the happiest of 
 her life. All too swiftly the time sped on, and 
 soon she fell into a decline. She died in 1426 
 of consumption, at the age of thirty-six. Her 
 four husbands were : John, son of Charles VI. 
 of France; John IV., duke of Brabant; Hum- 
 phrey, duke of Gloucester; Francis, lord of 
 Borselen. 
 
 What a story of grief and sorrow! Well 
 might Jacqueline write her biography as one 
 did, " My whole life has been a disappoint- 
 ment." She was married four times, but only 
 once for love, and of her own personal choice. 
 Betrothed as a girl, she was wedded to a young 
 prince and had bright hopes of a long reign, 
 when her first husband died suddenly of poi- 
 son. Her second political marriage was fruit- 
 ful only in disgusting misery. Her third was 
 with a man who had sought her hand and 
 name for selfish purposes only, and then de- 
 serted her, a coward and a sneak. 
 
 With Jacqueline, whom the Dutch speak of 
 as " Jacoba van Beijeren," ended the rule, in 
 1436, of the house of Bavaria in Holland. 
 The Dutch are never tired of celebrating in 
 painting, song, and story, on the stage and in 
 tableaux, her romantic career. She had no 
 children, and when she died the Netherlands 
 
 104 
 
JACQUELINE OF BAVARIA 
 
 became united with the realm of the duke of 
 Burgundy. 
 
 It was while Jacqueline was in England that 
 the disastrous flood of 1421 took place, called 
 Saint Elizabeth's flood. In South Holland, 
 which was then the richest district of the coun- 
 try, seventy-two market towns and villages were 
 washed away or engulfed. There were enor- 
 mous losses of property in cattle and goods. 
 Many families were reduced from wealth to 
 poverty, and some of the nobility almost to 
 beggary. Perhaps a hundred thousand people 
 were drowned, and the town of Dordrecht was 
 cut off from the mainland. It was an awful 
 sight to see the people climbing up into the 
 trees and upon the roofs of houses until great 
 crowds were found on the house-tops and 
 church-roofs. There, unable to assist their 
 friends, who were swept past and drowned in 
 the flood, they spent hours or days of agony, 
 only to starve, or be themselves hurled into 
 the waters through the undermining and giv- 
 ing way of the houses. To-day, in the gloomy 
 and lonely " forest of reeds," called the Bies- 
 bosch, which makes a great scar on the map, 
 one can see the network of water-courses and 
 mud which has taken the place of a once rich 
 and fertile region. 
 
 105 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 The dynasty of Bavaria (Het Huis van Bei- 
 jeren), — three counts and one countess, — end- 
 ing with Jacqueline, had ruled Holland during 
 seventy-nine years, from 1349 to 1429 a. d. 
 
 106 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE HOUSE OF BURGUNDY 
 
 Burgundy, a fertile region, rich in wine, took 
 its name from the Burgundu, a German tribe. 
 It was founded in 406, and then included 
 the valley of the river Rhone in Southern 
 France and the western half of Switzerland, 
 but changed its boundaries, rulers, and politi- 
 cal status several times. In the fifteenth cen- 
 tury it was a duchy, and Philip was its duke. 
 Holland now came under his rule, and, through 
 that of his successors, the Netherlanders were 
 ruled by Spaniards and Austrians. 
 
 Philip of Burgundy, who was called " the 
 Good," but who was a very bad man, married 
 Isabella of Portugal, and the wedding was 
 celebrated at Bruges, in January, 1430. With 
 all his great territory, though only a duke, and 
 not a king, he was now the equal in power of 
 many sovereigns of Europe, while richer than 
 any of them, and his court had no superior in 
 splendor and brilliancy. 
 
 Philip founded the order of the Knights 
 107 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 of the Golden Fleece. These were at first 
 twenty-four, but the number was afterwards 
 increased to fifty-one. The first meeting, or 
 chapter, was held in 143 1, when the festivities 
 lasted three days. Each knight wore a long 
 robe, first of purple woolen cloth, but after- 
 wards of silk velvet. His insignia was a golden 
 collar, holding a lamb with a golden fleece, 
 with two laurel bows, and the duke's S3niibol 
 of flint and steel striking fire. 
 
 Philip's rule was long and brilliant. Com- 
 merce increased and art and literature flour- 
 ished. Yet Philip was a very extravagant 
 ruler, and no friend of liberty. Whereas 
 Jacqueline had studied the needs of her peo- 
 ple and gave them all the freedom then possi- 
 ble, Philip went in the other direction. He 
 not only took away many of their charters and 
 gave them fewer privileges, but he made his 
 own selfish will the law. He went to war with 
 England, when the Dutch had no desire to 
 do so. 
 
 Besides this wicked strife, there was trouble 
 with the Baltic, towns, so that the usual supply 
 of grain was not obtained and the price of rye 
 rose. The poor people, not being able to get 
 bread, had to eat beans, rape, and hemp seed. 
 The crops, also, were very poor. Yet while 
 
 108 
 
THE HOUSE OF BURGUNDY 
 
 the country was in this condition, their foreign 
 ruler, the duke of Burgundy, called for fresh 
 taxes. 
 
 The usual symptoms of bad government 
 began to appear. The quarrels between the 
 Cods and the Hooks broke out afresh. In 
 Haarlem, the two parties took up arms. Dur- 
 ing two days they glared at each other, ready 
 to fight, but bloodshed was prevented by a 
 priest walking up and down the ranks, carry- 
 ing the host. Philip sent his wife Isabella to 
 quiet the rioters, and once inside the city she 
 persuaded the Hooks to withdraw. The next 
 troubles were in the town of Leyden, when 
 the streets and bridges in the city became 
 the scenes of bloodshed. Finally the duke 
 of Burgundy himself came to Holland and 
 ordered that the partisans should no more call 
 each other names, or sing songs in ridicule of 
 their rivals. He also prohibited the wearing 
 of uniforms or marks, the putting on of the 
 white or the blue hoods, the enlistment of new 
 burgher guards, and the carrying of swords 
 or other weapons or armor. If a man was 
 killed in a quarrel, it was ordered that six 
 weeks should be allowed the friends on both 
 sides to settle the matter. 
 
 Thus Philip secured peace, but no sooner 
 109 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 had he done this than he took unfair advan- 
 tage by laying on heavier taxes. He also 
 tried to reform the Church, which at this time 
 was terribly corrupt and full of superstition. 
 There were some hopes for reform, because the 
 teachings of Wycliffe of England, John Huss, 
 and Jerome of Prague had already spread 
 throughout the Netherlands. The translation 
 of the Bible, though poorly done, helped the 
 Dutch people to read the Scriptures, and see 
 how widely the wicked priests and church 
 rulers departed from the simplicity of early 
 Christian times. 
 
 The duke was so lavish and wasteful with 
 his feasts, tiltings, and shows, his personal 
 gratification and his gifts to favorites, that his 
 treasury was often empty and he had to lay 
 fresh taxes upon the Netherlanders. Unable 
 to bear the galling load, they rose in rebellion, 
 the men of Ghent leading the revolt. Sev- 
 eral battles were fought, but the citizens were 
 beaten. Those who were not killed were 
 obliged to come out bareheaded and bare- 
 footed and, on their knees, to beg for pardon. 
 About two thousand Ghenters thus knelt. 
 The banners of the guilds were taken away, 
 and they were obliged to pay the expenses of 
 the war as well as the taxes. 
 
THE HOUSE OF BURGUNDY 
 
 Philip's son, Charles the Bold, a terrible 
 fighter, was made stadholder of Zeeland, where 
 he ruled the people with a rod of iron. Philip 
 attempted to regain his authority in Friesland, 
 and largely succeeded. Getting into war with 
 France, his son, Charles the Bold, marched to 
 the very gates of Paris and further chastised 
 the Netherlandish allies of the French. In 
 this war the men of Holland probably took no 
 part, but they had to pay heavy taxes to help 
 in settling the count's war bills. 
 
 Philip the First died in Bruges, in 1467, 
 at seventy-two years of age, and his long rule 
 was over. He has the reputation of being 
 humane and just. He loved peace and made 
 many treaties with foreign nations, by which 
 the people of his large dominions profited 
 greatly, so that though they were heavily 
 taxed, they could, in most cases, easily pay. 
 It is even said that Philip received more 
 money from his subjects than they had paid 
 in four centuries together before. 
 
 At this time the Dutch had learned to make 
 salt and to refine it better than any people in 
 Europe. Besides being fishermen, they were 
 highly skilled weavers and exported linen and 
 woolen cloth. They were also excellent jewel- 
 ers, and sold much gold and silver work and 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 many jewels in England. They had improved 
 in agriculture and the making of dikes. In- 
 stead of facing their dams or banks with bun- 
 dles of reeds, as in old times, they now began 
 to bolt together beams of wood, fill them with 
 earth and stone, and then front them with 
 heavy planks, so that they could resist both 
 the rush and the pounding of the sea waves. 
 In many places they defended the piers by 
 driving piles out in the water, so as to break 
 the first force of the billows. 
 
 The duke left at his death an immense for- 
 tune. It consisted of four hundred thousand 
 crowns of gold, and one hundred thousand 
 marks of silver, with pictures, jewels, and furni- 
 ture, supposed to be worth two millions more. 
 He was thus the richest ruler in Europe. His 
 bad example of wastefulness in festivals, shows, 
 entertainments, and personal adornment was 
 imitated by his nobles. Many of them were 
 ruined by their extravagance, and although 
 there was so much show and brilliancy, morals 
 were very bad. In Holland the continual quar- 
 rels of the Hooks and Cods brutalized manners 
 and kept up hatred and faction. Nevertheless, 
 the Burgundian era is looked upon as a bril- 
 liant one, because literature and the arts were 
 patronized and encouraged by Philip. It is 
 
w 
 o 
 
THE HOUSE OF BURGUNDY 
 
 believed that John van Eyck of Bruges in- 
 vented oil colors, and from his day painting 
 entered upon a new era. Historians began to 
 write, and printing came into use. 
 
 Nobody knows who invented movable, or, 
 as the Japanese say, " living," types. In Ger- 
 many, Gutenberg is supposed to have been 
 the inventor. In Haarlem, the statue of Cos- 
 ter stands near the great church. He holds in 
 his fingers a metal type. It is said that one 
 day, while walking in the woods among the 
 beautiful beech trees of Haarlem, he whittled 
 out some letters from bits of beech wood. 
 Wrapping these up to take home, he noticed 
 that the sap stained the paper, leaving impres- 
 sions of the letters. This gave him the idea 
 of printing. Others say that he invented a 
 thick glutinous ink, and, using these wooden 
 types in the same way as a seal is used to give 
 impressions, made little books for his nieces 
 and nephews. 
 
 Apart from all these uncertain stories, we 
 know that long before the time of either Guten- 
 berg or Coster, the Netherlands were famous 
 for their wood engravers, who made pictures of 
 saints and the Virgin. Underneath and around 
 the drawings, and in the block, they cut letters. 
 With these engraved blocks they printed tracts 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 and books for the pious, and many thousands 
 of leaves for the hornbooks which children 
 used in school. It is highly probable that 
 printing with living, or separate, types was 
 brought by the Mongols into Europe, from 
 China or Korea, where it had been for centu- 
 ries in use, and that Europeans improved upon 
 the lead or iron, wood, or terra-cotta type by 
 making an alloy of lead and antimony. 
 
 Besides their wood engravers, picture makers, 
 and printers, the Netherlands were famous for 
 their free schools for children. Holland was 
 one of the first countries in Europe to have 
 public schools ; that is, schools where the poor 
 children could learn to read and write free of 
 cost, and the burghers' sons and daughters be 
 educated for a small sum of money ; the sala- 
 ries of the teachers and the chief expenses 
 being paid out of the public treasury, by tax- 
 ation. 
 
 The first schools were taught by monks or 
 priests who, in the middle ages, were almost 
 the only people able to read and write. Among 
 the earliest were those founded by Charle- 
 magne, assisted by Alcuin, who revived learn- 
 ing in many countries. 
 
 Nearly all writings were in Latin ; for what 
 are now the modern languages were not then 
 
 114 
 
THE HOUSE OF BURGUNDY 
 
 fully formed. If we had gone into the places 
 where books were made, we should have seen 
 the brethren busy over parchment, cutting it 
 into the right-sized sheets for documents or 
 for books. Then, with their quill-pens and 
 ink-horns, they would copy one text or writing 
 from another. When finished and bound with 
 covers of pig-skin or leather, the larger books 
 were held to desks by chains or rods. The 
 writing-place, where books were made, was 
 called a scriptorium, and the place in which 
 they were collected and kept together was the 
 library. 
 
 In the thirteenth century, the school system 
 broadened out from the church and monastery 
 in so far as to come in many places under the 
 control of the town governments. When the 
 Brethren of the Common Life began their 
 work in the fourteenth century, they spread 
 abroad still more widely the interest in popular 
 education. 
 
 "5 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE CHARTER OF THE GREAT PRIVILEGE 
 
 The new ruler, Charles the Bold, who was at 
 the head of the Burgundian domain, was a 
 very bold and strong man, but not very wise. 
 In Roman days he would have made a first- 
 class gladiator, in later times, a fierce crusader, 
 and among barbarians, a skillful chief. He 
 could fight, but he had little wisdom, and was 
 rightly called Charles the Rash. Being only 
 a duke, he wished to be a king, and raise his 
 dominion to the rank of a kingdom. He went 
 to England and married Margaret, sister of 
 Edward IV. of England, in 1468. Brave, 
 obstinate, and with a very bad temper, he was 
 also selfish and tyrannical, loving to fight and 
 shed blood. He followed his father in extrav- 
 agant living, and in helping to destroy the lib- 
 erties of the Netherlands. To get money for 
 his foolish ventures, he laid heavy taxes upon 
 the people, but they refused to bear any greater 
 burden. A bloody riot broke out in Hoorn, 
 
 116 
 
CHARTER OF THE GREAT PRIVILEGE 
 
 which was put down with blood ; but the cloth 
 trade of the town was destroyed. 
 
 Charles the Bold was the first ruler in Eu- 
 rope to keep a standing army; that is, men 
 who made a business of war, and were soldiers 
 all the year round. In this army there were 
 different corps of warriors, and among them 
 one thousand archers from England, who were 
 the best in Europe. They used English yew 
 for their bows, and shot the cloth-yard shaft, 
 which few coats of mail could resist. With this 
 army, Charles entered upon numerous cam- 
 paigns and fought many battles, usually taking 
 part in person.. He waged war against Louis 
 XI. of France, and then had him seized at a 
 conference and taken prisoner to Liege. The 
 purpose of Charles was to conquer Lorraine, 
 Provence, Dauphiny, and Switzerland. 
 
 Charles the Bold was a bully and a ruffian 
 wearing a ducal crown. He hated and de- 
 spised the Swiss, but when he came to fight 
 them, he found that these people, though liv- 
 ing in a rocky country, loved freedom dearly 
 and could fight for it well. In fighting them, 
 he lost two battles and was slain at Nancy, 
 January 5, 1477. 
 
 No sooner was the death of the tyrant 
 known than the Dutch people determined to 
 117 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 get back their rights and charters. On the 
 other hand, Louis XI. of France tried to seize 
 Burgundy and to make Mary, the daughter of 
 Charles, marry his son. This gave the Dutch 
 people their great opportunity. In order to 
 meet the enemy and strengthen the country, 
 the council of nobles called a general assembly 
 of all the estates of the Netherlands to con- 
 sider the situation. This was the first regular 
 assembly of the States-General of the Nether- 
 lands. The result of this famous congress was 
 the issue in 1477 of the document called the 
 Great Privilege, which became really the foun- 
 dation of the Dutch Republic. 
 
 This Magna Charta of the Netherlands con- 
 firmed the ancient customs and ordered that 
 there should be no taxation without consent. 
 The Dutch language was always to be used, 
 no foreigners were to be placed in high office, 
 and no money was to be coined or its value 
 altered without vote of the States-General. 
 The duchess could not marry without con- 
 sent of the State and the great council, and the 
 supreme court of Holland was reestablished. 
 This was a grand and glorious day for the 
 Netherlands. 
 
 Short and sorrowful was the life of Mary of 
 Burgundy. The crafty old king of France 
 118 
 
CHARTER OF THE GREAT PRIVILEGE 
 
 wished to marry his son the dauphin to her, 
 and also to get away some of her land. While 
 she herself was promising to keep faith with 
 the Netherlanders, she deceived them and told 
 the old king, through two of her envoys, that 
 she would not live up to the charter. When two 
 of these came back from France and showed 
 her duplicity, the Ghenters condemned the 
 envoys, Imbercourt and Hugonet, to death. 
 
 At this, Mary was in an agony of grief. 
 Dressing herself in mourning, with her girdle 
 loosened, her hair unbound, and her eyes 
 flooded with tears, she rushed with an old 
 priest into the crowd around the scaffold. 
 With screams of anguish, she begged that the 
 lives of the two men might be spared ; but in 
 vain. The Ghent men refused, and the heads 
 of the two envoys were taken off. Mary felt 
 that their blood was on her head. As the 
 French army was in motion to march against 
 the Dutch, it was felt that the Lady Mary 
 should be married as soon as possible. So she 
 had to choose quickly between her suitors, 
 Maximilian, the son of the emperor of Ger- 
 many, and the dauphin of France, who was 
 only eight years old, while she was twenty. 
 Love had little, politics all, to do with this 
 marriage. In August, 1477, Maximilian was 
 119 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 made her husband. Longfellow, in his poem 
 " The Belfry of Bruges," refers to the ceremony, 
 done first by proxy. The richest heiress in Eu- 
 rope was wedded, without much show, to one 
 of the poorest of princes. Indeed, the imperial 
 suitor was so short of money that the Nether- 
 landers had to pay his traveling expenses. 
 
 Unfortunately, in Holland the squabbles of 
 the Hooks and Cods dragged on, and the state 
 of affairs was most wretched. Families were 
 divided. Murders, duels, and riots took place 
 daily. Often one party drove the other en- 
 tirely out and away from the city. This went 
 on until Maximilian traveled into Holland, 
 and there saw that the municipal party was 
 the stronger, and favored the Cods. In one 
 case, the Cods from Leyden got into the city 
 of Dordrecht by hiding themselves in two 
 vessels supposed to be loaded with rice. The 
 burgomaster of Dordrecht, in his haste to 
 arm himself and fight the invaders, put a 
 copper pot on his head instead of a helmet. 
 There was more fun than blood that day. 
 
 Mary of Burgundy was not as pretty as 
 Jacqueline ; for she had the large, open mouth 
 of the Burgundian princes. Her temper was 
 hot, and in her habits she was not only bold, 
 but very much like a rough man. She was 
 
 1 20 
 
CHARTER OF THE GREAT PRIVILEGE 
 
 very fond of gaming and hunting, and espe- 
 cially of hawking. One day while out in the 
 country, the saddle girth broke and she fell 
 from her horse. Concealing her injuries, she 
 became worse and died in the spring of 1482, 
 when only twenty-five years old. Her hus- 
 band, the widower Maximilian, was now an 
 Austrian archduke, and this, as we shall see, 
 meant to the Hollanders another change in 
 the succession of their rulers, from Burgundy 
 to Austria. 
 
 The dynasty of Burgundy (Het Huis van 
 Bourgondie), through two counts and two 
 countesses, ruled Holland for fifty years, from 
 1429 to 1482 A. D. 
 
 121 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE DUTCH UNDER THE HOUSE OF AUSTRIA 
 
 Mary's oldest son, Philip, who succeeded his 
 mother, was but four years old. Again the 
 Netherlands had the misfortune of being 
 governed by a child. His father, Maximilian 
 of Austria, was acknowledged as guardian of 
 the baby count. This Austrian prince was 
 also elected king of the Romans, or head of the 
 Holy Roman Empire. When again he came 
 into the Netherlands, with German troops, he 
 was suspected of wishing to seize the whole 
 power for himself. 
 
 Alarmed at this idea, the citizens of Bruges 
 rushed together under the banners of their 
 guilds. They seized Maximilian and put him 
 in prison. This was the way the bold demo- 
 crats used to treat even an archduke who 
 aspired to be emperor, when he did not behave 
 himself. After four months, Maximilian was 
 released, on promising to rule justly and keep 
 his word. But as soon as he had a German 
 army to come to his aid, he broke the peace 
 
 122 
 
DUTCH UNDER HOUSE OF AUSTRIA 
 
 and his promises. At once civil war broke 
 out. 
 
 The Hooks, who had been driven out of 
 Holland, once more returned and collected at 
 Sluys, under the command of Brederode, with 
 forty-eight ships and two thousand men. They 
 went up the river Maas and landed at Delfs- 
 haven. Their ships could not go further on 
 account of the frozen river, so they marched 
 to Rotterdam, and, rushing over the ice in the 
 castle moat, captured the city. Later on, they 
 had to yield to Maximilian's German army. 
 After a few battles, the Hooks were completely 
 defeated, and their career ended. 
 
 Yet there seemed no rest for the land. The 
 waste of the long civil wars and the heavy taxes 
 levied to pay for them caused riots, and there 
 broke out in 1492 the famous " Bread and 
 Cheese War," so called because it was carried 
 on by the lower classes of people, whose daily 
 food was bread and cheese. The seat of the 
 disturbances was mainly in North Holland. 
 The chief cause of the trouble was the Ruyter 
 Geld, or knight-money, which the people re- 
 fused to pay. Dividing themselves into troops 
 and companies, under banners on which were 
 painted loaves of bread and balls of cheese, 
 they marched about crying out for bread or 
 123 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 blood. Some of them even fastened rinds and 
 crusts to their clothes. 
 
 When the German troops entered the coun- 
 try to disperse the natives, these foreigners 
 lived off the country and made it still poorer. 
 Maximilian came into Haarlem and had a gal- 
 lows erected in the market-place to hang the 
 ringleaders of the " Bread and Cheese Play," 
 as it was also called. After this the Frisians 
 and North Hollanders isubmitted and paid 
 heavy fines. At Alkmaar and other cities, the 
 local privileges were abolished, and the citizens 
 were compelled to level the walls at their own 
 expense. When the citizens of Amsterdam 
 asked that they might be allowed to build a 
 stone wall around their town, Maximilian sneer- 
 ingly answered that if they were not so fond 
 of war and quarrels, a silken thread wound 
 round the town would be sufficient. 
 
 Friesland came under the control of the 
 duke of Saxony. The country had been so 
 weakened by long wars that it easily yielded 
 to this ruler at the command of Maximilian. 
 At first the duke cared for his new possessions 
 and built dikes, which are still to be seen ; but 
 after ruling his dominion for seventeen years, 
 he sold Friesland to the house of Austria for 
 350,000 crowns. Thus we see that the last 
 
 124 
 

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DUTCH UNDER HOUSE OF AUSTRIA 
 
 stronghold of freedom in the Netherlands, 
 through the folly of its own men, was broken 
 down. All parts of the country were now 
 under the control of Austria. 
 
 When Maximilian, the archduke of Austria, 
 became emperor of Germany, his son Philip, 
 count of Holland, now seventeen, took the 
 active government of the Netherlands. One of 
 his first acts was very beneficial to commerce, 
 for in 1496 the' Grand Treaty of commerce 
 was made between England and Holland. 
 This made trade much easier and more profit- 
 able. One clause in the compact was very 
 interesting. Before this time it had been the 
 custom of the Dutch, when a ship was wrecked 
 upon the shores, to seize it, and, if there was 
 no living being on board, to keep all the pro- 
 perty, vessel or cargo, but if a " man, woman, 
 child, dog, cat, or cock " was found alive, then 
 the owner or heirs could claim the property. 
 Now it was ordered that, in any event, the 
 property should be held for a year and a day, 
 to allow the lawful owners to claim it. 
 
 America was discovered in 1492, Columbus 
 having been helped by King Ferdinand and 
 Queen Isabella of Spain. Count Philip's sis- 
 ter Margaret, in April, 1496, married their son 
 John, who was heir to the Spanish throne, but 
 125 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 her husband died at the end of six months, and 
 she was left a widow. 
 
 In October, 1495, Philip, count of Holland, 
 had married Joanna, the daughter of Ferdi- 
 nand and Isabella of Spain, and in 1500 their 
 son was born in Ghent. He afterwards be- 
 came the great Charles the Fifth, emperor of 
 Germany and king of Spain, who did so much 
 for, as well as against, the Netherlands. It 
 seems very strange to think that while yet in 
 his cradle, this baby boy was engaged to be 
 married to Claude, daughter of Louis XII. of 
 France. In the game of European royal poli- 
 tics, the little princes and princesses were like 
 checkers on a board, with which politicians 
 made their moves and showed their craft. 
 
 Philip made a journey into Spain and also 
 into England, where a new treaty was made, 
 which the Dutch, not liking, called " the bad 
 treaty." 
 
 Philip was a profligate prince who had but 
 few abilities. He was handsome in person, 
 and was hence called Philip the Fair. He was 
 also given the nickname of "Croit Conseil," 
 because he usually listened to men who flat- 
 tered him. He foolishly surrendered Fries- 
 land, and acted with even more foolishness 
 toward Gelderland ; and yet he was not so bad 
 
 126 
 
DUTCH UNDER HOUSE OF AUSTRIA 
 
 as some of his predecessors. He was very 
 tenderly loved by his wife Joanna, who was 
 herself very homely in body and weak in mind. 
 Through her great jealousy of her husband, 
 who was not a pure man, she was subject to 
 fits of insanity. Philip died in 1506, when 
 only twenty-nine years old, through drinking 
 too much cold liquor when heated, after play- 
 ing tennis, a game that was a very popular one 
 in the middle ages. It was through Philip 
 that the houses of Austria and Spain were 
 united, and that the Netherlanders came under 
 the control of the Spaniards. 
 
 Charles was only six years old when his 
 father died. So his grandfather Maximilian 
 ordered Margaret, his aunt, the duchess of 
 Savoy, to take the government in her hands. 
 The regent was warmly welcomed at Dordrecht. 
 She did her duty as well as she knew how, 
 while her nephew was being educated in Flan- 
 ders. The future emperor had for his tutor 
 the learned Adrian of Utrecht, who afterwards 
 became the Pope of Rome and favored reform. 
 
 Charles, having been born in the Nether- 
 lands, had always a pleasant feeling for the 
 Dutch, and did much in the first years of his 
 reign to give the Netherlands unity and pros- 
 perity; but when his grandfather Ferdinand 
 127. 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 died, he became king of Spain, removed his 
 court to Madrid, and henceforth he had the 
 views and ideas of a Spaniard. In 15 19 he 
 was elected emperor of Germany against his 
 rival, Francis I. of France. These two men 
 were the most powerful sovereigns of Europe. 
 As both of them wished to rule over Italy, war 
 was declared between them. The English 
 became the allies of the Spaniards. Charles 
 married Isabella, daughter of the king of Portu- 
 gal, and war broke out again ; but peace was 
 made by the treaty at Cambrai in 1529. 
 
 It was under the house of Austria that the 
 old Dutch world of the middle ages passed 
 away, and the new and modern age was ushered 
 in. Philip the Fair, king of Castile, who died 
 in 1529, Charles V., emperor of Germany and 
 king of Spain, and his son Philip II. were in 
 this dynasty. During this period the Spaniards 
 held many of the chief offices. Spanish in- 
 fluences, as seen in speech, manners, customs, 
 literature, use of titles, and forms of letter- 
 writing, permeated the Netherlands, and it 
 seemed at one time as if Philip II. was attempt- 
 ing to turn the Netherlands into a sort of Spain 
 and to make Spaniards out of Dutchmen. 
 Why he failed, and why the Dutch revolted 
 and won independence, must now be shown. 
 
 128 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE OLD WORLD BEFORE GUNPOWDER AND 
 PRINTING 
 
 The year 1530 found Charles troubled with 
 persons and ideas that were more terrible to 
 him than men and arms. Unfortunately for 
 him and for Spain, these new people could 
 think hard, which was more than most soldiers 
 in the middle ages ever did ; they could even 
 read and write, which was more than many sol- 
 diers then could possibly do. These terrors of 
 the emperor and Pope were the monk Martin 
 Luther, the Bible put in the language of the 
 people, and the Anabaptists. In a word, the 
 Reformation was beginning to make a new 
 Europe, and Charles and the Pope and the 
 priest could not understand what was coming. 
 Indeed the old world, in which kings had 
 full power, and nobles cared little for the rights 
 of the people, was passing away. It was a 
 strange world, as it now seems to us. We, 
 who live in an age in which conscience is free, 
 and when men elect their own rulers, can 
 129 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 hardly understand that such a world ever ex- 
 isted. The king expected not only to rule 
 the people, but to regulate their religion also, 
 and whoever was lord of a country could say 
 what the creed should be. Many things had 
 come down from feudalism, and government 
 was thought to be for the benefit of the gov- 
 ernors, instead of the governed. The great 
 majority of the inhabitants of Europe were 
 very poor, while many of the nobles were very 
 rich. 
 
 The mass of the people had no family 
 names, but only personal names. Some of 
 them received names also from the trades 
 which they followed. If they were long or 
 short in body, tall or dwarfed, or had a big or 
 a small nose, or something noticeable about 
 the lips or ears, or hair or eyes, they would be 
 called after this peculiarity. Or if they were 
 brilliant or stupid, pious or profane, one of 
 these adjectives would be placed after their 
 name. Many were known from their birth- 
 place, while others added the word " son " to 
 the Christian name of their father or ancestors. 
 The noblemen were called after their estates, 
 as Egmond, Brederode, Hoorn, etc. There 
 were many varieties of John and William, 
 Mary and Jane. Thus we have in English 
 130 
 
BEFORE GUNPOWDER AND PRINTING 
 
 not only William or Will ; but Wilkins, Little 
 Will ; Wilson or Williamson, son of Will or 
 William. In Netherlandish history, we have 
 adjectives like " fat," " short," or " simple." The 
 term "clerkly" meant that the man so named 
 could write well. Thousands designated them- 
 selves by their baptismal names with the prefix 
 "van" or "ten." Thus Jan Ten Eyck means 
 John who lived by the oak; Jan Ten Brink, 
 John who lived near the brink ; Van der Poel, 
 or Van Buren, Van Antwerp, Van Aarsdale, 
 etc., mean that they were from or lived in or 
 near Antwerp, etc. In Friesland, there were 
 three very common name-endings, "ma," "ga," 
 and "stra," meaning place, ownership, or trade. 
 In Germany, the connective "von" can be used 
 only by a nobleman ; but the Dutch are more 
 democratic, and any one can use the prefix 
 " van." 
 
 In this old world of the middle ages, the 
 Pope had political power. He ruled over 
 kings, lords, lands, and consciences. The 
 Church was above the State, so that the Pope 
 could hinder people from being married or 
 buried. The priest had great power also ; for 
 the people were very much afraid of him, ter- 
 ribly so, indeed. They feared, because they 
 were ignorant. The knight, locked up in 
 
 131 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 steel, rode on an armored horse, so that with 
 his sword and spear he could charge into and 
 overthrow crowds of poorly armed peasants, or 
 overcome foot soldiers, even when well drilled 
 and equipped. So also the priest and monk had 
 fierce weapons which overawed the conscience 
 of the ignorant people. As the knights were 
 clad in armor of iron, so the priests were cased 
 in armor of learning, which scared the poor 
 people almost as much as the bell, book, and 
 candle of the bishop. In addition to this, the 
 man under the mitre could frighten even the 
 mailed knight ; for he could threaten him with 
 punishment, not only in this world but in the 
 world to come. 
 
 But there were two inventions, both of them, 
 perhaps, brought out of Asia, which overthrew 
 the old world and brought in the new. They 
 made both priest and knight take off their 
 armor and stand up in fair fight. The mix- 
 ture of sulphur, charcoal, and saltpetre called 
 gunpowder had long been known in China 
 for firecrackers, but in Europe this compound 
 was first used for cannon, and then for guns 
 and pistols. Its first use in the Netherlands 
 was in 1350. At first the bullets shot by the 
 clumsy guns called blunderbusses could not, 
 when fired at long range, pierce armor, but 
 
 132 
 
BEFORE GUNPOWDER AND PRINTING 
 
 soon the gun barrels and the powder were so 
 improved that no metallic suit that a man 
 could wear, even on horseback, was proof 
 against a leaden ball. This meant that knights 
 were no better than foot soldiers in battle. 
 
 To wear heavy armor and wield a long spear 
 or battle axe, a man must be very strong and 
 brave. But, when a plain man, who need not 
 be tall or strong, but might be very short and 
 weak, and not very brave, could kill a knight 
 long before he could get near to use his sword 
 or spear, then the fashion of war changed. A 
 common soldier with a gun was not afraid of 
 a knight, no matter how big or strong, or 
 handsomely mounted or armed, he might be. 
 Hence, from this cause and others, the knights 
 ceased to be of as much importance as soldiers, 
 and armor gradually became a picturesque 
 ornament rather than a necessity, and by and 
 by only a curiosity. To-day armor belongs, 
 with old spinning wheels, among the antiques, 
 as bricabrac and parlor decorations. 
 
 In the world of mind, the new inventions 
 that helped to kill the power of the Pope and 
 the priest, and to reduce the knight and baron 
 to harmless gentlemen, were the printing press 
 and types. For centuries, the Chinese had 
 used printing by means of carved boards, and 
 
 133 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 they and the Koreans had also separate, or 
 movable, tv'pes. How printing with this kind 
 of type began in Europe, nobody knows, but 
 in several countries printers began to use t3'pe 
 at about the same time. Among the first 
 things printed were playing cards and a famous 
 book called " The Mirror of Human Salva- 
 tion," which gave in outline the contents of 
 the Bible and the story of the Christian Church. 
 In the Netherlands, there were hundreds of 
 printing offices, so that books and Bibles be- 
 came cheap. 
 
 In the old days of writing and copying, a 
 large book was equal to a fortune. Even to 
 buy a little one, that would now cost from 
 a penny to ten cents, might require the wages 
 of a workingman for a whole year. When it 
 became possible to buy a New Testament for 
 only a few days' wages, it seemed to the com- 
 mon people like a miracle. As some people 
 explain everything new or strange by the 
 devil's help, so they thought that Satan was at 
 the bottom of this new wonder. 
 
 Thus the monopoly of the monks and priests 
 was broken. Soon printing in the Nether- 
 lands got to be a business in which any one 
 could work and make money, for there was no 
 tax or hindrance. In some of the countries, 
 
 134 
 
BEFORE GUNPOWDER AND PRINTING 
 
 as in England, printing was like coinage; it 
 was allowed only to a few persons and was 
 under control of the crown. In the Nether- 
 lands, and especially in Holland, it was free, 
 so that books soon became very plentiful and 
 quite cheap. Before ever there was a Bible 
 printed in England, there had been many 
 editions, both of the New Testament and of 
 the whole Bible, printed in Holland, and plain 
 people were reading it in their homes. 
 
 The Bible is a very dangerous book to get 
 into the hands of people who are ruled by 
 wicked kings, or rulers, or servants of any 
 sort, whether bad priests or bad parsons. For, 
 often not knowing any better, the people have 
 no true idea of freedom. They imagine that 
 the king and the priests have some rights from 
 God Almighty which the people do not have. 
 They are taught that their rulers in Church 
 and State can do no wrong. 
 
 But as soon as they begin to read the Bible, 
 which cares nothing for wicked people, even 
 though they are kings and priests, but which 
 shows how God punishes the wicked of every 
 class, they begin to want better government 
 and to believe that they can get it. They find 
 by reading Old Testament history that the 
 kings of Israel were often foolish and wicked, 
 
 135 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 and they learn that kings may be no better 
 than other men. The Bible shows that the 
 first government of Israel was that of a repub- 
 lic, and that the first Christian churches were 
 democratic in form. All this is very hurtful 
 to the claims of nobles and tyrants, whether in 
 Church or State. 
 
 It is no wonder that at first the ruling classes 
 tried to stop the translation of the Bible into 
 the language of the people, so that they could 
 read it for themselves. Through King Henry 
 VIII. of England, Tyndale, who put the Bible 
 into our English tongue, was garroted as a 
 felon, at Vilvoorde, by the Spanish authori- 
 ties in the Netherlands. In other places the 
 scholars who translated the Bible into Spanish, 
 French, Italian, or Dutch were thrown into 
 prison or put to death. Nevertheless, after 
 Erasmus the Dutchman had gathered the old 
 Greek manuscripts together and, in 1 5 1 6, made 
 a fresh text, translating the New Testament 
 into elegant Latin, it became very easy for 
 learned men everywhere to turn this into the 
 various languages of Europe. 
 
 When the common people read that in 
 Christ, God's children are kings and priests 
 unto God, they believed just what they read. 
 They did not know enough to explain it away, 
 
 136 
 
BEFORE GUNPOWDER AND PRINTING 
 
 as did the gentlemen who wore crowns and 
 dressed in silk and velvet, and drank wine and 
 dined on rich food, when millions were sweat- 
 ing at toil, and often starving. The Bible is a 
 wonderful library of history. When men read 
 in its books how wicked the kings of Israel 
 were, some of them made up their minds that 
 government by the people could not be worse 
 than government by kings. So they formed 
 churches. They also tried to form societies 
 where war and oaths and state religion would 
 no longer exist. In a word, they tried to have 
 many things which the Constitution of the 
 United States of America secures. They 
 hoped to be very much what American Chris- 
 tians have a right to be at the present time. 
 
 Most of these people were very quiet, orderly, 
 devout, and industrious. Their ideas spread 
 into other countries, especially into Germany 
 and the Netherlands. These people called 
 themselves " Brethren," but their enemies called 
 them " Anabaptists." 
 
 In that great movement of the human mind 
 which is called the Reformation, Luther in 
 Germany, Zwingli in Switzerland, and Calvin 
 in France were leaders ; but among the very 
 first was Erasmus, born in Rotterdam, and a 
 true Dutchman. To-day his statue stands in 
 
 137 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 his native city, and little children, according to 
 their nurses' funny story, watch it at the strik- 
 ing of the clock to see if the man in bronze 
 turns a leaf of his bronze book, while the birds 
 twitter around and alight on his shoulders. 
 
 Yet, being a literary man, Erasmus suffered 
 the fate of such cultured men. The fierce 
 bigots who were to be found in every party, 
 hated him ; for he was too liberal for any of 
 them. Erasmus did a very wonderful work in 
 opening the Bible to all. It was like sum- 
 moning the dead to life ; for Greek to most 
 scholars then, and Latin to the majority of 
 European people, was little more than a cofiSn. 
 
 To this day the Dutch scholarly mind has 
 been very much like that of Erasmus; that 
 is, loving learning and always open to light, 
 whether old or new, cool in temper and judg- 
 ment, and not often running to extremes of 
 opinion. 
 
 Silently, quietly, but faster than priest or in- 
 quisitor could note, the " Brethren," with their 
 open Bibles, poured into the Netherlands, and 
 the first martyrs in Holland, as in England, 
 burnt to death for their faith, were Anabaptists. 
 Then followed the Lutherans, and finally the 
 Calvinists. Thus, on three great waves of 
 thought and feeling, the old world of religion 
 
 138 
 
BEFORE GUNPOWDER AND PRINTING 
 
 passed away and the new one came in. 
 While Germany became Lutheran, the Nether- 
 landers for the most part were of the Reformed, 
 or Calvinistic, form of faith. 
 
 It must never be forgotten that for a long 
 time, even after the Reformation had begun, 
 all the great churches of Europe were politi- 
 cal ; that is, they were united with the State. 
 The " Brethren " first, and then the " Sepa- 
 ratists," or Pilgrim Fathers, who found refuge 
 in Holland, taught that Church and State 
 ■should be separated. Ultimately, Amsterdam, 
 which sheltered Jews and Christians of every 
 creed, became the richest, as it was the most 
 orderly city in northern Europe. 
 
 139 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE SEVENTEEN STATES UNDER ONE HEAD 
 
 While king of Spain and emperor of Ger- 
 many, Charles was also duke, count, or marquis 
 of every one of the seventeen Netherland 
 provinces, in each of which he appointed a 
 stadholder ; that is, a lieutenant, or lieutenant- 
 governor, who held power for the king, and 
 governed in his name. We shall meet with 
 this term and title in Dutch history for cen- 
 turies to come. It is often wrongly spelled 
 stadiholder, as if this word meant the ruler of 
 a city. The word means simply lieutenant, 
 stead, or place-holder — one who rules in the 
 stead of the king. 
 
 By Charles V. becoming ruler of the Nether- 
 lands, the whole seventeen provinces were, in 
 1543, united under one ruler. On the lion flag 
 of the Dutch, and the coat-of-arms of William 
 of Orange, one still sees seventeen dots or ob- 
 long marks. These represent turf bricks, and 
 thus the soil of the country. By giving the 
 Netherlands a separate government of their 
 140 
 
SEVENTEEN STATES UNDER ONE HEAD 
 
 own, and thereby the possibility of being more 
 independent, Charles enabled them to enter 
 upon a career of greater prosperity. 
 
 Charles V., emperor of Germany, was one 
 of the ablest, as he was the most powerful 
 of the monarchs of the sixteenth century ; but 
 he found that the new ideas and inventions 
 were making a new kind of people to be .ruled 
 over. He had various wars to conduct in 
 France and Italy. After these, he fought 
 against the Reformed Protestant princes ; but 
 he was beaten, and had to make the treaty of 
 Passau in 1552, by which religious liberty was 
 secured to the German Protestants. 
 
 Charles issued edicts against the Christians 
 of the Netherlands who read the Bible for them- 
 selves, and he introduced the Spanish Inquisi- 
 tion ; so that many people were put to death 
 because they believed differently from what 
 they had been taught by the priests and monks. 
 He prohibited the printing of books and the 
 opening of schools, except under approval of 
 the bishops ; and thus good people were put 
 to death for doing what Americans do every 
 day of their lives. He drove out of Holland 
 the Jews who had fled from Portugal, and ap- 
 pointed a Grand Inquisitor, whose business it 
 was to search out heretics and confiscate their 
 141 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 property. In 1555, having tired of his wars, 
 and perhaps foreseeing that Luther and Calvin 
 would be too much for him, he resolved to give 
 up his throne in favor of his son Philip. 
 
 The Netherlanders were very sorry to lose 
 Charles as their active ruler. During thirty- 
 seven years their governesses, Margaret of 
 Savoy, the aunt of Charles, from 1507 to 1530, 
 and Mary of Hungary, his sister, from 1531 to 
 1555, had been very fair in their rule over them, 
 and they were well accustomed to it. Philip, 
 on the other hand, was the very reverse of his 
 aunt and sister, in both manner and method. 
 He was a harsh ruler, a terrible bigot, and was 
 utterly ignorant of the language of the coun- 
 try which he was to govern. So in fear the 
 Netherlanders waited to see what kind of a 
 man their new master would prove himself 
 to be. 
 
 It was on the 25th of October, 1555, that 
 the great ceremony of abdication was held in 
 Brussels. The imperial officers, the Knights 
 of the Golden Fleece, the deputies of all the 
 states of the Netherlands, and the nobles in 
 their splendid dresses were present in impos- 
 ing numbers. Charles the emperor leaned, 
 while reading his address, upon the shoulder of 
 William of Orange, a handsome young noble- 
 
 142 
 
SEVENTEEN STATES UNDER ONE HEAD 
 
 man. After this, Philip bent upon one knee and 
 asked his father's blessing. Then the bishop 
 of Arras spoke in French in behalf of Philip, and 
 the governess Mary took leave of the emperor 
 in a modest and pleasant address. 
 
 Philip, son of Charles, was now count of 
 Holland and king of Spain. He went to Eng- 
 land and married the princess, generally known 
 as " Bloody Mary," and prevailed upon her and 
 the government of England to declare war 
 against France. He assembled in the Nether- 
 lands an army of nearly fifty thousand men, 
 twelve thousand of whom were cavalry. The 
 French army was in Italy, so Philip, in 1558, 
 quickly laid siege to the town of St. Quentin. 
 Here he was reenforced by three thousand Eng- 
 lish soldiers. The French constable, Mont- 
 morency, marched with his army to help the 
 garrison, and a battle ensued outside the city. 
 Count Egmont, who was in command of the 
 splendid Dutch cavalry, attacked the enemy 
 in flank, and the French were defeated. Many 
 noblemen of France were killed, and all the 
 artillery and baggage and thousands of pris- 
 oners were taken. Egmont became the hero 
 of the hour and the idol of the army. An- 
 other battle was fought at Gravelines. There, 
 Egmont again, by his boldness of attack, won 
 H3 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 great glory. The ten English vessels that had 
 arrived in good season also helped to decide 
 the victory. 
 
 To the surprise of the Netherlanders, the 
 war came suddenly to an end by the treaty of 
 Cambrai. The Dutch were not happy at this, 
 and thought things were going too fast. They 
 believed that Granvelle, bishop of Arras, had 
 persuaded the Spanish and French kings to 
 bury political quarrels, in order to unite their 
 forces and begin a religious war to put down 
 the Huguenots in France and the Calvinists in 
 the Netherlands. 
 
 Their suspicions were soon confirmed ; for 
 the French king let out the secret. William 
 of Orange had been sent by Philip, as one of 
 his hostages, to remain with the king of France. 
 One day while out hunting, the king, suppos- 
 ing that, as a matter of course, William knew 
 all about the reason why peace had been so 
 quickly made, told him that it was the royal 
 purpose to put all the heretics to death. In- 
 stead of showing great surprise, talking about 
 it, or asking further questions, the young noble- 
 man kept perfectly quiet. On account of this 
 episode, although he was a very genial and 
 social man, and was able to talk in several 
 languages, he was called by some William the 
 
 1+4 
 
SEVENTEEN STATES UNDER ONE HEAD 
 
 Silent, though the name has been used chiefly 
 since his death. 
 
 When the startled Dutchmen learned that 
 King Philip had asked the Pope to have four- 
 teen new bishoprics erected in the Netherlands, 
 their worst fears were realized. This meant 
 that fourteen new rulers, with great political 
 power, who could put men in prison, and even 
 torture and kill them, because they might hold 
 different opinions from Philip and the Pope, 
 would be appointed. Furthermore, the large 
 salaries of the bishops, and those of their 
 hangers-on, would have to be paid out of the 
 pockets of the people, as well as from the funds 
 of the abbeys. Neither the parish priests nor 
 the nobles liked the new movement, while the 
 people felt certain that the whole thing was 
 meant to increase the power of the Inquisition, 
 which had already caused the death of many 
 innocent people. The Dutch were further 
 angered because Philip had Spanish nobles 
 about him, who looked with contempt upon 
 natives of the Netherlands. When they heard 
 that to the Spanish soldiers already in the 
 country were to be added four thousand more, 
 the Netherlanders were in real alarm. 
 
 As King Philip would soon sail for Spain, 
 the people were very anxious to know who 
 145 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 would be the king's regent, to rule them in his 
 absence. Among the nobles two young men 
 were prominent : one was Count Egmont, very 
 handsome and popular, and the soldier's ideal ; 
 the other was William of Orange, wiser and 
 with far greater abilities as a civil ruler. Eg- 
 mont was very ambitious, universally admired 
 and beloved, full of eagerness and enthusiasm, 
 but easily discouraged by difficulties and ob- 
 stacles. He was very hasty in temper and was 
 easily made angry, though usually of a joyous 
 and sociable disposition. He was a genuine 
 Dutchman; for his ancestors had lived in North 
 Holland even before that country had received 
 its name. He was twelve years older than the 
 prince of Orange, and more skilled as a soldier, 
 but not equal to him in education, natural 
 talent, or shrewdness. His temperament was 
 more like the southern than the northern 
 Netherlanders. 
 
 146 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 ORANGE AND THE BEGGARS 
 
 William of Orange was at this time, in 1559, 
 twenty-six years old. He had begun, at the 
 age of fifteen, to serve in court as the page of 
 Charles V. He was so trusted by the emperor, 
 who had a high opinion of the youth, that he 
 was allowed to have part in all the secret affairs 
 of state, Charles himself often taking hints and 
 suggestions from the young man, besides giv- 
 ing him most important offices and sending 
 him on diplomatic missions. 
 
 William was a student of men, though he 
 knew books well, also. Very few people read 
 his thoughts. He was never thrown off his 
 guard, nor did he permit to leak out what he 
 wished to keep to himself. Without flatter- 
 ing any one, he was polite to all. He made 
 warm friends and kept them. Being a wealthy 
 prince, he was very hospitable, and by being 
 so he gained many helpers and won the good 
 will of the people. Instead of being rosy and 
 
 147 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 plump like Egmont, William was pale and thin, 
 showing the student and the thinker. 
 
 He had one of the best of mothers, Juliana 
 of Stolberg, whose chief ambition was to have 
 her sons brave, pure, devout, godly, and kind 
 to their fellow men. Juliana was noted for her 
 simple and unaffected piety. She was one of 
 the great women of the sixteenth century. 
 She had many children and scores of grand- 
 children. On his father's side, William was de- 
 scended from the ancient and powerful family 
 of Nassau, one of whom had been emperor. 
 At this time, and indeed since his cousin 
 Rene had died in 1544, William was prince 
 of Orange in his own right. 
 
 Besides these two eminent men, there was 
 Christian, the niece of Charles V., whose daugh- 
 ter William of Orange expected to marry. But 
 Philip, instead of choosing either of the three, 
 Egmont, William, or. Christian, summoned his 
 half-sister Margaret, the duchess of Parma, 
 from Italy, to be his regent in the Nether- 
 lands. He conducted her with great magnifi- 
 cence to Ghent, where the States-General was 
 assembled. In making his farewell speech, 
 Philip disgusted and alarmed his hearers by 
 urging that the heretics should be persecuted, 
 saying also that the Spanish troops were to be 
 
 14S 
 
ORANGE AND THE BEGGARS 
 
 kept in the country. When the Netherlanders 
 petitioned the king to take away the foreign 
 soldiery and keep foreigners out of office, 
 Philip was very angry, yet he pretended not 
 to be displeased. Nevertheless, in his heart 
 he boiled with wrath against Orange, Egmont, 
 and Hoorn, whom he had appointed to com- 
 mand the troops. A few weeks later, in 1559, 
 after having visited Rotterdam and The Hague, 
 he was about to take ship at Flushing to go to 
 Spain. When William of Orange came to bid 
 him good-by, Philip reproached him angrily 
 for acting contrary to the royal wishes. When 
 William humbly replied that it was the act 
 of the states, Philip shook William's wrist vio- 
 lently and said, " Not the states, but you, you, 
 you ! " 
 
 Nominally the new ruler was the strong and 
 ambitious regent Margaret, an expert horse- 
 woman and a hunter, tall, and with much black 
 hair upon her lips and chin, which made her 
 look like a man. The real ruler of the coun- 
 try, however, was Granvelle, the bishop of 
 Arras, who had control of her conscience. He 
 was a Jesuit, and a pupil of Loyola of Spain. 
 For the government of the Netherlands there 
 was, besides the regent Margaret, a privy 
 council, a council of finance, and a council of 
 
 149 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 state, and in each province, except Brabant, in 
 which the governess herself lived, the king 
 had a stadholder, or lieutenant. The prince 
 of Orange was made stadholder of the three 
 provinces of Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht. 
 Egmont was placed over Flanders. 
 
 Granvelle was a man of mighty power, both 
 in mind and body. He spoke seven lan- 
 guages, could toil through twenty hours of the 
 day, and keep several secretaries busy, all 
 working at the same time. His first act was 
 to publish the Pope's bull, making fourteen 
 new bishoprics, or eighteen in all, while he 
 himself, to the great disgust and dread of the 
 people, was made a cardinal. However, at the 
 earnest plea of Margaret, the Spanish soldiers 
 were recalled ; for the Dutch would not sup- 
 port them. Even the new bishops were re- 
 ceived with opposition and tumult. In some 
 towns the people vowed to put them to death, 
 if they came within their gates. 
 
 The unpopularity of Granvelle increased 
 day by day. William of Orange was very 
 bitter against him for preventing the mar- 
 riage which he had in view. Counts Hoorn 
 and Egmont had private causes of enmity 
 against the cardinal. These noblemen kept 
 away from the council of state and petitioned 
 
 150 
 
ORANGE AND THE BEGGARS 
 
 the king that he might be removed from office. 
 In return, Granvelle heartily hated Orange 
 and Egmont, and sent daily reports to Philip 
 of what he saw was going on and what his 
 spies reported. 
 
 The nobles who disliked the cardinal called 
 him, in their conversation, " the red fellow." 
 This was in allusion to the scarlet color of his 
 hat and clothes. They named the house in 
 which he wrote his letters to the king, " the 
 smithy." They dressed their servants in dark 
 colored garments in order to show how nu- 
 merous they were, and on their sleeves they 
 had sewed a fool's cap as an irreverent allu- 
 sion to the cardinal's hat. When Margaret 
 remonstrated against this foolishness, they took 
 off the symbol of the hat and put in its place 
 a bundle of arrows, meaning that they were 
 united in the service of the king. 
 
 Meanwhile the printing presses sent forth 
 lampoons and caricatures against the cardinal. 
 One of these pictures represented him sitting 
 on a nest of eggs which hatched out bishops, 
 and over his head was Satan saying, " This is 
 my beloved son." At last, in 1564, the man 
 in red, fearing that he might be killed, left the 
 country for Burgundy. Like foolish school- 
 boys, the two nobles, Brederode and Hoog- 
 151 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 stratten, mounted one horse, the former taking 
 the saddle and the latter the crupper. Both 
 galloped in hilarious mockery after the cardinal 
 for many miles of his journey. 
 
 Then there was a change. The nobles be- 
 gan to attend the councils, the edicts of torture 
 became dead letters, and the people enjoyed 
 for a little while liberty of conscience. Still 
 there was much bribery and corruption in pub- 
 lic office. Many of the charges fell upon the 
 patriot party led by Orange. 
 
 It was finally decided that a messenger 
 should be sent to King Philip in Spain, to set 
 before him the many troubles of the country. 
 Count Egmont, handsome, frank, credulous, 
 and confiding, was sent to Spain, where he was 
 received with many honors. It was like a fly 
 entering the spider's parlor. All that Egmont 
 asked of the king was granted in fair words, 
 and the vain man went away loaded with 
 promises. 
 
 On coming back to the Netherlands, he 
 told his friends and the people that the king 
 would change the edicts and abolish the In- 
 quisition. It was supposed by all, except the 
 wise few, that everything was to be better ; but 
 when Philip's orders came, they were different 
 from anything that had been expected. The 
 
 152 
 
ORANGE AND THE BEGGARS 
 
 edicts were republished, the Inquisition was to 
 be reestablished, and whoever believed dif- 
 ferently from the Pope's followers was to be 
 put to death ; but this was to be in secret, and 
 not publicly. 
 
 No sooner were these edicts republished 
 than the people and the nobles became vio- 
 lently angry. The walls of the towns were 
 covered with placards denouncing the Inquisi- 
 tion and the Spanish tyranny. Catholics and 
 Protestants were alike in this opposition. 
 
 In 1565 the nobles formed an alliance, or 
 " compromise," devoting their lives and pro- 
 perty to resist the Inquisition and to support 
 each other. They assembled together in Brus- 
 sels, on the 5th of April, 1566, to the number 
 of three or four hundred. They walked slowly 
 in procession four abreast to the hall of the 
 regent, led by Brederode and Count Louis of 
 Nassau, brother of William. Margaret received 
 them graciously. Then Brederode delivered an 
 address, denying the reports of their enemies, 
 asserting their loyalty to the king, and asking 
 that a messenger be sent to his majesty to tell 
 him that the provinces were being ruined by 
 the Inquisition. 
 
 In order not to stir up a crowd or create a 
 riot, the noblemen had put off their splendid 
 153 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 dresses of silk and velvet, and their gold and 
 silver ornaments, and without horses or arms 
 had come to court on foot. But Berlaymont, 
 one of the officers standing near the governess, 
 said to her, " Do not fear ; it is only a troop of 
 beggars." 
 
 When the nobles heard this, instead of being 
 angry, or trying to kill Berlaymont, they took 
 up the name as their own, and it became their 
 rallying cry. That night Brederode gave a 
 dinner at which were present about three hun- 
 dred noblemen, who caught up the words and 
 declared that it was no shame to be beggars 
 for their country's good. " Long live the Beg- 
 gars," was their cry. Slipping out of the room 
 for a few moments, Brederode came back bring- 
 ing with him a wooden bowl, such as the 
 begging monks and pilgrims usually carried. 
 Filling it with wine, he drank a health to " The 
 Beggars." Thereupon the wooden cup went 
 round, all drinking and shouting, " Vive les 
 gueux," or " Long live the Beggars." 
 
 From this time forth, not only the foes but 
 the friends of Dutch liberty took up the name. 
 Soon there were " noble " beggars, " wild " beg- 
 gars out in the country at large, " water " 
 beggars on the seas, and " mud " beggars who 
 walked beyond the town walls to hear " hedge 
 
 154 
 
ORANGE AND THE BEGGARS 
 
 preaching." Indeed, all who hated Spanish 
 tyranny, whether Catholics or Protestants, 
 took up the cry and put on the symbol. They 
 dressed themselves in the beggar's costume, of 
 ashen gray cloth, and hung the little wooden 
 bowls or cups on their breasts or caps. The 
 plain people wore medals of lead, and the rich 
 folk and nobles the same design in gold or 
 silver, on which was engraved on one side the 
 image of Philip the king, and on the other a 
 beggar's wallet and two hands joined over it, 
 with the motto, " Faithful to the king — even 
 to bearing the beggar's sack." 
 
 155 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 HEDGE PREACHING AND THE STORMING OF 
 IMAGES 
 
 The answer of Margaret the regent was not 
 satisfactory. The nobles did not like it. They 
 asked that their petition J^e printed, with- 
 out change, and that the inquisitors should 
 stop their bloody business. Two envoys, both 
 knights of the Golden Fleece, were sent to 
 Madrid to bear the nobles' petition to the king. 
 
 It was now time for the spider to eat up the 
 flies, and it did so. 
 
 The two envoys were kept in Spain and 
 never allowed to go back to the Netherlands. 
 The people called the moderation spoken of 
 in the king's answer, " murderation ; " for in- 
 stead of being burned alive, the people of the 
 Reformed faith, or printers of anything hostile 
 to the king, were to be hanged. 
 
 The reformers, hungering for the old truth 
 in the fresh forms in which the preachers pre- 
 sented it, now left the churches and towns by 
 the tens of thousands, to go out into the open 
 
 156 
 
HEDGE PREACHING 
 
 fields. There they enjoyed, for hours at a time, 
 the singing of psalms in their native tongue, 
 and the sermons and prayers, that were not 
 written down, but came from the lips. Thou- 
 sands of little hymn books and portions of 
 Scripture were printed. At first the people 
 went without arms ; but at one place, where 
 there were seven thousand gathered together, 
 the " schout " rushed in among them on horse- 
 back, dashing toward the preacher with a mus- 
 ket in one hand and a sword in the other. The 
 people stoned him and he had to retreat. 
 
 The next time the crowd assembled the men 
 were armed. They made a " laager," or circle, 
 with their wagons, putting guards at the en- 
 trance, while a .few outside invited all passing 
 by to buy the forbidden books, or to go in and 
 hear the sermon. The pulpit was made of 
 planks on the top of a wagon. The women 
 and children sat near, and the men stood in a 
 circle back of them. Before and after the ser- 
 mon they sang psalms. After the benediction 
 they marched back in procession into the towns, 
 where they scattered. The singing was one 
 of the important, certainly one of the most 
 rousing parts of the service ; for the hymns 
 were in Dutch, or in French for those who 
 used that language. The verses of Marat, a 
 157 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 poet who wrote in French, were very popular. 
 Some of the old tunes then used, such as the 
 long metre doxology, are still sung in the 
 Dutch churches, and even in ours. 
 
 In the smaller towns and villages the people 
 used to gather for Bible reading, worship, or 
 singing, in shady places, and these meetings 
 were spoken of as " hedge preaching." 
 
 At Antwerp, five thousand people held their 
 services within a quarter of a mile of the city. 
 At this, Margaret was very angry, and wished 
 the burgher-guard to prevent the meeting, but 
 the worshipers were armed, and to oppose them 
 would have been folly. Soon throughout all 
 Holland public meetings were held outside 
 the city walls, whether the magistrates liked it 
 or not. 
 
 While King Philip was getting ready his 
 army, to march into the Netherlands to punish 
 the people with fire and sword, and his agents 
 were buying arms, ammunition, and warlike 
 stores, there was a sudden outburst of what is 
 called in Dutch history " the image storm." 
 The churches at this time were filled with 
 images, crosses, statues, pictures of the Virgin 
 and of the saints, gold and silver ornaments, 
 mass-books, superb cartings, stained glass, and 
 hundreds of other things which were never 
 
p. 
 PS 
 M 
 
 < 
 
 
 K 
 H 
 
 W 
 
 CO 
 
 H 
 P 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 g 
 
 s 
 
 O 
 <! 
 
 W 
 fA 
 0. 
 
HEDGE PREACHING 
 
 seen in the early Christian churches. These 
 were suddenly despoiled and made empty by a 
 mob. There were no telegraphs in those days, 
 but with wonderful rapidity this movement of 
 destruction went on throughout the Nether- 
 lands. Bands of fanatics, very few in number, 
 but terrible in their earnestness and industry, 
 broke into the sacred edifices, and with ropes 
 and ladders, hammers and pincers, went to 
 work. They pulled down the pictures, images, 
 and statues, overthrew the altars, defaced the 
 monuments and carvings, tore up or burned 
 the mass-books, and smashed the stained glass. 
 About four hundred church buildings were 
 thus despoiled and filled with rubbish within a 
 few days. This was not the work of robbers 
 seeking booty, but of fanatics, who wished to 
 end forever a system which they had learned 
 to hate, because so closely associated with 
 tyranny. In acting thus, they believed, as their 
 persecutors also did, that they were doing God 
 service. 
 
 The effect of the news upon the regent and 
 the king was like red pepper to the eyes and 
 sparks upon gunpowder. Hating the Reformed 
 faith as bitterly as they did, and despising the 
 Netherlanders for their love of freedom, they 
 paid no attention to the petition of the Calvin- 
 159 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 ists and Lutherans, who had nothing to do with 
 the image-breaking, and who expressed their 
 regret at what had happened. 
 
 For the present, Margaret permitted the 
 hedge preaching to go on. She even allowed 
 some churches to be built in the towns ; but 
 the patriots were not deceived. They got hold 
 of letters from the regent, in which they learned 
 of the armies being raised to punish them, and 
 that Margaret was deceiving them with fair 
 promises. When they met together to talk 
 over the crisis, their opinions were different. 
 A minority wished to hire Germans, in case 
 of need, to reenforce their own troops, especially 
 when they found out that the king was levying 
 an army to invade their country. Some were 
 timid or would do nothing, while others took 
 the king's side. Egmont made up his quarrel 
 with Margaret, and was pacified. Hoorn re- 
 tired to his own house at Weert. William of 
 Orange went into Holland. 
 
 Margaret now thought she had broken up 
 the league of nobles; for about one third of 
 them had abandoned the patriot cause and 
 ranged themselves on her side, while the others 
 were scattered. She now threw off the mask, 
 enlarged the army, and began punishing all 
 who had taken part in the late disorder. The 
 
 1 60 
 
HEDGE PREACHING 
 
 Reformed worship was forbidden. When, in 
 March, 1567, the people of Valenciennes, a 
 place long noted for its lace, refused to admit 
 her soldiers within their walls, she ordered the 
 town to be besieged. She now demanded that 
 all members of the council of state should take 
 oath to be faithful to the Roman Church, and 
 uphold her in her politics. Egmont and most 
 of the other nobles took the oath ; but Orange, 
 Brederode, Hoorn, and Hoogstraaten refused. 
 
 At this time the people of the Reformed 
 faith were divided in their councils. Anabap- 
 tists, Calvinists, and Lutherans often mistrusted 
 and even hated each other as bitterly as had 
 the various orders within the old Church. All 
 this strengthened the hands of Margaret and 
 the followers of the Pope. 
 
 Meanwhile, William, prince of Orange, who 
 was a shrewd politician, kept himself informed 
 of the secrets of the Spanish king ; for he paid 
 the clerk to the king's secretary in Madrid 
 three hundred crowns a year for sending him 
 copies of documents taken at night from his 
 royal master's pockets. Orange knew that he 
 must either conform to the king's orders or 
 escape to some other country. Egmont became 
 a hot royalist. Brederode retired to the town of 
 Vianen, and fortified it. 
 161 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 Some of the other confederated nobles were 
 attacked at Ostrawaal, near Antwerp, and 
 badly defeated. A force of three thousand 
 Protestants, who were marching to help their 
 fellow believers shut up in Valenciennes, was 
 routed and scattered. Then the city surren- 
 dered, after a siege of five months. Two hun- 
 dred of the people were brutally murdered in 
 cold blood. 
 
 The outlook was now very black ; for instead 
 of Philip's coming to show mercy, the merci- 
 less duke of Alva was rapidly advancing from 
 the south with an army of Spaniards and Ital- 
 ians. The time had come for Egmont and 
 Orange to part, one from the other, never more 
 to look upon each other's face. A popular 
 story declares that, in his haste. Orange's head 
 was uncovered. At their farewell meeting, 
 Egmont said, " Good-by, Prince without a hat ; " 
 and Orange replied, even more mournfully, 
 " Good-by, Count without a head." 
 
 At the Spanish council in Madrid, three 
 nobles pleaded for mercy and methods of wise 
 gentleness; but Granvelle the cardinal and 
 the duke of Alva urged a policy of fire and 
 blood. One side argued that the Netherland- 
 ers were quiet, serious people, who would yield 
 to kindness and reason. The others declared 
 
 162 
 
HEDGE PREACHING 
 
 that Dutchmen were only "men of butter," 
 able to raise hens and chickens, but that they 
 would not fight. 
 
 How strange that Philip could not know 
 that people who had for a thousand years been 
 battling against the sea were too brave and 
 earnest to be trifled with ; but he was too blind 
 a bigot to see anything very clearly beyond 
 what he had been educated to believe. He 
 was a typical Spaniard ; and his pride was the 
 cause of his ruin. 
 
 163 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 MARCH OF THE SPANIARDS FLIGHT OF THE 
 
 FLEMINGS 
 
 Now began the gathering and the march of 
 the Spanish army, numbering over ten thou- 
 sand men, and one of the finest that had been 
 seen in Europe since the days of the Roman 
 legions. This army, so handsomely equipped, 
 did not stand for freedom, but for oppression. 
 It represented all the elements of the old, the 
 mediaeval world, that was already passing away, 
 though nobles, soldiers, and priests could not 
 see it. Nor could these splendid warriors 
 dream that the sailors, peasants, merchants, and 
 men of the new world — the new world of the 
 printing press, the open Bible, and the free 
 school — were in the end to triumph. 
 
 The Spanish and Italian veterans believed 
 in the king and the holy corporation called the 
 Church, and in government for the sake of the 
 governors, instead of the governed ; and they 
 believed that God was on their side. To sup- 
 port Philip's army, even the clergy and inquisi- 
 
 164 
 
MARCH OF THE SPANIARDS 
 
 tors contributed their money as if it were for a 
 crusade. Spanish noblemen, eager to kill here- 
 tics, and also to get rich off their spoil, came 
 with the army as volunteers. Over the moun- 
 tains of Italy, and down through Switzerland 
 and France, this splendid body of men marched. 
 They were mostly veterans, the officers in gold 
 inlaid armor, and the soldiers with hats of steel, 
 and armed with the finest weapons of keenest 
 temper. Large numbers among them were 
 equipped with firearms. When they reached 
 the Netherlands and joined the other troops, 
 the united forces were twenty thousand strong. 
 When the news was confirmed that this army 
 of chastisement had really begun its march, the 
 country seemed paralyzed. At once, from the 
 Belgian or southern Netherlands chiefly, began 
 a great exodus of the people to lands of refuge, 
 in order to escape death and loss of property. 
 Hundreds of thousands fled to England, Hol- 
 land, Germany, and Denmark. Nobles, mer- 
 chants, mechanics, peasants, and laborers were 
 mixed together in the great company that 
 turned their backs upon the homeland and set 
 their faces north, east, and west. On large ships 
 and small, and on fishing boats, they fled across 
 the channel, making in all, counting those of 
 earlier flight, a hundred thousand people, who 
 165 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 settled mostly in the southern and eastern 
 towns of England. 
 
 Many of these emigrants were, in reality, as 
 they called themselves, " beggars." These had 
 to be helped by the magistrates and the char- 
 ity of the people of the English, Dutch, and 
 German towns and cities. Most of them, 
 however, were thrifty. God-fearing, and Bible- 
 reading people, with enough money to main- 
 tain themselves and to start industries new to 
 the countries in which they began life afresh. 
 They enjoyed family worship and loved their 
 religion, considering conscience more than 
 life. 
 
 These Netherlanders so enriched England 
 with their new trades and " mysteries," that 
 Queen Elizabeth was only too glad to wel- 
 come them in her realm. In a great industrial 
 procession at Norwich, in which these " Flem- 
 ings " surprised the English with their wonder- 
 ful machines, inventions, and occupations, she 
 was present in great state. Indeed, these re- 
 fugees changed England from an agricultural 
 country that raised only sheep and wool, and 
 had little or no foreign commerce, into one 
 that soon, with manufactures and commerce, 
 led the world. 
 
 The Belgic Netherlands lost, during the 
 1 66 
 
MARCH OF THE SPANIARDS 
 
 seventeen years, from 1567 to the capture of 
 Antwerp by Parma in 1585, a million people, 
 the most industrious and capable in the coun- 
 try; while the Spanish armies, often unpaid 
 and mutinous, were like seventeen-year locusts, 
 eating up the country. This was the begin- 
 ning of that " eighty years' war," during which 
 350,000 Spaniards or their mercenaries were 
 to find graves in the soil of the Netherlands. 
 
 Margaret had feared just what came to pass. 
 The Spanish army, she thought, would only 
 stir up fresh troubles and depopulate the coun- 
 try; so she begged her brother the king to 
 stop the march of the troops. Philip's only 
 reply was in ordering Alva to hasten his steps. 
 When Egmont came out to meet Alva, the 
 latter said, " Here comes the arch-heretic." 
 When the Dutch nobles, hoping by their cour- 
 tesy to soften the duke, congratulated him, he 
 said, " Welcome or not, it is all one. Here 
 I am." 
 
 Margaret, now very angry, asked her royal 
 brother that she might be dismissed. Alva 
 soon showed her what he had come for. He 
 garrisoned the towns and kept the keys of the 
 gates. He had Counts Hoorn and Egmont 
 and other nobles arrested, thrown into prison, 
 and their household effects and papers seized ; 
 167 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 but Hoogstraaten escaped. When Granvelle, 
 " the red fellow " in Madrid, heard that Alva 
 had seized the nobles, he asked whether they 
 had caught William the Silent. When they 
 told him no, he replied, " Ah, then, if he is not 
 in the nest, Alva has caught nothing." 
 
 The duke of Alva began to obtain, as far 
 as possible, the charters of the cities, and to 
 break both their seals and the king's promises. 
 The Pope had given permission to the king 
 of Spain to be rid of his oath, and to lie in- 
 stead of keeping his promises. Alva erected 
 what he called a Council of Troubles, but 
 which soon received the name from the peo- 
 ple of the Council of Blood. It was made up 
 of twelve members, with a Spaniard at the 
 head. In it was a judge named Hessels, who 
 was often asleep during the trials, but who 
 usually voted " To the gallows ! To the gal- 
 lows ! " It is not wonderful that, having hanged 
 so many others, Hessels himself was at last, 
 eleven years afterwards, hanged to a tree by 
 the people of Ghent. 
 
 Margaret soon after resigned and left the 
 country, and the duke of Alva became gov- 
 ernor-general. He had those who had worn 
 the Beggars' badges, or drunk their health, put 
 to death. He had rich people tried and their 
 
 i68 
 
MARCH OF THE SPANIARDS 
 
 property seized, after which they were dragged 
 at the tail of a horse to the gallows and 
 hanged, while the poor were tortured and put 
 to death at once. It was common to find 
 trees loaded with corpses, and bodies burned, 
 mangled, and headless, or fastened to stakes. 
 Within a few weeks, hundreds of people were 
 put to death, Alva declaring that the king 
 would rather see the whole country a desert 
 than allow a single heretic to live in it. All 
 business was for a time stopped. Thousands 
 of the fugitive men enlisted in the army of the 
 Huguenots in France, while the " Wild Beg- 
 gars " in the woods of West Flanders, who 
 had to get food or starve, became a terror to 
 the country; but many of these were caught 
 and quickly put to death by Alva's soldiers. 
 
 Alva made war even on children. The son 
 of William the Silent, then a student at the 
 University of Louvain, was seized and sent to 
 Spain. The brothers William and Louis of 
 Nassau, and the nobles Brederode and Hoog- 
 straaten, were summoned to the court. Alva 
 fortified the frontier towns on the German as 
 well as on the French side, and began to com- 
 plete a strong citadel at Antwerp. 
 
 One hundred thousand people had in the 
 one year of 1 568 left the Netherlands to escape 
 
 169 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 the Inquisition and Alva. Many of these were 
 seafaring men from towns on .the coast. As 
 exiles from home, these ship captains, sailors, 
 and fishermen were not content to settle down 
 quietly, but longed to be on the waves again. 
 They quickly took to the sea to destroy Span- 
 ish commerce and revenge the death of those 
 whom Alva beheaded. At first freebooters 
 and pirates, they became in time the liberators 
 of their country. We shall soon hear of these 
 " Water Beggars," or " Beggars of the Sea." 
 
 It was about this time that the flag of the 
 Netherlands, the Dutch tri-color, took its rise. 
 These brave patriots looked to the prince of 
 Orange, the stadholder of Holland, as their 
 leader, and so they chose as their standard the 
 three principal colors on his coat of arms, 
 orange, white, and blue. At first the common 
 sailors did not know how to arrange them in 
 their proper order, and those who had charge 
 of the ship's flag would sometimes put the 
 blue or white topmost. Then the captain 
 would roar out, " Oranje boven," — the orange 
 color first, on top, or " Up with the orange." 
 Thus it came to pass that orange, white, and 
 blue became the national colors for a century 
 or more, and the cry " Oranje boven " con- 
 tinues to this day. 
 
 170 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE BATTLE OF HEILIGERLEE 
 
 William of Orange, now feeling that there 
 was no hope of reconciliation with the king, 
 published, in 1568, in several languages, a de- 
 fense of his conduct, and reviewed the events 
 of the last few years. He then began to raise 
 an army. He declared that the penal edicts 
 had been enacted for the purpose of rooting 
 out the pure word and service of God. 
 
 On his banners were his own ancestral coat 
 of arms. It was rich in the colors orange, 
 white, and blue, and in lion emblems. One of 
 the four large quarterings bore seventeen turf- 
 brick marks, representing the seventeen pro- 
 vinces of the Netherlands. The smaller shield 
 overlapping the quarterings had on it the hunt- 
 ing-horns of his ancestor, a grandson of Charle- 
 magne. On the heart, and in the centre of all, 
 he set the cross of Geneva, the city of Calvin, 
 in token of his own faith founded on the Bible. 
 On another banner was the emblem of the 
 mother pelican in the nest, feeding her young 
 
 171 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 with blood from her own breast, with the 
 motto, Pro rege, pro lege, pro grege ; that is, 
 " For the king, for the law, for the common- 
 wealth." Still other banners were embroidered 
 with the emblem of the beggar's bowl and 
 sack. In those days there was scarcely any 
 idea of government without a king or prince 
 of some sort, and so, although Philip was the 
 chief enemy of the people, and William was 
 fighting against him, yet, since he was a ruler 
 undeposed, William's motto was Pro rege ; that 
 is, " For the king." He was fighting in Philip's 
 name, just as our fathers, before July 4, 1776, 
 fought the battle of Lexington and marched to 
 Bunker Hill in the name of King George HI. 
 
 William was slow and deliberate ; of his 
 four brothers, Henry was the youngest, Louis 
 was the most impulsive and hasty, Adolph was 
 the most eager, and John, the next oldest to 
 William, was the most statesmanlike. 
 
 Hastily gathering a few hundred soldiers, 
 Louis invaded Groningen. At a place called 
 Heiligerlee, and meaning the Holy Lea, or the 
 Holy Lion, he met the Spanish, Italian, and 
 German troops which Alva had sent to meet 
 him. The Spaniards had a battery of field 
 pieces which were named do, re, mi, fa, sol, 
 etc., after the notes in the musical scale. 
 
 172 
 
THE BATTLE OF HEILIGERLEE 
 
 On May 23, 1568, the patriots pretending 
 to retreat, the Spanish soldiers gave hot pur- 
 suit, and Louis, thus luring the enemy into 
 swampy ground, won a great victory. Six 
 hundred of the enemy were slain and their 
 baggage and cannon captured, but alas! the 
 brave young Count Adolph was killed. Three 
 hundred years after this event, a monument 
 was erected on the spot to his memory. It 
 shows the angry lion of Holland and mother 
 Batavia holding a shield of defense over her 
 son. 
 
 When Alva heard the news of this victory 
 of the Beggars, he was infuriated. He im- 
 mediately ordered eighteen noblemen, then in 
 prison, to be brought forth into the horse mar- 
 ket at Brussels, where their heads were cut off. 
 The bodies of seven of them were left on the 
 highway to rot. Egmont and Hoorn were tried, 
 as it now seems in mockery, and were con- 
 demned to death. On June 5, 1568, they were 
 conducted by two thousand soldiers to the 
 scaffold in the same horse market at Brussels. 
 The people could hardly believe that two noble- 
 men of ancient families, who had served the 
 king so long and well, could be so cruelly put 
 to death. They gathered in such crowds that 
 Alva feared a rescue. The axemen severed 
 
 173 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 their heads. These were then stuck on iron 
 poles and exposed during two hours. 
 
 After the soldiers had gone away, thousands 
 rushed to the scaffold to dip their handker- 
 chiefs in the count's blood, to keep as memen- 
 toes, while many a stalwart man there vowed 
 not to cut his hair, nails, or beard, till the 
 blood of these martyrs was avenged. Indeed, 
 for years afterwards, the fierce fighting Beggars 
 were noted for the long hair on their faces 
 and heads. One man's beard grew down to his 
 feet and had to be carried on his shoulders. 
 While patriots swore vengeance, even Spanish 
 soldiers shed tears. To-day, in Brussels, two 
 marble statues of these unhappy men, set 
 over a fountain, commemorate Egmont and 
 Hoorn. 
 
 Having thus struck terror into the hearts of 
 all, Alva marched at the head of his own best 
 troops into Groningen. The soldiers of Count 
 Louis were mostly Germans who served only 
 for pay. He had no money for their wages, 
 and when Alva appeared, they mutinied, broke 
 ranks, and fled. In the battle which ensued 
 at Jemmingen, the Spaniards, led by Alva in 
 person, slaughtered thousands of them. From 
 the battle, or rather massacre, Louis escaped 
 only by leaping into the river Ems and swim- 
 
 174 
 
THE BATTLE OF HEILIGERLEE 
 
 ming lustily. He reached the opposite shore, 
 nearly naked, and alone in a foreign land. 
 
 Yet without bating a jot of heart or hope, 
 Louis rallied his forces and moved on to join 
 his brother William in Germany, who had sold 
 his family plate and jewels to raise funds, and 
 had now over twelve thousand men and ten 
 pieces of artillery. They marched southward 
 against the duke of Alva, at Maastricht, where 
 were now over twenty-one thousand men in 
 waiting. Orange crossed the river Maas Oc- 
 tober 5, by night, under the light of the moon, 
 and camped on the opposite shore ; but Alva 
 would not fire a shot. He fought him, only 
 with the weapons of time, patience, and retreat. 
 These, strange to say, completely defeated the 
 prince of Orange. Alva garrisoned the towns 
 so that no one could help the patriot cause 
 with men, money, or food. He cut off all 
 William's supplies, knowing that he would 
 soon have his money spent and could not pay 
 his troops, who were Germans, and that these 
 mercenaries would mutiny. 
 
 The shrewd old Spanish veteran, who was 
 great in that he could conquer himself, was 
 right in his ideas. William was unable to get 
 further supplies, and, with an empty treasury, 
 he was obliged to disband his army at Stras- 
 175 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 burg. Alva, overjoyed at his bloodless vic- 
 tory, reared a bronze statue of himself in 
 Antwerp, made of the cannon which he had 
 captured from Louis at Jemmingen. He then 
 distributed his troops throughout the cities, 
 but Amsterdam was excused from quartering 
 a garrison, by paying two hundred thousand 
 guilders. 
 
 Alva, at the point of the sword, forced the 
 new bishops and the decrees of the Council of 
 Trent upon the people. He demanded from 
 each city its charter, but the great council of 
 Leyden refused to obey the order. There- 
 upon this city was marked for vengeance. 
 Meanwhile, the hanging, burning, and behead- 
 ing went on. 
 
 The Pope was so pleased with Alva's work 
 that he sent him a holy hat and sword. At 
 the same time he excommunicated Queen 
 Elizabeth, but this only inclined her to help 
 the Netherlanders. When, further, Elizabeth 
 seized the money found in some Spanish ships 
 at Southampton, Alva arrested the English 
 merchants in the Netherlands, and all trade 
 was stopped between the two countries for 
 nearly four years. Nevertheless, Alva had no 
 cash on hand to pay his troops and soon found 
 himself in deep trouble. He had promised, 
 
 176 
 
THE BATTLE OF HEILIGERLEE 
 
 when he left Spain, that he would make a 
 stream of silver a yard deep flow into the 
 king's coffers. Knowing very little about busi- 
 ness matters, he levied a tax of ten per cent, 
 on all things bought and sold. This roused 
 first the hatred, and then the defiance of the 
 Dutch, to an uncontrollable degree. In Zee- 
 land and Holland especially, the feeling was 
 intense. 
 
 Paul Buys, pensionary of Leyden, went into 
 Germany. There he met the prince of Orange 
 and told him the state of affairs, how that the 
 whole people, without regard to their religious 
 opinions, were bitter against Alva and the new 
 tax. At once William saw his opportunity. 
 He determined to make use of the brave sailors, 
 so numerous in Zeeland and Holland. He 
 gave commissions to the privateers, who were 
 at once called the Water Beggars. These men 
 strapped across their breast, or fastened on 
 their hats, a silver crescent with the words, 
 " Better Turk than Papist." They also hoisted 
 the orange, white, and blue flag of freedom, 
 and put the arms of the prince on their ban- 
 ners. Prince William arranged also to receive 
 aid and gifts through his agents in the dif- 
 ferent towns, hoping soon to lead another 
 army. Before he could do anything, a great 
 177 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 flood of water rolled over part of the coun- 
 try, in November, 1570, breaking the dikes 
 and sweeping away houses, trees, cattle, and 
 human beings in one ruin. So nothing could 
 be done that year. Meanwhile, he gave com- 
 mand of his little navy to William Van der 
 Mark, of whom we shall hear again. 
 
 178 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE VICTORIES OF THE WATER BEGGARS 
 
 William of Orange had hard work to find 
 some place on the earth's surface where his 
 little navy would be welcome. The Water 
 Beggars were desperate men, led by Van der 
 Mark, one of many who had sworn not to cut 
 hair or beard till Egmont's death was avenged. 
 The Beggars of the Sea were not popular 
 anywhere; for they failed to be particular whose 
 vessels they seized. All the Dutch ports were 
 in control of the officers of Philip II., and the 
 kings of Denmark and Sweden would not 
 allow them to enter their harbors, so the 
 havens of England were the only ones in 
 which they could cast anchor. When Alva 
 heard of their being received by the English, 
 he sent word to Elizabeth not to welcome 
 pirates and rebels from the king of Spain's 
 dominions. So the English queen, who feared 
 a war with Spain, ordered the Beggars to quit 
 her dominion. Then the fleet, flaunting the 
 tri-color flag of freedom, was driven out to sea. 
 179 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 Nevertheless, this harsh treatment gave them 
 their opportunity, and an unexpected victory 
 on land. 
 
 These Sea Beggars, under William Van der 
 Mark and Treslong, moved out into the Eng- 
 lish Channel and the North Sea. They cap- 
 tured two ships under the Spanish flag almost 
 as soon as they started. They then sailed into 
 the Texel, and attacked the Spanish ships ly- 
 ing there, but a great storm came on and drove 
 them back. Unable to go north, they boldly 
 dashed into the river Maas April i, 1572, and 
 came to the town of Briel, from which the 
 garrison had gone to Utrecht to collect " the 
 tenth penny." 
 
 Briel was the seaport for trade and passen- 
 gers for England. The Beggars quickly seized 
 the place and hoisted the colors of Orange 
 on the lofty church tower, whence they could 
 be descried by the people for miles around. 
 Maddened by previous Spanish cruelties, they 
 smashed the images in the churches. After 
 hanging thirteen of the priests, they dressed 
 themselves in their splendid robes and strutted 
 about in mockery of their office. 
 
 This bold and brave exploit of the Water 
 Beggars at Briel sent a thrill of courage 
 throughout the country. Their example was 
 
 iSo 
 
VICTORIES OF THE WATER BEGGARS 
 
 quickly followed. The towns of Veer, Hoorn, 
 and others defiantly raised the colors of the 
 prince of Orange. 
 
 The duke of Alva was in a rage when he 
 heard the news. The word "brill," or "briel," 
 in Dutch, means a pair of spectacles, and the 
 funny men made a verse in rhyme, which peo- 
 ple sang on the streets. It ran as follows : — 
 
 " Op den eersten April 
 Vierloor Alva zyn brill ; " 
 
 or, as Motley puts it in English : — 
 
 " On April Fool's Day 
 Duke Alva's spectacles 
 Were stolen away,'' — 
 
 though the Dutch know nothing of an April 
 Fool's Day. 
 
 Alva had already punished the cities of 
 Utrecht and Brussels for not approving of his 
 policy. The first had refused to consent to 
 the tax of the tenth penny. When the citi- 
 zens appealed to the king, he, to vex them, 
 further ordered out the Spanish garrisons from 
 Leyden, Haarlem, Delft, and Briel, and quar- 
 tered them all in Utrecht. By doing this, he 
 gave the Beggars the chance which they im- 
 proved at Briel. Amsterdam was fined heavily 
 for not publishing Alva's tax decree. In Brus- 
 sels, the people shut their shops and refused 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 to do any business. The duke then prepared 
 seventy ladders and ropes, in order to hang 
 seventy of the principal shopkeepers before 
 their own doors on the next night. But when 
 the news of the capture of Briel came, Alva 
 saw his folly, and went no further in the matter. 
 Count Bossu, at Utrecht, went back, hoping to 
 recapture the town he had left. 
 
 He and his Spaniards took ship and came 
 down the river Maas to Briel, where the Beg- 
 gars had fortified themselves. At the right 
 time, when the enemy was in sight, one brave 
 fellow named Rochus Meeuwsen, holding an 
 axe, climbed out over the sluice gates, hacked 
 away the timbers, and opened the sluices, so 
 that the whole country was laid under water. 
 On account of this, the Spaniards could not 
 march along the road, but had to step in 
 single file along the top of the dike. Mean- 
 while the cannon from the city walls played 
 on them, and their vessels in the river were all 
 set on fire or captured. Finding the flood 
 rising higher and higher, Bossu's men, in much 
 lessened numbers, retreated by wading, swim- 
 ming, or groping through marshes, and got 
 back to Dordrecht very wet, very tired, and 
 very hungry. As maddened as wounded tigers, 
 they thirsted for any and all Dutchmen's blood. 
 
 182 
 
VICTORIES OF THE WATER BEGGARS 
 
 Later obtaining ships and boats, they dropped 
 down the Maas to Rotterdam. 
 
 Bossu informed the city authorities that he 
 was on his way to The Hague, and wished to 
 pass peacefully through Rotterdam. After 
 promising to go through the city, marching 
 only one file of men at a time, the Spaniards 
 were admitted. Immediately breaking their 
 promise, they rushed through the streets, 
 slaughtering men, women, and children. They 
 behaved more like devils than human beings. 
 At one house, a clever woman saved the lives 
 of the people inside. She quickly killed a cat, 
 and shook or smeared its blood over the steps 
 and doorposts. The Spaniards, thinking that 
 the people in that house had been already 
 murdered, did not go in. Thus the inmates, 
 though long in terror while hiding in the 
 cellar, saved their lives. Ever afterwards, this 
 house was called the House of a Thousand 
 Fears. The hero of this Rotterdam episode 
 was Black John, who laid about with his ham- 
 mer and killed a number of Spaniards. To- 
 day, one reads on the street cars the name of 
 this local hero, Swarte Jan; for there is a street 
 named after him. The Spaniards left Rotter- 
 dam looking like a slaughter house and then 
 moved on to The Hague. On the eastern 
 183 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 gate of Holland's second city is inscribed the 
 date of this aw-ful episode, April 9, 1572. 
 
 A great river is like a door opening into a 
 country, and a seaport near its mouth is the 
 key which opens or shuts the door. Briel was 
 the key to the river Maas, and Alva had lost 
 it. He now determined to make sure of Flush- 
 ing, the key to the river Scheldt. He ordered 
 the citadel to be completed, and sent fifteen 
 hundred Spaniards to garrison the city. But 
 the people rose up in arms, and, getting help 
 from the Water Beggars and from England, 
 they drove out the Spaniards and hanged the 
 Italian engineer Pacheco, in revenge for the 
 death of Treslong's brother, whom Alva had 
 put to death in 1568. In the Flushing mu- 
 seum, we may still see the unfortunate man's 
 helmet preserved among the many curiosities 
 there. 
 
 Soon after this, a fleet of forty ships, with 
 twenty-five hundred soldiers on board and 
 many hundred barrels of money, arrived at 
 Flushing from Spain. Not knowing that the 
 city had been taken, all the Spaniards were 
 captured by the combined forces of the Flush- 
 ing men and the Water Beggars. Because 
 Alva had hanged his prisoners taken in battle, 
 the Dutchmen were determined to make him 
 
 1 84 
 
VICTORIES OF THE WATER BEGGARS 
 
 fight more humanely, and so, in retaliation, 
 they threw their prisoners overboard. 
 
 Alva still expected to smother the Dutch- 
 men in their own smoke, but he had another 
 thorn in his side when the news came of a 
 great victory of the Beggars in the south — 
 the capture, on May 24, of Mons in Hainault, 
 by Louis of Nassau, who had obtained French 
 aid. Alva could hardly believe this news, be- 
 cause his spies had seen Louis only a few days 
 before playing tennis in Paris. He at once 
 called his troops out of Holland to recover 
 Mons, and this gave the Beggars or patriots 
 in Walcheren, the largest of the islands of 
 Zeeland, in which the cities of Flushing, Mid- 
 delburg, and Goes are situated, time to organ- 
 ize their forces. 
 
 By this time thousands of Englishmen, feel- 
 ing that the Dutch cause was theirs, and that 
 if little Holland went down before giant Spain 
 England would go next, began to stream over 
 into the Netherlands as volunteers. About two 
 hundred of them were already in Walcheren, 
 under Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Thomas 
 Morgan. In the north, the people of Enkhui- 
 zen raised the Orange banner under the leader- 
 ship of Sonoy. Other towns followed their 
 example. In South Holland, the little city 
 185 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 republics of Oudewater, Gouda, Delft, Leyden, 
 and Dordrecht hoisted the Orange colors. So 
 it came to pass that, within three months, the 
 only important town in Holland held, in 1572, 
 by the Spaniards was Amsterdam. In Fries- 
 land, the party of the Beggars was very strong. 
 Sneek, Bolsward, Franeker, and Dokkum joined 
 the patriots, and the Spanish garrisons in Sta- 
 voren and Leeuwarden were besieged by the 
 men under the orange, white, and blue flag. 
 
 All this compelled Alva to do what he 
 ought to have done months before ; that is, to 
 take off the taxes which the Dutch had not 
 voted, especially the odious " tenth penny." 
 The Dutch congress, made up of nobles and 
 delegates from a dozen cities, met at Dord- 
 recht, acknowledged the prince of Orange as 
 their stadholder, and voted plenty of money for 
 the support of the war against the Spaniards. 
 They were led by Philip Van Marnix de Alde- 
 gonde, of whom we shall hear more, who was a 
 great and good man, and who wrote the " Wil- 
 helmus Lied," the national hymn of Holland. 
 They also appointed William Van der Mark as 
 captain-general. 
 
 In the south, Alva sent first his son Don 
 Frederic, and then went himself, with a large 
 army, to capture Mons. William of Orange 
 
 186 
 
VICTORIES OF THE WATER BEGGARS 
 
 marched from Germany to the same place, but 
 Alva was again very shrewd, and refused to 
 give Orange battle. While helpless in this 
 condition, " Father William " heard the awful 
 news of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, in 
 which nearly all the French Huguenot friends 
 of the Netherlands had perished at the hands 
 of assassins. After nearly fifteen thousand 
 cannon balls had been fired into the city of 
 Mons, Louis had to surrender, on September 
 25. He rose from a sick bed to offer his sword. 
 On his way back to Brussels, Alva allowed his 
 soldiers to rob and pillage Mechlin and other 
 cities. 
 
 William of Orange was obliged to retreat 
 again into Germany and dismiss his army ; for 
 his men were clamoring for their pay. They 
 even threatened to seize his body as security. 
 We shall see that until a regular army of native 
 Dutch patriots was formed, no progress was 
 made in field warfare ; for no dependence could 
 be placed upon mercenaries. 
 
 187 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 NAARDEN, HAARLEM, ALKMAAR, AND LEYDEN 
 
 The Beggars had not succeeded very well in 
 Zeeland. After failing to take Middelburg, 
 they, with their British and French allies, tried 
 to capture the pretty little city of Goes, in 
 which Jacqueline of Bavaria used to live, and 
 which was now held by the Spaniards. 
 
 Alva, being able to spare some of his best 
 men, sent three thousand of them, led by the 
 brave old Colonel Mondragon, — who lived to 
 be ninety-three years old, — across the water 
 into Walcheren, to help the garrison. In this 
 march, with only their heads above water, the 
 Spaniards performed one of the most daring ex- 
 ploits of the war. For lack of boats, they could 
 not cross over to the island in the ordinary 
 way ; but led by a skillful guide who knew of a 
 narrow, slippery path under water, these brave 
 fellows waded six miles. Putting their pro- 
 visions and ammunition on their heads, they 
 moved on, up to their necks in water. 
 
 During all the time of their passage, the 
 i88 
 
NAARDEN, HAARLEM, ALKMAAR, LEYDEN 
 
 Water Beggars in their ships fired with can- 
 non and muskets, or killed their enemies with 
 oars or boat-hooks. Yet they could not stop 
 the determined Spaniards, who pressed on, 
 drove the besiegers into their ships, and held 
 not only Goes but most of Zeeland, though 
 Zierikzee and the island of Schouwen still 
 held out for the prince of Orange. To-day, in 
 Spain, the sword of Mondragon is used as a 
 lightning rod, and his descendants are honored 
 as those of the " Marquis of the Honorable 
 Passage." 
 
 In spite of all his failures in war, William of 
 Orange was beloved and trusted by the peo- 
 ple. Coming back from Germany, he landed 
 at Enkhuizen, and went to Haarlem to meet 
 the Dutch congress. One of the first things 
 done was to reform the army and navy ; for 
 in robbing and insulting the people. Van der 
 Mark and his soldiers were almost as bad as 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 Old Alva went to Nymegen to rest. His 
 son, Don Frederic, marched to Zutphen, which 
 he entered, and then treated the people as if 
 they had been besieged ; for he ordered five 
 hundred of them to be drowned. This was like 
 savagery ; but the worst Spanish outrages were 
 at Naarden, to which Count Bossu was dis- 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 patched to demand its surrender. The dele- 
 gates sent from the town, December, 1572, to 
 treat with the Spaniards received a promise 
 that the Hves and property of the people should 
 be preserved, both parties joining hands to the 
 compact. The city gates were then opened, 
 and the Spaniards marched in. 
 
 While the citizens went unarmed to take 
 oath to the king, the women prepared a good 
 dinner for the king's soldiers. After this, all 
 the people were told to go into the little Gast- 
 huis church, which they did. Then the signal 
 was given, a fearful massacre began, and in a 
 few minutes hundreds of people were slaugh- 
 tered. One brave fellow, Hubert Williamson, 
 defended himself. Seizing a three-legged stool 
 in his left hand and using it as a shield, and 
 holding a sword in his right hand, he stood in 
 front of his house and fought a whole troop of 
 Spaniards, killing several of them. At length 
 he was wounded and overpowered by numbers. 
 When his daughter pleaded for her father's life, 
 the Spaniards picked up his fingers, cut off 
 by grasping their swords, and flung them in 
 her face. The town was completely stripped, 
 and, as it was forbidden to bury the dead, the 
 corpses were left in the streets during the 
 winter. 
 
 190 
 
NAARDEN, HAARLEM, ALKMAAR, LEYDEN 
 
 Alva's purpose in this brutality was to 
 frighten the people of the other towns ; but in- 
 stead, the Spanish outrages only roused the 
 Dutchmen to fresh fury. Turning his back 
 on Naarden, Don Frederic laid siege to Haar- 
 lem. All who favored Philip and the Pope 
 were sent out of the city, and the patriots de- 
 termined to fight to the last. They established 
 the Reformed religion, and took the statues 
 out of the churches to make breastworks of 
 them. The garrison consisted chiefly of Eng- 
 lish, Scottish, and German soldiers, with five 
 hundred and fifty Netherlanders. On December 
 lo, 1572, Don Frederic began his march, and 
 the siege on the same day. It was intensely 
 cold, but he expected to capture the city in a 
 week. Planting fifteen pieces of cannon near 
 the Cross Gate, he made a breach; but the 
 Haarlemmers built a new inside wall. Such a 
 fort, crescent-shaped, was called a Half Moon, 
 which the bold sailors of Henry Hudson and 
 other navigators afterwards took as the lucky 
 name of their ships. 
 
 The women and children of Haarlem helped 
 in the work of the defense of the city. The 
 famous widow, Kenau Van Hasselaer, a woman 
 of rank and fortune, formed a battalion of three 
 hundred women and drilled them in the use 
 
 191 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 of the musket and sword, the pick and the 
 spade. These brave women kept guard and 
 fought on the walls. The lake of Haarlem 
 being frozen over, the people of Leyden were 
 able to furnish food and ammunition on sledges, 
 and aid was sent also from Delft. On the last 
 day of January, 1573, the Spaniards made an- 
 other determined assault, but were blown up 
 with gunpowder stored in mines, or were driven 
 back. Angry at their defeat, they cut off the 
 head of one of the men from Delft who were 
 trying to reenforce Haarlem, and flung it over 
 the walls. 
 
 To revenge this insult, the Haarlemmers 
 beheaded eleven Spanish prisoners, packed a 
 barrel with the bloody produce, and rolled it 
 toward the Spanish camp. Inside was a paper 
 telling the besiegers that Alva could have his 
 ten pence, with one for interest. Other savage 
 acts were done on both sides. 
 
 The intense cold, the general sickness pre- 
 vailing in the camp, and the desertion of so 
 many of his troops, made Don Frederic want 
 to give up the siege ; but his stern father said 
 that if his son was unable, he would send for 
 his son's mother, in Spain, to take his place. 
 When the frost broke up. Count Bossu, having 
 cut a dike and let in water over the fields, 
 
 192 
 
o 
 o 
 
 
NAARDEN, HAARLEM, ALKMAAR, LEYDEN 
 
 opened a passage for a fleet of sixty vessels 
 from A msterdam. After this, the Leyden peo- 
 ple could not help their friends in Haarlem. 
 When carrier pigeons were used, they were 
 brought down by the Spanish sharpshooters, 
 so that the besiegers' plans and those of their 
 friends were made known to the enemy. 
 
 The winter was over, but there was no food. 
 The spring of 1573 had well advanced, and 
 the people inside the walls were eating cats, 
 dogs, and rats to sustain life. The Spaniards 
 had received fresh reenforcements. A force 
 of patriots marching from Delft, Leyden, and 
 Rotterdam, to aid their countrymen, was am- 
 bushed and cut to pieces. The streets of 
 Haarlem were crowded with the sick and dy- 
 ing. Don Frederic, fearing those inside would 
 set the city on fire, sent a trumpeter to promise 
 mercy. A conference was held, and after seven 
 months' siege the city surrendered, July 12, 
 1573. The Spaniards had lost twelve thou- 
 sand men. Once inside the city, as one of their 
 own authors says, they hanged, beheaded, or 
 drowned two thousand people. 
 
 Thus closed one of the darkest days for 
 Holland. Further resistance seemed hope- 
 less ; for there was no way of raising any more 
 money or men to fight. The Hollanders were 
 193 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 peaceful people, who had for generations known 
 next to nothing about war. Their towns were 
 poorly fortified, and were without arsenal stores 
 or provisions. 
 
 Yet all this time the courage of William of 
 Orange did not fail ; for he trusted in God and 
 lived up to his motto, " Always tranquil amid 
 the waves." One great benefit came to his 
 side from the enemy, in that the Spanish sol- 
 diers were paid very irregularly. Usually, after 
 every victory, there was a great mutiny. Such 
 an episode, which always helped the Dutch 
 cause, happened after the siege of Haarlem, 
 and delayed progress for many weeks. Don 
 Frederic's troops, being nearly two years and 
 a half behind in their wages, rebelled ; but as 
 soon as this matter was settled, and they had 
 their money in hand, their leader marched to 
 Alkmaar to besiege and storm the little town. 
 
 Again fresh surprises awaited Don Frederic. 
 Sonoy's soldiers, though out in the country 
 and busy in cutting off supplies, were unable 
 to reenforce the garrison. Yet the plain citi- 
 zens, men, women, and children, fought with 
 such valor and energy that the Spaniards were 
 driven back, and some of them even refused to 
 fight such brave people. After a month, they 
 met a new enemy. What happened at Briel 
 
 194 
 
NAARDEN, HAARLEM, ALKMAAR, LEYDEN * 
 
 took place here, as it afterwards did at Leyden. 
 The Dutch made the waters their friends and 
 rolled them over the Spanish camps, washing 
 these out. Sonoy's men chopped away the 
 wooden locks in the canals, opened the sluices, 
 and let in the water all over the cotmtry. Soon 
 the Spaniards in their camps were up to their 
 ankles in it, with the prospect that before long 
 the water would be up to their knees, and even 
 their thighs. All their fires were put out, so 
 that they could not cook their food, not even 
 their hodge-podge of meat and vegetables. 
 Afraid of being drowned, they broke camp Oc- 
 tober 8, 1573, and hastily fled to Amsterdam, 
 looking like a crowd of " Mud Beggars." 
 
 Soon after this, a great naval victory took 
 place in the Zuyder Zee. A fleet of twenty- 
 four armed vessels, under Admiral Dirkson, 
 was cruising about to meet the fleet of Admi- 
 ral Bossu. Catching sight of them, but not 
 having much powder, the Hollanders ran their 
 little ships in among those of the Spaniards. 
 Dirkson brought his own prow close to the 
 big Spanish flagship, which carried thirty-two 
 guns and was manned by three hundred and 
 fifty men. A daring Dutchman, John Harik, 
 from Hoorn, sprang up the Spanish rigging. 
 Climbing up as swiftly as a monkey, he tore 
 ^95 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 down the admiral's flag. A Spaniard instantly 
 shot him dead, but the episode cheered the 
 Dutchmen and chilled the Spaniards' ardor. 
 The battle lasted from the afternoon of the 
 nth of October until noon the next day, when, 
 three Spanish vessels being sunk or captured, 
 the others escaped by throwing their cannon 
 overboard. Bossu was captured and kept a 
 prisoner in Hoorn for three years, when he 
 was exchanged for Marnix, of whom we shall 
 hear again. 
 
 By this time Alva needed a new pair of 
 spectacles to see affairs in their proper light. 
 Nearly all North Holland was under the con- 
 trol of Orange. In all of the towns, magistrates 
 and people determined to perish, man by man, 
 rather than be slaves. Tired out with his hard 
 and bloody work in trying to exterminate such 
 obstinate people, Alva left Amsterdam by 
 night, without even paying his debts. He 
 then gave up his command and went back to 
 Spain. He left behind him a reputation that 
 has become a proverb for villainy, brutality, 
 and the butchery of Christian people. Never- 
 theless, after leaving Holland, he served his 
 king again with success in southern Europe. 
 In ten weeks he conquered Portugal, which 
 was united with the crown of Spain. 
 
 196 
 
H 
 H 
 < 
 CO 
 
 < 
 > 
 < 
 
NAARDEN, HAARLEM, ALKMAAR, LEYDEN 
 
 Philip appointed a new commander of the 
 Spanish army, Don Luis de Requesens, who 
 had won fame in fighting the Turks at the 
 battle of Lepanto. Great things were expected 
 of him. His first work was to collect at Ant- 
 werp a fleet of forty vessels in order to relieve 
 old Colonel Mondragon, who had been shut 
 up by the patriots in Middelburg for two 
 years. Hajf of the fleet of Requesens was met 
 by the Water Beggars, led by Admiral Boisot, 
 who attacked so fiercely that while Don Luis 
 stood on the top of a dike to watch the battle, 
 ten of his largest ships were destroyed. The 
 others sailed back to Antwerp. Again the 
 Beggars were masters of Zeeland and of the 
 sea. It had cost the king of Spain seven 
 million florins to hold Middelburg. Now, both 
 the city and the money were gone. 
 
 Nevertheless, it was hard for the Water 
 Beggars to keep alive ; for they had no wages. 
 They had to live upon what the people could 
 give them, or what they could get in their 
 captured prizes. For weeks together, they 
 had often nothing but hard bread and salted 
 herring. Yet they were no more afraid of 
 death than they were of hunger or hardships. 
 When one of their own ships was likely to 
 be captured, they were pretty sure to thrust 
 
 197 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 a torch into the powder magazine and blow 
 the vessel and themselves to pieces, rather 
 than be made prisoners. Gaunt, hairy, and 
 terribly scarred and mutilated were these des- 
 perate fellows. Many of their long beards 
 were now months old, because of their oath 
 not to shave or cut their hair till Egmont was 
 avenged. We shall hear of these Water Beg- 
 gars again and of Boisot, their commander, at 
 Leyden, which city was now being surrounded 
 by the Spaniards. The siege began October 
 
 31. 1573- 
 
 Louis of Nassau, brother of William, was 
 
 not very successful in his military movements, 
 and again he was doomed to defeat. He 
 raised an army of nearly ten thousand men, 
 mostly French, but with some Germans. He 
 crossed the Rhine from Germany and marched 
 to meet his brother William at Bommelwart, 
 with the idea of a joint movement for the relief 
 of Leyden, but on reaching the desolate heath 
 of Mook, the Spaniards, under Commander 
 Avila, met him. In the battle, which took 
 place April 14, 1574, the generous blood of 
 the Nassau princes again dyed red the soil of 
 the Netherlands. After his men had been 
 driven back by the lancers and musket-men 
 of Avila, Louis and Henry, the two brothers 
 
 198 
 
NAARDEN, HAARLEM, ALKMAAR, LEYDEN 
 
 of William the Silent, headed a desperate 
 cavalry charge and plunged into a whirlwind 
 of dust and blood. They were never again 
 seen, nor were their bodies found. It is be- 
 lieved that these were so trampled in the mire 
 by the horses' hoofs that they could not be 
 recognized. Not until a few years ago was a 
 monument erected to their memory, in the 
 little church of Mook near the battlefield. 
 
 In 1898, at the festivities at Queen Wil- 
 helmina's coronation, the people sang in the 
 Begijn Hof in Amsterdam, — 
 
 " For us the Nassau princes 
 Died on battlefield;" — 
 
 recalling the sad memories of Mookerheide. 
 
 Again Spanish bad management helped the 
 patriot cause. Philip's soldiers, who had not 
 been paid for three years, broke out into 
 mutiny and marched back to Antwerp, where 
 they lived on the citizens. While they were 
 there. Admiral Boisot dashed upon the Span- 
 ish fleet, captured five and burned three ves- 
 sels, seizing a large quantity of silver, which 
 had been put on the ship to save it from the 
 pillage of the Spanish soldiers. 
 
 From the 26th of March, 1574, when the 
 Spaniards left the forts in front of Leyden 
 to march south and fight Louis of Nassau 
 
 199 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 at Mook, the siege was interrupted for two 
 months. But on May 26, the people of Leyden 
 saw in the distance the blue and white ban- 
 ners of Alva, and the victorious Spaniards, led 
 by Valdez, reappeared. The Leyden people 
 had been so very glad to see their tormentors 
 gone that, during the two months' respite, 
 they had neglected to lay up stores of food 
 or to destroy the Spanish forts. Don Luis de 
 Requesens, knowing this, promptly sent back 
 eight thousand men to besiege the city, which 
 had no garrison except its own burgher guards. 
 The Spanish commander sent a letter, promis- 
 ing pardon to the Leydeners; but they an- 
 swered with a sheet of paper on which was 
 written : " The fowler plays sweet notes on his 
 pipe, while he spreads his net for the birds." 
 Valdez, in charge of the besieging force, built 
 sixty-two forts around the town, not only to 
 reduce the city by cannonading the walls, but 
 to prevent relief by any attack in the rear. 
 
 The prospect became very dark for the 
 Dutch, but they had one friend in reserve all 
 ready to fight for them. The ocean waves 
 were made to be allies with the Dutch against 
 the Spaniards. William of Orange, at Rotter- 
 dam, summoned Admiral Boisot with his ter- 
 rible band of Water Beggars, numbering nearly 
 
 200 
 
NAARDEN, HAARLEM, ALKMAAR, LEYDEN 
 
 a thousand scarred and maimed men, who 
 hated the Spaniards with a frenzy of passion 
 and were under oath to die rather than sub- 
 mit to the Pope or the Inquisition. One of 
 them, Captain Hoen, had with only eighteen 
 men, handling muskets and their long sharp- 
 pronged poles used in leaping ditches, killed 
 1 20 Spaniards on a narrow dike. The sea- 
 men manned two hundred flat-bottomed boats, 
 built at Delft, Schiedam, or Rotterdam, each 
 one being armed with a cannon at the bow. 
 One was an ironclad. Another was moved by 
 a wheel turned by twelve men. 
 
 When these boats were all ready, bands of 
 men were sent forward to cut the dikes. Be- 
 ginning at the sea, on the Hook of Holland, 
 and running westward forty miles through the 
 country is a great dike, in some places thirty 
 or forty feet high and thick enough to have a 
 wagon road, or street, on the top. This wall of 
 earth protects South Holland from the ocean 
 and river floods, but now necessity required 
 it to be broken through. At Rotterdam and 
 Delf shaven, great breaches many feet wide 
 were now cut into this dike, and through them 
 the waters rolled in, making a lake all the way 
 to Leyden. " Better a drowned land than a 
 lost land " was the Dutch motto. Meanwhile, 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 inside the city the people were feeding on 
 roots, leaves, chaff, and boiled hides, while the 
 ladies ate their pet dogs. The plague broke 
 out, and, with disease and famine, over six 
 thousand people had died ; yet still the burgo- 
 master. Van der Werf , refused to surrender. 
 
 At first the wind was unfavorable and there 
 was not enough water to float the rescuing 
 boats northward, but just at the end of the five 
 months, the wind changed to the northwest. 
 The waters of the river Maas rolled over the 
 country, covering it so that only tall trees and 
 house-tops stuck up out of the water. The 
 boats of the Water Beggars dashed in, and, 
 after terrible fighting, all the forts were taken, 
 except Lammen, the largest of all. Admiral 
 Boisot sent a message by a carrier pigeon to 
 the Leydenese, telling them to make a sally 
 next morning, but that night, October 2, 1574, 
 several wonderful things happened. A large 
 part of the city wall fell down into the ditch, 
 and the Spaniards evacuated their fort, leaving 
 it so suddenly that they did not take time to 
 eat their supper, but left the pot boiling over 
 the fire, with the hodge-podge of meat and 
 vegetables cooking in it. 
 
 Early in the morning, October 3, a boy 
 named Gijsbert Cornellisen climbed up the 
 
NAARDEN, HAARLEM, ALKMAAR, LEYDEN 
 
 city walls. Seeing the Spanish fort deserted, 
 he waded and swam out to it. Standing on 
 the rampart, he waved his cap to the Water 
 Beggars, telling them the fort was empty. 
 Then he took the Spanish cooking pot into 
 the city, as proof that Leyden was saved. The 
 Water Beggars now drove their boats along 
 the canals leading into the city and were soon 
 within. As the men, women, and children, 
 gaunt, pale, and tottering, came down to the 
 side of the quay, the rescuers tossed up loaves 
 of bread and bundles of herring. 
 
 As soon as most of the people had satisfied 
 their hunger. Admiral Boisot and Burgomaster 
 Van der Werf led the procession, and all went 
 to the great church of St. Peter's to give 
 thanks to God who had made a sea upon the 
 dry land, and rescued them, his way being 
 upon the deep and his path upon the great 
 waters. By a wonderful Providence, the wind 
 soon changed to the northeast, drove back the 
 waters into the ocean again, and dried up the 
 floods. The dikes were again repaired and 
 the land was ready for seed. The admiral 
 was presented with a chain of gold, and the 
 poor were given more money and provisions. 
 Even the carrier pigeons were kept with great 
 care while they lived, and, after their death, 
 
 203 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 were stuffed and put in the town hall. There, 
 doubtless, years afterwards, the Pilgrim boys 
 and girls, founders of Massachusetts, who lived 
 in Leyden from 1610 to 1620, enjoyed seeing 
 them. The Spanish cooking pot and battle 
 flags are still kept in the city museum. 
 
 To reward the Leyden people for their 
 bravery, a fair was established, in addition to 
 the Kermis, to be held every year on the first 
 of October, and a university was established 
 and endowed with land. The third of Oc- 
 tober, the day of the rescue, was ever after- 
 wards Thanksgiving Day, and here the Pil- 
 grims first kept, with the Dutch, this annual 
 festival. Only instead of eating turkey and 
 cranberry sauce, it was the custom of the 
 Leydenese to have " huts-pot " or hodge-podge 
 of stewed meat and vegetables as the main 
 dish. The city museum of Leyden still con- 
 tains many relics of the great siege and of the 
 war for freedom. Merchants came from all 
 parts of the world to show their goods at the 
 annual fair. Leyden became even a greater 
 centre of the wool trade and clothmaking 
 than it had been before, and its wealth in- 
 creased. The city was enlarged and the uni- 
 versity grew to be one of the most famous in 
 the world. In it some of the Pilgrim Fathers 
 
 204 
 
NAARDEN, HAARLEM, ALKMAAR, LEYDEN 
 
 were educated, as well as the sons of John 
 Adams, besides hundreds of Americans, and 
 nearly five thousand young men from the 
 British Isles. 
 
 205 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 ENGLAND HELPS HOLLAND 
 
 It seemed impossible that brave little Holland, 
 with only six thousand square miles of solid 
 land and less than a million people, could 
 maintain the long battle against so powerful 
 a monarch as Philip and so rich a kingdom 
 as Spain. The Dutch therefore looked about 
 for some sovereign who would defend them. 
 But to whom should they apply — to Germany, 
 England, or France ? For the best of reasons 
 they turned to England, whose queen was a 
 descendant of the ancient counts of Holland. 
 Through Philippa, wife of Edward HI., the 
 Virgin Queen Elizabeth was a kinswoman to 
 the Duteh, who now wished her to become 
 the countess of Holland and the ruler of the 
 Netherlands. 
 
 On the other side, the Spaniards dispatched 
 a high lord to Elizabeth, begging her not to 
 help the Dutch rebels. Thus the English 
 queen was placed, as it were, between two fires. 
 She did not want a war with Spain, nor did 
 206 
 
. ENGLAND HELPS HOLLAND 
 
 she altogether approve of subjects rebelling 
 against their sovereign. So the envoys from 
 both countries were kept waiting a good while 
 in London, and given many flatteries and pro- 
 mises ; for Elizabeth was a coquette, in both 
 love and politics. 
 
 Meanwhile the Spaniards were successful in 
 South Holland on land, but the Water Beggars 
 kept the orange, white, and blue flag afloat 
 on the sea. In order to stop their successes, 
 Requesens gathered a fine army of soldiers 
 and once more bade them plunge like spaniels 
 into the water. 
 
 The bold and fierce Spaniards, hoping to 
 capture the defiant little city of Zierikzee, fol- 
 lowed at night time a slippery submarine path, 
 which had been shown them by some Dutch 
 deserters. With powder and provisions for 
 three days tied about their necks, and with 
 their muskets held above their heads, they 
 marched across the wide Zype waters by 
 night. Their path was lighted only by the 
 flashes of lightning during a terrible storm. 
 After beating the French, Scotch, and Eng- 
 lish allies at the top of the dike, the Spaniards 
 laid siege to the town of Bommenede; but 
 not until three weeks had passed could they 
 take it, and then only by assault. When they 
 207 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 moved on Zierikzee, the people cut the dikes 
 and so flooded the country that the Spaniards 
 could encamp only on the tops of the dikes or 
 stay in their forts. Consequently, the work of 
 the blockade was both tedious and costly. 
 
 In North Holland, the Spaniards made very 
 little progress, and on the fifth of March, 1576, 
 they lost their leader, Don Luis de Requesens, 
 who did one good thing before he died. He 
 introduced into the Netherlands the custom 
 of reckoning the beginning of the year, or 
 New Year's Day, from January first, instead 
 of from Easter eve. The successor of Reque- 
 sens was Don John of Austria. 
 
 All hope of help from England having 
 ceased, Zierikzee surrendered, June 21, 1576, 
 but the Spaniards again lost ground by a mu- 
 tiny among the troops. Although the Hol- 
 landers were so poor, they were honest. Their 
 credit in the money market was good, and the 
 faith which they kept one with the other en- 
 abled them to continue the war, while the king 
 of Spain, with all the wealth of the new world 
 at his back, could not pay his soldiers. When 
 he was heavily in debt to the Spanish and 
 Genoese merchants and bankers, he found a 
 new way of getting rid of them. He did not 
 abscond, as Alva did from Amsterdam, but he 
 
 20S 
 
ENGLAND HELPS HOLLAND 
 
 obtained from the Pope permission to break 
 his promises. So the poor money-lenders got 
 only thanks and compliments, but no coin. 
 Is it any wonder that the Spaniards, notwith- 
 standing their tremendous army and navy, 
 could make very little progress ? 
 
 After Zierikzee, the Spanish mutineers 
 wasted the open country, marched into Brabant, 
 and seized the town of Alost. In two or three 
 battles, during the year 1576, they beat the 
 patriot troops and then stormed and pillaged 
 Maastricht. Knowing that Antwerp would be 
 the next place to which the mutineers would 
 go, twenty-one new regiments of raw troops 
 were sent into the city as its garrison. The 
 Spaniards, with that sense of power which 
 came from their superb discipline, did not 
 hesitate to attack the rich city. They cap- 
 tured the entrenchments, drove back the raw 
 troops, and at midday began the loot. They 
 burned the town hall, with its archives of pre- 
 cious documents, and five hundred houses in 
 the richest quarter of the city. By dark they 
 had obtained entire possession of Antwerp. 
 They rushed into the houses, murdering men, 
 women, and children. Catholics and Protestants 
 alike, until about twenty-five hundred corpses 
 of the citizens strewed the streets. 
 209 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 For three days, November 2, 3, and 4, 1576. 
 the city was given up to what was ever after- 
 wards known as the " Spanish Fury." The 
 robbers, after seizing two million crowns worth 
 of money, besides jewels, plate, and furniture, 
 squandered most of it in gambling and de- 
 bauchery'. The wretches could not carry their 
 booty with them, so, in order to keep their 
 gold, they had much of it melted up into sword 
 hilts and breastplates ; but the goldsmiths 
 showed that the biters could be bit, for they 
 alloyed the gold one half with copper. 
 
 This horrible sack of a friendly city and 
 the murder of so many Catholics led to good 
 results. It stirred up England and her mighty 
 queen, and they became allies of the Dutch. 
 It gave the great statesman William the oppor- 
 tunity for which he had long waited, and which 
 he quickly improved. Within four days, under 
 his influence, there was formed, and signed 
 November 8, what is called the Pacification of 
 Ghent, which bound the Netherland provinces 
 together in union against their enemy. Im- 
 mediately there was great joy throughout all 
 the Low Countries. The seventeen provinces 
 of the Netherlands were now united together 
 as one. 
 
 When Don John of Austria, the new com- 
 210 
 
ENGLAND HELPS HOLLAND 
 
 mander, arrived, the Netherlanders compelled 
 him to accept the terms of the new constitu- 
 tion. This young man was thirty years of age 
 and had been at the battle of Lepanto. Many 
 people thought that he would be the deliverer 
 of the country, but William of Orange thor- 
 oughly mistrusted him, and soon he showed 
 himself to be a traitor; for he seized Namur 
 by fraud and force. The States found that he 
 could not be trusted. The people turned to 
 William of Orange as their leader, and he was 
 elected " ruward," or governor, of Brabant, one 
 of the highest posts of honor and power in 
 the land. 
 
 The Flemish noblemen, however, were very 
 jealous of William ; for they considered him 
 a German rather than a Dutchman, and his 
 course offended the duke of Aarschot, who, 
 with some other young men, had invited Mat- 
 thias, the archduke of Austria, and brother of 
 the emperor of Germany, to be the governor 
 of the United Netherlands. 
 
 The cause of William of Orange was the 
 cause of the Dutch people. It was soon greatly 
 strengthened by the queen of England making 
 a treaty with the Netherlands as an independ- 
 ent power. She promised to send ten thou- 
 sand horse and five thousand foot soldiers, and 
 
 211 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 to supply another loan of about half a million 
 dollars. Not long after, in 1578, Amsterdam 
 left the side of the king, embraced the Reformed 
 religion, and helped the patriot cause. On the 
 other hand, the king of Spain sent reenforce- 
 ments under the control of the prince of Parma, 
 so that the royalist army amounted to 16,000 
 infantry and 7000 cavalry. To excite the 
 consciences of those Catholics who were Dutch 
 patriots, the Pope proclaimed a crusade against 
 the heretics. He blessed the banner of Don 
 John, which had on it a crucifix with the le- 
 gend, " By this sign I have conquered the 
 Turks, and by this sign I will conquer the 
 heretics." 
 
 William of Orange stirred up the congress 
 to raise an army to meet that of Don John 
 and Parma ; but the states were slow, being di- 
 vided by personal jealousy, and disaster again 
 visited them. A battle was fought at Gem- 
 blours, in which the Spaniards killed 6000 of 
 the patriots, though they lost only a dozen 
 themselves, while Parma gained a great repu- 
 tation as a soldier. 
 
 Moved to action, the Netherlands states called 
 for an army of 20,000 men, but the condition 
 of the country still continued to be wretched. 
 There were constant quarrels between the 
 
ENGLAND HELPS HOLLAND 
 
 Protestants and Catholics, and the campaign 
 of the States' army yielded nothing. 
 
 The root of the difficulty was in religion. 
 The far-seeing William, prince of Orange, had 
 long doubted whether the people of the free 
 churches, which were governed by themselves, 
 and those of the churches ruled from Rome, 
 could or would work well together. He him- 
 self had been a Catholic, a Lutheran, and a 
 Calvinist in succession. But whatever form 
 of the Christian faith he professed, he would 
 have nothing to do with persecution of others. 
 He was tolerant and believed in freedom of 
 conscience. He was the first of modern rulers 
 to protect the Anabaptists, whom other rulers 
 were torturing or murdering. He wondered 
 why good men did not believe with himself in 
 soul liberty. 
 
 He now began to plan a new and more per- 
 fect union of those states which had most fully 
 and heartily accepted the principles of the 
 Reformation. With the help of his brother, 
 John of Nassau, he secured a federation of the 
 seven northern provinces of the Netherlands, 
 in which, since the majority of the people were 
 of the Reformed faith, toleration for all kinds 
 of belief might be secured. 
 
 The delegates assembled for conference at 
 213 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 Utrecht, and after long discussion the federa- 
 tion of the states was accomplished. This was 
 the celebrated Union of Utrecht, signed Janu- 
 ary 23, 1579, by which the United States of the 
 Netherlands came into being, with a written 
 constitution, and under the red, white, and blue 
 flag, a union that was to last for over two hun- 
 dred years, and on which the Dutch republic 
 was to be built. This event is a landmark in 
 the history of freedom ; for it exerted a power- 
 ful influence in the making of the English 
 commonwealth and the American republic. 
 
 On the military side, the cause of freedom 
 made slow progress. Maastricht was besieged 
 and taken by the Spaniards. Renneburg, the 
 stadholder of Friesland, in 1580, turned traitor 
 and joined the ranks of the enemy. He was 
 the Arnold of the Dutch cause. Yet the king 
 of Spain did not keep his promises, and the 
 foolish and wicked man, Renneburg, lost doubly 
 by this perfidy. There was an insurrection of 
 the Frisian peasantry against the state troops, 
 who were brutal, exacting, and licentious. 
 These peasants carried as a banner the half of 
 an egg shell, to show that they had nothing to 
 fight for but a shell ; for they had been robbed 
 of everything else. The active Spaniards be- 
 sieged Steenwijk and captured Breda. 
 
 214 
 
ENGLAND HELPS HOLLAND 
 
 The prince of Parma blockaded Cambrai, 
 which was soon in desperate straits for pro- 
 visions. One historian tells of a wedding feast 
 given there during the siege. This, in the first 
 course, was a salad dressed with vinegar, with- 
 out oil or salt. Next came a dish of hash, 
 made of horse flesh, which was set at the top 
 of the table, while at the bottom was the boiled 
 joint of an ass. In the middle were roasts of 
 horse rib on one side and two roasted cats on 
 the other, with a potpie made of cats in the 
 middle. The dessert was radishes and onions, 
 without salt. Yet Parma did not take Cam- 
 brai and had to retreat ; for the duke of Anjou 
 had come from France to its relief, and to him 
 the states of the Netherlands had offered the 
 countship, or sovereignty. 
 
 Hitherto the states had issued their com- 
 missions to their officers in the name of the 
 king of Spain ; but being convinced that he 
 would never grant liberty of conscience, they 
 dropped the fiction and faced the reality. In 
 July, 1 58 1, the United Netherlands published 
 their declaration of independence. They de- 
 posed Philip, and declared themselves sov- 
 ereign states. They resolved never again to 
 come under the control of the Spanish mon- 
 arch, no matter what should happen. Besides 
 215 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 a defeat of the Dutch troops and allies under 
 the English commander, Sir John Norris, Wil- 
 liam of Orange lost this year the services of 
 his spy in Madrid, who, as secretary of the 
 king of Spain, had for ten years supplied him 
 with secret information. This man, Andreas, 
 was discovered, tried, and condemned. Each 
 of his hands and legs was tied to a wild horse. 
 The four animals were then driven with whips, 
 and the unfortunate sufferer was pulled to 
 pieces. 
 
 While the duke of Anjou was being installed 
 at Antwerp as duke of Brabant, February i8, 
 1582, an attempt was made to assassinate Wil- 
 liam of Orange. This was but one of several 
 efforts to get the Dutch leader out of the way. 
 The fanatic fired a pistol into William's face, 
 being so near that the skin was burned. The 
 bullet went into the jaw, but William recovered. 
 The assassin, who was a Spaniard twenty-three 
 years old, was instantly put to death. During 
 William's illness he was tenderly nursed by 
 his wife, Charlotte of Bourbon, a lady of very 
 romantic history, who died soon after her hus- 
 band recovered, the shock being too great for 
 her. She left six daughters, all of whom grew 
 up to be good and noble women, and prin- 
 cesses of fame. 
 
 216 
 
ENGLAND HELPS HOLLAND 
 
 The poor Netherlands were still in a sad 
 plight ; for while Philip prepared to push the 
 war with greater vigor, the soldiers of Anjou 
 harmed rather than helped the cause of free- 
 dom. At Antwerp, on January i8, 1583, there 
 was a " French fury ; " that is, the French sol- 
 diers rushed into the city expecting to kill, 
 burn, and rob, as the Spaniards had already 
 done before them ; but in this case the citizens 
 acted with such energy and defended them- 
 selves so bravely, that the whole affair miser- 
 ably failed. By this time, the Dutchmen had 
 had enough of foreign help. They were tired 
 of seeking princes from other lands, and dis- 
 gusted with them. From this day forth, they 
 depended upon themselves, raising up both 
 soldiers and rulers at home. 
 
 But just when they were about to decide to 
 make William of Orange, who had long de- 
 clined the honor, count of Holland, in place 
 of their deposed prince, Philip of Spain, the 
 great man was slain by an assassin. Balthazar 
 Gerard, a young man only twenty-six years 
 old, pretending to be the son of a rnartyr of 
 the Reformed faith, secured entrance into the 
 chamber of William, in Delft, and actually 
 got from him some money. With this he 
 bought two pistols, loading one with three bul- 
 217 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 lets. The next day, July lo, 1584, coming to 
 get his passport, he fired at the prince just 
 after he had risen from the dinner table and 
 was mounting the stairway, and killed him. 
 The assassin was put to death with horrible 
 tortures, such as are now employed only by 
 savages, but which were then used by all Eu- 
 ropean nations. 
 
 William was buried with unique honors in 
 the great church at Delft, in which all the 
 princes of the house of Orange have since 
 been laid, and where to-day his splendid tomb 
 may be seen. He was the fourth of the five 
 sons of his mother, who, for their adopted 
 country, had poured out blood as well as for- 
 tune. William had been four times married. 
 His first wife was Anne of Egmont ; his sec- 
 ond, Anne of Saxony ; his third, Charlotte de 
 Bourbon ; and his fourth, Louise de Coligny. 
 At his death, he left ten daughters and three 
 sons. Of the latter, one had been kept in 
 Spain and made a Jesuit, Maurice was the 
 young general, and the baby, Frederick Henr}', 
 lived to become the stadholder. William's 
 great and good wife, who survived him, Louise 
 de Coligny, brought up her own son, Frederick 
 Henry, and married all the daughters into 
 princely houses, so that the blood of William 
 
 218 
 
ENGLAND HELPS HOLLAND 
 
 the Silent runs in the veins of nearly all the 
 royal families of Europe, making a most won- 
 derful " Orange tree." 
 
 William was the leader of the great popular 
 movement which brought independence of 
 Spain and secured the rise of the Dutch Re- 
 public. He has always been called Pater 
 Patriae, the Father of his Country, or the 
 Father of the Fatherland. All over the Nether- 
 lands, the friends of Spain celebrated the 
 assassination with joy, and kindled bonfires to 
 show their delight. At Bois le Due, in the 
 morning, the priests sang a Te Deum, but at 
 night the lightning struck the church belfry 
 and destroyed it, the rest of the town being 
 unhurt. It is one of the strange things in his- 
 tory that sweet and tender hymns of praise to 
 God, like the Te Deum, should be so often 
 chosen to celebrate murder and bloodshed and 
 the triumph of force and fraud. 
 
 The Spaniards thought that now the Dutch, 
 having lost their leader, would yield, but in- 
 stead of this, they began to improve their army 
 and to fight more earnestly. The statesman, 
 John of Barneveldt, was especially active in 
 providing money and supplies. Under the 
 new treaty made with England, Queen Eliza- 
 beth sent over, late in 1585, a large fleet and 
 219 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 army, with the earl of Leicester as governor- 
 general of the English forces. His arrival at 
 Flushing was celebrated with great splendor. 
 
 Parma besieged Antwerp, then under com- 
 mand of Marnix, and by building a bridge 
 across the river Scheldt, succeeded after some 
 months in capturing the once rich city. He 
 made his triumphal entry on August 30, 1585. 
 After this, the Belgian provinces became obedi- 
 ent to the king of Spain, and henceforth took 
 no further part in the struggle for liberty. 
 Antwerp lost its best citizens, mostly men of 
 the Reformed faith, who emigrated to England 
 or went to live in Holland, so that Amsterdam 
 soon became the richest city in Europe. 
 
 The English earl of Leicester made himself 
 very unpopular in the Netherlands. His fail- 
 ures were more frequent than his successes, 
 and his blunders were very disastrous. Soon 
 there were quarrels between him and his sover- 
 eign, and between him and the States-General. 
 At Warnsveld, near Zutphen, the popular 
 knight and scholarly soldier, Sir Philip Sidney, 
 was wounded, and afterwards died in the same 
 year, 1586, which saw the decease of Cardinal 
 Granvelle and the parents of Parma. Sluys 
 was besieged and Leicester was recalled. 
 
 For years the great Spanish Armada had 
 
ENGLAND HELPS HOLLAND 
 
 been preparing to invade England, conquer its 
 people, and annex the country to Spain. The 
 army of the duke of Parma was to cooperate 
 with this fleet, land, and govern England ; but 
 Parma had no ships, only boats, and these 
 were blockaded by the Water Beggars, so that 
 they could not get out to cross the channel. 
 The Invincible Armada was destroyed in Brit- 
 ish waters in 1588, many of the Dutch ships 
 assisting the English, and Spain was again 
 humbled. Parma could not even invade Hol- 
 land ; for just when he had his soldiers ready 
 to do so, they broke out into mutiny. The 
 Dutch and English, uniting together, sent a 
 fleet southward to " singe the king of Spain's 
 beard," and captured Lisbon in Portugal. 
 
 221 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 PRINCE MAURICE THE UNION GENERAL 
 
 The young Prince Maurice, first son of William 
 of Orange, was made captain-general of the 
 union of the states. He began his brilliant 
 career in 1590, by capturing Breda through a 
 stratagem. Picking out sixty-eight brave boys 
 and young men, he packed them under the 
 deck of a loaded turf-boat. The vessel was 
 brought by the master up to the walls of the 
 city. Then the Spanish soldiers took hold of 
 the rope and pulled the craft along the canal 
 into the city. It being very cold, the turf was 
 much wanted, so that part of the cargo was 
 unloaded very fast. At dark, the skipper, giv- 
 ing the soldiers some money for drink, bade 
 them good-evening, telling them to come in 
 the morning. At midnight, the brave Dutch- 
 men crept out noiselessly, seized the citadel, 
 and signaled to the Dutch and English troops 
 outside. These were soon thundering at the 
 gates, and the town was captured. Barneveldt, 
 who suggested the enterprise, was handsomely 
 
 rewarded. 
 
 222 
 
PRINCE MAURICE THE UNION GENERAL 
 
 The young soldier, Maurice, was made stad- 
 holder. He was not a great statesman, like his 
 father, but he was a much more skillful soldier 
 and engineer. William had never won a battle. 
 Maurice was to be victor in many of them, He 
 had the invaluable assistance of the civilian, 
 John of Barneveldt, one of the greatest states- 
 men in all the history of Holland. Working 
 together hand in hand, the man of the sword 
 and the man of the pen created a native army 
 which became the finest in Europe. These 
 soldiers of the republic were not aliens, fight- 
 ing for pay, but young and brave patriots full 
 of zeal and hope for their country. They were 
 well clothed, well fed, and moral in their habits 
 of life. They were governed by a code which 
 required strict obedience to the laws of God 
 and man. As they received their wages regu- 
 larly, there were no mutinies in the Dutch 
 army, nor anything like the disgraceful scenes 
 from which even the friends of the Spaniards 
 suffered. This code of military laws was after- 
 wards borrowed, with improvements, for use in 
 Virginia, and under Governor Dale made the 
 settlement of Jamestown a success. It also 
 became a basis of the new model army in 
 the English Commonwealth, under which the 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 soldiers of Lord Fairfax and Cromwell were 
 trained. 
 
 Money is the sinews of war. No nation can 
 have or hold very long a good army, unless the 
 war chest is kept full. To get coin by borrow- 
 ing, there must first be credit. To raise cash 
 from the people, there must be a good system 
 of taxes. Barneveldt was the great and wise 
 statesman who kept up the credit of Holland. 
 He carefully calculated what the people were 
 able to pay. Almost everything was taxed — 
 houses, lands, horses, dogs, carriages, chim- 
 neys, and windows, besides beer, wine, tobacco, 
 starch, and other luxuries and necessities. In 
 the main, the people paid their taxes cheer- 
 fully, because they themselves had voted them. 
 It is astonishing what a large revenue was 
 raised from starch, but all kinds of ruffs, cuffs, 
 quilted linen, wide, flat collars, caps and capes, 
 aprons, and everything that could show a glis- 
 tening, snow-white surface were in fashion, and 
 the Dutch had more underclothing, better laun- 
 dries, and used more soap and water than any 
 other people in Europe. 
 
 There was not much fighting in the open, 
 but a great deal was done by means of sieges 
 and defense. War became more a matter of 
 science and mathematics. Campaigns seemed 
 
 224 
 
PRINCE MAURICE THE UNION GENERAL 
 
 rather like games of chess, in which the walled 
 cities stood for so many pieces, to be moved on 
 or off the board. In the whole of the Nether- 
 lands, in the time of Alva, there were 208 
 walled cities, 150 chartered towns, and 6300 
 villages, with their watch towers and steeples, 
 besides many more hamlets. To guard the 
 country, there were sixty great fortresses. Yet 
 it must be remembered that the greater popu- 
 lation and the larger number of cities were in 
 the southern, or Belgic Netherlands, and that 
 the seven Dutch united states, formed by the 
 Union of Utrecht, did not have, all together, a 
 million people. Probably there were not as 
 many as fifty walled cities, though among these 
 latter were some very strong fortresses. 
 
 The usual method in war, when Maurice 
 first took command, was for an army to invest 
 a city, dig intrenchments, and set up lines of 
 fortifications, making forts with earth walls 
 or redoubts of sandbags. Gabions, made by 
 weaving osiers or the branches of trees around 
 poles — high, hollow structures, looking like 
 baskets — were much used. These were filled 
 with earth and the cannon posted behind them. 
 After the artillery had pounded the walls and 
 made a breach, an assault was ordered, and the 
 town was stormed. Ladders, hooks, and ropes 
 
 225 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 having been made ready, the nimble men scaled 
 parts of the walls, usually at an angle, while 
 the most of the garrison were massed at the 
 breach, to resist the main attack. The gates 
 once opened, the cavalry rushed in. 
 
 Maurice, by using new plans, developed the 
 art of war. His cannon, both for field and 
 siege, were heavier than had been known be- 
 fore, and his work was more speedy. In a bril- 
 liant and successful campaign of five months, 
 in 1 59 1, he captured Zutphen, Deventer, Hulst, 
 Nymegen, beside Delfzyl and many smaller 
 forts. Then, as the winter rains were coming 
 on and Barneveldt was ill, he put his troops 
 into comfortable quarters and went to The 
 Hague. There he was welcomed by the peo- 
 ple with the highest joy. Maurice had taken 
 for his blazon a young sapling growing from 
 beside the stump of a tree, which had been cut 
 down, with the motto, " At length the sprout 
 becomes the tree." All the people felt that the 
 promise had been redeemed, and the prophecy 
 fulfilled. 
 
 The next year, 1592, the same in which the 
 duke of Parma died, Maurice captured Steen- 
 wijk and Coevorden. In 1593, the famous siege 
 and capture of Geertruydenburg took place, 
 and following this the city of Groningen. In 
 
 226 
 
THE ASSAULT < 
 
)N COEVORDEN 
 
PRINCE MAURICE THE UNION GENERAL 
 
 1597 he gained a brilliant victory at Turnhout, 
 and then captured a Hne of forts, one after an- 
 other, at Aplen, Thynberg, Meurs, Grol, etc. 
 In this campaign, the youngest son of William 
 of Orange, Frederick Henry, though only thir- 
 teen years of age, took part. Then still another 
 line of fortresses fell into his hands. 
 
 Various attempts were made by different 
 envoys to bring about peace between Spain 
 and the Netherlands, but the Dutch insisted 
 on freedom of conscience, which the Spanish 
 king would not grant. When in the Belgian, 
 or southern provinces, a woman was put to 
 death by being buried alive for heresy, which 
 meant being a Protestant, the detestation and 
 horror of the Spanish system increased. 
 
 Meanwhile the Dutch, beginning with Com- 
 mander Houtman in 1595, sent their explorers 
 into all parts of the world and opened the com- 
 merce of Java, the Spice Islands, and the Far 
 East. One day, while Maurice was before his 
 camp at Grave, in 1602, two envoys from the 
 Malay state of Atjeh came to him, bringing 
 presents and asking for his friendship. Soon 
 the Japanese and Chinese became regular and 
 profitable customers. They did not care for 
 butter or cheese, with which the Dutch at first 
 tried them, but they were glad to exchange 
 227 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 their silk, tea, and metals for Dutch manufac- 
 tures. The Dutch prospered in the trade, mak- 
 ing from the spices and fruits, gems and gold, 
 and various products, millions of guilders, by 
 which they could keep up their army and navy. 
 Thus they were enabled to pay their great war 
 debts as they went along, and to win their 
 Asiatic empire of Insulinde, or Island India. 
 
 The States-General became so exultant over 
 their brightening prospects that the invasion 
 of Flanders was determined upon. Maurice 
 did not believe this was the thing to be 
 done ; but, like a good soldier, he obeyed. At 
 Newport, July i, 1600, he won a tremendous 
 victory over the enemy. It was a stoutly con- 
 tested conflict in the open field, with infantry, 
 cavalry, and artillery, the English allies taking 
 a noble part in it. Over one hundred battle 
 flags, taken from the Spaniards, were hung up 
 in the great Hall of the Knights, at The Hague, 
 where the States-General met. 
 
 Notwithstanding the glory of this great vic- 
 tory of the republican army, trouble arose at 
 this time, which continued for many years, be- 
 tween the young general and the older states- 
 man Barneveldt. Maurice was often obliged 
 to take orders from his civilian superiors that 
 were against his judgment as a soldier, and by 
 
 228 
 
PRINCE MAURICE THE UNION GENERAL 
 
 obeying them, he failed to win the victories 
 which he believed he could gain if left to carry 
 out his own ideas. 
 
 A town on the seashore named Ostend was 
 besieged by the enemy, and thousands of men 
 were slaughtered. It seemed hardly worth 
 while to waste so many human lives and so 
 much money on this wretched little fishing vil- 
 lage among the sandhills. First surrounded 
 with palisades and a wooden gate to keep sol- 
 diers from marching through it, it was gradually 
 fortified by William of Orange, until it became 
 one of the strong places of the Netherlands, 
 and in 1601 it had a garrison of five thousand 
 men. A siege was then begun by the Span- 
 iards. For three years, from 1601 to 1604, fight- 
 ing went on, with an enormous loss on both 
 sides ; for the Zeeland patriots from the outside 
 were able to supply the garrison with plenty of 
 bread, beef, beer, fish, and vegetables. The be- 
 siegers poured in storms of cannon balls and 
 red-hot shot, but the townspeople covered their 
 houses with sod, making them fireproof against 
 the red-hot balls. Bomb shells, which were 
 new inventions, first made in 1587, by a man 
 in Venlo, were rained in ; but as each month 
 passed by, the place seemed fresher and 
 stronger than ever. 
 
 229 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 The States-General resolved that the defense 
 should be continued, no matter how many years 
 it might be necessary ; for their purpose was to 
 keep the Spanish army employed at Ostend, 
 so that they would not invade the Netherlands. 
 Consequently, the siege continued for nearly 
 four years. When surrender was made, the 
 garrison marched out with the honors of war. 
 The Spaniards entered it at last, to find no- 
 thing but ruins. Four million guilders and fifty 
 thousand men had been spent by the Dutch, 
 and more by the Spaniards. It was a long 
 while before the town was built up again. To- 
 day it is a bright and smiling watering-place, 
 where children play in the sand, and multitudes 
 who love fun rest, bathe, chat, and enjoy them- 
 selves. 
 
 At sea the Dutch sailors won as many naval 
 victories as the soldiers on land, so that at last 
 the king of Spain (not Philip 1 1., who had died 
 in 1598, but Philip III.) sent envoys to talk of 
 peace. Met by Maurice and the Dutch en- 
 voys, and riding in sleighs over the frozen 
 canals, the Spaniards came to The Hague as 
 guests and sat as friends in council with their 
 late enemies. 
 
 A truce for twelve years was agreed upon. 
 During this time, from 1609 to 1621, there was 
 to be no fighting. 
 
 230 
 
PRINCE MAURICE THE UNION GENERAL 
 
 With a dozen years of uninterrupted com- 
 merce in view, a great revival of business and 
 manufactures began. Many Walloons, or peo- 
 ple from the southern or Belgian Netherlands, 
 not liking Spanish or priestly rule, settled in 
 Holland. Thousands of Englishmen, not en- 
 joying life under King James I., were attracted 
 to the republic. They came to make money, 
 to study in the universities, to print books, as 
 they were free to do, or to worship God in the 
 way they desired. Among these people, mostly 
 from the eastern counties, were many from 
 London, and even from the Yorkshire, Notting- 
 ham, and Lincolnshire region, who afterwards 
 became the founders and settlers of New Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Holland's enemies had agreed to the truce 
 because they were hoping that the Dutch 
 would, as soon as they were free from a foreign 
 war, fight and quarrel among themselves, and 
 thus tear each other to pieces. They knew that 
 Maurice and Barneveldt had disagreed, and 
 that the Christians called Calvinists and Ar- 
 minians wasted no love on each other. 
 
 The Spaniards were partly right. As poli- 
 tics and religion were still mixed together, as 
 in the older time, the. quarrel broke- out only 
 too soon. There were many Dutch people who 
 231 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 held that " the Christian religion " meant only 
 that form of it which Calvin had taught ; but 
 a minority thought that their kind of Chris- 
 tianity, which Professor Arminius defended, 
 was the best. Religiously, the parties came to 
 be known as Remonstrants or Arminians, and 
 Contra-Remonstrants or Calvinists. 
 
 Politically, there was the feeling among some 
 that Maurice wanted to be king, while the 
 partisans of Maurice thought that Barneveldt 
 and his party favored Spain, and were receiv- 
 ing presents in gold from Philip III. The 
 proud and wealthy city people, who held most 
 of the offices, seemed to be on one side with 
 Barneveldt, while the military men, and most 
 of the common people, seemed to be on the 
 other with Maurice. A great many hard names 
 were called and bitter feelings gendered. The 
 parties seemed to be anti-Orange and Orange, 
 or, as the Orange partisans put it in Dutch, 
 " Spanje Oranje " — Spain or Orange ! 
 
 As passions waxed hotter, some of the states 
 and cities began to raise militia and to build 
 forts. This stirred up Maurice, the stadholder 
 and captain-general, who, with the union army, 
 changed many of the city governments, and 
 compelled the militia to lay down their arms. 
 At one time it looked as though there would 
 
 232 
 
PRINCE MAURICE THE UNION GENERAL 
 
 be a secession of the two richest states, Hol- 
 land and Utrecht, from the union. In 1600 
 Groningen had refused to pay its taxes and 
 furnish its share of soldiers, and had nullified 
 the national law. Then the Congress, or States- 
 General, had sent union soldiers to coerce the 
 state, and the danger of secession passed by. 
 Now, in 16 1 8, in much the same form, a greater 
 danger confronted the nation. Barneveldt, 
 Grotius the great lawyer and scholar, and 
 Hoogerbeets, pensionary of Rotterdam, were 
 arrested and imprisoned. 
 
 To settle the religious questions, a national 
 synod was called by the States-General, which 
 was held at Dordrecht in 1618 and 16 19. It 
 is sometimes called the First Protestant Ecu- 
 menical Council. This was made up of sixty- 
 six delegates from various Reformed countries. 
 The Arminians were not present as members, 
 but were cited to appear as offenders. After 
 154 sessions, lasting through six months, from 
 November 13, 1618, to May 6, 161 9, the doc- 
 trinal statements of the Reformed religion in 
 the Netherlands were fixed. The Arminians 
 were condemned, but the salaries of their minis- 
 ters were paid, and they were treated well when 
 they did not resist. 
 
 This " Synod of Dort " also did a good deal 
 233 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 to improve popular education and ordered a 
 new translation of the Bible to be made. This, 
 called the " States-General Version," is still the 
 standard one in Dutch, being one of the very 
 best ever made in any European language. It 
 is used by the boers, or farmers, and the peo- 
 ple generally, throughout the Netherlands, and 
 is the one book above all others among the 
 Boers of South Africa and the Dutch colonists 
 everywhere. 
 
 Nevertheless, the synod was almost entirely 
 under political influence. It was arranged and 
 directed by politicians. Five days after its ad- 
 journment. May 13, 161 9, Barneveldt was con. 
 demned to death. He was beheaded in the 
 Binnen Hof at The Hague. Grotius, impris- 
 oned at the castle of Loevenstein, got free by 
 a clever stratagem of his wife. She took his 
 place at the table, with his manuscripts, while 
 he was packed into a big box, which had been 
 used from time to time for bringing in and 
 carrying out books. Although he was nearly 
 smothered while in the chest, he got safely to 
 Gorkum, a half hour's sail distant down the 
 river, and thence traveled to Paris. There he 
 wrote that wonderful book, on war and peace 
 and the laws of nations, which first roused the 
 conscience of the civilized world, and which 
 
 234 
 
THE GREAT SYNl 
 
SVNOD OF DORT 
 
PRINCE MAURICE THE UNION GENERAL 
 
 has probably done more public good among 
 nations than any other book except the Bible. 
 It was one of the results of Grotius's work 
 that the International Peace Congress was 
 held at The Hague. At Delft a monument 
 and statue of Grotius show how his country- 
 men now honor him. On the 4th of July, 
 1899, the United States, by order of the gov- 
 ernment at Washington, laid a costly wreath 
 upon his grave in the great church, and cele- 
 brated his work by appropriate exercises, in- 
 cluding worship, oration, and a public dinner 
 in the city hall. 
 
 The war broke out again in 1621, and 
 Spinola, the new Spanish commander, laid 
 siege to Bergen-op-Zoon, but Maurice enlarged 
 the garrison and Spinola retreated. When 
 the Spanish silver fleet from the West Indies 
 reached Spain and there was more money to 
 pay the army, Spinola laid siege to Breda, 
 while Maurice was busy in other places. Bar- 
 neveldt was no longer living to furnish the 
 ready money to keep the Dutch war chest 
 full. Maurice found it hard work to get what 
 he had lost, — not only popularity, but also 
 some of his former skill. Disappointed and 
 vexed, he died in 1625. He was never mar- 
 ried. Maurice was one of the ablest generals 
 235 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 of Europe, but was not a man of pure life, and 
 there is to-day in Holland no monument to 
 his memory. 
 
 It was in the time of the great truce, 
 1609-162 1, and around the historic figures of 
 Maurice and Barneveldt, that the two politi- 
 cal parties formed which have existed to the 
 present time in the Netherlands. They pre- 
 serve the balance of power held by the national 
 government at the centre and locally in the 
 provinces, or between the union and the sepa- 
 rate states, the king and the people. 
 
 236 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE BLOOM OF THE REPUBLIC 
 
 Although Prince Maurice, the mighty gen- 
 eral, was dead, and Spain was still determined 
 to fight and subdue them, the Dutch people 
 were quite happy. This period, the middle of 
 the seventeenth century, stands out as one of 
 the most glorious in their history, and the 
 Dutch call it " our golden era." It was a time 
 of discoveries, inventions, and fine art. Com- 
 merce was flourishing and luxury abounded. 
 The Bank of Amsterdam, one of the first in 
 northern Europe, was established. Besides 
 the herring fisheries, there was great wealth 
 gained in hunting the whale. During the 
 summer months of the year, a Dutch city, 
 well called Smeerenburg, for it was a greasy 
 place, with nearly ten thousand persons, ex- 
 isted on Spitzbergen, the islands of the pointed 
 hills, so named by the Dutch. The red, white, 
 and blue flag floated on all seas. The bold 
 explorers and daring sailors were in all the 
 oceans, sailing to the East Indies and trying 
 237 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 to find a passage thither around the north of 
 Europe or America, discovering Cape Horn 
 and the Hudson river, while the great trading 
 corporation called the \\^est India Company, 
 jestingly called " John Company," formed in 
 1602, was making fortunes for its stockholders. 
 The East India Company was even more suc- 
 cessful, enriching those who held stock in it, 
 and building up a great colonial empire, now 
 called Insulinde, or Island India, in which 
 dwell thirty-five million subjects of the queen 
 of the Netherlands. 
 
 Before he died, Maurice had seen the mar- 
 riage of his brother and companion, Fred- 
 erick Henry, now becorhe stadholder, to a very 
 lovely and capable woman, Amalia Van Solms. 
 Frederick took the field, at the head of his 
 army, in 1627, and won a brilliant victory by 
 capturing Grol. Breda had surrendered to the 
 Spaniards, but then they were so exhausted 
 that they could do little against the Dutch, 
 and after a while Breda was recaptured. The 
 year 1632 was a brilliant one for Frederick 
 Henry. In 1639 Tromp destroyed the new 
 Spanish fleet. In 1645 Hulst was taken. The 
 Spaniards were now anxious for peace. 
 
 During this golden era, the Dutch artists 
 were painting those great pictures that still de- 
 
 238 
 
THE BLOOM OF THE REPUBLIC 
 
 light the world. Rembrandt and Franz Hals, 
 Paul Potter and Jan Steen, with scores of 
 others, were picturing comedy and tragedy, 
 telling stories or making jokes on canvasses ; 
 for those pictures of Dutch life which still 
 charm us were the novels of that time. The 
 country became famous for its new and beau- 
 tiful flowers brought from the Far East, as 
 well as for its hothouses and flower farms. 
 The tulips were of many colors, but new va- 
 rieties were constantly called for. The peo- 
 ple being rich and luxurious, there were many 
 curious fads and fashions. In 1637 the price 
 of tulips rose very high. Several persons 
 made large fortunes in the trade of bulbs, but 
 thousands more lost a great deal of money. 
 For many months even boys and girls, as well 
 as grown men and women, thought of nothing 
 else but of buying and selling tulips and of 
 trying to get rich in the business of gam- 
 bling with flowers. This tulipomania, as it 
 was called, finally died out, and the "wind 
 trade " was over. 
 
 Prince Frederick Henry died in 1647, at the 
 age of sixty-three. He had been a good sol- 
 dier, an able ruler, and a generous and sincere 
 man. His favorite book was Csesar's " Com- 
 mentaries," and he left behind him a volume of 
 239 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 memoirs. He almost worshiped the memory 
 of his father, and his motto was Patriceque, 
 patrique ; that is, "both for country and for 
 father." He was a man of peace, even more 
 than of war. He did much to heal the quar- 
 rels between the Calvinists and Arminians. 
 His widow built the pretty House in the 
 Wood, that cosy little palace which Ameri- 
 cans like to visit, in which the Peace Con- 
 gress of 1899 held its sessions. 
 
 During Prince Henry's rule, the intellect of 
 the Dutch bloomed brilliantly like their own 
 gardens. The arts, both of use and of beauty, 
 especially in glass staining, music, science, 
 learning, and literature, during this period, 
 have never been excelled. Beginning with 
 1625, we may say that the golden era was 
 closed in 1648, by the great peace of Miinster, 
 which meant the compliance of Spain with 
 such terms as the Dutch states dictated. This 
 treaty ended the long Eighty Years' War, 
 which had so exhausted Spain. In 1609, the 
 united efforts of France and England had not 
 been able to obtain what the Dutch now re- 
 ceived easily; namely, recognition by Spain of 
 the fact that the United Netherlands consti- 
 tuted a free and sovereign state, to which the 
 Spanish king, for himself and his successors, 
 
 240 
 
THE BLOOM OF THE REPUBLIC 
 
 renounced all title or claim forever. The river 
 Scheldt was to be kept closed, so that Holland 
 might, but Belgium could not profit by foreign 
 commerce. 
 
 This was an ungenerous clause, which dried 
 up Antwerp as a port and caused the Belgians 
 to remain for two hundred years an agricul- 
 tural and manufacturing, but not a commer- 
 cial people. For two centuries the southern 
 Netherlands, now called Belgium, was little 
 more than a piece of private property in the 
 pocket of the king of Spain or of Austria, 
 without any of the glorious history, which 
 the free republic of the Netherlands enjoyed. 
 When the river Scheldt was, in the last cen- 
 tury, opened to commerce, Antwerp thrived 
 like a tree planted by the rivers of water. 
 
 When Prince Frederick Henry's son grew 
 up, he married the princess royal of England, 
 though the bride was only eleven years old. 
 The marriage took place at the chapel of 
 Whitehall in London, on the first of May, 
 1 64 1. Although this seemed a very pretty 
 thing to do, yet it was bad for the Dutch 
 nation, and the beginning of a great many 
 troubles to the Dutch people ; for theirs being 
 a free republic without a court, and the stad- 
 holder being a president and not a king, he 
 241 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 was expected to be what he was and nothing 
 else, that is, holding power for the benefit of 
 the people. Each of the stadholders was " the 
 first servant of the States-General," but by- 
 marrying into royal families they were tempted 
 to take more authority than belonged to them. 
 They were liable to be filled with ambitions 
 which have no place in the mind of the true 
 servant of a republic. William II. became 
 stadholder in 1647, but died in 1650. 
 
 In fact, this policy of marrying into the 
 royal family of England, especially into the 
 family of the Stuarts, was one of the chief 
 causes of the ruin of the Dutch republic. 
 When civil war broke out in England between 
 the Cavaliers and the Roundheads, it was very 
 hard .for the Dutch to preserve peace. Not a 
 few of the quarrels, and much of the bloodshed 
 belonging properly to England, were trans- 
 ferred to Dutch soil. Among other outrages 
 was the assassination, in 1649, at The Hague, 
 of Dorislaus, Cromwell's advocate-general, who 
 was murdered by some followers of the earl 
 of Montrose. 
 
 Up to the middle of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, the Dutch ships had been the common 
 carriers on the ocean for pretty much all Eu- 
 rope, if not the whole world. They took not 
 
 242 
 
THE BLOOM OF THE REPUBLIC 
 
 only their butter, cheese, and other products 
 into England, France, America, and the Far 
 East, but they carried English wool, French 
 wine, Norway timber, and German wheat from 
 one country to another. The English looked 
 with jealous eyes upon this Dutch enterprise, 
 and upon the prosperity which it brought, and 
 resolved to enter upon the one and gain the 
 other. They set themselves not only to imi- 
 tate the Dutch in fisheries, in whale hunting, 
 and manufactures, but also to get the trade of 
 the sea. With this object in view, Parliament 
 in 165 1 passed what is called the Act of Navi- 
 gation. This act required that the produc- 
 tions of Asia, Africa, and America should be 
 brought into England only in English ships, 
 on which the greater part of the crew must be 
 English. Only silk and the precious metals 
 — gold and silver — brought from Italy were 
 excepted. Other European productions must 
 be imported only in ships belonging to the 
 country which produced these articles. 
 
 One could see in a moment that this Act of 
 Navigation was directed against the Dutch. 
 Salted fish, whales, and whale oil, which only 
 the Dutch exported, were forbidden to be car- 
 ried into England except in English vessels. 
 British men-of-war enforced these laws very 
 243 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 roughly. Their commanders also rigidly com- 
 pelled all ships, as they had done before, to 
 lower their topsails when meeting an English 
 war vessel in the seas immediately surround- 
 ing Great Britain. 
 
 Such aggressive politics led to a naval war 
 between the Dutch and English. Terrible 
 battles were fought near Plymouth, at Dover, 
 and at Folkestone, in which Admiral Tromp, 
 whom the British call " Van " Tromp, won 
 great glory. Dutch commerce seemed to be 
 nearly ruined for a while, and the American 
 colonies were also much affected for the worse. 
 Indeed, the colonists were nearly as bitterly 
 angered at the Navigation Act as were the 
 Dutchmen. In the end, this legislation proved 
 to be one great cause of the American Revo- 
 lution. British greed outstripped itself. The 
 gun kicked and hurt the gunner. 
 
 The Dutch were now enjoying the blessings 
 and suffering the woes of government by party. 
 While they had one ruler or sovereign, their 
 joys and sorrows were of another sort. Now 
 that they were free, they had the difficult task 
 of governing themselves. During the Great 
 Truce of 1609-162 1, what with the problems 
 of state sovereignty and national supremacy, 
 the union and secession, mixed up with theo- 
 
 244 
 
THE BLOOM OF THE REPUBLIC 
 
 logical questions of Calvinism and Arminian- 
 ism, their brains and hearts were well occupied. 
 " Spanje Oranje " was then the cry. In general 
 the plain people were with the house of Orange, 
 and the more aristocratic with the regents or 
 city politicians, the former laying emphasis on 
 having a strong central government, the latter 
 standing up stoutly for local freedom in state 
 and city. 
 
 For a number of years after the death of the 
 stadholder, William II., in 1650, and after long 
 and bitter quarrels between the Orange party 
 and the regents' party, or between the central- 
 izing and the municipal partisans, the Dutch 
 went without a stadholder and Holland be- 
 came a parliamentary republic. Increasingly 
 the politics of the Netherlands seemed to turn 
 on the question of Orange and anti-Orange, 
 and we shall see the results. 
 
 245 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 THE PARLIAMENTARY REPUBLIC 
 
 For over twenty years, from 1650 to 1672, the 
 government of the Netherlands was without a 
 stadholder, or president. The officer at the 
 head of the government was called a pension- 
 ary, which means simply one who receives a 
 salary. His name was John DeWitt. A man 
 of marked abilities, he lived in simple style. 
 He was always patriotic and faithful to his 
 duties. Those who had been jealous of the 
 power and influence of the house of Orange 
 were very glad to see the republic so well gov- 
 erned without any prince, but with only an 
 ordinary gentleman at the head of it. 
 
 During this time the English people, who 
 tolerate royalty only as long as royalty behaves 
 itself, had, on January 30, 1649, cut off the 
 head of their foolish and wicked ruler, Charles 
 I., and were doing without crowns and kings. 
 One would have supposed that the two repub- 
 lics on opposite sides of the North Sea, Eng- 
 lish and Dutch, would have been very friendly; 
 
 246 
 
THE PARLIAMENTARY REPtJBLIC 
 
 but it requires something else than similar 
 forms of government to make friendship be- 
 tween nations, especially when one wants to 
 make more money than the other and get away 
 a lucrative business. At the bottom of most 
 wars is that love of money, which is " a root of 
 all kinds of evil." 
 
 So after the English laws, which destroyed 
 the Dutch sea trade, had been passed, bitter- 
 ness and jealousy sprang up. This was espe- 
 cially so when the English seized the Dutch 
 ships. Admiral Martin Tromp, whose name 
 means a trumpet, and which has no " van " 
 before it, was sent to fight the English admiral, 
 Blake, who was beaten in a great battle. Ac- 
 cording to the story, Tromp nailed a broom 
 to his topmast, to show that he had swept the 
 English off the seas. Although it is not at all 
 certain that this ever happened, the nailing of 
 brooms to the mast after a victory, or the wear- 
 ing of little toy brooms after triumph in a boat 
 race, has since become a common custom. 
 
 Cromwell did not like to fight the Dutch, but 
 he had been told that they had insulted some 
 English sailors, which was not true. More 
 battles were fought, and in one of them, 
 August 8, 1653, the great Admiral Tromp was 
 slain. Other causes of bad feeling between the 
 247 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 two countries sprang up, but the war was on 
 the water only, and after a while envoys of the 
 two nations came together in London and made 
 a treaty of peace at Westminster. The chief 
 ambassador was Jacob Cats, whose wise, witty, 
 and funny sayings and poetry, much like Benja- 
 min Franklin's, are known all over Holland. 
 
 In 1660, after both Cromwell and his son 
 Richard had died, the English commonwealth 
 collapsed, and Charles II, became king. Al- 
 though Charles had been kindly treated in 
 Holland, he disliked the Dutch because of their 
 republican ideas and ways. He even forced 
 them to deliver up three of the judges who had 
 tried his father and sentenced him to death. 
 The king's brother, James, the duke of York, 
 went around like a pirate, capturing Dutch 
 ships wherever he could lay his hands on them. 
 Although it was a time of peace, in 1664, when 
 Governor Stuyvesant had no soldiers, he sent 
 warships and soldiers into the harbor of New 
 York, seized New Netherland, and made it 
 English territory. 
 
 In Holland, the partisans of Orange and of 
 DeWitt were very bitter against each other. 
 Their quarrels extended not only all over the 
 country, but even the sailors of the fleet were 
 divided in their opinions and sympathies. To 
 
 248 
 
THE PARLIAMENTARY REPUBLIC 
 
 strengthen the Dutch republic in the naval 
 war against England, called the " Second Eng- 
 lish Sea War," John DeWitt made an alliance 
 with France ; but in a great naval battle, off 
 North Foreland, in 1665, the Dutch lost nine- 
 teen ships. One of the sad results of this 
 disaster to the Dutch was the long and bitter 
 quarrel between young Tromp, son of the dead 
 admiral, and the gallant DeRuyter, who con- 
 ducted the retreat so admirably. 
 
 Then indeed it looked dark for Holland, but 
 the outlook became brighter when Admiral 
 Michael DeRuyter took command of the new 
 fleet of eighty-five men-of-war and sixteen fire- 
 ships. At first it was feared that his vessels 
 could not get out of the Zuyder Zee, on the 
 shores of which they had been built and pro- 
 visioned ; for the wind was blowing southwest- 
 wardly. There was a narrow and shallow pas- 
 sage called the " Spaniards' Hole," through 
 which the fleet might possibly go, but the 
 sailors hesitated, and even the pilot said that 
 they could not get through. 
 
 Then John DeWitt, though only a lawyer 
 and not a seaman, went out in a boat with lead 
 and line, sounding the way through the Span- 
 iards' Hole. He found that there was water 
 deep enough, and that DeRuyter's fleet could 
 249 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 quickly get out to sea. So the long line of 
 vessels sailed gallantly out, moved over the 
 North Sea, and then steered southwardly, meet- 
 ing the English fleet. In 1666, a battle last- 
 ing four days took place under the chalk cliffs 
 of Kent, in which, after tremendous bravery on 
 both sides, the Dutch were victorious. For 
 the first time in war, chain-shot, which cut up 
 the ship's rigging terribly, was used. DeWitt 
 is said to have invented it. 
 
 The Dutch proved the truth of the saying, 
 "United we stand, divided we fall." The 
 Orangeists and Anti-Orangeists still quarreled. 
 When the campaign opened again, on July 25, 
 1666, Tromp and DeRuyter were not yet 
 reconciled, and the British gained the advan- 
 tage. The next year, 1667, Admiral DeRuyter 
 took his fleet of ships across the North Sea 
 and actually got into the river Thames, burn- 
 ing English ships and making the people in 
 London fear that he might come up further 
 and capture London. At last the foolish Eng- 
 lish king, Charles IL, who had wickedly made 
 war against Holland, sought for peace, which 
 was signed July i, 1667, at Breda, the city of 
 the beautiful spire. 
 
 In 1652, a change had been made in the 
 Dutch flag, so that the colors should always be 
 
 250 
 
THE PARLIAMENTARY REPUBLIC 
 
 the same. Sometimes in the past they had 
 been orange, white, and blue, sometimes red, 
 white, and blue ; but hereafter only the simple 
 colors red, white, and blue were used. 
 
 In France, Louis XIV. was the mighty 
 king, whose ambition was to make all Europe 
 French. He sent his armies to America and 
 India, and his fleets into the Mediterranean, to 
 carry out his plans of conquest. A triple alli- 
 ance was formed in 1668 between Great Brit- 
 ain, the Netherlands, and Sweden to curb the 
 French king's power, and keep the peace of 
 Europe. Yet soon after this, the English king, 
 Charles II., always treacherous, made alliance 
 with Louis XIV. to destroy the Dutch repub- 
 lic. Sweden also withdrew from the compact, 
 so that little Holland was left alone to figh't the 
 greatest of European monarchies and kings. 
 The cause of liberty seemed under hopeless 
 eclipse. 
 
 It was a bad time for the Hollanders ; for 
 through DeWitt's influence, the two offices of 
 stadholder, or president, and of the commander- 
 in-chief of the army of the union, hitherto held 
 by the prince of Orange, were separated. This 
 was done under a law, passed in 1667, called 
 the " Perpetual Edict," which prevented any 
 army or naval officer from ever receiving the 
 251 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 appointment. This action made the Orairge 
 party intensely angry. 
 
 The country being thus divided by party 
 strife, Louis XIV. saw his opportunity and 
 resolved to crush out the little republic and 
 make Holland a part of France. He moved 
 promptly, with a great army, across the Rhine 
 and invaded the Netherlands in 1672, occupy- 
 ing city after city. But when near Amsterdam, 
 the Frenchmen had to stop ; for the city peo- 
 ple threatened to cut the dikes, let in the sea 
 water, and drown out the invaders. If neces- 
 sary, the Amsterdammers proposed to fight 
 the French tyrant single-handed, rather than 
 surrender. During this time of the French 
 invasion, many Dutch farmers, or boers, emi- 
 grated to South Africa and began the Dutch 
 republics there. 
 
 William III., the young prince of Orange, 
 who had been born November 4, 1650, eight 
 days after the death of his father, came into 
 public notice, and high hopes of his abilities 
 arose in the Dutch nation. The states of Hol- 
 land repealed the Perpetual Edict, and, with 
 Zeeland, elected William III. stadholder and 
 commander-in-chief of the union, so that the 
 two offices of civil executive and commander 
 of the army and navy were united in the per- 
 
 252 
 
THE PARLIAMENTARY REPUBLIC 
 
 son of William III., very much as they are 
 in the office of the President of the United 
 States. 
 
 In The Hague a terrific riot broke out. 
 Thousands of the country people, who favored 
 the house of Orange, came into the city on 
 the 2oth of August, 1672, and joined with the 
 mob which rushed to the gate called the Ge- 
 vangepoort. Within the prison, and very ill, 
 lay Cornelius DeWitt, whose brother John 
 came in a carriage to visit him. The rioters 
 dragged out the two brothers into the street, 
 where they first murdered them, and then tore 
 their bodies to pieces. Thus perished miser- 
 ably two good men, among the noblest in 
 Dutch history. It was proved again that the 
 rage of the mob and popular villainy and 
 cruelty were equal to those of kings and des- 
 pots. 
 
 253 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 DUTCH STADHOLDER AND BRITISH KING 
 
 It was a dark time for young William III., 
 who hated tyrants and loved freedom and 
 government in which the people had at least 
 some voice. He knew that tribes and nations 
 had existed before kings were heard of, that 
 the Dutch had been free men and proud of 
 their liberty when such royal families as the 
 Stuarts and Bourbons were nobodies. William 
 was determined to save his country. 
 
 Yet what could he do ? It looked as though 
 the tyrants of England and France had com- 
 bined to strangle the liberty-loving Nether- 
 lands, and that both the house of Orange and 
 the Dutch republic were to be swept off the 
 earth. At home, his two admirals, DeRuyter 
 and Tromp, were estranged, and the two po- 
 litical parties were divided and bitter against 
 each other. 
 
 Then William showed himself the man for 
 the hour, the reconciler, and the restorer of 
 strength and union. By his wisdom and tact, 
 
 254 
 
DUTCH STADHOLDER AND BRITISH KING 
 
 Tromp and DeRuyter were made friends. In 
 one great naval battle off the coast of Zeeland, 
 and in another off the Helder, the Dutch won 
 two victories at home. Across the Atlantic, 
 in 1674, New York was captured by Admiral 
 Evertson. Nearly three thousand prize-ships 
 were taken by the Dutch privateers. In one 
 of the combats in this war, when the English 
 admiral, Sprague, tried to go in the open water 
 from one vessel to another, his boat was struck 
 by a cannon ball and he was drowned. As the 
 final result of this naval war, the Parliament of 
 England compelled Charles II. to stop fight- 
 ing, France gave up the three Netherland 
 provinces which had been conquered, and the 
 Dutch republic was safe once more. 
 
 In the reaction from having no stadholder, 
 the Dutch now went to the other extreme. 
 They wanted to make the stadholderate, or 
 presidency, hereditary. This would have given 
 the republic a ruler very much like a king, 
 instead of one with an office like that of 
 President of the United States, which is elec- 
 tive, impeachable, and not hereditary. When 
 twenty-five years old. Prince William of Orange 
 married Mary, the daughter of the duke of 
 York, who afterwards became King James II. 
 He did not marry her because he loved her, 
 255 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 but because she was the possible heir to the 
 British throne, and William wanted the alli- 
 ance of Great Britain to prevent Louis XIV. 
 from carrying out his design of conquering 
 the Netherlands. His was a political mar- 
 riage. Yet he later learned to love Mary very 
 tenderly for her own sake. 
 
 A new triple alliance was formed in 1686, 
 and William became the head of it. The 
 German empire, the Dutch republic, and Savoy 
 joined forces against France. To these coun- 
 tries and to England, thousands of French 
 people of the Reformed religion had fled and 
 were ready to fight against the Bourbon king, 
 Louis. When the duke of York became King 
 James XL, he proved himself the worst king 
 England ever had. His unlawful acts encour- 
 aged the people to revolt against him and his 
 heirs. When William saw that King James 
 was becoming an ally of Louis XIV., he took 
 the side of the English people and maintained 
 the rights of his wife to the British throne. 
 By the year 1688, the English people were 
 ready to drive their king out of the country. 
 They therefore invited the Dutch AMUiam to 
 come over and be their deliverer. Gathering 
 a fine army of Huguenot and Dutch troops, 
 William crossed over the sea, landed at Tor- 
 256 
 
DUTCH STADHOLDER AND BRITISH KING 
 
 bay, and marched to London, while James II. 
 fled the country to France. The Enghsh peo- 
 ple now excluded all Catholic Stuarts from 
 the government, which they placed in the 
 hands of the royal pair, William and Mary. 
 
 England received great benefit from a king 
 who had republican ideas. The English did 
 not like William personally, and they thought 
 he put too many Dutchmen into high offices, 
 but they admired his character. William, like 
 his ancestor the Silent, was not much of a 
 soldier, but a most excellent ruler. At sea, 
 the Dutch and English men-of-war drove off 
 the French fleet which was trying to carry an 
 army, led by King James, into Ireland. The 
 enemies of Britain and Holland were com- 
 pelled to seek peace. In 1697, at Ryswick, 
 near The Hague, a great treaty was made 
 which ended the war of nine years. 
 
 William was never very strong in body. He 
 broke down from overwork, and a fall from 
 his horse caused his death on March 8, 1 702 ; 
 but the Dutch still kept up an army, which 
 fought with the English in the war called the 
 Spanish Succession. 
 
 No children were born of William III. and 
 Queen Mary, so the direct male line of the 
 house of Orange, from William the Silent, 
 257 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 came to an end. In England, George I., great 
 grandson of James I., became king in 1714. 
 
 The headship of the house of Orange-Nassau 
 now passed over to John William Friso, stad- 
 holder of Friesland. A grandson of Count 
 John of Nassau, brother of William the Silent, 
 had married Albertina Agnes, the daughter of 
 Prince Frederick Henry, and thus the grand- 
 daughter of William. The result of this union 
 was the son who now became the head of the 
 house of Orange, and it is from him that the 
 royal family of the modern Netherlands and 
 Queen Wilhelmina are descended. In 1711, 
 when but twenty-four years old, he was drowned 
 at Moerdyk. His son, William Charles Henry 
 Friso, was bom a few weeks after his father's 
 death. At seven years of age, he became the 
 hereditary stadholder of Friesland, and later, 
 through the zeal of the partisans of the house 
 of Orange, was made stadholder of Groningen 
 and Drenthe when only eleven years old. In 
 1733, the prince, then twenty-three years old, 
 took as his bride Anne, daughter of George II., 
 from the royal house of Great Britain, which 
 at this time was not French or Dutch, but 
 German and from Hanover. Thus in the 
 prince of Orange and his wife Dutch and 
 German became one, reuniting two ancestral 
 
 258 
 
WILLIAM v., HEREDITARY STADHOLDER 
 
DUTCH STADHOLDER AND BRITISH KING 
 
 lines originally from the German fatherland. 
 In Holland many people were very much 
 afraid that the prince would, by fair means or 
 foul, make himself stadholder of all the pro- 
 vinces and be virtually a king. 
 
 During this period, there were wars in other 
 parts of Europe, and the Belgic Netherlands, 
 then under the rule of Maria Theresa of Aus- 
 tria, were invaded. Holland joined the quad- 
 ruple alliance of the Emperor, Great Britain, 
 and France against the designs of Spain, 
 Later in 1 747, when parties had changed and 
 the king of France was about to invade Dutch 
 territory, the partisans of the house of Orange 
 succeeded in getting the prince of Orange 
 proclaimed stadholder, first of Zeeland, then 
 of Holland, and finally of all the united pro- 
 vinces. 
 
 There had been no stadholder of all the 
 United States of the Netherlands from 1702 
 to 1747, and now when the office was resumed, 
 it became a menace to the liberties of the 
 nation. 
 
 Many patriotic Netherlanders grieved that 
 their prince, William IV., had married into a 
 royal family ; for he began to put on all the 
 airs and to assume the powers of a king. In 
 1747, his office was made hereditary, and very 
 259 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 soon the republic of the Netherlands was one 
 only in name. Yet he himself was so devoted 
 to good plans and purposes for the benefit of 
 the people that when he died in 1751, only- 
 forty years of age, the people grieved deeply 
 and sincerely over him, because they felt that 
 in him they had lost a good friend. 
 
 The new ruler, William V., became such 
 when he was a little boy only three years old. 
 He was destined to be the last stadholder of 
 the Netherlands and to live to see the republic 
 pass away. His lifetime was one of great 
 interest to all English-speaking people ; for it 
 touched American and British history, as we 
 shall see. Within it occurred the events of 
 Braddock's defeat, the capture of Louisburg, 
 the rise of George Washington, the battle of 
 Lake George, the capture of Forts DuQuesne, 
 Niagara, Crown Point, and Ticonderoga from 
 the French, and that victory of General Wolfe 
 over Montcalm, on the Heights of Abraham, 
 which decided that North America was to be 
 English speaking and follow the ideas of Teu- 
 tonic, and not of Latin civilization. 
 
 In the war between Great Britain and Spain, 
 many battles were fought in the southern or 
 Belgian Netherlands, and there were great 
 naval campaigns in the West Indies under 
 
 260 
 
DUTCH STADHOLDER AND BRITISH KING 
 
 Admiral Vernon. As many American young 
 men were educated in England, those who 
 expected to follow a military career served 
 with the British army in Flanders and gained 
 much experience which fitted them afterwards 
 for the War of the Revolution. 
 
 In the West Indies, several companies of 
 Virginians fought, with the British sailors and 
 soldiers, against the Spaniards, in some cases 
 landing at the same spots made famous in the 
 Spanish-American war of 1898. Among the 
 Virginia ofificers was Lawrence Washington, 
 who named his home on the Potomac, after 
 the admiral. Mount Vernon. He brought 
 home with him, also, a Dutch officer, Jacob 
 Van Braam, who became young George Wash- 
 ington's military instructor, and marched with 
 him into Pennsylvania and Ohio. 
 
 261 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 THE TWO REPUBLICS — DUTCH AND AMERICAN 
 
 The little boy who was to be William V. was 
 put under the care of his mother Anna, who 
 thus became regent of Holland. She was the 
 daughter of George II. of England. She lived 
 until 1759. During her lifetime, and for long 
 years afterwards, Holland was little more than 
 an annex of Great Britain. The government 
 at The Hague had to think pretty much as 
 King George suggested, and to act obediently 
 to his beck and nod. 
 
 Yet when, but eighteen years of age, in 1766, 
 the young prince of Orange married, he did 
 not find his wife in England, but in Germany, 
 his bride being a niece of Frederick the Great 
 of Prussia. He was a weak ruler and greatly 
 under the influence of his stronger minded 
 wife and her German relatives. During his 
 long rule, from 1756 to 1795, things in Hol- 
 land seemed to go from bad to worse. 
 
 When the American war broke out. Sir 
 Joseph Yorke, the British minister, wanted the 
 
 262 
 
TWO REPUBLICS — DUTCH AND AMERICAN 
 
 republic to do everything to favor the British 
 cause, but from the beginning the sympathies 
 of the Dutch people were with the Americans. 
 The first salute ever fired in honor of the 
 American flag, even before it had any stars 
 in its field, was given by de Graeff at St. Eusta- 
 cius in the West Indies, on November i6, 
 1776. 
 
 The Dutch saw clearly that our war with 
 Great Britain was very much like their own 
 revolt for independence against Spain. Their 
 government was very much like ours ; that is, 
 several provinces had become states and formed 
 one federal republic, with the red, white, and 
 blue flag, with a written constitution, and with 
 a declaration of independence. They had de- 
 posed their king because they would not sub- 
 mit to taxes which they themselves did not 
 vote. 
 
 There were many prominent and active 
 friends of America in the Netherlands, and 
 these were led by Baron Van der Capellen. 
 King George III. wrote a letter to the stad- 
 holder, the prince of Orange, demanding that 
 the Scotch brigade, which had served in the 
 Dutch army for over two hundred years, should 
 be returned to the British service, to be sent to 
 fight the Americans, but Baron Van der Ca- 
 263 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 pellen in the States-General strongly opposed 
 this. The British government heard that the 
 Dutch governor in the West Indies, Johannes 
 de Graeff, had saluted our flag, and was furnish- 
 ing supplies to Washington's army. Through 
 Sir Joseph Yorke, at The Hague, a demand 
 was made that he be called home and pun- 
 ished for encouraging rebels. Having great 
 influence with the stadholder and the States- 
 General, Yorke secured the passage of a law 
 prohibiting any convoy, or protection by men- 
 of-war, to Dutch vessels laden with materials 
 for shipbuilding. This nearly ruined the ship- 
 building trade of Holland, and the dockyards 
 lay idle until grass grew in them; but the 
 friends of America multiplied. 
 
 When Commodore Paul Jones brought his 
 prize, the British frigate Serapis, into the 
 Texel, in 1779, a song, "Here comes Paul 
 Jones," was sung all over the country in his 
 praise. Van Berckel, of Amsterdam, having 
 proposed to open trade directly with America, 
 the Continental Congress at Philadelphia sent 
 commissioners to Holland to make a treaty. 
 When Sir Joseph Yorke found this out, he 
 asked that Van Berckel be punished. His 
 request was refused. Then Great Britain de- 
 clared war against Holland. This was done a 
 
 264 
 
TWO REPUBLICS — DUTCH AND AMERICAN 
 
 whole week before her action was known at 
 The Hague, and when hundreds of Dutch 
 ships lay at anchor in the ports of England. 
 These were all captured. Thus heavily had 
 little Holland to pay for her friendship with 
 the United States. A naval battle was fought 
 off the Doggerbank, in the North Sea, in which 
 the Dutch fleet under Admiral Zoutman drove 
 off the British fleet under Admiral Parker. 
 
 Nevertheless, the Netherlanders were obliged 
 to make a disgraceful treaty with Great Britain. 
 Their envoys not being invited to sit at the 
 congress in Paris, which was to make a gen- 
 eral peace and recognize the United States of 
 America, they had to come of their own accord. 
 They received no satisfaction ; for none could 
 be obtained. 
 
 The trouble with the country was that the 
 Dutch had got " too fat to fight," or to de- 
 fend themselves, and the quarrels between the 
 Orange and the anti-Orange factions were 
 more bitter than ever. Party rancor was mis- 
 taken for patriotism. Some of the more ear- 
 nest of their leaders began to inquire into the 
 cause of the nation's weakness. One gentle- 
 man, named Adrian Van der Kemp, had, in 
 1 781, written an anonymous letter, addressed 
 to the people of the Netherlands, in which he 
 265 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 suggested that the government should be a 
 democracy, and all power be put directly into 
 the hands of the people. He would have the 
 stadholder give up his hereditary claim, abolish 
 the power of the city regents or governors, and 
 have the functions of government so distrib- 
 uted, under the executive, legislature, and judi- 
 ciary, that one branch would check and control 
 the others, while the people should have a direct 
 vote in all important affairs. 
 
 This letter, published in pamphlet form, was 
 widely perused and everywhere discussed, but 
 it made the Orange party very angry. Both 
 the prince of Orange and the legislature of 
 Holland offered large rewards for the discovery 
 of the author. But for many, many years no 
 one ever found out who was the true author, 
 though Van der Kemp was suspected. He 
 afterwards came to America and founded the 
 town of Barneveldt, now Trenton, N. Y., and 
 surveyed the route of the Erie Canal. 
 
 The people were now divided into Orange 
 and anti-Orange parties, the latter also call- 
 ing themselves Patriots. Many of these, like 
 Daendels, went into France to watch events, 
 and when the opportunity should Come, to 
 march into Holland. 
 
 366 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 THE FALL OF THE REPUBLIC 
 
 When the Patriots tried to lessen the power 
 of the tyrannical stadholder and to have a more 
 popular government, Great Britain, France, 
 and Prussia interfered to keep the prince of 
 Orange in full power, and thus to destroy the 
 republic. The Patriots hoped that the French 
 would help them ; but France, professing not 
 to be able, declined. This encouraged the king 
 of Prussia to meddle still further in Dutch 
 affairs. Through his envoy, he persuaded his 
 daughter, the princess, in 1784, to ride from 
 Nymegen in her carriage to The Hague, where 
 she should make the Patriots beg her pardon. 
 The Patriots stopped her carriage and sent 
 her back to Nymegen. This was exactly what 
 the king of Prussia wanted — an excuse for 
 active interference. Twenty thousand of his 
 troops marched at once into the Netherlands. 
 The stadholder entered The Hague and was 
 welcomed by the people, while streets, houses, 
 and churches were almost covered with masses 
 of orange cloth and ribbons. 
 267 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 During all this disgraceful civil war, for it 
 was nothing less, the partisans of one side were 
 called by their enemies " Oranje Klants," that 
 is. Orange fellows or " chappies," those of the 
 other party being stigmatized as " Keezen." 
 When the Keezen were in power, they refused 
 to let the Orangeists show anything having 
 their colors, whether badges, clothes, flags, or 
 even things good to eat. When carrots were 
 sold in market, the green tops must be laid 
 forward and the root ends out of sight. The 
 Keezen seemed to be as wild on the subject of 
 the orange color as are bulls when a red flag 
 is shaken before them. Now, however, when 
 the Orangemen were in power, they compelled 
 the wearing of the Orange cockade and badges, 
 and flaunted the gay color in every form. The 
 Prussians overran the whole country and even 
 conquered Amsterdam, which, for the first time 
 in its history, was occupied by a foreign army. 
 
 Thus again dark days had fallen upon Hol- 
 land, and things seemed as bad as in the age 
 of Spanish tyranny. The Dutch republic was 
 little more than a province, ruled by Prussia 
 and England. Hundreds of the Patriot leaders 
 had left the country to find refuge in France 
 or the United States. Commerce was almost 
 dead, and public spirit never lower. The 
 
 268 
 
THE FALL OF THE REPUBLIC 
 
 Dutch seemed to care nothing about what was 
 going on in Europe. 
 
 In Paris the French Revolution had broken 
 out. When the French army marched into 
 the Belgian Netherlands, there was danger 
 that a quarrel between the Dutch and French 
 would soon ensue, and the country be invaded 
 and conquered. In 1648, when the Dutch had 
 won their victory over Spain, they demanded 
 that the river Scheldt should be closed, and 
 that no seagoing ships should pass in or out 
 of the river. Their object was to prevent the 
 Belgian Netherlands from having any for- 
 eign commerce, so that Antwerp might re- 
 main poor and small, and Amsterdam get rich. 
 Now, in 1792, the French wanted to send 
 their vessels up and down the river Scheldt. 
 The Dutch tried to prevent them and at once 
 there was cause for quarreling ; for the French 
 insisted upon free navigation. When the 
 prince of Orange, agreeing with the British 
 king, treated the French envoys with con- 
 tempt, France declared war against Great 
 Britain and the Netherlands. Although some 
 British troops were sent over to help the 
 Dutch, and especially the prince of Orange, 
 they accomplished little or nothing. 
 
 Just as the Orange party had invited the 
 269 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 Prussian invaders seven years before, so now, 
 in 1793, the long persecuted Patriots were 
 ready to welcome the French invaders. All 
 over the country there were formed what were 
 called " reading societies." In reality, these 
 were revolutionary committees, which were 
 ready to welcome the French when they should 
 come. The unusually cold season of 1794 
 and 1795, still called "the French winter," 
 froze all the rivers and inland waters, and thus, 
 instead of being the barrier to an enemy, 
 these furnished bridges. The French rushed 
 over the ice, with their artillery and troops, 
 seized the fortresses, drove off the garrisons, 
 and soon reached the heart of the. country. It 
 seemed odd, that with cavalry they should 
 capture ships frozen in, so as to be helpless, in 
 the Zuyder Zee, but this was actually done. 
 The dragoons made prizes of the vessels. 
 
 At Willemstad, a fortress in North Brabant 
 on the Holland Deep, built by the prince of 
 Orange in 1583, the French found an obstacle. 
 For two weeks, with red-hot shot and shell, 
 they bombarded the place without success. 
 Defended by the valor and skill of Baron Van 
 Boetselaer, the adjutant-general of the stad- 
 holder William V., Willemstad held out. A 
 daughter of this brave soldier afterwards came 
 
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THE FALL OF THE REPUBLIC 
 
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 home for children at Oberlin, Ohio. 
 
 When the city of Utrecht had fallen, the 
 States-General assembled at The Hague and 
 sent a delegation to the stadholder, asking 
 mournfully whether anything could yet be 
 done for the defense of Holland. He gave a 
 discouraging answer, saying that nothing would 
 avail. He also informed them that he would 
 quit the country. About two o'clock on that 
 day, bidding farewell to his legislators, having 
 already sent the princess and his daughter 
 over to England, he got on board a fishing 
 vessel to leave Holland. 
 
 A great crowd of people had gathered at 
 Scheveningen on the seacoast to take fare- 
 well of their ruler. As the boat was some 
 distance out, the prince of Orange started to 
 wade in the water to the boat. Then Bentinck, 
 his prime minister, called out to the people, 
 '' What, will you allow your prince to leave you 
 in this way ? " Thereupon some men imme- 
 diately hoisted him on their shoulders, walked 
 into the water, and set him on board the ship. 
 There he remained, to get word from Paris. 
 When the letters came, the order was that the 
 prince of Orange should leave the country, or 
 else the French would not make peace with 
 271 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 the States-General. Thus the last stadholder 
 sailed away to England, landing the next day 
 at Harwich. When he left The Hague, the 
 envoys of Great Britain, Prussia, Spain, Italy, 
 and Hanover departed also. 
 
 In all modern Dutch history, Amsterdam, 
 being the largest city, has usually led the 
 way in war or peace. The Dutch republican 
 general, Daendels, was one of the emigrants 
 who had fled to France, and of whom there 
 were a great many like himself then in the 
 French camp. He sent word to the burgo- 
 master, promising peace and safety if the city 
 was surrendered, but massacre if they refused. 
 The regents, or city rulers, agreed to yield. 
 On the same evening, the members of the 
 revolutionary committee, gathering together by 
 torchlight, assembled the people in the great 
 broad square, called the Dam, in front of the 
 city hall. Standing on the steps, they pro- 
 claimed the Revolution, urging the people to 
 treat the French soldiers well. During the 
 night, which was very quiet. General Daendels 
 with a few hussars entered the city and took a 
 seat with the revolutionary committee. This 
 was now a permanent body, which, after dis- 
 missing the city council, assumed charge of 
 the government of Amsterdam. 
 
 272 
 
THE FALL OF THE REPUBLIC 
 
 The stadholders of the United Netherlands 
 were as follows : — 
 
 Of Holland. 
 William I., 1559-1584. 
 Maurice, 1585-1625. 
 Frederick Henry, 1625-1647. 
 William II., 1647-1650. 
 William III., 1672-1702. 
 
 General Hereditary Stadholders, 
 William IV., 1 747-1 751. 
 William v., 1766-1795. 
 
 273 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 
 THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC AND THE KINGDOM OF 
 HOLLAND 
 
 Now began some lively scenes on the Dam, 
 and what was done in Amsterdam was imi- 
 tated all over the country. Early the next 
 morning, a pole, representing the tree of liberty, 
 was planted in the centre of the square. On 
 top of this was a high hat, with the revolution- 
 ary cockade and the tri-color, red, white, and 
 blue, stuck in it. Thousands of people, men, 
 women, and children, joined hands together in 
 a circle and danced under it, singing, making 
 merry, and shouting, " Liberty, equality, and 
 fraternity." 
 
 From the steps of one of the public build- 
 ings, a proclamation was made that the city 
 government had obeyed the will of the people. 
 When twenty-one names were read out as 
 provisional popular representatives, the great 
 crowd shouted their assent. This was sup- 
 posed to be their vote, and the Dam was called 
 the " Plain of Liberty." 
 274 
 
THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC 
 
 Another committee was formed of delegates 
 from committees in the provinces, and this 
 united revolutionary committee completed the 
 work throughout the country. Thus, before 
 any French soldiers arrived, " the people " had 
 changed their old city governments, put in new 
 officers, and decorated themselves with the 
 French cockade. The " Batavian republic " 
 was proclaimed. 
 
 On the 2 2d of January, 1795, Generals Piche- 
 gru and Moreau made their entrance into 
 The Hague, where they were received with 
 enthusiasm. In Zeeland, the states legislature 
 changed their names from " noble and mighty 
 lords " to that of " representatives of the peo- 
 ple of Zeeland," and headed their acts with the 
 motto, " Liberty, equality, and fraternity." 
 
 Now began a period of eighteen years of 
 French rule, in which some things good were 
 done and numerous things foolish attempted. 
 The methods of government were completely 
 changed, and many old customs swept away. 
 Hereditary nobility, the wearing of liveries, 
 escutcheons, ornaments of heraldry, and all mo- 
 nopolies and special privileges were abolished. 
 Marriage was made a secular contract. Every- 
 thing that seemed to show social inequalities 
 was changed. The gallows and whipping-posts 
 275 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 in the country were destroyed as relics of old 
 barbarism, and opposed to the dignity of man- 
 kind. Along with these went the total abo- 
 lition of torture. Reform in almost everything 
 was the order of the day. In the museums of 
 the Netherlands, one may look upon interesting 
 relics of the old privileges and monopolies, 
 which came to an end in 1795. The stu- 
 dent in the archives notes what simplicity the 
 French introduced into the maze and confu- 
 sion that existed under the old republic. 
 
 The Dutch people had to pay dearly for 
 the liberty brought them by their French de- 
 liverers. They were obliged to feed and clothe 
 the French armies, and to take their worthless 
 paper money. Much of the charm and sweet- 
 ness of the old life passed away forever, and 
 the new order of things was very distasteful to 
 many. 
 
 When Napoleon Bonaparte became first 
 consul, or ruler of France, the Dutch found in 
 him a still more terrible master. Their finest 
 young men had to enlist under the French 
 eagles and fight Napoleon's battles. In 1797, 
 the British fleet under Admiral Duncan block- 
 aded the Texel, the great northern outlet to 
 the Zuyder Zee, through which all the com- 
 merce from Amsterdam and several other 
 
 276 
 
THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC 
 
 cities entered and departed. The shipping 
 business at once stopped and the price of food 
 rose. When the Dutch fleet under Admiral 
 Winter tried to break up this blockade, it was 
 met by Admiral Duncan who, with his heavy 
 British ships and cannon, captured several of 
 the Dutch war vessels and scattered the re- 
 mainder. This battle was fought off the village 
 called Camperduin, or " the camp amid the 
 dunes," and ever since there has been a vessel 
 in the British navy called " Camperdown," in 
 remembrance of this great victory. 
 
 Two years later, an army of nearly twenty-five 
 thousand Russian and British troops landed in 
 North Holland at Kijkduin, well named " a 
 peep in the dunes." To the surprise of the 
 invaders, the Dutch folks were not very anxious 
 to welcome their deliverers. The allied army 
 was defeated by the French skillfully massed 
 together ; for the Russians had lost their way, 
 while the English had to retreat before superior 
 numbers. In 1901, with impressive ceremonies, 
 a monument in' the form of a triple-arrned 
 Russian cross was erected at the burial place 
 of the Czar's soldiers. 
 
 In 1805, Napoleon himself visited his new 
 possessions ; for Holland had now become little 
 else than a province of France. He entered 
 277 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 Amsterdam and traveled to the end of North 
 Holland, opposite Texel Island. At this place, 
 called Den Helder, he determined to build a 
 great naval station. He set his Spanish pris- 
 oners at work digging and hauling, pile-driving 
 and pounding, until great docks and dikes 
 were built and forts were made. By these 
 labors Den Helder became one of the strong- 
 est places in Holland. It is still the chief naval 
 station of the kingdom. Under Napoleon, the 
 Dutch pensionary became almost like a king. 
 There were three political parties among the 
 Dutch politicians, named the Unitaries, Fed- 
 eralists, and Democrats, the last being few in 
 number. 
 
 Napoleon, having studied the geography of 
 the Netherlands, saw that the country had 
 been made by the mud brought down from the 
 rivers of Germany and France. He therefore 
 considered that Dutch soil was a natural part 
 of France, so that he felt free to change the 
 constitution of the country. In 1807, he made 
 the Dutch State a kingdom, that is, the king- 
 dom of Holland, and set on the throne his 
 brother Louis as the king. Louis was a good 
 man and endeavored to be a just ruler. The 
 people were in poverty and suffering. Louis 
 tried to make the country rich and food cheap, 
 
 278 
 
THE KINGDOM OF HOLLAND 
 
 It was about this time that the Dutch began to 
 cultivate chicory, to mix with or to use instead 
 of coffee. Indeed, King Louis favored those 
 who love to drink this cheering beverage ; for 
 he appointed Herman Daendels to be gov- 
 ernor-general of the East Indies. This wise 
 and able man had forty-five millions of coffee- 
 trees planted, and otherwise greatly improved 
 the Dutch possessions. 
 
 The Dutch having a king must also now 
 have a palace. So the beautiful city hall in 
 Amsterdam, which had been built in 1648, to 
 celebrate the completion of the war with Spain, 
 and which rested on thirteen thousand piles, 
 was made the palace, and it is still called the 
 " Paleis." Yet, although it is exactly the right 
 sort of a building for a city hall, it is not fitted 
 to be a king's dwelling. As all citizens of the 
 republic had equal rights, so all the doors front- 
 ing the Dam are of the same size. There is 
 no special entrance for privileged persons, like 
 kings or queens. It must be remembered that 
 the Dutch had no kings or queens before the 
 nineteenth century, though they had counts 
 and other feudal officers under the Empire. 
 Hence, when the queen comes, or royalty visits 
 the Paleis, they decorate the door of entrance 
 with a red velvet baldachin. 
 279 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 King Louis, whose wife was Hortense, 
 daughter of the Empress Josephine, and whose 
 son became Napoleon III., lived most of the 
 time at the Pavilion near Haarlem ; but often 
 during the warmer months he retired to Het 
 Loo, which has since been the summer resi- 
 dence of Dutch royalty. The Royal Institute 
 of science, letters, and fine arts was established 
 in 1808. Everyone thought the popular King 
 Louis would long reign over the nation, but in 
 18 10 he resigned, refusing to be a mere tool in 
 the hands of his brother in Paris. 
 
 Then Napoleon Bonaparte abolished the 
 kingdom of Holland, making the Netherlands 
 a part of the French empire, and divided the 
 country into seven departments. He tried to 
 change the Dutch into French people, en- 
 couraging and almost compelling them to 
 adopt the customs, manners, tastes, and ideas 
 of France. Amsterdam was called the third 
 city of the French empire, and the Code 
 Napoleon was made the law of the land. The 
 conscription was enforced on all males above 
 twenty years of age, so that one fifth of the 
 whole population became soldiers. Fifteen 
 thousand young Dutchmen marched, with Na- 
 poleon's mighty army, to disaster at Moscow. 
 The two universities of Harderwijk and of 
 
 280 
 
THE KINGDOM OF HOLLAND 
 
 Franeker were suppressed, and those at Utrecht 
 and Amsterdam were reduced to the grade of 
 secondary schools. The French prohibition 
 of English goods raised the cost of the neces- 
 saries of life, so that the Dutchman's coffee and 
 sugar became too dear for poor folks to buy. 
 Beets were extensively cultivated, and sugar, 
 made from these roots, took the place of that 
 made from sugar cane. The day of the gen- 
 eral use of cocoa and chocolate had not yet 
 come. 
 
 Although the British could not at first win in 
 the field against Napoleon, who had, by 1809, 
 forced Prussia, Russia, and Austria to acknow- 
 ledge his power, they attempted to capture Ant- 
 werp. A mighty fleet of nearly two hundred 
 ships, with over forty thousand soldiers, was 
 sent up the river Scheldt, but instead of going 
 straight on, as he had been ordered, the Brit- 
 ish commander stopped to bombard Flushing. 
 This took much time, and when the troops 
 were landed on the island of Walcheren, they 
 spent a whole month among the marshes, 
 where thousands of them were struck down 
 with malarial fever. One half the army died, 
 and the whole expedition proved a failure. 
 To-day one can find the village graveyards of 
 Zeeland thickly sown with the tombstones of 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 British soldiers and officers, who perished in 
 this wretched and wasteful campaign. 
 
 These formed but a portion of that large 
 number of thirty-two million men, which a 
 German military officer reckons to have been 
 slain in battle or who died of wounds or dis- 
 ease in the wars of the nineteenth century. 
 On the other hand, thousands of Dutch lads, 
 or " conscripts " as they were called, lost their 
 lives in the awful sufferings during the retreat 
 from Moscow, yet " the man of destiny " still 
 wanted more soldiers. This frightful loss of 
 life and great suffering, together with the con- 
 stant intermeddling of Napoleon with the edu- 
 cation and customs of the country, made the 
 Dutchmen think him a tyrant. They were 
 very bitter against his rule and were prepared 
 to revolt as soon as they had a good oppor- 
 tunity. Having won their land from the sea, 
 they wanted to own and to govern it them- 
 selves. 
 
 282 
 
CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 "the dutch have taken Holland" 
 
 The Hollanders had not long to wait. The 
 allies, Austria, Bavaria, Russia, Prussia, and 
 Sweden, raised an army of three hundred thou- 
 sand men and determined to crush Napoleon. 
 At Leipsic, during the three days' battle, from 
 October i6 to 19, 18 13, Napoleon was de- 
 feated, and, in the next campaign, France was 
 invaded. Early in April, 18 14, the combined 
 German, British, and Russian armies entered 
 Paris. Napoleon was exiled and the count of 
 Provence was made King Louis XVIII. 
 
 The government of this Bourbon prince was 
 very bad. Napoleon left Elba and, landing in 
 France, reached Paris on March 20, 181 5. 
 He called on the French people to rally around 
 him. In June, he commanded an army of two 
 hundred thousand men, but by this time all 
 Europe was determined to end the career of a 
 man whom they believed to be an enemy to 
 civilization. Seven hundred thousand soldiers 
 were put into the field. 
 383 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 At Brussels, by the middle of June, the 
 duke of Wellington had over one hundred 
 thousand men, consisting of British, Germans, 
 Hollanders, and Belgians. The Dutchmen, 
 heartily disgusted with French rule and con- 
 sidering Napoleon a tyrant, had enlisted in 
 large numbers to fight against him. The 
 Prussian force, numbering over one hundred 
 thousand men commanded by Marshal Bliicher, 
 was marching to join the British. Napoleon 
 hoped to prevent the union of the two armies. 
 He planned to attack and defeat each one in 
 succession ; but this he was unable to do. 
 Worn out with fatigue and illness, and no 
 longer possessing his former great powers 
 of mind and body, he lost the battle of Water- 
 loo, which was fought June i8, 1815. The 
 French army was utterly broken, and Napoleon 
 rode away, to finish with a journey to St. 
 Helena. 
 
 On this famous field, the younger prince of 
 Orange and his Dutch soldiers fought like 
 heroes and performed prodigies of valor, so 
 that their countrjmien at home were filled with 
 enthusiasm. Everything was now ripe in Hol- 
 land for the Dutch to rise up, drive out the 
 French, and regain their own country. 
 
 Word was sent over to England, where Wil- 
 284 
 
FOUNDERS OF THE CONSTITUTION 
 
"THE DUTCH HAVE TAKEN HOLLAND" 
 
 liam Frederick, the son of the last stadholder, 
 William V., was living, to get ready to come 
 back to Holland. Several famous Dutch states- 
 men, Hoogendorp, Stirum, Maasden, Falk, 
 Fagel, and Perponcher, had arranged the de- 
 tails of a new government. On November 30, 
 the prince of Orange, who was to be King 
 William I., arrived in Holland. As he said he 
 would enter the country as his father had left 
 it, he sailed in a fishing smack from England, 
 and, before a great crowd of people assembled 
 at Scheveningen, he was carried ashore on the 
 shoulders of some stalwart fishermen. 
 
 While the Dutch were getting ready to 
 break the Gallic yoke, several signs gave the 
 Frenchmen a hint of what was coming, al- 
 though they did not at first understand what 
 these popular demonstrations meant. The 
 emblems of Napoleon's authority, and even 
 the statues and government property, were 
 smeared with orange paint. The men who 
 did these things could not be found, but those 
 who understood the meaning of the act knew 
 that the Dutchmen were determined to have 
 their own rulers back again, and that the 
 French would soon be driven out of the coun- 
 try. 
 
 The Dutch had never been used to kings. 
 285 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 In olden time, the Netherlands formed part of 
 the German empire, but in the country itself 
 they had no officers higher than barons and 
 counts. Although now a king was to be at the 
 head of the government, the people were to 
 have more freedom than their fathers enjoyed 
 under the old republic ; for he was to be a con- 
 stitutional ruler. Indeed, in a national con- 
 vention, a constitution was first written out and 
 agreed upon, and then the prince of Orange 
 was invited to come and obey it. 
 
 This instrument, called the fifth constitution, 
 was made by a congress of the notable men of 
 the land, who assembled in the New Church 
 at Amsterdam March 29, 18 14, and voted it. 
 Under it there were to be two houses of the 
 national legislature, freedom of religion, and 
 the equality of all before ther law. The bound- 
 aries of the nine provinces were fixed. North 
 Brabant and Limburg were not then a part of 
 the kingdom. 
 
 In the old New Church in Amsterdam, built 
 in the year 1408, the prince of Orange was 
 solemnly inaugurated king as William I. The 
 ancient edifice was hung with flags, banners, 
 and tapestry, while around and fronting the 
 king stood the chief men and women of Hol- 
 land, in the costume of the period, making 
 
 286 
 
"THE DUTCH HAVE TAKEN HOLLAND" 
 
 a brilliant picture. With the little country once 
 more in their possession, and their foreign mas- 
 ters driven out, all Europe was electrified by 
 the news, and laughed at the announcement, 
 that " the Dutch have taken Holland." 
 
 287 
 
CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 BELGIUM AND HOLLAND UNITED AND SEPARATED 
 
 A CONGRESS of European powers was held after 
 the battle of Waterloo, and it was decided that 
 Belgium and Holland should be united in a 
 single kingdom, over which King William I. of 
 Holland was to rule. Again, as in the old days 
 before the troubles with Spain and the war 
 of independence, and from 1576 to 1579, the 
 seventeen provinces of the Netherlands became 
 one domain. 
 
 Yet the new union was a weak and poor 
 one. The two nations were not alike, and are 
 still quite different, in religion, manners, ideas, 
 and interests. The people of the northern 
 Netherlands, usually spoken of as Holland, 
 were Protestants, active in manufactures and 
 commerce, spoke Dutch, and were strongly 
 democratic in ideas. Those of the southern or 
 Belgian Netherlands were Roman Catholic in 
 religion, most of the people spoke French, and 
 were agricultural and manufacturing. Besides 
 two languages and two strains of blood, Flem- 
 
 288 
 
BELGIUM AND HOLLAND 
 
 ish and Walloon, the people were much under 
 the control of their priests. 
 
 King William I. was far from being a wise 
 ruler, and soon became unpopular with the Bel- 
 gians. When that revolution broke out in Paris 
 which drove out the Bourbon king, Charles X., 
 and set up Louis Philippe, there was trouble in 
 Belgium, which finally exploded in 1830. Ex- 
 cited by the words and music of the French 
 Marseillaise, the mob plundered the house of 
 the Dutch minister and hoisted the old colors 
 of Brabant, now Belgium's tri-color flag of 
 black, yellow, and red. All over the country 
 the people rose up to drive out the Dutch army. 
 A provisional government was formed and the 
 European congress, meeting in London, de- 
 creed the separation of the two countries. 
 
 In the field there was a " Ten Days' Cam- 
 paign," with some little skirmishing, but not 
 many lives were lost. On the water the daring 
 bravery of Van Spijk is well remembered. He 
 had been an orphan boy, reared in the orphan- 
 age of the city of Amsterdam, and educated for 
 the navy. In February, 1831, while in com- 
 mand of a Dutch gunboat at Antwerp, he saw 
 hundreds of Belgians coming in boats to cap- 
 ture his vessel. Knowing that he would lose 
 his little ship, he ran to the powder magazine, 
 2S9 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 fired his pistol into it, and the ship was blown 
 up. To-day, in Amsterdam, one can see in 
 the parlor of the orphan house his sword and 
 accoutrements, and at Egmond-aan-Zee there 
 is a bronze lion to his honor. On the Dam, 
 fronting the palace in Amsterdam, is the monu- 
 ment of the Iron Cross, in honor of those 
 Dutchmen who were killed in this war, and 
 there is in Brussels a memorial to the Belgians 
 slain at the same time. Limburg was given to 
 Holland, as one of her provinces, making, with 
 North Brabant, eleven in all. In 1839, the 
 river Scheldt, which since 1648 had been shut 
 up from foreign commerce, was fully opened to 
 the world. In 1863, all river dues were abol- 
 ished. From this time Antwerp became rich 
 and great, and is now one of the chief seaports 
 of Europe. In the Place Marnix, one may see 
 a superb statue erected in 1883, showing how 
 the opening of the river has been the source of 
 Antwerp's life and wealth. 
 
 King William I. had much money, but was 
 neither wise nor popular. He resigned in 1 840, 
 and his son, the prince of Orange, the brave 
 young military officer who had fought at Wa- 
 terloo, and was greatly admired by the people, 
 was made king. He had married the Russian 
 princess, Anna Paulowna, who won great popu- 
 
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 larity in the Netherlands. The new king was 
 inaugurated in the church at Amsterdam, 
 November 28, 1840. As usual in the Dutch 
 inauguration ceremony, there was no crown 
 set on the king's head, though there was one 
 "on the table in front of the monarch, the crown 
 being the symbol of law and government, and 
 not of personal possession. 
 
 The Dutch idea of a king is an ancient, sen- 
 sible, and Christian one ; it is, that he is the 
 servant of servants in the kingdom. King 
 William II. was greatly beloved. He encour- 
 aged art, stimulated trade, and did that good 
 work which all true and wise statesmen are 
 glad to do — kept the old and the new in 
 harmony, with reverence for the past and hope 
 for the future. 
 
 The Dutch statesmen revised the constitu- 
 tion, and the new law of the land was published 
 November 3, 1848. Thorbecke was the prime 
 minister, and under his direction a great era of 
 prosperity dawned upon the kingdom. 
 
 When king William II. died in 1849, there 
 was real mourning all through the country. 
 His kindly face may be seen on the coins, and 
 his statue at The Hague shows how the peo- 
 ple appreciated him. 
 
 The new ruler, William III., who married 
 291 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 Sophia, the daughter of the king of Wurtem- 
 burg, was destined to rule forty-one years, 
 during an era of great prosperity. A new 
 force had come into the world, or rather men 
 had learned to tame an old force. The Dutch- 
 men no longer waited for the winds to blow^ 
 and turn their windmills and move their boats ; 
 for steamships on the water and locomotives 
 on land were the novelties in fashion. With 
 large steam engines, working mighty pumps, 
 they drained Haarlem Lake dry, reclaiming 
 seventy-two square miles of land. Now on its 
 site there are towns and villages and happy 
 homes, with ten thousand people living where 
 once were waters. The Dutch dug long canals, 
 made new rivers and drained more lakes, in- 
 creasing the grain, garden, and grazing space 
 of the country. In all, they have diked hun- 
 dreds of miles of seacoast and river banks, and, 
 having pumped out ninety lakes, they may yet 
 dry up the Zuyder Zee and change it into a 
 polder, or drained meadow. 
 
 King William's reign will always be re- 
 membered for the general prosperity of the 
 people, at home and abroad. Besides the in- 
 habitants dwelling in the fatherland, millions 
 of the Netherlanders have emigrated to South 
 Africa, forming what was formerly Orange 
 292 
 
BELGIUM AND HOLLAND 
 
 Free State and the Transvaal Republic, or 
 have made new homes in the East and West 
 Indies, or North America. 
 
 The Dutch possess the East India archi- 
 pelago, comprising Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and 
 various other islands, which are collectively 
 called Insulinde. They rule this Island India 
 so well that peace is the general rule, and an 
 outbreak is quite rare among its thirty-three 
 million inhabitants. 
 
 Several years before King William III. be- 
 gan his reign, that is about 1844, emigration 
 to America had begun. Tens of thousands 
 of Dutch colonists crossed the ocean and 
 came, by way of the Mohawk valley, or up 
 the Mississippi river, to the western part of 
 the United States, where they and their de- 
 scendants form an important portion of our 
 population. They settled in Michigan, Wis- 
 consin, Iowa, Nebraska, and Dakota, and most 
 of them have made the best kind of Ameri- 
 cans. During the reign of William III. also, 
 our countryman, John Lothrop Motley, after 
 long study in the archives of Spain, France, 
 Germany, and the Netherlands, wrote the " Rise 
 of the Dutch Republic," the " History of the 
 United Netherlands," and the " Life of John 
 of Barneveldt," telling the story of the Dutch 
 293 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 nation from 1554 to about 1620, the year in 
 which the Pilgrim fathers and mothers left 
 Holland to settle New England. 
 
 To King William and Queen Sophia sons 
 and daughters were born, and for a while it 
 looked as if there would be plenty of heirs to 
 the Dutch throne. The queen's drawing-rooms 
 were famous for the brilliant array of artists, 
 scholars, and men and women noted for their 
 part in making the world more beautiful and 
 better worth living in. Queen Sophia died in 
 1874, and her children, one after another, fol- 
 lowed her. 
 
 On January 7, 1879, King William married 
 the Princess Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont On 
 August 30, 1880, their daughter, Wilhelmina, 
 was born. The child, delicate at first, grew 
 up to be strong and healthy, as well as lovable 
 and beautiful. Before she was ten years old 
 she became heir apparent, by the death of the 
 last of the king's sons. Her father, the king, 
 died shortly after and was buried, as all the 
 princes of the house of Orange have been, iij 
 the great church at Delft. 
 
 294 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 THE TWO QUEENS, EMMA AND WILHELMINA 
 
 Queen Emma became regent and took charge 
 of the education of her daughter, who was 
 trained, as indeed most educated Dutch ladies 
 and gentlemen are, to speak fluently four lan- 
 guages, English, German, French, and Dutch. 
 Her native tongue is one of the strongest and 
 clearest languages in Europe, with abundance 
 of first-class literature, and is rich in works of 
 history, science, poetry, fiction, and almost every 
 form of literary composition. It is necessary 
 and pleasant, however, for a queen to talk with 
 people from other countries. 
 
 The young princess spent much of her time 
 at the beautiful rural palaces of Soestdijk and 
 Het Loo. She was not only bright and for- 
 ward in her studies, but rather fond of pets, 
 especially dogs and horses. When coming to 
 maidenhood, she, with her mother, visited each 
 one qf the provinces in turn, enjoying the sights 
 and the costumes of the peasants, and sharing 
 the delight of the people. In Friesland, she 
 295 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 wore the Frisian costume presented to her by 
 the women of the province. Besides the close- 
 fitting dress, belt, and chatelaine, she donned 
 the golden helmet, with its metal rosettes in 
 front of the ears. The gold " feather," as it is 
 called, which projects across the forehead, was, 
 in her case, set with diamonds, the gift of the 
 Frisian ladies. According as it is worn on the 
 left or the right, it shows that the wearer is 
 married or unmarried. In Zeeland, the peasant 
 women, arrayed in all the different costumes 
 of the various villages or districts, appeared 
 before her. 
 
 When fifteen years of age, in July, 1895, 
 at The Hague, she decorated the heroes of 
 Lombok, who under General Vetter had won 
 victory in the East Indies. 
 
 In Drenthe, at Bailer Kuyl, near Rolde, the 
 queens were entertained with a tableau in the 
 leafy woods, which showed how a court of jus- 
 tice was held and trials for crime deliberated 
 upon in the primeval days, when there were no 
 books or written history, but when men's, and 
 especially women's, memories were strong and 
 clear. The place was highly appropriate ; for it 
 is in this region that the greatest number of the 
 Hunnebedden, or " giants' graves," are found. 
 
 In an open space, with the semi-circle of 
 296 
 
CUEEN UILHELMINA 
 
TWO QUEENS, EMMA AND WILHELMINA 
 
 mighty trees in the rear, the chief judge, having 
 on his head a cap like a coronet and holding 
 the wand of justice wrapped round with ribbon, 
 sat on a rock covered with a bearskin. On his 
 right and left were ranged the six judges, one 
 of them being the Druid priest dressed in 
 white, his forehead wreathed with oak leaves, 
 while the other five were chiefs, stalwart in 
 figure and armed with heavy swords. Behind 
 the principal judge stood the armor bearer, with 
 a lengthy spear and tremendous buckler. Fur- 
 ther to the left was another tall pole with a 
 round shield upon it, and on its top the skull 
 and horns of an ox. Fifty or one hundred 
 strong men, armed with spears, and their heads 
 either capped with the old metal helmets of the 
 Teutonic warriors or bareheaded, with their 
 hair gathered into a knot, one of them with 
 outspread wings on his helmet, stood all ready 
 to carry out the decrees of the judge. To the 
 left, in the foreground, were seven beautiful 
 women dressed in white, whose duty it was to 
 remember what was said. Altogether it was 
 a spirited reproduction of a scene frequent in 
 primeval days, when law was unwritten and 
 there were no prisons, but when justice was 
 simple and rude, though perhaps thorough. 
 Besides having an English governess and in- 
 297 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 structors in the languages, Queen Wilhelmina 
 ' was trained in the religion of the Reformed 
 Church by the domine, or pastor, of the great 
 church at The Hague. In history her tutors 
 were Professor P. J. Blok of Leyden, and others. 
 She often visited the great Rijks Museum in 
 Amsterdam, and was there instructed by the 
 wise men and women who could, with abun- 
 dant object-lessons, tell her the glorious story 
 of her ancestors and of the country which she 
 was to rule. Thus richly endowed in mind and 
 body, the time drew near when, her eighteenth 
 year ended, she should be formally inaugurated 
 as sovereign of the Netherlands. Then the 
 regency of her mother would end. 
 
 The whole country prepared to celebrate 
 with her ; for their joy was one. All classes 
 and conditions of the people were eager to take 
 part in some way. The wealthier people sub- 
 scribed money and placed in the New Church at 
 Amsterdam a superb memorial window. This 
 showed the succession of the house of Orange, 
 from William the Silent to Wilhelmina. The 
 life-sized historical figures of the great men 
 whose names fill the page of the Netherlands 
 history, and of the women whose energy and 
 goodness so helped the men, make a glorious 
 vision of light and color. 
 298 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 THE REIGN OF QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 No sovereign was ever more beloved by her 
 people than the girl queen, Wilhelmina, who, 
 as the nineteenth century drew to a close, was 
 the last scion of the house of Orange ; for all 
 other heirs in the direct line had passed away. 
 The close tie of mutual affection between this 
 illustrious family and the Dutch nation is one 
 of the grand things in history. On the eve 
 of the royal inauguration, as Queen Emma 
 announced in dignified and fitting terms her 
 intended abdication in favor of her daughter, 
 so also Wilhelmina wrote what reads like a 
 love letter " to my people," asking for their 
 love and loyalty. The New Church in Am- 
 sterdam, as in the case of her three royal 
 ancestors, was the place chosen for her to take 
 her oath of office and to receive the loyal vows 
 of the ministers. 
 
 On the morning of inauguration day, Sep- 
 tember 6, 1898, the festivities were ushered in 
 with music in the air. In most of the large 
 299 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 church spires are chimes of bells, numbering 
 from a score to a hundred. The players fre- 
 quently give concerts up in the air, while every 
 day the bells strike the hours, halves, and quar- 
 ters, the chimes ringing out a merry tune, a 
 stanza of a hymn, an operatic air, or some pa- 
 triotic or lullaby song. On the morning of Sep- 
 tember 5, initiating " the national honeymoon," 
 the carillons in the steeples had begun early. 
 Amsterdam looked more like fairyland than 
 an ordinary city. The shops were closed, and 
 crowds from all the country round filled the 
 streets with a million of happy people, good 
 natured, and well behaved. 
 
 The mother and daughter, " the king's 
 widow" and the queen, left The Hague and 
 arrived in the capital city on the " Y " early 
 in the afternoon. This was the beginning of 
 the " joyous entry." Wilhelmina sat with her 
 mother in an open carriage, smiling to the 
 people and greeting them with wavings of 
 her little lace handkerchief, while their throats 
 became hoarse with shouts of welcome. Arriv- 
 ing at the great square in front of the palace, 
 she rode round, and entering the building soon 
 reappeared on the veranda. Facing her in 
 welcome were ranged the representatives of 
 every branch of the military and naval service, 
 
 300 
 
THE JOYOUS ENTRY IN 
 
MTO AMSTERDAM, 1898 
 
THE REIGN OF QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 cavalry, infantry, artillery, engineers, marines, 
 and sailors, besides a company of young gen- 
 tlemen dressed in the uniform of the time of 
 Prince Maurice in the seventeenth century. 
 These looked as gay and bright as a swarm of 
 beetles or butterflies. They were armed with 
 long pikes, and the shotmen had heavy mus- 
 kets, which, when they fired, they rested on 
 prongs or supports. Their evolutions attracted 
 much attention. 
 
 After the queen had greeted her loyal de- 
 fenders, and sabre, rifle, carbine, and pike 
 had been brought to a " present," the military 
 filed out and disappeared. For a few minutes 
 the square was vacant. Then, by the queen's 
 own order and plan, a signal was given and 
 the people flowed in from the seven or eight 
 streets leading into the Dam square, and a 
 mass of perhaps fifty thousand human beings 
 filled the space. Again the queen appeared 
 on the balcony, greeting them all, smiling and 
 waving her handkerchief, while the myriads 
 shouted their delight. 
 
 The next day was the " coronation." Walk- 
 ing from the palace to the New Church, 
 crowded with the elite of the kingdom, the 
 young queen entered and took her seat in the 
 throne chair, a picture of radiant health and 
 301 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 loveliness. She was dressed in white, with train 
 skirt, over which, and hung from her shoulders, 
 were four yards of red velvet embroidered with 
 gold. She had a tiara of diamonds on her 
 head, jewels at her waist, and the military cor- 
 don of the order of Orange over her breast. On 
 the left stood a sultan, rajahs, and vassal rulers, 
 her dark-skinned subjects from Insulinde, the 
 East Indies, and deputies from the colonies. 
 On the right were her ministers of state and 
 her princely relatives, and in front the members 
 of the States-General, and chosen guests from 
 the Netherlands and from many nations. 
 
 Just as the fair young queen rose to read 
 her speech," the clouds broke and the sunlight 
 streamed in through the lofty Orange memo- 
 rial window, making radiant her graceful form. 
 Her enunciation was made with wonderful 
 clearness, and she was heard all over the 
 house. She said she would make the words 
 of her royal father her own, " The house of 
 Orange can never, no never, do enough for 
 the Netherlands." At this many eyes, even of 
 stern men and gray-haired statesmen, over- 
 flowed. When she closed, with eyes and jew- 
 eled right hand uplifted to Heaven, with the 
 prayer, " So help me truly, God Almighty," 
 a thrill of joy and hope spread through all 
 302 
 
THE REIGN OF QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 hearts. At the signal of the herald, all rose 
 and shouted, " Live the Queen." Mutual oaths 
 of loyalty and of faithfulness to the constitu- 
 tion were exchanged by the queen and her 
 legislators. The four banners — of the Nether- 
 lands, of the house of Orange, of North Hol- 
 land, and of the city of Amsterdam — dipped 
 in salutation to the sovereign, thus inaugurated, 
 and the impressive ceremony was over. Then 
 followed two weeks of royal and popular fes- 
 tivities and rejoicing. 
 
 To honor their queen, the poor people of 
 Amsterdam had contributed their money and 
 bought a golden coach, superbly made and 
 decorated, in which they expected her to ride 
 to the ceremony. She, however, preferred to 
 walk under a canopy the few feet between the 
 doors of the palace and the church, but told 
 the people that she would reserve the golden 
 coach until her wedding day. Those who kept 
 carrier pigeons had sent from the cities, towns, 
 villages, and hamlets all over the kingdom, 
 their trained birds to Amsterdam. They were 
 released, all at one moment, on the day given 
 up to popular sports, in presence "of the young 
 queen, to carry home the news. 
 
 In all the cities and towns there were deco- 
 rations and celebrations, banquets and merry- 
 303 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 making, with parades of the children, but in 
 Amsterdam and at The Hague, the festivi- 
 ties reached the acme of glory. The streets, 
 bridges, houses, and public buildings were 
 adorned with the red, white, and blue of the 
 national flag and the orange of their rulers. 
 The sailors, the soldiers, the mechanics, and 
 all the different kinds of societies, and even 
 the orphans and companies of boys and girls, 
 wished to have some special arch, trophy, or 
 token of loyalty in some form. The Water 
 Feast at night, as became the country under 
 the sea level, was perhaps the most brilliant of 
 all the outdoor spectacles. 
 
 On and over the canals were stretched tens 
 of thousands of Japanese lanterns and colored 
 lanips. On the bosom of the river, craft of 
 every sort, built on the models of many nations, 
 floated and moved about. Their myriads of 
 lights were reflected in the water, increasing the 
 splendor. In the gardens were thousands more 
 of lamps, set in among the grass and flowers, 
 while in front of the houses were varied devices 
 in star and flewer, wreath and blazonry, the lion 
 of Holland and the arms of the kingdom, pro- 
 vinces and cities, blossoming in jets of fire. 
 
 During the following summer of 1899, the 
 Peace Congress, called by the Czar of Russia 
 304 
 
THE REIGN OF QUEEN WILHELMINA 
 
 and assembling by invitation at The Hague, 
 held its sessions at the House in the Wood, 
 built by Amalia Van Solms, in memory of her 
 husband, Prince Frederick Henry. Principles 
 were discussed and rules laid down which 
 must, in time, mitigate the horrors of war. In 
 the great church at Delft, exercises were held 
 in honor of Grotius, the Dutch scholar whose 
 writings on international law had made the In- 
 ternational Court of Arbitration possible. Our 
 ambassador to Germany, Andrew D. White, de- 
 livered the oration. In the name of the United 
 States, the Great Pacific Power, a wreath of 
 silver gilt leaves and palms was laid on the 
 grave of Grotius. 
 
 During the war in South Africa between the 
 Britons and the Boers, the Dutch looked on 
 with intense sympathy, but took no part in the 
 strife, they having long ago retired from the ac- 
 tive politics of Europe, content to do their part 
 of the world's work in other ways than in war. 
 
 At the polls, during the summer of 1900, the 
 Anti-Revolutionary party triumphed over the 
 Liberals, and Dr. Abraham Kuyper was made 
 premier. He was active in securing peace in 
 South Africa, and the Dutch gave hearty wel- 
 come to the Boer generals who visited Holland 
 in 1902. 
 
 305 
 
HISTORY OF HOLLAND 
 
 On the 1 6th of October, 1900, Queen Wil- 
 helmina wrote another little love letter " aan 
 mijn volk " (" to my people "), announcing her 
 engagement to Duke Hendrik of Mecklen- 
 burg-Schwerin. On the 7th of February, 1901, 
 after riding in her golden coach to the great 
 church in The Hague, they were united in 
 marriage according to the ritual of the Re- 
 formed Dutch Church by the court chaplain, 
 Dr. Van der Flier. Again for a fortnight the 
 cities of the Netherlands were in festal array 
 by day and illuminated at night while the royal 
 couple celebrated their honeymoon. 
 
 In recent years, especially since the celebra- 
 tions by the Dutch people of the three hun- 
 dredth anniversary of many a stirring event 
 of the Eighty Years' War of Independence, 
 through the stimulus given to the study of 
 Dutch history by our own historian. Motley, 
 the endowment of chairs of history in the uni- 
 versities, and the formation of historical so- 
 cieties, there has been a revival of patriotic 
 interest in the past. The fruits of this feeling 
 are seen in the numerous statues, tablets, and 
 other works of art which make a tour in the 
 Netherlands so fascinating to the student who 
 would know in detail the long and glorious 
 story of the Dutch people. 
 
 306 
 
APPENDIX 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 OUTLINE OF DUTCH HISTORY 
 PREHISTORIC TIME 
 
 Netherlands inhabited by Celtic tribes. 
 B. c. 
 loo. The Frisians and Batavians enter. 
 
 THE ROMAN PERIOD 
 
 54. Julius Caesar, 
 ir. Drusus. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 14. Germanicus. 
 
 44. Corbulo. 
 
 70. Revolt of Claudius Civilis. 
 
 277. Weakening of the Roman power. 
 
 400. The expansion of the Germanic tribes. 
 
 THE FRANKISH PERIOD 
 
 496. Clovis baptized. 
 
 628. Dagobert fights the Frisians. 
 
 First Christian church at Utrecht. 
 700. Willibrord and the Gospel. 
 755. Boniface killed at Dokkum. 
 785. Charles the Great brings the Saxons and Frisians 
 
 into Christendom. 
 800. Coronation of Charles at Rome. 
 810. Beginning of the Norman inroads. 
 814. Death of Charles the Great. 
 309 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 839-1260. The Zuyder Zee forms. 
 
 843. Compact of Verdun. Beginning of the evolution 
 of the seventeen Netherland provinces. 
 
 PERIOD OF THE COUNTS OF HOLLAND 
 
 922. Dirk I. 
 
 1015. Dirk III. founds Dordrecht. 
 1072. Delft founded. 
 1096. The Crusades begin. 
 1 170. Great flood. Sea fish at Utrecht. 
 1 2 19. Beginning of dikes and dams. Capture of Dami- 
 
 etta. 
 1277. Great flood. The DoUart formed. 
 1296. Floris V. murdered by feudal lords. 
 
 1299. Death of John I. and end of the house of Holland. 
 
 THE MTODLE AGES : THE FOUR PRINCELY HOUSES 
 
 1300. Amsterdam becomes a city. 
 
 1329. First windmill in the Netherlands built. 
 1341. Elizabeth flood. Biesbosch formed. 
 
 1349. Quarrels of the Hooks and Cods begin. End of 
 
 the house of Hainault. 
 
 1350. First use of gunpowder by the Dutch. 
 1350. Curing of herring discovered. 
 
 1423. Use of printing begun. 
 
 1428. Death of Jacqueline. End of house of Bavaria. 
 
 1477. Death of Charles the Bold. 
 
 Mary of Burgundy grants the Great Privilege. 
 1482. End of the house of Burgundy in the Netherlands. 
 1490. End of the Hook and Cod quarrels. 
 1492. Bread and cheese riots. 
 
 310 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 THE SPANISH PERIOD 
 
 1496. Philip the Fair marries Joanna of Aragon, crown 
 
 princess of Spain. 
 1 5 15. Charles V., son of Philip, assumes rule over the 
 
 Netherlands. 
 1517. Charles V. becomes king of Spain. 
 1517. Charles V., emperor. 
 1536. Menno Simons and the Mennonites. 
 1543. All the seventeen provinces united under one 
 
 prince. 
 1555. Charles V. abdicates in favor of Philip II. 
 
 1558. Battle of St. Quentin. 
 
 1559. Philip II. departs for Spain. Margaret of Parma 
 
 made viceroy. 
 
 1564. Exit Granvelle. Influence of William of Orange. 
 
 1565. The compromise of nobles. 
 
 1566. The cry of the Beggars. The image storm. 
 
 1567. Departure of William of Orange to Germany. 
 
 Arrival of Alva and his army. Flight of 100,000 
 Netherlanders to other countries. 
 
 REVOLT OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS. BEGINNING OF 
 THE EIGHTY YEARS' WAR 
 
 1568. Egmont and Hoorn beheaded. 
 Battle of Heiligerlee. 
 William crosses the Maas. 
 
 1572. The Water Beggars capture Briel. 
 Massacres at Zutphen and Naarden. 
 
 1573. Siege of Haarlem. 
 Siege of Alkmaar. 
 
 Naval battle on the Zuyder Zee. 
 Departure of Alva, who is succeeded by Requesens. 
 3" 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 1574. Battle on Mook Heath. Death of Louis and Henry 
 of Nassau. 
 
 Siege of Leyden. 
 1576. Death of Requesens. 
 
 Revolt of Spanish soldiers. 
 
 Pacification of Ghent. 
 
 Don John of Austria. 
 
 1578. Amsterdam adopts the Reformed religion. 
 Death of Don John. 
 
 Alexander of Parma, grand commander. 
 
 1579. Union of Utrecht. 
 
 THE REPUBLIC OF THE tTNITED NETHERLANDS 
 
 1581. Philip II. deposed. Dutch Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 1583. The French fury at Antwerp. 
 
 1584. Assassination of William of Orange. 
 
 1585. Arrival of the earl of Leicester and the English 
 
 auxiliaries. 
 Fall of Antwerp. The northern and southern 
 
 provinces separated. 
 1588. Destruction of the Invincible Armada. 
 1590. Maurice -begins the capture of Breda and other 
 
 walled cities. 
 
 1594. Secession of Groningen from the union. 
 
 1595. East India commerce opened by Houtman. 
 
 1596. The' Dutch in Nova Zembla. 
 
 1597. Battle of Turnhout. 
 1600. Victory at Newport. 
 160T. Siege of Ostend. 
 
 1602. East India Company formed. 
 1607. Naval battle at Gibraltar. 
 1609. Twelve Years' Truce begun. 
 312 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 1614. The Greenland Company formed. 
 
 1618. National Synod at Dordrecht. 
 
 1619. Barneveldt beheaded. 
 
 162 1. Renewal of the war with Spain. 
 
 THE BLOOM OF THE REPUBLIC 
 
 1621. The age of the great artists, scholars, poets, engi- 
 neers, explorers, and colonists. 
 1625. Death of Prince Maurice. 
 
 1628. Piet Hein captures the Spanish silver fleet in the 
 
 West Indies. 
 
 1629. Prince Frederick Henry's campaign. 
 
 1648, Peace of Munster, Eighty Years' War ended. 
 
 1652. First naval war with England. 
 3"romp, DeRuyter, Evertsen. 
 John DeWitt, grand pensionary. 
 
 1653. Three days' sea fight. 
 
 1654. Peace with England. 
 
 1665. Second naval war with England. 
 
 1666. Four days' sea fight. 
 
 1667. DeRuyter in the Thames. 
 Peace of Breda. 
 
 The Perpetual Edict. 
 
 1668. Triple Alliance against France. 
 
 1672. French invasion. DeRuyter's victory at Solebay. 
 
 Murder of the DeWitt brothers. 
 
 1673. DeRu5rter's victory over the allied forces.- Retreat 
 
 of the French. 
 1678. The peace of Nymegen. 
 1685. Louis XIV. of France repeals Edict of Nantes. 
 
 Flight of Huguenots into the Netherlands. 
 1688. William III. lands in England with a Dutch and 
 
 Huguenot array. 
 
 313 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 1689. William III. made king of Great Britain and Ire- 
 land. 
 War with France. 
 
 1697. Peace of Ryswyk. 
 
 1702. Death of William III. 
 
 End of the line of descent from William of Orange. 
 The succession of the house of Orange-Nassau 
 passes to John William Friso. 
 
 1706-1709. War of the Spanish Succession. 
 
 Battles of Ramillies, Oudenarden, and Malplaquet. 
 
 1 7 16. Peace of Utrecht. 
 
 1740-1748. War of the German Succession. 
 
 1747. William IV. becomes hereditary stadholder. 
 
 175 1. Princess Anne, governor for William V. 
 
 1766. William V., last stadholder. 
 
 1776. Governor Johannes de Graeff fires the firsfforeign 
 salute to the American flag. 
 
 1780. John Adams in Holland. Friesland recognizes the 
 
 United States of America. 
 
 The Dutch republic recognizes the American re- 
 public. 
 
 Fourth war with Great Britain. 
 
 1 78 1. Naval battle off the Doggerbank. 
 
 1784. Civil war between -the Patriots and the prince's 
 partisans. 
 
 1787. The Prussians support the prince. Flight of Pa- 
 triots into France. 
 
 THE FRENCH REGIME 
 
 1789. The French Revolution. 
 1 793. The French invasion. 
 
 1795. The French cross the frozen rivers. Flight of 
 William V. to England. 
 3H 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 1797. Battle of Camperduin. 
 
 1799. Landing of the Russians and British on North 
 Holland. 
 Battles at Bergen and Castricum. 
 1802. Peace at Amiens. 
 1804. Napoleon, emperor of the French. 
 1806. Louis, king of Holland. 
 
 1809. British land on Walcheren. 
 
 18 10. The Netherlands incorporated with France. 
 
 1812. Napoleon's march to Russia and retreat. 
 
 1813. Battle of Leipsic. 
 
 1814. Congress of Vienna. 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS 
 
 18 15. Northern and southern Netherlands made into one 
 
 kingdom under William I. 
 Battle of Waterloo. 
 
 1816. Dutch and British bombardment of Algiers. 
 1821-1825. Extension of Dutch trade and conquest in the 
 
 East Indies. 
 1830, Separation of Belgium and the Netherlands. 
 The " Ten Days' Campaign." 
 
 RENASCENCE OF THE NETHERLANDS 
 
 1830. The railway system inaugurated. 
 
 1839. Peace with Belgium. 
 
 1840. Abdication of William I. in favor of William II. 
 1844. Friendly mission to Japan. 
 
 1848. Reform of the Constitution under Thorbecke. 
 
 1849. Death of William II. Enthronement of William III. 
 1853. Haarlem Lake drained. 
 
 1863. Emancipation in the West Indies. The Dutch join 
 
 315 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 with the British, French, and Americans in the 
 bombardment of Shimonoseki, Japan. 
 
 1867. Limburg becomes a Dutch province. 
 
 1873. The Atcheen War begun. 
 
 1876. The North Sea Canal from Amsterdam opened. 
 
 1879. Marriage of William III. and the Princess Emma 
 
 of Waldeck-Pyrmont. 
 
 1880. Birth of the Princess Wilhelmina. 
 1883. World's Exposition at Amsterdam. 
 1887. Revision of the Constitution. 
 
 1890. Death of William III. Expedition to Lombok. 
 
 1894. Queen Emma, regent. 
 
 1898. Queen Wilhelmina inaugurated. 
 
 1900. Marriage of Queen Wilhelmina to Duke Hendrik 
 
 of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. 
 The Peace Congress at The Hague. 
 
 1901. Triumph of the Anti-Revolutionary party at the 
 
 polls. 
 Dr. Abraham Kuyper, premier. 
 
 316 
 
INDEX 
 
INDEX 
 
 Ada, Countess, 79. 
 
 Adolph of Nassau, 172, 173. 
 
 Adrian, Pope, 127. 
 
 Africa, 252, 292, 305. 
 
 Alcuin, 114. 
 
 Alkmaar, 77, 124. 
 
 Alva, 162, 167-169, 174-177, 181, 
 
 184-187, 189, 191, 192, 196. 
 Amalia Van Solms, 238, 240, 305. 
 America, Dutch in, 255, 293. 
 American fiag saluted, 263. 
 Amsterdam, 139, 212, 272, 279, 
 
 291, 298-304. 
 Anabaptists, 129, 137. 
 Anglo-Saxons, 29. 
 Anjou, Duke of, 215-217. 
 Anna Paulowna, 290. 
 Antwerp, 158, 169, 176, 241, 269, 
 
 281, 289, 290. 
 Armada, the Invincible, 220, 221. 
 Armor, 133. 
 Atjeh, 227. 
 Avila, Don Sancho de, 198. 
 
 Banners of William of Orange, T 7 1 . 
 Barneveldt, John of, 219, 222-224, 
 
 231-234, 293. 
 Batavian Republic, 275-278. 
 Batavians, 18. 
 Bavarian house, 89-106. 
 Beggars, the party so called, 1 54, 
 
 155, 166, 168-170, 173. See also 
 
 Water Beggars. 
 Belgic Netherlands, 1 66, 288. 
 Betuwe, 16. 
 Beukels, William, 94. 
 Bible, 134-137. 234- 
 Biervliet, 95. 
 Biesbosch, 105. 
 
 Binnen Hof, 79. 
 
 Bishops, 145. 
 
 Black John, 183. 
 
 Blok, Prof. P. J., 298. 
 
 Boers, 305. 
 
 Boisot, Admiral, 197-203. 
 
 Boniface, 37. 
 
 Boodle, origin of the word, 91. 
 
 Bookmaking in the middle ages, 
 
 115. 
 Bossu, Count, 182, 183, 189, 192, 
 
 195, 196. 
 Bread and Cheese War, 123, 124. 
 Brederode, 151, 153. 
 Brethren of the Common Life, 115. 
 Briel, 180-182, 184. 
 Brinio, 24, 25. 
 
 Brussels, 173, 174, 181, 290. 
 Burgundy, house of, 107-121. 
 Buys, Paul, 177. 
 
 Caesar, 18, 19. 
 
 Cambrai, 215. 
 
 Camperduin, 277. 
 
 Cats, Jacob, 248. 
 
 Ceremonies, 91, 297, 305. 
 
 Charlemagne, 38-42. 
 
 Charles V., Emperor, 95, 126-128, 
 
 140-143. 
 Charles the Bold, iii, 116. 
 Charlotte of Bourbon, 216, 218. 
 Chinese, 227. 
 Chivalry, 61, 62. 
 
 Church and State, 139, 233, 234. 
 Claudius Civilis, 22-24. 
 Cods, the party so called, 85-89, 
 
 109, 120. 
 Coevorden, 26. 
 "Compromise," 153. 
 
 19 
 
INDEX 
 
 Constitutions of the Netherlands, 
 
 214, 286. 
 Comellisen, Gijsbert, 202, 203. 
 Coster, Laurens Janszoon, 113. 
 Council o£ Blood, 168. 
 Council of Troubles, 168. 
 Count, the word and the office, 66. 
 Crown, the Dutch, 291. 
 Crusaders, 54-61, 69, 70. 
 
 Daendels, Herman, 272, 279. 
 
 Dam, in place names, 67. 
 
 Dam, the, in Amsterdam, 272, 274, 
 
 290, 301. 
 Damietje, the, 69. 
 Damietta, 69, 70. 
 Danes, 49. 
 Delf shaven, 123. 
 Delft, 294, 305. 
 Delftware, 102. 
 De Ruyter, Admiral, 249, 250, 
 
 254, 255. 
 Dikes, 112, 292. 
 Dirk I., Count, 64. 
 Dirkson, Admiral, 195. 
 Doggerbank, 265. 
 Dokkum, 38, 186. 
 Don Frederic, 186, 189, 191, 192. 
 Dordrecht, 120, 127, 182, 186, 233. 
 Drainage of lakes, 292. 
 Drenthe, 10, 11, 296. 
 Drinking customs, 76, 154. 
 Drusus, 19. 
 Duncan, Admiral, 277. 
 Dunes, 3. 
 
 East Indies, 293, 302. 
 
 Egmond Abbey, 65. 
 
 Egmont, Count, 143, 146, 152, 
 
 160-162, 167, 173, 174. 
 Elizabeth of England, 166, 176, 
 
 179. 
 Emma, Queen, 294, 295, 299, 300. 
 England, relations with, 82, 99, 
 
 loi, 125, 176. 
 Erasmus, 136-138. 
 
 Falconry, 73-76. 
 Feudalism, 44-48, 61, 66. 
 
 Flag of the Franks, 30, 32 ; of the 
 Netherlands, 170 ; of Belgium, 
 289. 
 
 Flemings, exodus of the, 165, 166. 
 
 Floods, 105, 178. 
 
 Floris v., 72, 75-77. 
 
 Flushing, 149, 184, 281. 
 
 Franks, 28-36. 
 
 Frederick Henry, 239, 240, 305. 
 
 French invasion, 269-275. 
 
 French rule in Holland, 275-285. 
 
 Friesland, 81, 124, 186, 295. 
 
 Frisians, 27-39, 5^' 8'' 9^> 296- 
 
 Gerard, Balthazar, 217, 218. 
 
 Germanic tribes, 26-27, 40. 
 
 Ghent, 119, 148, 168. 
 
 " Giants' graves," 10, 296. 
 
 Godfrey, 52. 
 
 Goes, I02, 185, 188, 189. 
 
 Golden Fleece, Knights of the, 
 
 108, 156. 
 Gouda, 100, 102, 186. 
 Granvelle, Cardinal, 149-152, 162, 
 
 168, 220. 
 Great Privilege, the, 118. 
 Grotius, 233-235, 305. 
 Gunpowder, 132. 
 
 Haarlem, 70, 113, 191, 280, 292. 
 
 Hague, The, 79, 267, 304. 
 
 Hainault, house of, 8i>-84, 88. 
 
 Harik, John, 195, 196. 
 
 Hedge preaching, 157, 158, 160. 
 
 HeUigerlee, the battle of, 172, 173. 
 
 Helder, 278. 
 
 Hendrik, Duke of Mecklenburg- 
 
 Schwerin, 306. 
 Herring, 94-96. 
 Hessels, 168. 
 History writing, 65, 293. 
 Hoen, Captain, 201. 
 Holland, origin of the name, 4; 
 
 kingdom of, 278-282. 
 Hooks, the party so called, 85, 86, 
 
 88, 109, 120, 123. 
 Hoom, 96. 
 
 Hoom, Count, 160, 161, 173, 174. 
 House of a Thousand Fears, 183. 
 
 320 
 
INDEX 
 
 "Image storm, the," 158, 159. 
 Inquisition, 153. 
 Ireland, 31. 
 
 Jacqueline of Bavaria, go-105. 
 
 Japanese, 227. 
 
 Jemmingen, 174. 
 
 Jews, 141. 
 
 John of Austria, Don, 208, 210- 
 
 212. 
 
 John of Nassau, 172, 213. 
 Juliana of Stolberg, 148. 
 
 Keezen, the party so called, 268. 
 Kenau Van Hasselaer, 191. 
 Kijkduin, 277. 
 Kingship, 286, 291. 
 Kuyper, £)r. Abraham, 305. 
 
 Leicester, Earl of, 220. 
 
 Leyden, 2i, 176, 186. 
 
 Liberty trees, 274. 
 
 Limburg, 286, 290. 
 
 Lombok, 296. 
 
 Louis Napoleon, 279, 280. 
 
 Louis of Nassau, 172, 174, 175, 
 
 185, 187, 198, 199. 
 Lou vain, 169. 
 Luther, 129. 
 
 Maastricht, 175. 
 
 Margaret of Holland, 81,83,86-88. 
 
 Margaret of Parma, 148-151, 153, 
 
 154, 156, 158, 160, 167, 168. 
 Marnix de Sainte-Aldegonde, 
 
 Philip Van, 186, 196, 220. 
 Mary. See William and Mary. 
 Mary of Burgundy, 118-121. 
 Maurice, Prince, 218, 222-232, 
 
 235, 256. 
 Maximilian of Austria, 120-125, 
 
 127. 
 Middelburg, 71. 
 
 Mondragon, Cristobal, 188, 189. 
 Monks, 48, 65. 
 Mons, 186. 
 Mook, 198, 199. 
 Moreau, General, 275. 
 Motley, J. L., 293. 
 
 Naarden, 189, 190. 
 
 Names, given and family, 63, 130, 
 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, 276-278, 
 
 280-284. 
 Nobles' procession, 153. 
 Norsemen, 48-51. 
 Nymegen, 21, 41, 267. 
 
 Orange, color, 268, 285. 
 Orange, house of, 258. 
 " Oranje boven," 170. 
 
 Pacheco, 184. 
 
 Paleis, 279. 
 
 Paris, 283. 
 
 Parma, Duke of, 167, 215, 220, 
 
 221. 
 Patrick, Saint, (Succat), 31, 38. 
 Patriots, the party so called, 266- 
 
 270. 
 Paul Jones, 264. 
 Peace Congress, 304, 305. 
 Philip the Fair, 125-128. 
 Philip II. of Spain, 128, 142-145, 
 
 148, 149, 162, 163. 
 Pichegru, General, 275. 
 Pilgrim Fathers, 20. 
 Printing, 113, 114, 133-135, 141, 
 
 151- 
 Prussia, 267. 
 Pope, power of the, in the middle 
 
 ages, 131. 
 Porcelain, 102. 
 
 Radbod, the Frisian king, 35. 
 Raven, the, in Norse navigation, 
 
 50, 51. 
 Religion, 13, 231-234. 
 Renneburg, the traitor, 214. 
 Requesens, Don Luis de, 197, 200, 
 
 207, 208. 
 Romans, 9, 17-27. 
 Rotterdam, 183. 
 Royal Institute, the Dutch, 280. 
 Russian invasion, 277. 
 
 Saracens, 57, 58, 60. 
 Scarlet letter, 55. 
 
 321 
 
INDEX 
 
 Scheldt River, 241, 269, 290. 
 Scheveningen, 271, 285. 
 Scotland, 68. 
 
 Seventeen provinces of the Neth- 
 erlands, the, 140, 171, 288. 
 Sidney, Sir Philip, 220. 
 Slaves, 51, 58. 
 Sophia, Queen, 292, 294. 
 Spitzbergen, 237. 
 Stadholders, 140, 273. 
 States-General, 71, 118. 
 SuccaL See Patrick. 
 Swarte Jan, 183. 
 
 Taxation, 72, 118. 
 
 Ten Days' Campaign, 289. 
 
 Terpen, 7-10. 
 
 Texel, 180, 277. 
 
 Thorbecke, Prime Minister, 291. 
 
 Treslong, 180, 184. 
 
 Tromp, Admiral Martin, 247, 249, 
 
 250, 254, 255. 
 Tulips, 239. 
 Turks, S4, 55- 
 
 Union of Utrecht, 214. 
 
 Utrecht, 32, 68, 180, 182, 214, 
 
 271. 
 Utrecht University, 27, 281. 
 
 Valdez, 200. 
 Valenciennes, 161, 162. 
 Van Borselen, Francis, 103. 
 Van der Kemp, Adrian, 265. 
 Van der Mark, William, 178-180, 
 
 186, 189. 
 Van der Werf, Burgomaster, 202, 
 
 203. 
 Van Hasselaer, Kenau, 191. 
 Van Spijk, 289, 290. 
 Veer, 68, 69. 
 
 Velleda, the fortune-teller, 22, 23. 
 Veluwe, 16. 
 
 Verdun, 41. 
 Vianen, 21. 
 Vikings, 48-51. 
 Vilvoorde, 136. 
 Vliet, 20. 
 
 Walcheren, 185, 188, 281. 
 Water Beggars, 1 54, 170, 177, 179- 
 
 182, 189, 197-203, 207. 
 Waterloo, 284. 
 
 White, Hon. Andrew D., 305. 
 Widow, renunciation of all claim 
 
 to a husband's estate by a, 90, 
 
 91- 
 Wilfried, 33, 34. 
 Wilhelmina, Queen, 294-306. 
 " Wilhehnus Lied," 186. 
 Willemstad, 270. 
 William I., King, 285, 286, 288- 
 
 290. 
 William II., King, 284, 290, 291. 
 William III., King, 291-294, 302. 
 William II., Stadholder, 241, 242, 
 
 245. 
 William III., Stadholder, 252-257. 
 William IV., Stadholder, 258-260. 
 William V., Stadholder, 260, 262- 
 
 264, 271. 
 William and Mary, 255-257. 
 William of Orange, 140, 142, 144, 
 
 146-152, 160, 161, 168, 171, 175, 
 
 186, 187, 194, 210-213, Z16-219, 
 
 229. 
 Williamson, Hubert, 190. 
 Willibrord, 34, 65. 
 Windmills, 94. 
 
 Wittekind, the Saxon warrior, 38. 
 Woden, 13. 
 
 Zeeland, 281, 296. 
 
 Zierikzee, 80. 
 
 Zoutman, Admiral, 265. 
 
 Zuyder Zee, 22, 195, 270, 276, 292. 
 
 322 
 
Electroiyped and printed hy H. O. Houghton &* Co, 
 Cambridge, Mass., U.S. A,