3 1924 071 190 809 The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924071190809 THE ISTORY OF HOLLAND AND THE 39«tcft ^ntion, FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE TENTH CENTURY TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH; INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE MUNICIPAL INSTITUTIONS, COMMERCIAL PURSUITS, AND SOCIAL HABITS OF THE PEOPLE ; THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION, IN HOLLAND; €^t SntrstinE iisMsmns, /nmgn f6m, ki. BT C. M. DA VIES. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. II. ILonticin : G. WILL[S, GREAT PIAZZA, COVENT GAROf:N. MDCCCLI. CO*^ j!-3 ^'ly President Whiie / Library^ / TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART II. CHAPTER IX. YEAn PAa fl 1573 Don Louis di Requesens Governor of the Netherlands . 1 1574 Middlebuigh taken by the Gueux ... 3 Battle of Mookeheyde, and death of Louis of Nassau . 4 Mutiny of the Spjinish Army .... 5 Preparations of the Zealanders for their defence against the armament equipped by Spain . • . . 7 Siege, and resolute defence of Leyden . . .8 Foundation of the University of Ley den . . . 15 J 675 Negotiations for a Peace between Spain and Holland . ] C Discontents of the Spanisli Provinces . . . 19 Sovereignty of the county of Holland offered to the Queen of England ...... 21 Invasion of Duyveland and Schouwen by the Royalists . 24 Siege of Zierikzee. ..... 27 1 5^6 Death of Don Louis di Requesens . . . .30 Surrender of Zierikzee, and mutiny of tlie Spanisli troops * 31 Holland exempted from the evil of sedition by the firmness of her national credit ..... 32 Arrest of the Council of State by the inhabitants of Brussels 34 Overtures made by the Prince of Oi'ange to the States- General . . . . . .35 " Spanish Fury " at Antwerp , . . .30 Pacification of Ghent ..... 39 Don John of Austria appointed Governor of the Netherlands 40 1 577 States compel him to accept the Pacification of Ghent . 43 Entry of Don John into Brussels . . . .46 Death of Viglius 47 CHAPTER X. 1577 Proceedings of Don John in violation of the Pacification of Ghent ....... 49 Popularity of the Prince of Orange in Holland . . 60 Don John seizes Namur ..... 62 a 2 IV TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1577 Letters to the King of Spain intercepted . . . "'' Flight of the Royalist troops from Antwerp . . °* Attempt at a Reconciliation between the States-General and Don John of Austria . . . . ■ °^ The Archduke Matthias created Govenior of the Netherlands 67 Treaty of the States with the Queen of England . • 68 Accession of Amsterdam to the Pacification of Ghent . 59 1578 Alexander, Prince of Parma, placed in command of the Royalist army . . . . . .61 Defeat of the States' troops at Gemljlours . . 62 Distracted condition of the Netherland Provinces . . 64 Overtures of the Duke of Anjou to the States . . 66 Mediation of France, England, and the Empii'e between the King of Spain and the Netherlands ... 67 Death of Don John of Austria . . . .68 Fruitless campaign of the States' army ... 69 Party of the " Malcontents" in the Netherlands . . 70 1579 Union of Utrecht ..... 74 PART III. CHAPTER I. 1579 Disturbances at Antwerp and other towns Attempt upon Brussels by the Count of Egmond Siege, and brave defence of Maestricht Mediation of the Emperor between Spain and the United Provinces ...... Disastrous effects of the Negotiations Attempt upon Briel ..... 1580 Capture of Mechlin by the English troops Defection of the Stadtholder of Friezland from the States Insurrection in Friezland .... Siege of Steemvyk ..... Invention of the telegraph .... Duchess of Parma appointed Governess of the Netherlands Abjuration of King Philip by the States of Holland . Proscription issued by the King against the Prince of Orange Justification published by the Prince of Orange Sovereignty of the Netherlands offered to the Duke of Anjou 1581 Deposition of Philip of Spain by the States-General Retirement of the Archduke Matthias from the Netherlands Loss of Breda by the States .... Duke of Anjou raises the siege of Cambray Tournay taken by the Royalists 79 81 83 90 95 90 97 98 99 100 100 101 102 103 104 100 109 111 112 113 114 Defeat of the States' army in Groningen . . 115 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. VBAn PAGE 1582 Inauguration of the Duke of Anjou, at AntweiT, as Duke of Brabant . . . . . . .117 Attempt to assassinate the Prince of Orange . . 118 Plot formed against the Prince and the Duke of Brabant . 121 Sedition of the German troops, quelled by Pai-ma . 123 Philip of Spain. prosecutes tlie War -svith increased vigour . 124 Dissatisfaction of the Duke of Brabant with his Government 126 1583 He attempts to gain possession of some towns in the Nether- lands . . . . . . .128 " French Fury " at Antwerp .... 130 France and England mediate between the Duke of Brabant and his subjects . . . . . .134 Provisional Agreement between the Duke and the States 136 Spread of disaffection in the Netherlands . . .138 Revision of the Act of Union .... 141 1584 Death of the Duke of Brabant . . . .142 Murder of the Prince of Orange .... 144 His character ...... 148 Prince Maurice created Stadtholder of Holland and Zealand 152 Expulsion of Truchses, Archbishop of Cologne, from his see 153 Surrender of Ghent to Parma .... 154 Siege of Antwerp ...... 166 Bridge across the Scheldt .... 157 Sovereignty of the Netherlands offered to the King of France 160 1585 Surrender of Brussels to the Royalists . . . 166 Defence, and fall of Antwerp ..... 167 States- General offer the Sovereignty of the Netherlands to the Queen of England ..... 174 Treaty, and delivery of Flushing, Rammekens, and Briel as security to the Queen ..... 175 Eiizabeth appoints the Earl of Leicester Governor-General of her forces in the Netherlands . . . .177 1586 The States-General confer the Government of the Nether- lands on the Earl of Leicester .... 178 Displeasure of the Queen of England . . . 179 Unpopular measures pursued by the new Governor . 181 Interference of Leicester in matters of religion . . 184 Loss of Grave ...... 186 Erection of the Schenkensohans . . . 187 Parma captures Nuys ..... 188 Leicester masters Doesburg and besieges Zutphen . 189 Death of Sir Philip Sydney , . . . ,189 Dissensions bet'^veep tjie Earl of Leicester and the States ^90 Tl TABLE OF CONTENTS. riCK 1586 Death of tlie Duke and Duchess of Parma, and of Cardinal Granvelle ....... ^^^ 1587 Delivery of Deventor and the fort of the Veluwe to the Royalists by the English Commanders . . .193 Embassy of the States to England ; its reception by the Queen ....... ^-^^ Increased animosity between the States and Leicester . 196 Condition of the Spanish Netherlands as compared with that of the United ProTinees . . . . .198 Siege of Sluys ...... 203 Leicester at variance -with all the Authorities in the United Proi-inces ....... 205 Disturbances at Utrecht and Leyden . . . 208 Eecall of Leicester . . . . . .209 CHAPTER III, 1587 Negotiations of Peace between England and Spain . . 211 1588 Disorders caused by the English Partj' in the United Pro- vinces ....... 215 Appeased by the interference of the Queen . . 218 Army prepared by the Duke of Parma for the invasion of England . . . . . . .219 Panna blockaded in the ports of the Netherlands by the ships of HoUand and Zealand .... 223 States return thanks for the deliverance of England from the Invincible Armada ..... 225 Failure of Parma before Bergen-op-Zoom . . . 225 1589 Sale of Geertruydenberg to Parma . . . 230 Purpose of invading Holland rendered abortive by the mu- tiny of the Spanish troops .... 233 Attempt upon Nimeguen, and death of Martin Schenck . 234 Combined expedition of the Dutch and English against Lisbon ....... 237 Regulation of the Army and Xavy of the United Provinces 2r9 1590 Breda taken by stratagem ..... 241 PaiTua commanded by the King of Spain to march to the support of the League in France .... 244 IMLlitary achievements of Prince Maurice . . 247 Complaints of the German Princes .... 247 Alliance betneen Henry IV. of France and the United Pro- 1591 Maurice captures Zutphen, Deventer, Delfziel, &c. Retreat of Parma from Nimeguen Nimeguen taken by Prince Maurice Improvement in the affairs of the United Provinces Influence of John Oldenbameveldt in the States 249 250 253 253 254 255 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Vll TEAR IMGE 1591 States refuse the mediation of the Emperor Rodolpli II. . 255 1592 Campaign of Parma in France .... 250 Reduction of Steenwyli and Coevoerden . . . 257 Death and character of the Dulce of Parma > . 260 1593 Administration of the Government of the Spanish Nether- lands by Fuentez and Ibarra ; barbarous edict of the former 26-1 Siege and conquest of Geertruydenberg by Prince Maurice , 265 Profession of the Catliolic religion by Henry IV. of France 269 Archduke Ernest of Austria appointed governor of the Spanisli Netherlands ...... 270 159-1 Reduction of Groningen by Prince Maurice . . 272 Futile negotiations of Peace between Spain and tlie United Provinces ....... 274 Design of assassinating Prince Maurice . . . 270 Mutiny of tlie Italians and Walloons in the Royalist army . 277 Invasion of Luxemburg by the King of France . . 280 States stand sponsors to the eldest son of the King of Scotland 280 Queen of England angrily demands payment of her Debt from the States ....... 231 1595 Disaffection of the Spanish Netlierlands, and death of the Archdulce . . . . . . .283 Negotiations for Peace broken off in consequence of an inter- cepted letter to tlie King of Spain . . . 281, Defeat of tlie States' troops at Bisliep , . . 288 Reduction of Cambray by tlie Spaniards . ... 289 Commencement of the Dutch trade to the East Indies ~. 290 Expeditions for the discovery of a north-east passage to China and Japan ...... 291 1696 The Archduke Albert of Austria appointed Governor of the Spanish Netherlands ..... 291 Prince of Orange released from his imprisonment in Spain . 295 Surrender of Hulst to the Archduke Albert . . 297 United expedition of the Dutch and English to Cadiz . 298 Queen of England renews her demands of payment . 301 Alliance between Fi-ance, England, and the United Provinces 302 Destruction of the Fleet prepared by the King of Spain against England ....... 303 Philip of Spain declares his insolvency . . . 304 1697 Victory gained at Turnhout by Prince Maurice . . 305 Maurice captures Alpen, Rhynberg, Meiirs, Grol, &c. . 308 Offer of Mediation by the King of Poland to the States- General . . , . . .310 Execution for heresy at Brussels . , . .311 Proposals made by the King of Spain for a separate Peace with France ...... 313 1598 Peace between Spain and France . . 316 316 A'lU TABLE OF CONTENTS. YEAn 1698 Renewal of the Alliance between the States and Queen of England ....•• Surrender by King Philip of the Spanish Netherlands to the Archduke Albert and the Infanta Isabella . • ^^^ Plot to assassinate Prince Maurice . . • ' "^^ nog Campaign in Cleves and Juliers Advancement of the Commerce of the United Provinces . 326 Death and character of Philip II, of Spain . . 328 CHAPTER IV. 1598 The War prosecuted \?ith renewed vigour . . . 353 1599 Hostilities commenced by the Princes of Gemiany against the Spanish Netherlands ..... 337 Arrest of the Dutch ships in the ports of Spain . 340 Fleet equipped by the United Provinces . . . 341 Sickness and mortality at the island of St. Thomas . 342 Man-iage of the Archduke Albert with the Infanta of Spain 343 Their "joyeuse entree" into Brabant . . . 344 Ineffectual attempts of the Archduke to procure peace . 345 1600 Province of Groningen refuses to furnish its contingent . 347 Prince Maurice invades Flanders .... 349 Battle of Nieuport and victory gained by the States' troops 351 Alienation between Prince Maurice and the States . 358 The States appear inclined towards a peace with Spain . 360 1601 Continuation of hostilities, and siege of Ostend . . 361 1602 Sedition in the Archduke's army .... 369 Establishment of the Dutch East India Company . 372 1603 Death of the Queen of England . . . .374 Embassy to the Court of James I. . . . 375 Unsuccessful siege of Bois-le-Duc by Prince Maurice . 377 1604 Prince Maurice reduces Sluys .... 379 Compromise between the Archduke and his mutinous troops 380 Fall of Ostend ...... 382 Overtures of peace from Spain to England . . . 383 1 605 Ambrose Spinola appointed by the King of Spain commander of the forces in the Netherlands .... 386 Spinola invades Overyssel .... 388 Battle of the Roer ...... 389 Unsuccessful attempt to surprise Bergen-op-Zoom . 390 Naval engagement in the Straits of Dover . . . 392 Prosperity of the East India Company . . 393 1606 Obstacles to the levy of troops by the belligerents . . 395 Attempt upon Sluys repulsed .... 39G Spinola masters Lochem, Grol, and Rhynberg . . 397 Unsuccessful siege of Grol by Prince Maurice . , 4Q0 TABLE OF CONTENTS. IX YEAR PAGE 1606 Naval encounter, and heroism of a Dutch captain . . 402 Death of John of Nassau and of the Count of Hohenlohe 403 1607 Scheme for the establishment of a West India Company in the United Provinces ..... 404 Mutual desire of the belligerents for peace . , . 406 Proffers made hy the Archdukes , . . '410 States require the acknowledgment of their independence and sovereignty from the Archdukes and King of Spain . 410 Naval battle of Gibraltar . . . . .412 Negotiations for Peace opened under the mediation of France . and England ...... 416 King of Spain evinces reluctance to ratify the Truce concluded between the Archdukes and the United Provinces . 417 Difficulties opposed to the Negotiations in the United Provinces 419 Interference of the Emperor .... 420 Beemster lake drained ^ . , . . , 422 1608 Ambassadors from Spain and the Archdukes arrive at the Hague . . . . . . .423 Debates on the subject of the East India trade . . 425 Advantages gained by the Dutch in the East Indies . . 429 Rupture of the Negotiations .... 431 Long truce proposed by the Ambassador of France . . 431 Excitement occasioned by the proposal in the United Pro- vinces ....... 432 1609 Conclusion of the truce for twelve yeai-s , . 436 Gifts conferred on the family of Nassau . . . 438 CHAPTER V. 1609 Erection of a Council of State in the United Provinces pro- posed by the French Ambassador . . . . 442 Unsuccessful remonstrance made by him in favour of the Catholics ....... 445 States send Ambassadors to the principal courts of Europe 446 1610 Origin of the war in Cleves and Juliers . . . 449 Campaign of Prince Maurice in Juliers . . 451 Rise of religious dissensions in the United Provinces . 453 Arminius appointed professor of theology at Leyden . 454 Different doctrines taught by him and Gomarus on the subject of predestination ..... 455 Disputes concerning the Confession of Faith and the Heidel- berg Catechism ...... 457 Conferences between Gomarus and Arminius . . 458 Clergy of Alkmaar resist the authority of the States of Holland 459 Death of Arminius ..... 461 " Five Articles" of the Arininians • • . . 462 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1610 Names of Remonstrants and Contra-Remonstrants given to the Arminians and Gomarists . i . • ^""^ 1611 The King of England insists upon the removal of Vorstius from the professorship of tlieology at Leyden . 463 Increased divisions in the United Provinces . • 465 1613 Libel on the States of Holland published by Sybrand Lub- bertus, ansvrered by Grotius . . . • 466 1614 " Resolution for the peace of the Church," framed by Grotius, . and promulgated by the States of Holland . . 467 1616 Contumacy of Roseus, a Contra-Remonstrant preacher, at the Hague . . . . . . .468 Barneveldt solicits the interference of Prince Maurice . 468 Maurice evinces favourable dispositions towards the Contra- Remonstrants . . . . t .471 Redemption of the cautionary towns from England . 473 Paciiicatory decree issued by the States of Holland i 474 1617 Disturbances at the Hague and Amsterdam . . . 475 Levy of " Waardgelders" by the heads of the Remonstrant party i ..... . 478 Maurice quarters troops in Briel . , , 479 Debates concerning a Synod to be held at Dordrecht . 480 1618 Maurice, Prince of Orange, changes the government of Nimeguen ....... 484 Barneveldt justifies himself from the accusations of the Prince of Orange ...... 485 Maurice forces the States of Utrecht to disband the Waard- gelders ....... 487 Waardgelders disbanded in the towns of Holland . 489 Arrest of Barneveldt, Grotiijs, and Hoogerbeets . . 490 Efforts of the States of Holland to procure the release of the prisoners ....... 493 Maurice effects an arbitrary change in the governments of the towns of Holland ...... 494. Acts of Maurice approved of by the New States of Holland . 497 Convocation of a Synod at Dordrecht . . . 493 Assembly of the Synod . . . ; . 50O Demands of the Remonstrants .... 501 Remonstrants cited to appear before the Synod . . 501 Translation of the Bible into the Dutch language . 501 Harangue of Episcopius to the Synod . . 502 Oath administered to the membere . . . 503 Disputes concerning the delivery of the answers of the Remonstrants • . : , . 503 1019 Expulsion of the Remonstrants from the Synod . ' 6O6 Discussion between the members of the Synod . . 507 Remonstrants permitted to deliver their opinions m writing S07 TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI TfEAR MGB 1619 Canons promulgated by the Synod . . , 509 Judgment passed on the Kemonstrants . . . 609 Condemnation of Voi'stius, and termination of the Synod SI Trial and execution of Barneveldt .... 512 The wife of Grotius refuses to solicit his pardon . 525 Grotius and Hoogerbeets condemned to perpetual imprisoii-' ment ...... > 62C Persecution of the Remonstrants . . < 627 Banishment of the Remonstrant ministers t . . 528 Treaty between the Dutch and English East India Companies 631 Origin of Batavia ;, . i ■ , 533 War in Cleves and Juliers ..... 634 Commencement of the thirty years' war , , 636 1620 Continued persecution of the Remonstrants . . . 638 1621 Escape of Grotius from his prison at Louyesteyn : 639 Renewal of the war between Spain and the United ProrinCes 542 1622 Relief of Bergen-op-Zoom by the Prince of Orange . i 644 Conspiracy against the Prince of Orange . . 645 1624 Treaties. with France and England s . . . 550 Conspiracy of the English at Amboyna, and execution of the accused ...... 552 Siege of Breda ...... 654 1625 Death and character of Maurice, Prince of Orange . 557 Invention of the telescope . , ' , . , Sfjo Bank of Amsterdam established (1609) . . . 661 Whale fishery ...... 561 Discovery of the straits of Le Maire, of Cape Hoorn, and the river Hudson . . . . . .662 Origin and progi-ess of the Dutch West India Company , 563 CHAPTER VI. 1625 Commencement of the administration of Prederic Henry Stadtholder ...... 56g Alliance with England ..... 568 Assistance afforded to France in the siege of Rochelle . 669 Fall of Breda ....... 570 1627 Grol taken by the Prince of Orange . . . 571 1628 Capture of the Spanish « Silver fleet" . . .571 Neutrality of the States in the war between France and Eng- land 573 Offers of Peace by Spain to the United Provinces . . 675 1629 Siege of-Bois-le Due, and invasion of Utrecht , . 576 1631 Futile attempt upon Dunkirk . . , , 579 !i Netherlands between 580 582 584 686 587 590 591 593 504: 596 599 XU TABLE OF CONTENTS. VEAB 1631 Reversion of the offices of the Prince of Orange granted to his son ....... Disturbances in consequence of the toleration of the Remon- strants Return of Grotius to Holland Grotius again banished 1632 Reduction of Maestricht . Overtures of Peace 1C33 Death of the Archduchess Isabella 1634 Alliance with France . 1635 Treaty for the partition of the Spanisl France and the United Provinces Unsuccessful campaign of the allies Commotions in Friezland . 1636 Endeavours used to include the King of England in tlie Partition Treaty . ..... 600 1637 Title of Higlmess given to the Prince of Orange by the King of France ...... 603 Reduction of Breda by Frederic Henry . . . 604 Progress of the West India Company . . . 605 The « Tulipomania" . . . . . .607 1638 Failure of a design upon Antwerp . . . 608 Defeat of the Dutch troops at Lief kenshoek . . . 610 1639 Victory gained by the States' fleet in the Downs . 611 Rank and title of the States-General .... 613 1640 Death of the Stadtholder of Friezland and Groningen . 614 William of Nassau chosen Stadtholder of Friezland, and the Prince of Orange of Groningen . . . . . 614 1641 Marriage of the son of the Prince of Orange with the Princess Royal of England ..... 617 Separation of Portugal from Spain ; truce with Portugal . 619 Jealousy of the United Provinces towards Fi-ance . 620 1642 Civil discords in England; States detei-niine to preserve [a neutrality ....... 621 1G43 Death of Cardinal Richelieu; and of the King of France . 623 Attempted reform of the States-General . . . 623 Conferences for a general Peace fixed to be held at Munster ' and Osnaburg ; Ambassadors of France at the Hague . 626 1644 States offer their Mediation to the King and Parliament of England ....... 629 1G45 States effect an Accommodation between Sweden and Denmark 633 Revolt of the Portugueze in Brazil . . . 634 ] 646 States send Ambassadors to the Conferences at Munster . 634 Anxiety of Holland for peace . . , . 036 Conditions proposed of a Treaty between Spain and the United Provinces ,.,,,,, 64Q TABLE OF CONTENTS. iCUl VeAB rAGK 1 047 Death and chai'acter of Fredei-ic Henry, Prince of Orange 646 Complaints of the French Ambassadors at Munster against the States, supported by William, Prince of Orange . 046 1648 States conclude a separate Treaty with Spain , . 650 Publication of the Peace ..... 652 Causes of the successful tennination of the war on the part of the Dutch . . . . . . .053 Advancement of the Dutch in the arts and literature . 665 CHAPTER VII. 1648 Relations of the United Provinces with foreign powers \ 670 1049 Interference of the States on behalf of the King of England 673 Add;'ess of condolence from the States to Charles II. , 075 Assassination of Dorislaus ..... 076 Contentions between the Province of Holland [and the remainder concerning the military establishment . 677 1050 Arrest of Admiral De Witte . . . . .081 Deputation from the States-General to the towns of Holland 082 AiTest of the six Deputies to the States of Holland by the Stadtholder . .... 085 Hostile attempt of the Stadtholder upon Amsterdam . . 680 Compromise between the Stadtholder and the government of Amsterdam ...... 690 Secret negotiations of the Stadtholder with France . . 692 Death of the Stadtholder, William II. . , . 093 Birth of William, Prince of Orange .... 094 Convocation of Deputies from the Provinces by the States of Holland ...... 095 Differences of opinion with respect to the appointment of a Stadtholder . . . . . .090 1051 Meeting, and acts of the "Great Assembly" . . 700 Ambassadors sent from the Parliament of England to the States 705 Act of Navigation passed in England . . . 709 1652 Commencement of Hostilities between England and the United Provinces ..... 711 Naval encounter near Plymouth .... 712 Battle off Dover and Folkestone .... 713 1053 Sea-fight of three days^ . . . . .713 Victory of the Dutch near Leghorn . . . 716 Defeat of the Dutch off Dunkirk . . . .717 Remonstrance of the Admirals to the States-General . 717 Battle; and death of Admiral Tromp . . . 718 Inclination of the belligerents towards peace . . 719 De Witte chosen pensionary of Holland . . . 722 Letter of the States of Holland to the Parliament . 723 JCIV TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1653 Ambassadors sent to England . . . • 724 Scheme of a Coalition between England and the United Provinces ...... 724 Alliance with Denmark , . . . • '25 Violence of party-spirit in the United Provinces . '25 Conditions of peace proposed by England , . • 727 1654 Conclusion of the treaty ..... 728 Act of Exclusion ...... 729 Disadvantageous terms of the peace . , . 733 West India Company evacuate Brazil . . . 734 J C65 Fleet sent by the States to succour Dantzic . . 735 1656 Dispute with France . . . . . .736 1667 States assist the King of Denmark against Charles Gustavus of Sweden ...... 738 1668 Battle of the Sound 740 1659 English fleet in the Baltic .... 740 1660 The States, France, and England, effect an accommodation between Sweden and Denmark . . . .742 ERRATA. p. 77, line 12, between all and tlie, insert a semicolon. p. 329, note, line 5, after hostilities, insert in the Netherlands. p. 302, line 2 of note *, for Koornheet read Koomhert. p. 376, line 4 from bottom of note *, for Sceven read Leeven. p. 403, line 12, for countrymen read counti-yman. p. 553, line 20, for Poularone read Poleron. p. 591, /or date 1632 read 1633. p, 663, line 12 from bottom, for their read her. HISTORY OF HOLLAND. PART II. CHAPTER IX. Atrival of Don Louis de Hequesens. Unsuccessful attempt to relieve Middlehurg. Campaign of Louis of Nassau. Battle of Mooker- heyde and death of Louis. Mutiny of the Spanish troops. Advantages obtained by the Gueux on sea. Amnesty published. Fleet prepared in Spain. Blockade and resolute defence of I^eyden. Negotiations for peace. General discontent in the Netherlands. Offer of the County of Holland to the Queen of England. Con- quest of Duyoeland, and Invasion of Schouwen by the Royalists. Siege of Bommene : of Zierikzee. Difficulties of Holland. Death of the Governor. Uniformity of style established. Administration of affairs vested in the Council of State. Surrender of Zierikzee. Sedition of the Royalist army : its effects. Cause of the exemp- tion of Holland from tlielike evil. Spaniards declared enemies by the Council of State. Arrest of the Council. Double Council formed. Overtures from the Prince of Orange. Ambassadors sent to foreign poicers. Capture and sack of Anticerp. Pacifica- tion of Ghent. Arrival of Don John of Austria in Luxemburg, as Governor of the Netherlands. Terms of his reception. Friez- land and Groningen accept the pacification. Preparations of the States for their defence. Dispute concerning the rem.oval of the Spanish troops. Mediation of the Emperor. Don John accepts the Pacification. Perpetual Edict. Precautions of the Prince of Orange. Entry of Don John into Brussels. Death of the President Viglius. The fame of the new governor, Don Louis de 1573 Requesens, had preceded him in the Netherlands, as the commander to whom the celebrated victory gained over the Turks in the Gulf of Lepanto (1571) was chiefly to be attributed. Anxious to signalize his VOL. II. B 12 PHILIP III. 1573 government by some exploit -which should at once sustain his reputation, and prove of lasting benefit to the king's affairs, he determined, upon raising the siege of JNIiddleburg, which, if successful, would go far to restore the whole of Zealand to his dominion. The Spanish garrison, under Mondragon, had now sustained a blockade of nearly two years, with a constancy and fidelity which the Hollanders themselves could not surpass. Don Sanchio d'Avila, admiral of the Spanish fleet, had from time to time been able to throw in supplies, but it was invariably a work of much danger and difiiculty, and attended with heavy loss both of men and ships, the Gueux being constantly victorious in the numerous skirmishes which occurred between them. The Gueux had likewise made themselves masters of the important port of Eammekens, com- manding one of the channels leading to Middleburg^ Having collected a fleet of forty vessels at Antwerp, with 1000 troops on board, for the relief of the city, Don Louis divided it into two portions, of which one remained under the command of Don Sanchio d'Avila, while he appointed as admiral of the other Don Julian di Romero, an able captain on land, but little experienced in maritime affairs. The vessels 1574 under his conduct had not advanced farther from Bergen op Zoom than Romers-waale, when they were met by Louis Boisot (Admiral of Zealand, after Peter- son Worst, who was now dead), at the head of forty men-of-war, attacked and defeated, with the loss of ten of their largest ships, in the sight of Don Louis, who was standing on the top of a dyke to watch the combat. The remainder of the fleet, which had already sailed to Flushing on the news of this disaster, retreated with all speed to Antwerp. The surrender of ISIiddleburg ■ Metemi, boek iv., fol. 92, 9-3. PHILIP III. 6 immediately followed, and with it that of Arnemuyden*, 1574 which put the Gueux in possession of the principal islands of Zealand, and rendered them masters of the sea. As the object of the prince was to conciliate by every means in his power the favour of the inhabitants, he granted highly advantageous conditions to Middle- burg, permitting the monks, priests, and garrison, with Mondragon himself, to depart unmolested, and to take away all their property, as well as the images and ornaments of the churches; he obtained in return a promise that the Lord of St. Aldegonde, who Jiad been captured in a skirmish near the Hague, should be released b. The attempt to preserve Middleburg had cost the king of Spain no less a sum than 7,000,000 of florins, besides the pay of the soldiers. The Gueux (or, as they were usually called, Water-Gueux), on the other hand, had no regular fund to depend upon for either pay or subsistence, being chiefly supported by the inhabitants of the places where they anchored, who gave them bread, money, and such other necessa- ries as they could aflbrd; when this resource failed, they went in chase of the merchant ships going to Flanders, and lived upon the booty they thus captured ; sometimes, however, they were redliced to extreme scarcity, and even the highest officers were content to subsist for weeks together on nothing but salted herrings. Nor had death more terrors for them than hunger and privation; for if by chance a vessel, >■ Meteren, boek v., fol. 100, 101. Bor, boek vii., fol. 480. " As an evidence of the pertinacity -witli which this remarkable war was carried on by both sides, we are told by an eye-witness, that at Arnemuyden, there was only the commander's house which had either windows or doors, the Spaniards having been obliged to destroy them for fuel dui-ing the severe cold of the winter, Meteren, boek v., fol. 101. B 2 PHILIP III. 1574 separated from the rest, was in danger of capture, tliey never hesitated to fire their gunpowder, and sacrifice their OAvn lives, rather than fall into the hands of the enemy. It is scarcely diflScult to conjecture how a contest, waged on such unequal terms, and with a foe so des]ierate, must eventually terminate'^. While the affairs of the Gueux were thus brilliantly prosperous on sea, Louis of Nassau undertook one of those inauspicious military campaigns which, consuming the funds that might have been more usefully applied, and dispiriting the people by their invariable failure, contributed to retard, rather than advance, the libera- tion of the Netherlands. With an army of 6000 infantry and 3000 cavalry, chiefly French, he once more cl'ossed the Rhine from Germany, with the inten- tion of effecting a junction with his brother William, then encamped in Bommelwaart. Orange, convinced at length of the inability of these bands of expensive and disorderly mercenaries to stand, a campaign against the regular and veteran troops of Spain, was deeply chagrined at hearing of Louis's approach, and openly remarked, that he wished the army of his brother had been at a hundred leagues distance. He nevertheless broke up his camp, and commenced his march towards Nimeguen, but had not advanced far, when he received intelligence that Louis's army was utterly destroyed at Mookerheyde, near that city, where, being met by the Spanish forces under Don Sanchio d'Avila, he was forced to come to a general engagement, in which himself, his brother, Henry of Nassau, and Christopher, son of the elector palatine, were slain. The prince, in consequence, returned to his encampments in Bom- melwaart. Though, with the exception of the battle of Heyligerlee, constantly unsuccessful in his enter- ' Metered, boek v., fol. 99, 101. PHILIP III. O prises, the patriot cause lost in Louis of Nassau a 1574 powerful support, from his elastic spirit, -which no reverses could depress, his fertility in resources, his activity, energy, and promptitude, in vchicli latter qualities he as far surpassed his brother William, as he was inferior to him in judgment, prudence, and caution"^. Immediately after their victory, the Spaniards, to whom thirty-six months' arrears were due, again broke out into mutiny, and choosing a commandant, or " electo," forced him to lead them back to Antwerp. As Don Louis de Requesens rejected all the measures which Champigny, governor of that city, proposed for its security, and even forced him and his guard of Walloons to retire, it was universally suspected that he connived at the excesses of the soldiers, for the purpose of extorting supplies from the Brabanters. If such were his design, it was eminently successful ; the mutineers proved so great a terror and burden to the citizens, tlieir mere support costing them 6000 florins a day, that they readily subscribed 400,000 florins towards the payment of tlieir arrears, which amounted to a million ". During the insurrection, Louis Boisot, admiral of Zealand, having obtained intelligence that the enemy's fleet was lying off the port of Oordam, between Lillo and Calloo, hastened in search of it, suspecting that it would be but ill-supported in the present juncture. The Spanish ships no sooner perceived his approach, than they fled ^ith all sail back to Antwerp ; they were, however, pursued and overtaken ; five, among which was the admiral's, captured, and three burned. A vast quantity of plate and A'aluables, which had been ■1 Bor, Ijoek vii., LI. 400, 402. Cairpana Gucr. di Fiand., lib. iv., p. 129. ' Bor, boek vii., bl. 403—405. 6 PHILIP III. .1574 stowed away in the admiral's ship to rescue it from the pillage of the soldiers at Antwerp, proved a seasonable supply to the Gueux^- The mutinous troops being at length appeased, Don Louis published a general pardon, which he had brought with him from Spain ; but as a return to the Catholic religion was made an indispensable condition, it proved, of course, of little effect. The object, too, for which probably it was promulgated, that of soothing the States-General into granting subsidies, wholly failed. The deputies peremptorily refused to supply any fur- ther funds, unless they themselves were to have the disposal of them, since the enormous contributions already levied had been productive of nothing but increased ruin and distress to the country; and com- plained of the licentiousness of the soldiery, demand- ing that the king should be informed of the state of the provinces, and requested to visit them in person without delays. If, indeed, the Hollanders had been inclined to reap the benefits of the amnesty by forsaking their religion, they would have been deterred by the con- viction of how little real dependence was to be jjlaced on the king's promises of pardon, since, at the very time of its iJublicatiou, he was preparing an armada in Spain for the purpose of annihilating the fleet of Zealand, and had seized not only the Holland and Zealand merchant ships in his ports, but likewise those belonging to the Hanse Towns and Embden. The Prince of Orange having received intelligence of the designs of Philip sent ambassadors both to France and England to solicit assistance ; and about the same time the king dispatched Don Bernardin di Mendoza to the latter country to request the queen's permission for ' Bui-, boek vii., bl, 513. s Bor, boek vii., bl. 510. I'HiLip iir. / his vessels to anchor m her ports. This she refused ; 1574 but at the same time declined affording any active support to the prince, who M^as equally unsuccessful in France. The Zealanders, nevertheless, did not lose courage, but prepared to defend themselves with their wonted energy: additional watches night and day were stationed in all the principal ports, the bea- cons and buoys were removed, and the wealthier inha- bitants voluntarily subscribed loans for the equipment of twenty additional men-of-war ; the fishers likewise were forbidden to go out in a west wind lest they might be forced to conduct the enemy through the difficult and dangerous channels, which it would be impossible for them to pass without experienced guides. Don Louis had thought to anticipate this evil by sending fifty skilful Netherland pilots to Spain, of whom, however, nearly the whole deserted; thirty- seven of the ships also, which Philip had pressed into his service, effected their escape. But with all the precautions of the Zealanders, it was scarcely possible that they could withstand the vast force now prepared to overwhelm them. Three hundred vessels, com- manded by Don Pedro di Menendez, a valiant and able captain, lay ready in the Bay of Biscay, with 15,000 troops on board, when they were once more delivered from imminent destruction by a singular and striking coincidence. Just as the armament was on the point of sailing, a terrific plague broke out among the crews, which carried off within a few weeks more than half their number, with the admiral himself; M'hen Philip, unable to find another commander of sufficient skill and experience to conduct so immense a fleet under circumstances of such hazard, found him- self obliged to abandon the enterprise''. 1' Bor, bock vii., bl. 524, 530. 8 I'HILIP IIT. 1574 After raising the siege of Alkmaar, the Spanish forces, placed under the command of Francesco di Valdez on the departure of Don Frederic di Toledo, had for some weeks blockaded Lejden; but were recalled in the spring of this year to join the rest of the army on its march against Louis of Nassau. From that time the burghers of Leyden, persisting in their opinion that the Spaniards would not return thither, but try their arms in another quarter, had not only neglected to lay up any fresh stores of com or other provision, but to occupy or destroy the forts with which the enemy had encompassed the town. This fact coming to the knowledge of Don Louis, he once more dispatched Valdez to renew the siege at the head of 8000 troops. Leyden being destitute of a garrison, the prince ordered the inhabitants to receive within the walls 500 English under Colonel Edward Chester, then stationed at the fortress of Falckenburg, about a league distant. But the burgomasters having remarked that, in a skirmish which took place on the approach of the Spaniards, the English abandoned the fort without a wound being given on either side, vehe- mently suspected treachery, and refused them admit- tance ; the whole body, therefore, went over with banners displayed to the camp of the enemy'. In consequence of their desertion the defence of Leyden was left solely to the burgher guards, under the com- mand of John van der Duys, or Douza, (author of a history of his native country, and no less famed as a poet than as an historian,) and Nicholas Bronkhorst, commandant on the jiart of the Prince of Orange. Mindful of Haarlem and Alkmaar, the Spanish com- mander had brought no artillery nor made any pre- parations for assault, but, \yell a\\are that there were ' Camden, book ii., p. 206. PHILIP III. 9 not provisions in the town sufficient for three months, 1574 contented himself with closely investing it on all sides, and determined to await the slow but sure effects of famine. Unwilling, however, to relinquish all hope of a more speedy surrender, he sent a letter to the inha- bitants, through the medium of some deserters, filled with flattering promises and offers of pardon on any terms they themselves might propose. To this they returned no other answer than a sheet of paper con- taining merely these words, " Fistula dulce canit volucrem, dum decipit auceps*!" But finding his im- portunities continue, they thus addressed the enemy from the ramparts: " You found all your arguments on the misery and famine that threaten us; you say that we are eaters of dogs and cats; know, that when this food shall fail us, we have each a left arm which we will eat, while we preserve our right to drive the tyrant and his bloodthirsty bands from our walls ; and if God shall, as we have justly merited, deliver us into your hands, we will ourselves set fire to our city rather than become your slaves." This was no speech of a hero made to be recorded, nor a braggart threat to drive the enemy from the walls, but a simple intima- tion of the extremities they were prepared to encounter if circumstances required. The Avomen told their husbands that they were willing to die by starvation rather than submit to their foes. To provide against the unavoidable scarcity of specie that must occur, the burgomasters re-estabhshed the paper money which they had stamped during the last siege, in notes of twenty-four and forty pence value ; the former bore on the one side the motto, " Hccc libertatis ergo ;" on the other, " Godt behoude '' " The fowler plays sweet notes on his pipe wliile he spreads his net for the bird." 10 PHILIP III. 1574 Leyden," (God protect Leyden;) the latter the impress of the city arms, and on the reverse, " Pugno pro patria." As Valdez had erected no less than sixty-two forts in the vicinity of the tovm, it v?as idle to hope that the blockade could be broken through by any land forces which the Hollanders might be able to muster; the States assembled at Rotterdam, therefore, on the suggestion of the Prince of Orange, decreed that all the dykes between Leyden, and the Meuse and Yssel, should be cut through, and the sluices oj)ened at Rotterdam and Schiedam, by which the waters of those rivers, overflowing the valuable lands of Schieland and Rhynland, M'ould admit of the vessels bringing suc- cours up to the very gates of Leyden. The damage was estimated at 600,000 guilders, a consideration of no small moment, at a juncture when every farthing of their slender resources was requisite to support the desperate struggle in which they had engaged ; but to this they paid no regard, merely observing, " That it was better the country should be ruined than lost." They likewise caused 200 flat-bottomed boats to be equipped at Delft*, Schiedam, and Rotterdam, laden with ammunition and provisions, and summoned the admiral, Louis Boisot, with a portion of his fleet from Zealand. On board of the latter was a small but terrific band of Water-Gueux, 800 in number ; men frightful to behold, from the scars and wounds with which they were covered ; not a few had lost an arm or a leg, or were otherwise cruelly maimed. Sworn to die rather than submit to the Pope or the Inquisition, they never gave or received quarter ; and, as a symbol * One of these, called the "ark of Delft," is remarked as having neither sails nor oars, but was moved by means of a w^heel v^orked by twelve men. PHILIP III. 11 of this determination, wore on tlieir caps a silver 1574 crescent engraven with the words, " Rather Turk than Pope." Their hatred of the Spaniards amounted to a frenzied passion. It is related of one of them, that, having taken a Spanish soldier in a skirmish at Zoe- termeer, he tore his heart out of his body, set his teeth for a moment firmly into it, and threw it on the ground, saying, " It is bitter." This extraordinary memento of national antipathy was preserved for some time at Delft. Wild and fierce as they were, however, they were in a state of the highest discipline, and, as seamen, unrivalled in dexterity and skill*. The cutting through the dykes was a work of time and difficulty, as well from the labour required, as from the continual skirmishes with the enemy, Avho had built several forts on them, and unceasingly endea- voured to prevent its execution. Even when com- pleted, it appeared as if the vast sacrifice were utterly unavailing. A steady wind bloAving from the north- east kept back the waters of the Mouse and the Zoetermeer (a small lake, about midway between that river and Leyden) in their beds, so that the ves- * The stories told of the prowess of these men are almost incredible. On one occasion, a captain (named Hoen) of two small vessels stationed on the Y, perceiving a company of Spanish troops, 120 in number, on their march along the dyke from Amsterdam to the neighbouring camp, commanded the half of his crew, consisting altogether of eighteen men, to land, and occupy that part of the dyke which the enemy had passed, while he, with the remainder, stationed himself on the road before them. On the approach of the troops, Hoen and his party discharged their muskets with considerable effect, and immediately rushed on them with the long-pointed poles they used in leaping ditches, when, the lances of the Spaniards being too short to reach their assailants, they were deprived of this means of defence, and driven back with scarcely any resistance ; on their retreat they encountered the other nine men, who, in like manner, received them with a discharge of mus- ketry, and then attacked them with their poles. Thus, in a short time, the troops were exterminated to a man, without the loss of a single life on the part of the Gueux, Velius Hoorn, boek iii., bl. 205. 12 PHILIP III. 1574 sels could advance no farther than the latter, where they remained in anxious expectation of the spnng tide. ]\Jeanwhile the besieged, ^ho for some weeks heard no tidings of their deliverers, had scarcely hope left to enable them to sustain the appalling sufferings they endured. They had from the first husbanded their provisions "with the greatest care ; but as there was no more- than 12,000 bushels of corn for 14,000 souls, they Avere soon deprived AvhoUy of bread, and half a pound of flesh a day was distributed to each of the Avatch only. "Then," says the historian, who heard it from the mouths of the sufferer?, " there was no food so odious but it was esteemed a dainty; some ate vine-leaA-es mingled Avith salt and starch ; others boiled the leaves of trees, roots, chaff, and the chopped skins of beasts in a little milk. It Avas not uncommon to see women, with their faces coA-ered, seated on heaps of refuse, searching for bones, dried fish skins, and other offal ; the young girls ate the lap dogs with Avhich thev used to plav. On occasions when a slauffh- tered animal was to be divided amongst the watch, crowds stood around eager to catch the morsels as they fell, which they devoured raw''." Plagaie, the attendant on famine, Avas not far behind ; 6000 per- sons fell A'ictims to its ravages; the burghers could scarcely drag their weary limbs to the Avails, and often, on their return from the Avatch, found their wives or children dead, and their homes desolate. Intense suffering, moral and physical, at last did its work even upon these resolute men. The commandant, Bronk- horst, having died of the plague, a number of the citizens came to one of the burgomasters, Peter Yau- derwerf, beseeching him either to give them food, or treat Avith the Spaniards. '• I have made an oath,"' '' Bor, boek vii., bl. .550. PHILIP III. 13 replied he, " which, by the help of God, I will keep, 1574 that I will never yield to the Spaniard. Bread, as you well know, I have none ; but if my death can serve you, slay me, cut my body into morsels, and divide it amongst you." At this answer they slunk away silent and abashed. The siege had now lasted five months, during which neither assault nor sally had been made; no animating sound of war, no day-dreams of glory, had served to beguile the weary time that the inhabitants sat silently awaiting the approach of torture and of death. Not a morsel of food, even the most filthy and loathsome, remained ; and it seemed as though they would at last be driven to put their fearful threat in execution, and suck their own life-blood to still the agonies of hunger, when, on a sudden, the wind Oct. veered to the north-west, and thence to the south- • west; the waters of the Meuse rushed in full tide over the land, and the ships rode triumphantly on the waves. The Gueux, attacking with vigour the forts on the dykes, succeeded in driving out the garrisons with considerable slaughter. One, however, still remained, that of Lammen, within half a mile of Leyden, which being situated on a slight eminence, and provided with enormous pieces of artillery, the Admiral Boisot was doubtful whether he should be able to master. He, therefore, despatched a carrier pigeon, desiring the besieged to be ready on the morrow to make a sally at a given signal ; a mandate which they prepared with eager alacrity to obey. But the Water-Gueux had inspired the Spanish soldiers with a terror almost amounting to fatuity: seeing them approach, they hastily abandoned the fort, leaving behind nearly the whole of their baggage and ammunition. On the morning of the 3rd of October, 14 PHILIP III. 1574 the vessels were discoTered from the ramparts to have passed Lammeu. Suddenly a quick and feeble cry of joy, " Leyden is relieved," was heard through the half- deserted streets of the city. As they came to the gates, numbers rushed out to hail their deliverers, who were struck with the deepest commiseration at the spectacle of gaunt, tottering, and emaciated figures A^hich met their eyes. Thev loaded them with provi- sions, which some of the unhappy sufferers devouring with unrestrained eagerness, found in the enjoyment of plenty that death which famine had spared them. As soon as the inhabitants were somewhat restored, the greater portion accompanied the admirals and burgomasters to the principal church of the town, to return " thanks to that God who had made them a sea upon the dry land*." On the same day, Valdez evacuated all the forts in the vicinity, and retired to the Hague, of which the Spaniards had gained j)ossession during the siege. It happened that, as the troops were retreating, about twenty roods of the wall of Leyden suddenly fell, without any apparent cause. This incident, which but t\yo days before would have been fatal to the besieged, now only served to increase the sj)eed of their flying enemies, who imagined that the noise they heard was occasioned by the approach of their pursuers. The grateful people regarded it as another special interpo- sition of Providence in their favour, that on the very day after the town -was relieved, the wind returning to the north-east, drove back the waters of the Meuse and Yssel within their accustomed bounds. Boisot * Non opus est gladiis, ferroque i-igentibus armis ; Solse pro Batavo telligerantur aquse : Tolle metus, Hispane fuge, et ne respice terras, Pro qiubus oceanus puguat, et ipse Deus. J. Douzie Poemmata. PHILIP III. 15 wrote from Leyden to inform tlie Prince of Orange of 1574 his happy success, who lost no time in repairing thither, although scarcely recovered from a dangerous sickness. He thanked the burghers, in the name of the States, for the extraordinary courage and fortitude they had displayed, and ordered that boats and wag- gons should go round to the neighbouring towns to collect charitable contributions for the poor of Leyden. Delft alone gave, within two days, money and provi- sions to the value of 2000 guilders. Each of the admirals was presented with a magnificent chain and medal of gold. The burghers did not forget even the pigeons which had from, time to time brought them intelligence, but caused them to be kept with great care, and after their death to be stuffed and placed in the town-hall '. In memory of this eventful siege, the Prince and States offered the inhabitants either to found an uni- versity or to establish a fair. They chose the former ; but the States, judging that the poor and illiterate had shown themselves no less strenuous than the wealthy and educated, in the defence of their fatherland, granted both : the fair of Leyden was appointed to be held on the 1st of October in every year, the 3rd being ever after held as a solemn festival ; and on the 8th of February in the next year, the university received its charter from the Prince of Orange in the name of King Philip. Both proved lasting monuments of the glorious cause which gave them birth : merchants hur- ' rying from far distant shores, have loved to display their richest wares before the eyes of the citizens of of Leyden ; and the learned and wise of after ages have revered, in the university, the parent of a Grotius, a Scaliger, and a Boerhaave. Van der Duys, the ' Meteren, bock v., bl. 105—107. Bor, boek vii., bl. 506, 552—560. 16 PHILIP HI. 1574 devoted and heroic defender of his native town, first sat as curator in that chair which himself had raised on the standards of victory, and the muse twined her bays with the laurels that crowned his brow. Some time before the second siege of Leyden, negotiations for peace between the King of Spain and the Hollanders had been opened through the medium of the Lord of St. Aldegonde, then a prisoner at Utrecht. These were subsequently broken off by the Grand Commander, who, after the defeat of Louis of Nassau at Mookerheyde, discovered that it did not become his majesty to treat with his rebellious subjects in any other manner than as humble suppliants. This difficulty was now obviated by the States consenting, at the persuasion of St. Aldegonde, to sue for peace 1575 in the form of a petition ; and the negotiations were resumed at Breda, under the mediation of the Count of Schwartzenburg, brother-in-law of the Prince of Orange, as ambassador on the part of the Emperor Maximilian, who from the beginning had made the most sincere and persevering efforts to restore tran- quillity. The demands of the deputies commissioned to the conference by the States of Holland, were, considering the relative situation of the parties, some- what exorbitant. Protesting that they were unjustly accused of rebellion, since they never thought of taking up arms against their sovereign, but solely to rescue his States from the ruin with which the tyranny of Alva and the Spaniards threatened them, they pro- posed that, as a preliminary, all the foreign troops should withdraw from the Netherlands, and imme- diately on their departure the States General should be assembled; that the Reformed religion, as then established, should be permitted to continue; that the Prince of Orange and the States should have PHILIP III. 17 liberty to place garrisons where they might think it 1575 necessary; that the prince, with all those who had suffered in the late disturbances, should be restored to their estates and honours; that the States might assemble as often as they judged fit, and that, on the death of the Prince of Orange, Holland and Zealand might appoint another stadtholder over them- selves; that all the acts of the Council of Troubles should be annulled, the new bishops removed, and the penal edicts against the reformers abrogated ; and tha,t the Jesuits should be expelled from the Netherlands, " as a pestilent race, desirous of tumult""." The ambas- sadors of the king made some difficulty about assem- bling the States, but yielded most of the other points ; they, however, insisted that the Catholic religion should be fully restored, and that those who would not con- form to it should retire into banishment within six months, and sell their estates before the end of ten years, leaving them, meanwhile, to be administered by Catholics ; and likewise, that all the fortresses, ships, and artillery should be surrendered to the king, — con- ditions which, perhaps, they expected would render the whole negotiation abortive. The States modified their demand with regard to religion, so far as to consent that the question should be decided in the future assembly of the States-General, but remarked that, "in surrendering the fortresses, they should be like the sheep who gave up the dogs to the wolves"." As the ambassadors declared that the king would not "yield an iota" concerning religion, Schwartzenburg, hopeless of a peace, attempted to procure a truce for six months, but was unable to prevail on Don Louis to make any farther concession than a truce for two "■ Bor, boek vii., bl. 633. Meteren, boeb v., fol. 108, 109. " Bor, boek viii., bl. 698, et seq. VOL. II. C 18 PHILIP III. 1575 months, provided the reformed service should vcholly cease, and the preachers retire from the country. Not deeming it worth his while to refer this proposal to the States, Schwartzenburg returned home in considerable discontent with the Spanish party, aggravated by the refusal of the Grand Commander to grant passports at his request, for the deputies of the States to accom- pany him to the court of the emperor. The prince and States receiving intelligence that Don Louis was preparing vessels at Antwerp, for the purpose of invad- ing Zealand, suddenly broke off the conferences, with a protest that the oiFers of peace were made only to amuse and deceive them, in order the more effectually to take measures for their destruction ». The negotiation, prolonged during nearly nine months, was not so fruitless to the prince as may at first appear, since it had the effect (the only one, pro- bably, he wished it should have) of justifying him in the eyes of the world, and conciliating the favour of the other provinces of the Netherlands, to whom the proposal of leaving the question of religion to be settled by the States-General seemed both judicious and equitable, while at the same time they were highly gratified with the article insisting on the removal of the foreign soldiers, coupled as it was with the observa- tion adroitly added, that there could not be any danger in the measure, since no enmity existed between the Hollanders and the rest of the Netherlanders, whom, on the contrary, they regarded as friends, compatriots, and allies P. There was scarcely, indeed, one of the provinces which had not already begun to manifest strong symp- toms of disaffection to the royal cause. The demands ° Bor, boek viii., bl. 605, 610, 611. <• Meteren, boek v., fol. 112. PHILIP III. 19 for subsidies on the part of the government were now 1575 invariably met with sharp denials and remonstrances on the ruined condition of the country ; the States of Guelderland, and of Groningen and the Ammeland, peremptorily refused to levy any further contributions for the payment of the troops, saying that they were already sufficiently wasted and impoverished by their presence; Friezland consented to a tax of five per cent, on rents, provided no more burdens should be laid on them, nor any acts done in violation of their charters and privileges ; while Utrecht demanded that, preparatory to the grant of any supplies, they should be relieved from all the foreign garrisons ; that their privileges should be fully restored; the Council of Troubles cashiered ; and that the disbursement of the funds to be raised should remain in the hands of the States "3. Another circumstance tended to exasperate still further the discontents of the latter province. The Spanish commander, Valdez, after the siege of Leyden, had retired, as it has been observed, to the Hague. Here his troops, ill-paid as usual, and scantily supplied with provisions, the conveyance of which was impeded by the numerous posts that the Gueux possessed in the vicinity, raised a general revolt; 7000 marched through South Holland to Utrecht, purposing to treat that city in the same manner as their comrades had done Antwerp. They found, how- ever, that the gates were shut against them, and in an attempt to escalade the walls, they were vigorously driven back by the burghers, with the loss of their leader or "electo." They then wandered about the open country, committing every species of excess, until they received a portion of their pay, when they allowed themselves to be dispersed among the different " Bor, boek vii., bl, 562, 576, 577, 683. C 2 20 PHILIP III. 1575 garrisons of Flanders and Brabant. Don Louis granted them a full pardon, observing, in reply to the com- plaints of the Utrechters, that however he might disapprove of the license of the soldiers, he was unable to prevent it, since the States had provided no funds for their payment. This impolitic mode of revenge proved, in the sequel, far more detrimental to the king's affairs than to those whom it was intended to annoy. A measui-e of still more pernicious tendency was the pei-mission which he gave to the people to provide themselves with arms for their own defence against the mutineers''. As it was now perfectly evident to all men, that neither reconciliation nor pardon was to be expected from the King of Spain, the Prince of Orange and the States, conscious that Holland must eventually be overwhelmed by his vast power, thought themselves justified in offering the sovereignty of their country to some potentate, who might prove both able and wil- ling to defend them. It remained to be considered, whether Germany, France, or England should have the preference. With respect to Germany . it was objected, that, as far as regarded the princes, besides the awe in which they stood of Philip, the mistrust and jealousy existing between themselves would pre- vent their lending assistance to any one of their body who should receive so great an accession of power and dignity, as the possession of Holland would bestow; while, if it were proposed that the county should become a member of the Empire, they must await the issue of the tedious and dilatory discussions of the German Diet, before the termination of which their irretrievable ruin might be completed. With respect to France, the tyranny and persecution invariably ' Bor, boek vii., bl. 584. Catnpana, lib. v., p. 150. I^HILIP III. 21 exercised against the reformers, the state of weakness 1575 in which the long civil wars had left her, the heredi- tary enmity between the French and the Netherlanders, and the probability that the King of Spain might ultimately induce the King of France to exchange Holland and Zealand for Naples or Milan, rendered it highly dangerous to place any confidence in that power. The project of an union with England, on the contrary, met with universal approbation ; the con- formity in religion, the moderate system of govern- ment, and the power of the queen on sea, as well as on land, rendered it highly desirable for Holland ; while the convenience of trade, the entire mastery she would obtain of the seas, and the readiness with which Denmark and theHanse towns would then enter into the alliance of the united nations, promised no less a vast accession of wealth and strength to England. The Prince of Orange although by his recent marriage with Charlotte de Bourbon, daughter of the Due de Mont- pensier, more inclined to an alliance with France, agreed with the States that Philip van Marnix, lord of St. Aldegonde, John van der Duys, Paul Buys, advocate of Holland, and Doctor Maalsen, should be sent as deputies to England, to offer the queen, as a descend- ant of the ancient counts of Holland, (through Phi- lippa, wife of Edward III.,) the sovereignty of Holland and Zealand. In the interim, the States committed the government into the hands of the Prince of Orange, investing him with full power to administer all military and naval affairs, and to raise at any time a loan not exceeding 20,000 guilders ^ Nearly coincident with the arrival of the ambas- sadors at the court of England, appeared the Lord of Champigny on the part of Don Louis, Avho was desi- " Jleteren, boek v., fol. Hi. Bor, Ijoek viii., bl. Gil. 22 PHILIP III. 1575 rous of arresting in the commencement negotiations so detrimental to the interests of his master. He was instructed to remind the queen of the former friend- ship of Spain, and to request that she would, in virtue of the long-standing treaties between the two countries, withdraw her support from the rebels to the king, and banish the Lord of St. Aldegonde from her domi- nions. The pi-oposal of the States of Holland placed Elizabeth in a situation of no small embarrassment; she feared, as the inevitable consequence of accepting the proffered dignity, the involving herself -nith so mighty a potentate as Philip in a war, which might be attended with the most disastrous results to her kingdom, and at best would force her to apply to her parliament for subsidies, a resource she always adopted with the highest degree of reluctance ; if, on the other hand, she absolutely rejected the sovereigntv, there was but too much reason to apprehend that they would throw themselves at once into the arms of France, an evil which of all others it behoved her to prevent. In these circumstances the queen followed her usual course of temporizing policy ; she replied to Champigny that she had no desire to uphold rebellion, but she was well informed that the Hollanders were perfectly willing to submit to the government of the king and States-General ; but, having been unable to obtain a pardon from the former, they were about to seek the protection of France, a measure Avhich would prove extremely injurious to her dominions; nor should she consider it less so, that the King of Spain, under pretext of chastising the rebels, should fill the Netherlands with Spanish garrisons. She had already, she said, once banished the fugitive Netherlanders from her kingdom at the desire of the Duke of Alva, the PHILIP III. 23 consequence of which was, that they were driven by 1575 desperation to seize on Briel, so that it would have been better had he allowed them to remain quietly where they were ; and as the Lord of St. Aldegonde was an accredited ambassador, sent to inform her of the result of the negotiations at Breda, it would be in the highest degree dishonourable to violate the sacred- ness of his character. Meanwhile she sought to detain the deputies of Holland by various pretexts, per- mitting them to collect troops and ammunition throughout England. On their pressing vehemently for a decisive answer, although she declined assuming the sovereignty, she gave them good hopes of effectual assistance, and promised to use her efforts to bring about an equitable and lasting peace, which she declared herself not without expectation of being able to procure. She expressed the same sentiments in a letter which she wrote some time after to the Prince of Orange* During the pacific negotiations at Breda, Don Louis had continued hostilities by the capture of Buuren under the command of the lord of Hierges, stadtholder of Holland on the royalist side after the imprisonment of the lord of Bossu; from Buuren, Hierges marched to Oudewater, which was carried by assault after a spirited resistance ; and having made himself master of Schoonhoven, laid siege to Woerden, where he found sufficient occupation for a considerable period. On sea, however, the Gueux were attended by their usual good fortune ; they seized and burnt twelve ships of war, built by the Grand Commander for the purpose of navigating the rivers and channels ; and about the same time a portion of the fleet equipped ' Camden, Hist, of Queen Elizabeth, book ii., p. 207 — 210. Bor, Iroek viii., bl. 662 ; boek ix., bl. 667. 24 PHILIP III. 1575 in the last year in Spain, consisting of small vessels called " Assabres," coming into the haven of Dunkirk, was entirely scattered and destroyed by a tempest. These repeated disasters brought strongly to the mind of Don Louis the conviction that no real progress could be made in the subjugation of the insurgents, until the possession of a safe harbour in one of the islands of Zealand, should enable the Spanish vessels to cut off the communication between that province and Holland, and to come to an engagement upon equal terms with their adversaries. For the attain- ment, therefore, of this object of vital importance, he built at Antwerp thirty large galleys, each containing eighteen benches of rowers, with numerous smaller boats, and advanced in person to St. Anne's land in the island of Tholen, where he was met by 3000 Spanish, German and Walloon infantry, together Adth a troop of 400 horse, under the command of Osorio di Ulloa, Sanchio d'Avila, and ^Mondragon". It was resolved to make the first attempt on the island of Schouwen by a bold and masterly movement similar to that which three years before had enabled Mondragon to relieve Tergoes. Passing over in boats to Philipsland, a deserted island between Tholen and Schouwen, the troops on the night of the 28th of September prepared to march across the Zype by a ford which, according to the account given by two Zealand deserters, was passable at neap tide. The A-an, composed of Spaniards, was commanded by Osorio di Ulloa, the Germans and Walloons by Mondragon, the rear being brought up by the pioneers, and one company of Spaniards, under Gabriel di Perralta. With their muskets raised in their hands, and powder and provisions for three days tied about their necks, " Boi-, bock \'iii., bl. 648. PHILIP III. Z-i the Spaniards marched boldly and steadily into the 1575 water already up to their middle, although there was no more light to guide them than such as the vivid flashes of lightning during a terrific storm afforded ; the tide, returning rapidly, overwhelmed the pioneers, of whom only ten escaped drowning, and forced the rear guard, with their commander Perralta, to retreat. The remainder succeeded in passing over, the Zealand vessels stationed on each side of the ford being unable, owing to the shallowness of the water, to advance within musket-shot, and arrived with little loss at the dyke on the extremity of Duyveland. Here they found ten regiments of French, Scotch, and English auxiliaries drawn up ou the top of the dyke, with whom it was necessary to come to an engage- ment before they could proceed a step farther. Utter- ing a short prayer to the Virgin, the Spaniards com- menced a vigorous onslaught, in which Charles Boisot, governor of Zealand, was slain, by treachery it was supposed on the part of one of his own soldiers. Aghast at this ill-omened commencement, the de- fenders turned and fled to their ships, leaving the Spaniards undisputed possessors of Duyveland. Ad- vancing into Schouwen, they made themselves masters of the port of Vianen and of Brouwershaven without resistance; but the small town of Bommene, which was next invested, having received a garrison of 500 men from the prince, proved a less easy prey. Francis d'Aguilar, to whom this enterprise was intrusted, having cannonaded the walls incessantly for three days, effected a breach sufficiently large to commence an assault. The besieged then perceiving that it was impossible for them to hold out much longer, proposed a parley, but were answered by some soldiers from the intrenchments that the only Avay to surreiider was 26 PHILIP III. 1575 to jump down unarmed from the walls; accompanjdng the taunt with some insulting observations. Mon- dragon and D'Avila, however, coming shortly after to the camp prevailed with Aguilar to offer favourable terms of capitulation. During the conference held with the citizens on the subject, a Spanish ensign perceiving, as he thought, a weak point in the fortifi- cations, tried to effect an entrance into the town. He acted without orders ; but the attempt, coupled with the insults of the Spaniards, determined De Neufville, governor of Bommene, to break off further parley, and prepare the inhabitants to defend themselves to the last. The next day the Spanish commanders commenced a brisk assault with 800 men, but after two hours' of close fighting were forced to order a retreat, having sustained considerable loss. A general attack some days after was attended with better success. Mondragon, in order to inspire terror into the besieged, had armed all the suttlers and attendants on the camp, and stationed them on the dyke within sight of the breach. The repairs which the citizens had been able to make in their walls were soon thrown down, and the contest, furiously begun by the Spaniards, was sustained with equal ardour by the besieged for the space of five hours, when the camp followers, observing the troops in extreme difficulty, and weary of standing as idle spectators, came to their assistance in good earnest. The defenders, who for the last three days had been kept in such continual alarms that they had leisure for neither sleep nor food, were now completely exhausted, and mistaking the rabble of the camp for a fresh supply of troops, began to give way. Observing this, a Spanish soldier threw aside his musket, caught up a shield, and springing from the top of the breach into the town was immediately followed by the whole PHILIP III. 27 troop, who slaughtered all they met. with such fury, 1575 that only twenty of the inhabitants remained alive. Among the slain was the governor De Neufville. Many hundreds on the Spanish side were killed and wounded''. The Spanish commanders had been detained three weeks before the insignificant fortress of Bommene, a period which, though short, proved to them an irre- parable loss of time, since it enabled the inhabitants of Zierikzee to strengthen their fortifications and lay in provisions for the siege with which they were threatened. The governor of the town, Arent van Dorp, besides the preparations within the walls, had, by cutting through the dykes, completely inundated the whole country, so that the royalist forces were obliged to encamp upon the top of the dykes, or confine them- selves within the forts they had conquered. On the approach of the army the inhabitants of Zierikzee amused Mondragon for a considerable time with hopes of a surrender, and the Grand Commander him- self was allured to the camp by the welcome intelli- gence. He soon found, however, that while the enemy were mocking him with false promises they had made use of the delay to render their fortifications so complete as to frustrate entirely all hope of carrying the place by assault ; and he was consequently obliged to have recourse to the tedious and ruinous expedient of a blockade^. As this appeared likely to prove a work of vast labour and expense, and the supplies which should have arrived from Spain had been lavished in the equipment of the last year's fleet, Don Louis, returning to Antwerp, despatched earnest solicitations to the ' Meteren, boek v., fol. 116 ; boek viii. Bor, boek viii. bl. 649, 650. " Idem, boek viii., bl. 653. 28 PHILIP III. ]y75 states of all the provinces for subsidies, whether in the shape of taxes or loan. His request, so far from being complied with, was met by complaints of the violation of privileges, the excesses of the garrisons, the illegality of the Council of Troubles, and various other griev- ances. Finding that nothing was to be obtained from the provinces separately, Don Louis thought it advis- 1576 able to assemble the States-General at Brussels, in the hope that they would prove more tractable together than when apart. Their first act, however, was to draw up a remonstrance, of which Francis Richardot, bishop of Arras, was the chief mover, wherein, begin- ning by expressing their determination to remain firm to the Catholic religion and' the government of the king, they required that the foreign troops should he expelled the Netherlands; that only the nobles and inhabitants of the country should be employed in public offices ; that military discipline should be pre- served ; the contributions applied to the purposes for which they were raised; that their privileges should remain entire ; a council of Netherlanders be appointed in Spain, to assist the king in the government of the provinces ; and that the mutinous soldiers should be punished. Don Louis was in high indignation when he heard that the States were about to present a remonstrance instead of a subsidy : " God deliver us from these States!" he exclaimed, in the first emotions of his wrath ; and told the deputies, whom he summoned to Antwerp, that he expected money from them, and not complaints. As, however, they persisted in their re- fusal to consent to any grant, he at length promised to use his 'best offices with the king to procure them satisfaction in all particulars; but obtained nothing more in consequence, than a loan from Flanders of PHILIP III. 29 20,000 guilders, and another of 350,000 from Bra- 1576 banf- It was happy for the Hollanders that the States were thus sparing of their supplies to the Grand Commander, since, had he possessed sufficient funds to carry out at once all his able and well -laid projects, their ruin had been inevitable. While he divided Holland from Zealand by the possession of Brouwers- haven and the blockade of Zierikzee, he occupied all the troops of South Holland by the siege of different towns in that quarter, and at the same time instructed Gaspar Roblez, lord of Billy and stadtholder of Friez- land, to make an attack on the islands of North Holland; but the command which the Noi-th Hol- landers retained of the Zuyderzee prevented his effect- ing anything of imjDortance. Nevertheless, the expense of carrying on the war in so many quarters at once, pressed severely on the already impoverished country^ and obliged the States to have recourse to some rather doubtful methods of raising supplies ; they offered for sale considerable portions of the county domains, the property of ecclesiastical foundations, the tithes belong- ing as well to the sovereign as to the clergy*, with the mills, fisheries, and various other seignorial rights belonging to the count, engaging themselves to make no peace unless the sales were confirmed. These estates readily found purchasers among all classes of persons y. The royalist troops being on the eve of mutiny, Don Louis made another pressing application to the King of Spain for vessels and money, urging that all his operations were impeded for want of funds; that » Meteren, boek v., fol. 116. Bor, boek viii., bl. 657. ? Idem, 658. * The tithes in Holland, as in many other countries, were a gift of the sovereign to the clergy. 30 PHILIP III. 1576 the States would not grant sufficient supplies volun- tarily, nor was it safe at this juncture to use towards them any measures of compulsion. Ere he could Mar. receive an answer, a pestilential fever had carried him to the grave, after a few days' illness, an event as opportune for the Hollanders, as it was of sinister effect on the affairs of the King of Spain. Had he lived longer, and been able to retain discipline among his soldiers, there appeared little doubt but that he would have forced Holland and Zealand to accept a peace on the most humiliating and injurious terms, since he had reduced them to a situation of such diffi- culty, that the Prince of Orange, after the Queen of England's refusal to accept the sovereignty of the county, proposed to the States that they should equip for war all the vessels that could be collected, and completing the destruction of their country by cutting through the dykes and burning the mills and houses, embark with their wives, children, and most valuable effects, and, like their forefathers of old^ seek to gain possession by arms of some distant land, where they might dwell free fi-om Spanish tyranny ^ The Netherlands are indebted to Don Louis for the introduction of an uniform style of reckoning, beginning the year from the 1st of January, and abolishing Mhat was called the " court style," by which the year Avas made to commence on Easter eve. This regulation was immediately adopted by Holland and Zealand, as well as the other provinces'*. Upon the death of the Grand Commander, the Council of State assumed the government of the Netherlands, their authority being confirmed by the king until the arrival of his natural brother, Don John ' Tacit, de Mor., cap. 29. " Bor, boek viii., bl. 664. '■ Idem. PHILIP III. 31 of Austria, wliom he appointed his successor. The 1576 principal members, the Count of Mansfeldt, the Presi- dent Viglius, and the Count de Barlaimont, were the leaders of a party in the Netherlands, who, detesting the Spaniards, and disapproving of the violent measures pursued since the resignation of the governess Mar- garet, had been little employed or trusted by Alva, but were yet too much devoted to the king and the Catholic religion to oifer any strenuous opposition to acts which they could not support ; they had done their best to promote the pacific negotiations at Breda, of which perhaps they alone sincerely desired the success ; and it was probably with a view to counterbalance their influence, that Jerome di Rhoda and two or three other Spaniards were by Philip's command introduced into the council °. A cessation of hostilities followed the accession of the Council of State to the government, except so far as regarded the blockade of Woerden in Holland, and that of Zierikzee in Zealand. The inhabitants of the latter city, after a siege of eight months, proposed a surrender to Mondragon, although they had still abun- dance of provisions left, since the Prince of Orange had several times succeeded in throwing in supplies. The States-General hesitated at first whether they should permit the general to accept the surrender, as they dreaded a mutiny among the besieging army, who had been promised the full amount of their pay upon that event. Mondragon, however, having intercepted intelligence that the prince was preparing a powerful force to relieve Zierikzee, besought them not to lose the fruit of so much toil and expense, by driving the inhabitants to desperation ; and yielding to his repre- sentations, they consented to grant them highly favour- ' Meteren, boek v., bl. 117. Bor, boek viii., bl. 6G2. d2 PHILIP III. 3576 able terms. Immediately ou tlie capitulation, the evil which the States anticipated broke out in its fullest extent; the sum of 100,000 florins provided for the payment of the troops proving not nearly sufficient, the uproar became violent and universal. JMondragon found means after a vi^hile to appease the Walloons, but the Spaniards, having laid waste the open country and villages of Schouwen, abandoned the island, and marched in a tumultuous and disorderly manner to Brabant ''. The constant recurrence of this wide-spread and fatal mischief in the armies of the richest sovereign in Europe, cannot fail to excite our astonishment, especially when we note the difference in this respect between them and the troops of Holland, among whom, since the earlier period of the war, — when the example and lax discipline of William van der Mark encouraged the petulance of his soldiers, — ordy one slight movement of sedition had appeared, and that was instantly appeased by promises of payment. It cannot be sup- posed for a moment that the inhabitants of a small and impoverished nook of land, such as Holland and Zealand, were possessed of more resources to pay and provide for their troops than a monarch who had the wealth of both worlds at his command ; on the con- trary, their trade and manufactures had decayed in consequence of the war ; many of the richest famihes had fled during the persecutions of Alva, taking with them a large portion of their property; and the best of their lands were laid under water by the cutting of the dykes; but they found in this time of trial and distress, an inexhaustible mine of treasure in their unsullied national probity, their unimpeachable public ■■ Bor, boek ix., bl. 679, 680, 692. PHILIP III. 33 credit. During the long sieges, when specie failed, 1576 the States or municipal governments were in the habit of issuing promissory notes, or coining money of tin, and this money was received in payment by the foreign troops as well as the natives, without the slightest hesitation; nor was such traffic as remained, ever embarrassed for an instant by want of confidence in a circulating medium so wholly destitute of intrinsic value. The holders of it implicitly relied on the con- viction that no plea of distress, no complaint of usury or extortion, would stand in the way of their receiving the full amount it promised, as soon as circumstances permitted ; nor did they doubt, that' nothing but the utter destruction of the government would prevent its fulfilling to the letter every engagement it had entered into. It was this perfect integrity, this unbounded confidence between man and man, which enabled Hol- land to protract the war until the resources of her adversary were completely exhausted. A striking con- trast in this respect was presented by the conduct of the King of Spain, who, having incurred a debt of 14,500,000 ducats to the merchants of Spain and Genoa, obtained from the pope a dispensation, per- mitting him to revoke all his promises and engage- ments, " lest he should be ruined by usury while combating the heretics ''." From Brabant, the insurgents marched into Flan- ders, where they made themselves masters of Alost. The States both of Flanders and Brabant levied troops to oppose them, and prevailed with the Council of State to declare them enemies and rebels ; but this, iustead of checking, served only to increase the evil; every one of the Spanish soldiers and their officers, knowing the hatred of the Netherlanders against them, made com- '' Mcteren, boek v., fol. 116. VOL. II. D 34 PHILIP III. 1576 inon cause with their countrymen, and were joined in their revolt by a considerable number of German troops; the Walloons, for the most part, remaining faithful to the States. The burghers of Brussels, having reason to suppose, from an intercepted letter, that several, at least, among the members of the Council of State secretly encouraged the mutiny, deter- mined upon the bold measure of placing the whole body under arrest, and deputed the Lord of Glimes, a devoted adherent of the States' party, to execute this office in the name of the States of Brabant. Sep. Assisted by two regiments of Walloons, he broke •^■*- open the door of the council chamber while it was sitting, and seized all the members ; the Duke of Aars- chot, and such as were favourable to the States, or " patriotic," as they were called, were immediately set free ; but Mansfeldt, Barlaimont, the president Viglius, D'Assonville, and two secretaries supposed to be in the interests of Spain, were detained for some time in confinement. Jerome di Rhoda, one of the prime abettors of the sedition of the troops, and Sanchio d' A Vila, having escaped the arrest by previously re- tiring to the citadel of Antwerp, assumed, with two or three more Spaniards, the whole authority of the council, and counterfeited the king's seal ; the former assuming the title of Governor-General of the Nether- lands. The released or " patriot " members, on the other hand, calling themselves the legitimate Council of State, formed a confederation between all the pro- vinces of the Netherlands*, the States of which, with one accord, declared the Spaniards and their adherents * Exclusive of Luxemburg, which can scarcely be reckoned as one of the Netherland provinces, since, except being under the government of the same Sovereign, it was not associated in any manner with the others, rarely, if ever, sending deputies to the States-General. PHILIP III. 85 rebels, and began to prepare measures for their expul- 1576 sion^. The minds of the Netherlanders were now strongly inclined to an alliance with the Prince of Orange, who, on the alert to take advantage of any symptoms of a disposition in his favour, had, in the beginning of the dis- turbances, repaired to Middleburg, in order to be near the scene of action, and thence sent letters to the States of the provinces and some of the leaders of the "patriot " party, containing proposals of a general peace between all the Netherlands, and liberal offers of assistance to forward their mutual purpose of driving out the Spaniards. The States of Flanders made the first step towards an union, by requesting auxiliaries of the prince to besiege the Spanish garrison in the citadel of Ghent ; and, in compliance with their demand, he despatched a body of 1500 men to their aid*. He was now able to afford them any amount of succours they desired, since the king's troops had entirely abandoned the islands of Zealand, except Tholen, most of the Walloons taking service with the States. The blockade of Woerden was raised after a continuance of fifty weeks, the troops being called off to assist their insurgent comrades in Flanders ; slight garrisons of Germans only were left in Haarlem, Naarden, and other towns, which the Spaniards evacuating, bade adieu to the county of Holland, never more to return. Amsterdam, however, the government being chiefly Catholic, adhered firmly to the royalist side for some time longer?. The States-General having assembled at Brussels, " Meteren, boek vi., fol. 120, 121. Bor, boek ix., bl. 712. Strada, dec. i, lib. viii., p. 468. ' Bor, boek ix., bl. 694, et seq. 717. - Idem, 727. D 2 36 PHILIP III. 1576 created the Duke of Aarschot president of the Council of State, with the Count de Lalaing as lieutenant- general, and sent ambassadors to England, to the Emperor, and to the Duke of Alen9on, brother of the King of France, entreating their counsel and favour. Both parties had likewise despatched deputies to the court of Spain, to represent their proceedings in the best light they could to their Sovereign''. jVIeanwhile the insurgents having defeated the troops of the States in two or three encountere, stormed and pillaged Maestricht. But it was the beautiful and flourishing city of Antwerp which was especially doomed to become the spoil of these bands of brigands. In order to secure the town against the citadel, where a mutinous garrison of Spaniards was stationed, the States-General sent thither twenty-one regiments of foot under the jNIarquis of Havre, con- sisting partly of Germans, whom they had taken into their pay, and partly of newly-levied ^^'alloons. It was the opinion of Champigny, governor of the town, that they should intrench themselves outside the walls, to await the approach of Julian di Romero and Alonzo di Vargas, with the Spaniards, who were advancing from Maestricht and Lier. This advice was, however, over- ruled by the orders of the Council of State ; nor, as the sequel evinced, Avould it have proved of much avail had it been followed. The reinforcements being, therefore, received within the town, the first care of Champigny was to strengthen its fortifications against the citadel, at which, as the JNIarquis of Havre had brought no pioneers with him, 11,000 burghei-s laboured incessantly, though they suffered some loss during the work from the enemy's artillery. Mean- ■ Mhile the Spanish troops under Vargas and Romero, >" Bor, boek ix., bl. 721. PHILIP III. 37 consisting of 3000 infantry, and 1000 cavalry, together 1576 with 1000 Germans, and the mutineers of Alost, pass- ing in boats down the Dender and Scheldt, reached Nov. the citadel without interruption. Immediately on their arrival, waiting neither for food or repose, they sallied forth, and, falling on their knees for a few moments, to offer up a prayer to the Virgin to bless and prosper their enterprise, they marched over the bridge to the town, and commenced a furious assault. The raw and undisciplined Walloon troops instantly took flight, all the efforts of Champigny to arrest them proving utterly vain ; four regiments of Germans, with their commander, Cornelius von Einde, deserted to the enemy, and the Spaniards, rapidly passing the intrenchments, set fire to the houses in different directions. Such of the Germans as remained faithful, with the burghers, made several short but resolute stands in the open streets and squares ; but, deprived of confidence in each other, and dreading treachery on the part of the fugitive Walloons, they were finally overpowered. Meanwhile the flames spread with fearful rapidity ; 500 houses in the richest quarter of the city, being mostly shops filled with valuable mer- chandize, were soon burnt to the ground ; of tlie superb town-hall, nothing but the bare and blackened wall was left standing, and all the documents and ar- chives it contained perished. It was mid-day when the Spaniards began the attack, and dark evening before they obtained entire possession of the town. "Then," says the historian, "throwing off the mask of humanity, they spared neitlier crippled age, nor blooming youth ; neither the feeble matron, the helpless maiden, nor the wailing infant. Houses and churches were red with human blood ; neither sobs, shrieks, nor prayers could move their pity ; they trampled over the gasping 38 PHILIP III. 1576 bodies of their victims, to enter and plunder their houses." Every dwelling and warehouse was ran- sacked from top to bottom; the foreign merchants, priests, monks, and Jesuits, fell an indiscriminate prey to their rapacity ; they subjected to the most horrible and incredible tortures, such as they suspected of having concealed their wealth. The Lord of Cham- pigny and the Marquis of Havi-e had happily escaped in some ships belonging to the Prince of Orange, which lay between Antwerp and Calloo; but a burgo- master and several of the magistrates were slain in the contest, with 2500 of the burghers, the loss on the Spanish side amounting to no more than 200 with about 400 wounded. The number of those who pe- rished by the flames, or afterwards by the sword of the Spaniards, is incalculable; as the latter invariably massacred in cold blood every Walloon soldier they happened to meet. The citizens on their side, mad- dened by hatred and rage, murdered several of the Spaniards the same night as they lay exhausted, and sleeping in their beds, and threw their bodies amongst those of their slaughtered townsmen*. The pillagers continued their work for three days, and the value of the booty they acquired in ready money was said to be 2,000,000 of crowns; that of the jewels, plate, and furniture, was scarcely to be estimated. Yet they reaped but little permanent benefit from their ill- gotten spoils, of which, as they were unable to carry it away, (the toM'u being surrounded by States' troops,) they squandered the greater portion in gambling and ' Bor, boek ix., bl. 731. * This fact is quoted solely on the unexceptionable authority of De Thou ; the Netherland historians mention nothing of it, any more than Campana and Strada, who, as zealous catholics, and adherents of the royalist party, would not have been likely to conceal or omit it. PHILIP III. 39 debauchery ; many thought to secure their gold by 1576 having it converted into sword-hilts and cuirasses, and varnished over with black ; but the goldsmiths to whom they gave it for this purpose, substituted more than the half of copper alloy^. These atrocities, committed in a friendly and Catholic city, aroused the abhorrence not only of the Netherlanders, but of the foreign sovereigns whose merchants had shared in the general suffering ; and tended, if any incitement were wanting, to hasten the negotiations commenced at Ghent, on the 19th of the previous month, for the celebrated treaty between the provinces, commonly called the " Pacification of Ghent." Within four days of the sack of Antwerp, or " Spanish fury " as it was termed, the articles were signed and sealed by the deputies of Brabant, Flan- ders, Artois, Hainault, Valenciennes, Ryssel, Douay, Orchies, Namur, Tournay, Utrecht, and Mechlin on the one side, and the Prince of Orange and States of Holland and Zealand on the other ; they purported, that all injuries and offences being cast into oblivion, the contracting parties engaged to maintain a firm and inviolable peace towards each other, and to devote their lives and goods to the liberation of their CQuntry from Spaniards and foreigners; that after their departure, the States-General should immediately assemble to make regulations for the exercise of the Reformed religion in Holland and Zealand, and for the delivery of the ships and fortresses in those pro- vinces to the king ; that Holland and Zealand should bind themselves to undertake nothing to the prejudice of the Catholic religion in the other States of the Netherlands ; that all the penal edicts against heresy ■^ Bor, boek ix., bl. 729, 731. Campana, lib. v., p. IGo, 1G6, Thu- anus, lib. ixii., cap. 11. 40 PHILIP III. 1576 should be suspended until further direction by the States-General; the Prince Avas to continue Stadt- holder and Admiral-General of Holland; the prisoners on both sides to be released without ransom; all arrests and executions since 1566 were declared ille- gal ; and no decrees of the king were to be published without the consent of the prince and the several Councils of State of the provinces. On the same day that the Pacification was signed, the Spanish gar- rison were forced to evacuate the citadel of Ghent, which had been besieged for several weeks, and bravely defended by the wife of ISIondragon in his absence!. Shortly after the publication of this treaty, which was received with the liveliest joy throughout the Netherlands, even among those who had not been parties to it, the intelligence arrived, that Don John of Austria had passed through France, disguised as the servant of Octavio Gonzagua, and entered the city of Luxemburg on the day of the capture and pillage of Antwerp, to await there the terms of his reception by the States-General. The coming of Don John created a foreboding in the minds of many persons that the peace just concluded would prove of no long duration; and this idea was confirmed by some intercepted letters, as well from the king, as Don John himself, to Julian di Romero, Sanchio d'Avila, and other leaders of the Spanish mutineers, approving of their conduct and promising them the reward of their faithful services. The new governor, likewise, in his first message to the States-General, demanded of them the entire control of the army, and that hostages should be delivered for tlie safety of his person. Under these circumstances the States sent to request ' Boi-, boek ix., bl. 739. PHILIP III. 41 the advice of the Prince of Orange, who earnestly 1576 exhorted them to enter into no treaty whatever with Don John unless the Spanish soldiers were first with- drawn ; not to allow the troops to receive any com- mands from him ; and to insist, as conditions of his reception, that all the citadels should be destroyed, that the States might assemble as often as they thought expedient, and no fresh troops be levied without their consent. Accordingly, deputies from the States- General were commissioned to propose these terms to Don John, who replied, that provided the States would disband all their foreign troops he would engage to keep the Spaniards out of the Netherlands, unless a case of necessity should arise or a foreign war require their presence. As it would be in the power of the governor to create such an emergency at his pleasure, this answer was anything but satisfactory to the States; they therefore refused to admit Don John without further securities, and took measures to strengthen themselves both at home and abroad. The Sieur de Zwevegem was sent to England for the purpose of soliciting a loan of 100,000^. sterling, which he easily obtained; 20,000^. in ready money, and an engagement for the remainder, on condition that the States would neither change their religion nor transfer their allegiance to another sovereign ; that they would not receive the French into the Netherlands, nor refuse a reasonable peace if offered them by Don John™. The States likewise garrisoned with their troops the important frontier towns of Valenciennes and Cambray, and despatched Martini Stella to Groningen to secure the junction of that province, which, with Friezland and Overyssel, were yet wanting to the con- ■■■ Meteren, boek vi., fol. 128, 131. Bor, boek x., U. 747. Letter of Prince of Orange, bl. 748. Camden, book ii., p. 215. 42 PHILIP III. 1576 federacy. Gaspar di Roblez, lord of Billy, stadtholder on the Spanish side, endeavoured to retain possession of Friezland and Groningen for the king, by demand- ing of the troops that they should take an oath to remain faithful to him for three months, and imme- diately on the arrival of Stella caused him to be thrown into prison and put to the torture. Notwithstanding his confinement, however, Stella contrived through the medium of his physician, to whom he gave his instruc- tions in the Greek language, to work so effectually on the minds of the soldiers by promises of a full dis- charge of their pay, that they not only refused the new oath, but arrested Di Roblez himself, with several of their officers, released Stella, and took an oath of fidelity to him as representative of the States-General ; their example was soon followed by the government and burghers of the town of Groningen ; and not long after the whole province, together with Friezland, accepted the pacification". Thus reinforced by the 1577 accession of these provinces, the States entered into a new and still closer bond of union, engaging them- selves to preserve the peace of Ghent, to uphold the authority of the king and the Catholic religion, and to deliver the country from the Spaniards and their adherents". They likewise issued an edict com- manding all the magistrates, colleges, churches, and guilds, to contribute their gold and silver ornaments, except such as were dedicated to sacred purposes, as a loan for the public service, for which interest should be paid, reckoning thirty-eight pence (stuyvers) as the value of an ounce of silver, and twenty-two florins, or thirty-six shillings and eiglit pence, for gold?. By these acts of the States Don John became " Bor, boek x., bl. 751, 784. » Idem, 769. I" Meteren, boek vi., fol.128. PHILIP III. 43 fully aware that he could entertain no hopes of the 1577 governinent unless he first acceded to the terms of the pacification. He consented therefore to the withdrawal of the Spanish forces as a preliminary, provided they might return by water ; a condition which presented insuperable difficulties to the States, as the troops being 10,000 in number, it would occupy three months to prepare a fleet sufficient for their transport, of which the expense added to the pay of the soldiers during the time would be enormous ; and nothing else could be expected, moreover, than that they would make themselves masters of all the ships equipped for their use. Don John at this period aspired, by means of a marriage with the Queen of Scots, to possess himself of the crown of England, which had been bestowed on him by Pope Gregory XIII., and thinking that the fleet thus provided would enable him to pro- secute his designs on that country, insisted that the Spaniards should quit the Netherlands in the manner proposed, declaring that they themselves had refused to do so in any other. The States, on their part, suspecting the designs of Don John, and having no mind to be made the instrument of disquietude to their only ally, resolutely determined that the soldiers should take their departure by land, and that they would not receive Don John as governor until after their removal^. This obstinacy on both sides arrested for some time the progress of the negotiations ; while the States, to deprive Don John of every pretext for refusing to accept the Pacification in its simj^le form, obtained a declaration from the doctors and professors of Louvain, signed by nearly all the clergy of the Netherlands, that nothing was contained therein con- 1 Bor, Ijoek x., bl. 766. Camden, book ii., p. 220. 44 PHILIP III. 1577trary to the Catholic religion, or derogatory to the dignity of the sovereign; and from the Council of State, a decree confimatory of the latter opinion^ At length the Emperor Rodolph II., successor of Maximilian, (a monarch far less tolerant in disposition and less friendly to the Netherlands than his pre-r decessor,) having deputed ambassadors to the Nether- lands as mediators between the parties, Don John repaired to Marche-en-Famine, to meet both them and the deputies sent thither by the States-General. Here the articles of the Pacification were vehemently debated during four days, the term which the States had fixed as the limit of the negotiation ; Don John objecting principally to the declaring the Spanish soldiers rebels, and to the restoration of the Count of Buuren, son of the Prince of Orange, which he said appertained to the king alone. It was not until midnight of the fourth day that he accepted the Pacification in so far as it did not militate against the Catholic religion, or the authority of the king ; but he was induced the next morning to change this qualified consent into a simple and unconditional acceptance. In conformity with this agreement Don John, by the advice of the Imperial ambassadors, issued an edict conformable to the Pacification of Ghent, and ^^}- called, as if in mockery, the Perpetual Edict, whereby he consented to the assembly of the States-General after the departure of the Spanish soldiers, which should be eflfected by land vpithin twenty days from the Netherlands, and twenty more from the duchy of Luxemburg ; the prisoners on both sides were to be released, except the Count of Buuren, who should be detained until the Prince of Orange had conformed to the ordinances of the future assembly ' Bor, boek x., bl. 7C0, 768. PHILIP III. 45 of the States ; the States on their part were to con- 1577 tribute 600,000 jflorins towards the payment of the troops ; and the engagements they had entered into with their alHes, especially the Queen of England, were ratified. The edict was signed by all the deputies except those from Holland and Zealand ; the prince, and the States of these provinces protesting that there was no security provided for their safety ; that the liberty of assembling was covertly taken away from the States-General* : and that the retention of the Count of Buuren was a continued violation of those privileges which the edict affected to restore. They consented, however, to accept it, with the provision that the States-General would break off all communication with Don John, if the Spaniards did not evacuate the country within the appointed time^ It appears evident that the Prince of Orange, Avhether from his acquaintance with the ultimate designs of Philip, from motives of personal ambition, or from a desire to effect a permanent separation between the Netherlands and Spain, never sincerely intended a reconciliation with any governor sent by the king, and that he only acceded thus conditionally to the Perpetual Edict, Avith the firm conviction that when it came to the point, the departure of the Spanish soldiers would, under one pretext or another, be prevented. Under this impression, he remitted none of his preparations for hostilities. The few German troops left in Holland had, after the pacifica- tion, consented to withdraw on payment of their = Bor, boek x., bl. 770—792. * It is difficult to imagine liow tlie clause of the edict could be so intei-preted, since it expressly places the assembling of the States-General on tlie footing of the pacificatioH. — Bor, boek x., bl. 787. 46 PHILIP III. 1577 arrears, and thus left the whole county, with the exception of Amsterdam, in his hands. This city still refusing to acknowledge his authority, he kept it strictly blockaded on all sides, erected strong fortifi- cations at Haarlem and Sparendam, and retained the whole of his ships of war equipped for service, causing them to cruize about in every direction, and even into the Scheldt itself. He likewise deputed Paul Buys, advocate of Holland, to the States of Utrecht, with a proposition for the renewal of the edict issued in the reign of the Emperor Charles V., uniting that province with Holland and Zealand, and entered into negotiations for a closer union with Friezland '. After the promulgation of the edict, Don John came to Louvain to await the departure of the Spanish troops. They first evacuated Antwerp, of which the Duke of Aarschot was made commandant, and pursued their march through Lier and Maestricht out of the Netherlands, laden with the spoils of ten years' rapine, and boasting, that within the last six months they had slaughtered 30,000 Netherlanders with the loss of only sixty from among themselves". The governor then made his entry into Brussels, attended by 3000 of the native nobility and gentry, May where he was received with demonstrations of joy and • triumph, and with a display of splendour, such as had scarcely before been evinced towards their natural Sovereigns. The words of the aged president, Viglius, alone seemed of evil omen in the general jubilee, who, on seeing Don John, observed with a sneer, " Is this the prince who will give us peace !" He did not live, however, to see his own forebodings •- Bor, boek x., bl. 793, 811. Meteren, boek vi., fol. 134. " Grothis, Aim., lib. vii., p. 70. PHILIP III. 47 verified, as he expired within four days after, at the 1577 age of seventy, having, during a period of more than forty years, borne a conspicuous share in the affairs of the Netherlands'. • Bor, boek x., bl, 812. Meteren, boek vi., fol. 136. Thuanus, lib. Lxiv., cap. 5. 48 CHAPTER X. Hopes of the Netlierlanders from Don John's Government. His machinations against the Pacification of Ghent. Holland and Zealand remain on the defensive. Tour of the Prince of Orange through the former province. He visits Utrecht. Seizure of Namur by Don John. Open Hostilities between him and the States. Royalist troops evacuate Antwerp. General desertion of Don John. Proposals of accommodation. Prince of Orange ' received in Antwerp and Brussels. Elected Governor of Brabant. Jealousy of the Netherland Nobles. Tliey invite the Archduke Matthias to assume tlie government of the Netherlands. Treaty of the States with England. Accession of Amsterdam to the party of the States. Union of Holland with Utrecht. Prince of Orange associated with the Archduke in the Government. Mistrust of the King of Spain towards Don John. Alexander, prince of Parma, appointed General of the Royalist forces. Irresolution of the States. Hostilities. Battle of Gemblours. Despatches from Spain. States act with more vigour. Condition of the Provinces. " Religious Peace.'' Its effects. Disturbances at Ghent. Negoti- ations with the Duke of Anjou. Mediation of Germany and England between the Belligerents; ineffectual. War renewed. Death of Don John. Sanguine expectations of the States. Their disappointment. Disorganized condition of their Army. Conduct of its Generals. Separation of the Walloon Provinces from the Confederacy. Union of Utrecht. 1577 The name of Don John of Austria was already honourably known as the associate of Don Louis de Requesens in the celebrated victory of Lepanto, and as having in consequence received the offer of the king- dom of Tunis from the Pope. He was scarcely turned of thirty, of an agreeable person, not deficient in talent or acquirements, and though hasty and ambi- tious, neither tyrannical nor cruel ; and as he endea- voured by every art of popularity to conciliate the good-will of the Netherlanders, it is no wonder if, in spite of the unfavourable dispositions he had evinced PHILIP III. 49 in the late negotiations, they beguiled themselves for a 1577 moment with the hope of milder measures and more peaceful times. But the Council of Spain had been so long accustomed to consider and to speak of the people of these provinces in no other vcay than as a band of rebels and heretics, whom it would be a meritorious act to exterminate, that they had imbued the whole Spanish nation, even the wisest and best, with the same opinion. It soon appeared that Don John himself shared largely in these sentiments, and that he was determined upon adhering to the peace, which he had so reluctantly acceded to, no longer than circumstances should impose on him the necessity of so doing. AVhile yet in Louvain, he had discovered his real feelings, by falsely accusing the Prince of Orange of a design against his person**; and after his admission to the government, although he bestowed some of the offices of state on the native nobility, his court still continued filled with Spaniards, and such as had rendered themselves most conspicuous in encou- raging the outrages of the mutinous troops. The States, nevertheless, were so far blinded by his profes- sions, as to entrust him with the important charge of disbanding the German soldiers, whom, in their eager- ness to rid themselves of the Spaniards, they had allowed to remain still unpaid in the country. Repair- ing to Mechlin for this ostensible purpose, Don John secretly persuaded the troops that the States intended not only to defraud them of their pay, but even to put to death a great number who had assisted the Spanish mutineers, promising them the full discharge of their arrears if they would engage in the service of the king''. At the same time, he sent his secretary, " Boi-, boek x., U. 805. " Vide intercepted letter in Bor, boek xi., bl. 849. VOL. ir. E 50 PHILIP III. 1577 Escovedo, to represent to the States, that it was impossible to satisfy the demands of the Germans, unless considerable additional funds were supplied, which he offered to obtain from the King of Spain. The States, wholly unsuspicious of his machinations, permitted him to send Escovedo himself, on whom they conferred a stipend of 2000 crowns, to solicit a subsidy from Philip. The Prince of Orange, however, and the States of Holland and Zealand, were more alive to the insincerity of Don John's proceedings. Being summoned by him to publish the pacification of Ghent, they protested that it could not be considered as ratified so long as the Count of Buuren was detained in Spain, in violation of the national privileges — as the prince was deprived of Breda and his other estates in the Netherlands — and the Catholic provinces persisted in their refusal to admit members of the Reformed church into their towns". For the purpose of strengthening the resolu- tion of the people to sustain, if necessary, a renewal and prolongation of the war, and of promoting a closer union between the towns. Orange, accompanied by his wife, Charlotte of Bourbon, made a tour through those parts of Holland he had not yet visited, where he was hailed with enthusiastic joy. Wherever he went, the people poured forth in crowds to meet him, with shouts of welcome and gladness; they called him their "Father William," their deliverer under God from Spanish slavery and the tyranny of the inquisition, and invoked the blessing of the Almighty upon him and the princess; his advice on all points was instantly adopted, and men vied with each other in their eager- ness to anticipate his slightest wish. While at Woer- den, the provincial Council of Utrecht sent to request ' Boy, boek x., bl. 817, 818, PHILIP in. 51 he would visit their city without a guard, to which he 1577 readily assented, notwithstanding that he had many enemies there, and was strongly dissuaded by tlie jDrin- cess and his friends from a step they deemed so hazardous. It happened, that as he entered the gate, the props supporting one of the stages erected on the walls broke down, and a large splinter struck the carriage in which the prince and princess were sitting. The latter, in an agony of terror, threw her arms about her husband's neck, shrieking "We are betrayed!" William, on the contrary, retained his usual composure and having succeeded in quieting the fears of the princess, took no further notice of the circumstance. The next day he walked on foot through every street of the town, accompanied only by the magistrates and burgher-guards; a mark of confidence which so won upon the minds of the inhabitants, that though some time elapsed before they became entirely united to his government, he left them in full reliance on their support and good-will'*. Thus assured of the devotion of Holland and the friendship of Utrecht, the prince continued to maintain himself in an attitude of defence, and pressed the blockade of Amsterdam with unremitting vigour ; but as actual hostilities had ceased, and both Holland and Zealand had been at an almost ruinous expense in repairing the dykes after the late storm, he reduced the number of ships of war to thirty, retaining an army of little more than 5000 men for his security^. His prudence was fully vindicated by the events which followed. Don John conceiving that lie had gained over the greater part of the German troops, hastily retired from Mechlin to Namur, under pretence of meeting the Queen of Navarre, who was to pass "> Bor, boek x., W. 830, 831. ' Idem, bl, 829. E 2 52 PHILIP m. 1577 through that to^n-n on her road to the Spa ; and after her departure, surprised and made himself master of the citadel, observing, that "he reckoned that as the first day of his- government." This accomplished, he addressed a letter to the States, allegiiig that a design existed to seize him at Mechlin, and send him prisoner to Zealand*, and demanding to be established in the same authority which his predecessors had enjoyed, with several articles in entire contravention of the Treaty of Ghent ; and among the rest, that they should declare Tvar against the Prince of Orange and the States of Holland and Zealand^. The States-General, having disbanded the greater number of their Walloon troops, and misti-usting the fidelity of the Germans, vrere at first inclined to make any concession short of actual warfare with Holland, when a fortuitous circumstance discovered to theih how hopeless would be any attempt to eifect a penna- nent peace, and how slight the security afforded by any contract to which Don John might engage himself. This was the publication of some letters written in f Meteren, boek vii., fol. 138. Bor, boek xi., bl. 835, 830. * It is difficult to decide wlietber Dou Jolin merely affected a belief in tbis conspiracy to create a pretext for his conduct, or whether it really existed in his mind ; the latter, however, is not improbable. The Viscount of Ghent, Roubaix, one of the most bitter opponents of the Prince of Orange, had one night ridden post from Ghent to BiTossels, to inform Don John that a plot was laid to seize and massacre him and his whole household ; and not long after, the Duke of Aarschot, it was said, discovered to him, that the Prince of Orange, before his entry into Brussels, had advised the States to concur with him in the determination to secure his person on the fii-st favoui'able opportunity, for the purpose of forcing liim to grant entire liberty of conscience, which, if he refused, he was to be put to death. — Campana, lib. vi., p. 183, 184. On the other hand, it is to be considered that, when pressed by the States to name those who were suspected, in order that they might be brought to trial, he declined doing so, either with respect to them or their accusers.^ Idem, 190. PHILIP III. 53 cipher, by him and his secretary Escovedo, to the 1577 King of Sjjain, before the reception of the former in Brussels, which being found on the heath of Bordeaux, were delivered into the hands of Henry, king of Navarre, and by him transmitted to the Prince of Orange. They were deciphered by the Lord of St. Aldegonde, to whom John of Castile, the spy in the pay of the prince, at Madrid, had Supplied the key. Their contents discovered, that Don John was of opinion that it was utterly impossible to establish any lasting peace in the Netherlands, and that the only means of saving the whole body was to cut off the diseased part ; the Prince of Orange, he observed, was instigated and supported in his hostile movements by the Queen of England, and secretly favoured by nearly all the inhabitants of the Netherlands. In the same letter he signified his intention of possessing himself of some place of strength, that those who were inclined to the king's cause might be emboldened to declare themselves. The terms used by Escovedo were still more explicit, advising that the Spanish troops might go no further than France, so as to return on the shortest notice ; he recommended also that the islands of Holland and Zealand should be the first objects of conquest, which would prove more difficult, he said, than that of England ; and that the freedom of conscience to which the Netherlanders pretended, might be so con- ceded as to prove a source of division among the nobles, and thus the one party might be made an instrument to destroy the other?. Nearly coincident with this discovery, some com- munications were intercepted between Don John and the commanders of the German troops, which led the B Bor, bock xi., 844 — 848 ; boek xvi., bl. 288. Thuanus, lib. Lxiv. cap. 7. 54 PHILIP in. 1577 States to expect that an attempt would be made to seize the citadel of Antwerp, of which Don John had on his own authority substituted Louis of Blois, lord of Treslong, as governor in the place of the Duke of Aarschot appointed by the States. They justly con- sidered, therefore, that no time was to be lost in anticipating this enterprise, even by the commence- ment of hostilities, and accordingly their general, Champigny, with his troop of Walloons, attacked and defeated the German commander Von Einde, who, by order of Don John, was advancing with four com- panies upon Antwerp ; while the Lord de Bours within the citadel having gained over to the party of the States one of the regiments of Treslong, took him and the greater number of troops who adhered to him prisoners. Immediately upon hearing that the citadel was in the hands of the States, the German soldiers in the town assembled in arms, and fortified themselves in the quarter nearest the river, called the New Town. The municipal government, anxious to be rid in any manner of their burdensome guests, offered them a payment of 150,000 guilders in ready money, if they would withdraw peaceably, which, after some hesita- tion, they agreed to accept. But, as the two parties were on the bridge holding their last parley on the subject, and the Spanish and Portuguese merchants, who had engaged to lend the required sum, stood by with large purses full of gold*, some ships belonging to the Prince of Orange made their appearance in the river, and fired three shots into the town. Hereupon a sudden and universal cry arose, " The Gueux, the Gueux ! They are coming !" In an instant, officers and soldiers dispersed and fled in different directions, leaving their baggage and the purses of gold behind ; numbers * " Stokpurses," a number of purses fastened together on sticks. PHILIP III. 55 threw down their arms to make the more speed ; and 1577 thus, in the space of five minutes, Antwerp was cleared of a garrison by which it had been vexed and oppressed for nearly twelve years. The burghers afterwards obtained permission of the States to destroy the citadel, which they levelled with the ground* ; their example was followed by Ghent, Utrecht, Valenciennes, and many other towns*. The possession of Antwerp by the States was followed by the capture of Bergen-op-Zoom, and several considerable places, while Breda, an hereditary barony belonging to the Prince of Orange, opened its gates to him. The Duke of Aarschot also, and his son the Prince of Chimay, with most of the Netherland nobles, at length abandoned Don John and went over to the side of the States. Seeing himself thus deserted, and fearful lest his adversaries, in accordance with the advice given them by the Prince of Orange, should besiege him in Namur, Don John proposed a treaty with the States, offering to resign the government as soon as a fit person should be appointed to succeed him. He found them, however, inclined to meet his advances with great coldness, and to agree to scarcely any of his conditions except that of the surrender of his authority, which they observed he might place safely and beneficially in the hands of the Council of State, until the King of Spain should send a prince or princess of the blood as his successor^ But had it been otherwise, and the negotiation brought to a suc- cessful conclusion, it is evident that Don John had no '■ Bor, boek xi., bl. 854, 865. Metei-en, boek vii., fol. 141. ■ Bor, boek xi., bl. 856, 857, 862. Meteren, boek vii., fol. 138. * They found, lying in an obscure corner, the statue of Alva, thrown down by order of Don Louis di Requesens, which they broke into shivers. 56 PHILIP III. 1577 intention of adhering to any engagements he might make, since, during the time it "vvas pending, he had summoned the Spanish troops to return from France and Italy, and thus rendered the continuance of the peace imiiossible. The States, on their part also, now precluded all chance of a compromise by forming an union with the Prince of Orange, whom they invited to Brussels, under condition that neither he nor the States of Holland and Zealand would do any act detrimental to the Catholic religion : they proposed in addition, that its exercise should be permitted in these provinces, but this the prince refused. Repair- ing to Antwerp, where he was triumjjhantly received by the burghers, William was met by the deputies appointed to conduct him into Brussels, whither he was carried in three magnificently equipped vessels along the canal, the whole of the burghers of Antwerp marching under arms and with banners displayed on the one bank, and those of Brussels on the other. The rejoicings and festivals which awaited him Mithin the city were only to be surpassed by those which had greeted the arrival of his enemy, Don John of Austria, three months before^^. Nearly at the same time he was elected " Ruwaard," or governor of Brabant, by the States of that duchy, whom the blackened ruins of their once rich and lovely city of Antwerp rendered most averse of all the provinces to a reconciliation with the Spaniard. But in proportion as the confidence and afiection of the burghers and people towards the prince in- creased, so did the jealousy and suspicion of the prin- cipal nobles, by whom, notwithstanding his long residence, and the high ofllces which himself and his ancestors had enjoyed in the Netherlands, he '' Mem. deDuMauiier, p. 91. riiiLip III. 57 was, on account of liis extraction (German and 1577 French) and the large possessions he held under the Empire, always considered rather in the light of a foreigner than a Netherlander; while his sagacity, experience, and unrivalled skill in affairs, rendered it probable that when once he had gained a footing in the iniportant province of Brabant, he would draw to himself the whole influence and authority of the government to their total exclusion. Impelled by these sentiments, the Duke of Aarschot and about six- teen others resolved upon the hasty and impolitic measure of offering the government of their country, without consulting the States, to the Archduke Mat- thias, brother of Rodolph II., emperor of Germany; a l^rince of good dispositions, but young and inex- perienced, destitute of money and resources, and whose elevation was calculated to estrange the only effective ally of the Netherlanders, Elizabeth of England, whose jealousy of their negotiation with any other power was unbounded ; at the same time that the emperor himself, from his intimate connection with Spain, must be under the necessity of appearing at least to discountenance the association of his brother, with her enemies. Matthias, ardent and inconsiderate, was so eager to snatch at the perilous honour placed within his grasp, that he consented to return with Van Malstede, the ambassador sent to him upon this mission; and quitting Vienna by night, without the knowledge of the emperor, arrived, attended by a few servants only, at Liere, and thence proceeded to Antwerp to await the conditions proposed for his acceptance as Governor-General'. On the entry of the Prince of Orange into Brussels, Don John had retired to the city of Luxemburg, from ' Camtana, lib. vi., p. 191. Bor, boek xi., bl. 898—900. 58 PHILIP III. 1577 whence he issued a manifesto, thro^ving the whole blame of the renewal of hostilities upon the States, and affinning that he had been obliged to take refuge in Namur from the plots and conspiracies laid against his life ; and that the reason why the German troops were not disbanded, was to be found in the refusal of the States to provide funds for their payment. The States, on the other hand, declared Don John, and all those who adhered to him, as rebels and enemies to their country, and published a justification of their proceedings in seven different languages*, which they presented at all the principal courts in Europe". They had previously despatched an embassy to solicit further aid from the Queen of England, upon whose mind the representations of the Prince of Orange concerning Don John's designs against herself and her kingdom had begun to work a powerful effect. She now espoused their cause with earnestness and sincerity, and, for the first time, made a treaty with them as an independent power, upon the footing of mutual friend- ship and assistance ; engaging to send into the Nether- lands a body of 10,000 horse and 5000 foot, and to supply them with another loan of 100,000^., on con- dition that the States should not enter into any treaty, nor make peace without her consent. They, on their part, were to assist her with the like number of troops in case she were attacked by land, and to furnish a subsidy of forty well-equipped vessels in the event of a maritime war. Elizabeth obtained also, that the commander of her forces should have a seat in the Council of State, and that any disputes which arose " Bor, boek xi., bl. 883, 917. In Latin, German, Dutch, Fiencb, Spanifh, Italian, and English. PHILIP III. 59 between the provinces should be referred to her arbi- 1577 tration". Shortly after the conclusion of this propitious alliance, Holland received a vast increase of internal strength by the accession of Amsterdam, which reli- gious differences had hitherto kept estranged. Utrecht, though as yet a Catholic State, had, in the October of the preceding year, acknowledged the authority of the prince, and the deputies from that province now mediated so successfully between the government of Amsterdam and the States of Holland, that an union was at length effected, with a proviso, that the ancient Catholic religion should alone be permitted within the city, and the reformed service restricted to the churches built outside the walls °. The measures which the nobles of Brabant had taken to undermine the authority of the Prince of Orange proved, in the result, rather the means of con- firming it. The presence of the Archduke Matthias at Antwerp, was the signal for the clamours of the dif- ferent parties, of which one was anxious for his immediate reception; another favoured the advance- ment of the Duke of Anjou, brother of the King of France, to the government ; while a third was inclined to pursue the pacific negotiations which had been recommenced with Don John of Austria. The Prince of Orange, conscious that a division would prove the utter ruin of the Netherlands, and that the Emperor, although he had not recognized his brother's proceed- ings, would be deeply offended at the insult, if he were now denied the government, strenuously supported the cause of the Archduke ; and his powerful influence contributed, in a great measure, to secure his acknow- ° Camden, b. ii., p. 221. Bor, boek xi., bl. 003. " Bor, boek xi., bl. 893, 924. 60 PHILIP HI. 1577 ledgment by the States. Matthias, offering no Disposi- tion to the conditions proposed for his acceptance*, ■'"' ma'de his entry into Brussels, conducted by the prince himself on the one side, and his brother-in-law, the Count of Schwartzenburg, ambassador from the em- peror, on the other. William was confirmed in his office of Governor of Brabant, and obtained besides, the appointment of Lieutenant-general of the Netherlands; he was consulted by the Archduke upon all matters, and constantly appeared with him upon public occa- sions. It was easy to foresee that so experienced and skilful a politician would obtain unbounded control over the mind of his youthful associate, and that his opponents had rather placed an effective tool in the hands of the prince, than created a power strong enough to bind themP. The absolute necessity that now existed for pre- paring with vigour for renewed hostilities, could alone overcome the strong disinclination of the King of Spain to afford further supplies of money and troops against the Netherlanders. Misled probably by the constant professions of the States-General of their devotion to the Catholic religion, he imagined that it was yet possible to govern the provinces without having recourse to arms, and to preserve entire the ancient faith, and the obedience of his subjects ; he feared that long command might render the power of Don John independent, and enable him to prosecute the arabi- p Bor, boek xi., bl. 927—931, Metereu, boek vii., fol, 146. * Of tliese, the first is, that Matthias should swear fidelity to the royal majesty, as Sovereign and natural Prince, and to the States, without any mention of Philip ; thus distinguishing between the office and the person of the Sovereign. Tlie other conditions are in conformity for the most part with the Treaty of Ghent. — Bor, boek xi., bl. 927. PHILIP III. Gl tious views he entertained upon England, and even 1578 upon Spain itself*- He M'as, on this account, prone to listen to the advice of those who accused Don John of prolonging the war for his own purposes, and accord- ingly placed in command of the powerful reinforcement of Spanish and Italian troops at this time sent into the Netherlands, Alexander Farhese, prince of Parma, (son of the late governess,) as lieutenant-general; a commander whose genius, skill, and popularity with the troops, might render him a sufficient counterpoise to the authority of the governor^. On the arrival of the auxiliaries in Luxemburg, the royalist army amounted to 16,000 infantry and 7000 cavalry. With the view probably of alarming the consciences of the Catholics in the service of the States, the Pope had declared a crusade against the heretics of the Netherlands, and had blessed the banner' of Don John, which bore the emblem of a crucifix, with the inscription, " By this sign I have conquered the Turks, and by this sign I will conquer the heretics''." The Prince of Orange vehemently exhorted the States to levy an army, without delay, sufficiently powerful to commence an active and vigor- ous offensive war; biit the tardiness and irresolution characteristic of deliberative bodies was on this occasion increased by the reluctance of many of the members to engage in open hostilities against their sovereign, and by the vague hope that the expected arrival of the Lord de Selles from Spain might bring about an 1 Strada, dec. i., lib. 9, p. 3G4, 368. ' Meteren, boek viii., fol. 148. * He had made a secret league with the Duke of Guise, whereby they engaged themselves to protect the crowns of France and Spain, or, in other words, to reduce tlie sovereigns of those countries to a state of tutelage under their own authority. The negotiation was discovered to PliiHp by Don Vargas di Mexia, his ambassador at the Court of Paris. — Thuauus, lib. Lxiv., cap. 8. 62 PHILIP III. 1578 accommodation with Don John. Their dilatoriness -was even surpassed by the negligence or bad faith of most of the military commanders, who, engaged in celebra- ting a marriage festival at Brussels, or reposing quietly in their homes, allowed Don John to repossess himself of Namur without opposition. The States hereupon thought it advisable to withdraw their army farther into the interior of Brabant, when intelligence of this design, and of the absence of the officers, having reached Don John and the Prince of Parma, they commanded the whole of their troops to march in pursuit of the enemy as they were retreating towards Gemblours. The cavalry of the States, under the Sieur de Goignies, being in the rear, sustained the attack for some time with great firmness, but the Prince of Parma and the Lord of Billy commencing a sharp and general assault, they were put to flight ; the battle still continued between the troops of Don John and the infantry, until Parma's horse returning from the pursuit, the latter were entirely overpowered and routed ; 6000 were killed on the side of the States, and the Sieur de Goignies taken prisoner ; the loss of the Royalists is said to have been no more than twelve. Upon the news of this defeat, the Prince of Orange, the Archduke, and the States, fortified Brussels with all possible expedition, and retired to Antwerp, not doubting that Don John would make his next attack on the former city. .His artillery, however, being insufficient for such an undertaking, John followed up his victory with the capture of Louvain, Bouvines, and several small towns in Hainault, and made himself master of Philippeville by corrupting the greater por- tion of the garrison ^ The tenor of the despatches brought by the Lord = Campana, lib. vi., p. 201, 202. Meteren, boek viii., fol. 148, 149. PHILIP III. 63 de Selles, whose arrival had long been expected from 1578 Spain, was such as plainly indicated that the king was determined to pay no regard to the pacification of Ghent, which, nevertheless, he had before ratified. He appeared to take for granted that the Catholic religion would be restored to the same state as in the time of the emperor Charles V.; a condition which the States truly declared to be impossible, except by restoring the inquisition and the penal edicts in all their horrors, and the consequence of such an attempt must be a never-ending war of extermination. Don John was confirmed in his government, although the States had, in a letter addressed to the king, earnestly solicited his removal. Philip, indeed, offered to commission the Prince of Parma to appease the disturbances in the Netherlands, but provided only that the Prince of Orange should be delivered into the hands of Don John as a hostage for his personal safety : a proposal too absurd to be entertained for a moment. At the same time, Philip issued a decree commanding the States-General to separate, and not to assemble again without his permission, and cashiering all public officers who adhered to their party*. These hostile manifestations on the part of the king, the defeat of Gemblours, and the reiterated instances of the Prince of Orange, determined the States to do at last that which they should have done at first; to make vigorous preparations for offensive warfare. They decreed the levy of 25,400 troops in the provinces, to which Holland and Zealand contri- buted 5000 foot and 100 horse, and commissioned John Casimir, Count Palatine, with whom they had made an alliance in the preceding year, to raise 3000 cavalry and as many foot for their service in Germany. ' Bor, boek xii., bl. 039, 946. 64 PHILIP III. 1578 The Queen of England also, finding it more convenient to supply her promised aid in money than to furnish the contingent of troops agreed on by the treaty, remitted to him 45,000^., for the purpose of making levies in her name, and appointed him her lieutenant- general in the Netherlands. For the support of this army the States voted the sum of 600,000 guilders a month". The contributions were, however, but slowly afforded ; the disorganized and distracted condition of the provinces at this time being such as amply to justify the political sagacity of Don John's secretary Escovedo, when he proposed to the king, that "the liberty of conscience to which the Netherlanders pre- tended should be made to them a stumbling-block, and an instrument of destruction." The influence of the Prince of Orange over the Archduke ^Matthias, and the alliances of the States with the Queen of England and John Casimir, a zealous protestaht, excited the suspicion of the catholics that a design existed to introduce the reformed religion throughout the Nether- lands. In order to allay their fears, the States had promulgated a decree, commanding the officei-s of government to proceed with rigour against such as should attempt any act against the Catholic religion, or scandalize, or ridicule its professors, either in word or deed. But this was of little avail, since other measures, which the States found themselves obliged to adopt, served to exasperate their feelings of irri- tation. The unsteadiness of the Catholic troops, par- ticularly the "\^''alloons, who constantly retained a secret inclination towards Don John, made it necessary to employ on all occasions of active service those of the reformed religion, upon whose fidelity and ° J[eteren, Lock viii., fol. 155. PHILIP III. 65 patriotism full reliance could be placed ; and the same 1578 reason held good in filling up the places of the magis- trates and other public offices of the country. Under these circumstances, the reformers of the Catholic provinces invited back those who had quitted their homes during the late persecutions, and finding them- selves rapidly increasing in numbers and strength, petitioned the archduke and States for permission to enjoy the free exercise of their religion. In com- pliance with their request, the States devised a scheme for an universal toleration, or " religious peace," through- out the Netherlands, whereby the Catholics in Holland and Zealand, and the reformed in the remaining pro- vinces, should enjoy the free exercise of their religioia, churches being provided by the governments of the towns for that purpose ; and that no inquiry should be made into any one's belief. They also framed an oath to be administered to all magistrates, public officers, and ecclesiastics, both regular and secular, " to observe the Pacification of Ghent, to devote their lives and goods to resist the authority of Don John and his adherents, and to regard as enemies all such as hesitated to take the oath." The whole body of the Jesuits*, and the greater portion of the priests and monks, refusing it, they were violently expelled from Antwerp, Bruges, Ypres, and Ghent, where the ecclesiastical property had already been seized, and the Catholic service forbidden ; at Amsterdam, the people suspect- ing that their magistrates, who were devoted Catholics, * The Jesuits had been introduced into tlie Netherlands by the Duke of Alva, and had accumulated immense wealth by the spoils of the captured cities ; given them, the historian says, to silence their vehement preaching against the cruelty and impiety of the Spaniards ; the soldiers, moreover, when mortally wounded, frequently bequeathed to the Jesuits the booty they had obtained by rapine, in order to appease their troubled consciences. — Meteren, bock viii., fol. 153. VOL. II. F 66 PHILIP III. 1578 were entertaining a correspondence with Don John, had taken them prisoners, and conducted most of the priests and all the monks, with insult and mockery, though without personal injury, out of the city^. These proceedings excited the highest degree of discontent in many of the other provinces, which absolutely rejected the act of religious peace ; French Flanders, Hainault, and Artois, (or the Walloon pro- vinces,) in particular, withheld their contributions from the common stock, and commenced negotiations with Francis, duke of Anjou, brother to the King of France. This prince, restless and ambitious, had long ardently desired to mingle in the affairs of the Netherlands, and before the death of Louis of Nassau prevailed with that prince, while at the court of France, to propose to the queen-mother that he should be appointed general-in-chief of the army, which, it was supposed, was about to be sent thither. He afterwards employed his sister, the Queen of Navarre, to sound the dispositions of the inhabitants during her visit to the Netherlands at the time of the seizure of Namur by Don John; and, subsequently to the defeat of Gemblours, he had seht De la Fougere as ambassador to the States-General, with offers of condolence and assistance'**'- His friendly advances, the solicitations of the Wal- loon provinces, and the fear lest in allowing them to treat separately they might run the risk of creating a permanent division among them, at length induced the States-General to conclude a treaty with the Duke of Anjou at Mons, whither he had repaired for this pur- pose. He was invested with the title of " Protector » Meteren, boek viii., fol. 152, 153. Bor, boek xii., bl. 952, 068. » Thuanus, lib. Lvii,, cap. 16. Strada, dec. ii., lib. 1, p. 3. Tliuanus, lib. ixvi., cap. 6. PHILIP III. 67 of the liberty of the Netherlands," and promised to 1578 bring into the provinces an army of 10,000 infantry and 2000 cavalry at his own expense, and to maintain an alliance vpith the Queen of England, the King of Navarre, and Prince John Casimir. The States on their part engaged, that in case it were found necessary to change their sovereign, they would give him the preference before any other prince of Europe, and to place in his hands Avesnes, Quesnoi, and Landreci, as a security for the payment of his expenses'^. This movement on the part of the States gave no small umbrage to the Queen of England, as well as to the emperor, whose protection and interference the Lord of St. Aldegonde had solicited in their name, in a diet held at Worms in the month of May of this year. These potentates judged that the readiest way of impeding any designs which the King of France or his brother might entertain of possessing themselves of the Netherlands was to effect a reconciliation between the States and Don John ; and they therefore induced the King of France to consent to a meeting of the ambassadors of the three powers at Louvain for this purpose. Charles IX. sent thither the Sieur de Bellievre, and Sir Henry Cobham and Sir Francis Walsingham appeared on the part of England, the Count of Schwartzeiiburg, ambassador from the Em- pire, having been already some time in the Netherlands. The terms agreed upon by them were, as might be conjectured from the dispositions of the mediating parties, entirely favourable to the States. They pro- posed, that all the acts of the Archduke Matthias should be ratified; that Don John should quit the Netherlands, leaving the government in his hands; the Pacification of Ghent be rigidly observed ; and in ' Bor, boek xii., bl. 976. F 2 68 PHILIP III. 1578 the event of the death or resignation of the archduke, no new governor should be appointed except by con- sent of the States-General. These conditions Don John shortly and absolutely rejected, referring the whole arbitration of the affair to the emperor ; and a truce proposed by the Count of Schwartzernburg was as peremptorily refused by the States^. The negotiations being thus terminated, the States collected their forces between Lier and Herenthals, giving the command-in-chief to Maximilian de Hennin, lord of Bossu, who, having been taken prisoner on board the " Inquisition," in the battle of the Zuyder- zee (1573), was released at the Pacification of Ghent, and had since that time been a zealous adherent of the States. According to the advice of the archduke, he intrenched himself at Rymenant, to await the arrival of the Germans under John Casimir, where Don John, being now at the head of 30,000 infantry, and 6000 horse, determined to attack him. A sharp skirmish, in which the English colonel, Norris, and Colonel Stuart, with the Scotch auxiliaries, particularly distinguished themselves, ended in the discomfiture of Don John, who was obliged to retire, with the loss of 1000 men, to his fortified camp at Bouge, near Namur, where he remained shut up and inactive until his death, which occurred a few weeks after. Suspicions were afloat, that his premature end was to be attributed to the jealousy entertained by Philip of his ambitious designs, which the violent death of his secretary, Escovedo, in Spain, tended to confirm. The Dutch historians, how- ever, who may be regarded as unwilling witnesses in favour of Philip, and whose testimony is proportionally the stronger, agree in rejecting the supposition of poison, attributing his illness either to the plague or to y Eor, boek xli., bl. 978, 980, 981. riiiLip III. 69 chagrin at finding himself surrounded by his enemies 1578 in Namur without sufficient force to effect his release, and at the success with which his rivals had traduced his character at the Spanish court. Their evidence is supported by some intercepted letters from Don John to Andrew Doria, duke of Amalfi, and to Mendoza, ambassador from the King of Spain to Genoa written in a tone of melancholy impatience and despondency. He was succeeded in his office of governor-general by Alexander, prince of Parma^. The large army assembled by the States, consisting of no less than 20,000 horse and 40,000 foot, inspired them with brilliant hopes of the effects to be produced by the campaign; they even entertained a design of carrying the Avar to the coasts of Spain itself, and of attacking the fleet on its return from America, for which purpose William van Treslong, admiral of Zea- land, obtained from the Prince of Orange a commission to provide ships. But in proportion to the expect- ations raised, was the lamentable disappointment in the result; the whole strength and activity of the forces being paralyzed, as well from the scarcity of money, as from the dubious conduct and dissensions of their chiefs. John Casimir, instead of levying 3000 foot and the same number of horse, as the States desired, appeared in the Netherlands, by the authority, as he declared, of the Queen of England, at the head of 7000 of the latter and 8000 of the former, which, as he had expended all the funds supplied by Elizabeth in their levy, there were no means of supporting. His presence with so large a force excited deep mistrust and alarm among the Catholic provinces, which follow- ing the example of Hainault, French Flanders, and ^ Meteren, boek viii., fol. 157, 163, 164. Bor, boek xii., bl. 1004, 1005. Giotius Annales, lib. iii., p. 84. 70 PHILIP III. 1578 Artois, refused to contribute their quotas to the ex- penses of the war, so that in the space of six months no more than 50,000 florins was furnished by the whole number, exclusive of Holland, Zealand, and Antwerp. The troops, thus left without pay, showed symptoms of disaffection, and the Walloon regiments, headed by the Lord de Montigny, broke out into open mutiny, assumed the name of " Malcontents*," and fortified themselves in the village of Meenen, alleging that their purpose was to defend the Catholic religion and the clergy against the people of Ghent. In this city, the Sieurs d'Imbise and de Ryhoven, at whose instigation the ecclesiastics had been expelled, and the church property seized, had possessed themselves of the government, strengthened the fortifications, and raised a levy of troops, Avho committed numerous outrages on the churches and priests of the neighbouring towns and villages. A species of desultory warfare was carried on between the Ghenters and the JSIalcontent troops, in which the former were constantly worsted. Meanwhile, the Duke of Anjou had marched from Mons to Binche, of which he took possession ; ]Man- beuge likewise surrendered ; but Quesnoi and Landreci, two of the three towns promised as a security by the States, persisted in keeping their gates shut against him^ The ill-paid and disorganized army of the States had thus no less than three generals of equal authority, of different nations, and of clashing interests. The Lord of Bossu, with whom, at his own request, and that of the Prince of Orange, the renowned ChevaUer • Bor, boek xii., bl. 993, 994. Meteren, boek viii., fol. 161, 162. * They were termed by the populace " pater-noster soldiers," from the circumstance of their wearing a rosary about their necks. i^HiLip ixr. 71 de la Noue (" bras de fer") had consented to be 1578 associated as field-marshal ; Count John Casimir; and the Duke of Anjou. Casimir, who had engaged to join the States' army at Ryraenant, jealous of the advance of A.njou, hastily retired with a considerable portion of his troops to Ghent, under pretence of obtaining funds for their payment, and made common cause with the inhabitants of that city. The duke, on his side, alleging that it was impossible to persuade Casimir to act in concert with him, and that he had no place wherein to lodge his sick and wounded except Binche, the people of the country being entirely averse to him, took upon himself to disband his forces, of which the greater number went over to the mutinous Walloons at Meenen ; he himself, leaving a strong garrison at Mons, returned to Paris, under pretext of the negoti- ations of marriage which were then going on between him and the Queen of Englandb. Notwithstanding this unjustifiable, and it would almost seem, treacherous conduct on his part, the feeble and irresobite body of the States-General, fear- ful of losing an ally, however doubtful, although they ventured to express their regret at the contentions that had arisen, offered their acknowledgments for his efforts on their behalf, when, in fact, he had effected nothing; and promised, that, if they were unable to obtain a peace from the King of Spain, they would invest him with the sovereignty of the Netherlands ; at the risk of giving umbrage, as well to the archduke, who would consider himself unjustly debarred from that which he had a right to expect, as to the Queen of England, to whom it would be in the highest degree distasteful, that these provinces should be united to the dominions of her ancient enemy. >■ Strada, dec. ii., lib. 1, p. 13. Meteren, boek viii., fol. 162. 72 PHILIP III. 1578 Casimir shortly after repaired to England for the purpose of justifying his conduct to Elizabeth, who, through her ambassador, Davidson, had expressed strong displeasure at his proceedings in Ghent". After the desertion of its allies, the army of the States was broken up, without having undertaken a single action of importance; the mercenaries were disbanded, and the native troops stationed in diiFerent garrisons for the winter. Their dispersion was fol- lowed within a month by the death of the commander- in-chief, Maximilian, lord of Bossu*. The affairs of the States, however, prospered better on the side of Friezland. Renneburg, Stadtholder of this province, with the assistance of Theodore Sonoy, governor of North Holland, forced the strong town of Campen, where the garrison had disarmed the burghers and declared for the King of Spain, to surrender, and likewise that of Deventer"^. The Ghenters, after a long period of lawlessness and disorder, were restored to obedience through the mediation of the Prince of Orange, who persuaded them to consent to a toleration of the Catholic religion, and permit the use of some of the churches to its " Strada, dec. ii., lib. 1, p. 13, 14. Meteren, boek viii., fol. 162. 1 Bor, boek xiii., bl. 17, 25 ; boek xii., bl. 967, 1004. * Strada casts a suspicion on the Prince of Orange, as if he had hastened his death by poison, in consequence of having discovered that Bossu was inclined to join the malcontents ; relying for an accusa- tion so atrocious, and so highly improbable, solely on the gratuitous supposition of Bernardin di Mendoza, ambassador from Spain to the court of England. — Dec. ii., lib. 1, p. 28. Bossu's sickness was a fever ; and he was lamented not only by the common people, but likewise the prince, by whom he was greatly esteemed and beloved. — Hooft, boek siv., bl. 617. Bor, ubi sup. Met., boek viii., fol. 104. Thuanus, lib. Lxvi., cap. 18. The latter, however, says, that he was the less lamented by his friends, because he was suspected of a design of going over to the royalist party. PHILIP III. 73 members, as well as to restore the possessions of the 1578 clergy, and to allow of the removal of the nobles whom they had taken prisoners to some neutral town^ The archduke, prince, and States, next applied their efforts to appease the discontents of the muti- nous WalloTons, or " malcontents," as they called them- selves, in token that they were dissatisfied alike with the government of the Spaniards and that of the States. Their persuasions and offers, however, were W'holly ineffectual, the soldiers being supported in their contumacy by the nobles and States of Hainault and Artois, which provinces, with Lisle and Douay, now fell off from the party of the States-General, forming a separate confederacy with each other, by which they pledged themselves to adhere to the king, to maintain the Catholic religion and the pacification of Ghent, and to resist the religious peace and other novelties, which the States-General were about to introduce. This confederacy was only a preparatory step to their return to the allegiance of King Philip, which was effected a short time after, on condition 1579 that the Spanish troops should be withdrawn from the Netherlands*'. At the period of the Pacification of Ghent, the Prince of Orange, conscious that the single point of adhesion between States differing so widely in religion, ' Bor, boek xiii., bl. 10. ' Meteren, boek ix., fol. 167. Bor, boek xiii., bl. 98. * The tone of Philip, in the negotiation with the Walloon provinces on this occasion, was considerably lowered from what it had been twenty years before ; he told the Duke of Parma that he was not to break off the negotiation on account of the dismissal of the foreign soldiers, and that as long as the provinces preserved their religion towards God, and their obedience to the king, he would leave other matters to his discre- tion. — Strada, dec. ii., lib. 1, p. -42. 74 PHILIP III. 1579 habits, and opinions, was their detestation of the Spaniards, foresaw that the germs of dissension, smo- thered under this overwhelming passion, would, sooner or later, spring up with uncontrolled vigour. Imme- diately after that event, therefore, he hegan to devise a scheme for a closer alliance between the northern provinces of the Netherlands, where, from the great number of inhabitants professing the doctrines of the reformation, universal religious toleration would be willingly received, and thus the main-spring of internal discord removed ; while their situation might, under a regular and united system of government and defence, render them impervious to an invading enemy. The first step towards the execution of this project was the restoration of the union of 1534, between Holland and Utrecht, which he had effected little more than a year previously, whereby Holland was strengthened by the accession of a province which had offered the first and most resolute opposition to the tyranny of the Duke of Alva, and which, had it remained hostile, would have afforded the enemy a ready passage to her boundaries. The object next in importance was Guel- derland, which, as commanding the entrance of the four principal rivers of the Netherlands, — ^the Rhine, Waal, Meuse, and Yssel, — and forming a frontier to Friezland, Groningen, and Overyssel, must be secured before the accession of these provinces could be ex- pected. With this view, he had constantly maintained intelligence in that quarter, since the Pacification of Ghent, and had procured from the States the election of his brother, John of Nassau, as Stadtholder of Guelderland. It was under the auspices of this prince, that the preliminary negotiations were carried on, in wliich AVilliam, fearful lest, by forming a separate confederacy, he might give umbrage to the southern PHILIP HI. 75 provinces, particularly Brabant, where he was " Ru- 1579 waard," took no ostensible share. The numerous difficulties which opposed them- selves to the execution of the measure being at length smoothed or obviated by the indefatigable zeal and diligence of John of Nassau, and the efforts of the States of Holland and Zealand, a meeting was appointed by deputies from the States of these two provinces and Utrecht, to be held in the city of Utrecht on the 10th of January, for the purpose of considering the subject of a closer confederacy and union between the duchy of Guelderland and Zutphen, and the counties of Holland, Zealand, Overyssel, Friez- land, Groningen and the Ommeland, Utrecht, Lingen, and Drent. Of these, only Guelderland and the Omme- land of Friezland, between the Lauers and Ems, sent deputies to meet Count John of Nassau, and those of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht, at the time prefixed ; who, after waiting in vain until the 23rd of the same month for the arrival of deputies from the other pro- vinces, promulgated, upon their own authority, the celebrated Union of Utrecht, framed, as the preamble declared, "for the purpose of protecting themselves against the attempts of the Spaniards to separate and dismember the provinces, and to render the Pacifica- tion of Ghent of none effect, and thereby to bring them into subjection and slavery." The principal articles of the Union, which interfered not in the slightest degree with the internal government of any of the component parts, were, that the provinces 1st. should unite and become as one province, saving all their peculiar laws and privileges; that the frontier 4th. towns should be fortified by the generality, half the expense to be paid by the provinces in which such towns are situate ; but if it be found necessary to 76 PHILIP III. 1579 erect new fortresses, the whole of the charges to be borne by the generality ; that for these purposes, and the common defence of the proTinces, the generality should receive the imposts upon certain articles named, and in case they were insufficient, recourse should be 8tli. had to the sovereign demesnes; all the inhabitants between the ages of eighteen and sixty to be enrolled Sth. for the defence of the country. Neither peace nor truce to be concluded, nor war declared, and no con- tributions to be levied for the use of the generality, 10th. without the unanimous consent of the provinces ; and no one province, town, or member of the Union, to make alliance with foreign princes or states without 11th. the consent of the whole ; any prince, state, or town, wishing to accede to the Union, must be received by the generality. The currency to be placed on an uni- form footing, and no one province to alter it without the concurrence of the rest. As concerning religion, Holland and Zealand should regulate their affairs as 13th. they judged fit ; and the other provinces should con- form to the religious peace framed by the States- General, granting to all the unmolested exercise of their religion. (To this article an explanation was added, to the effect that any province or town where the Roman Catholic worship only prevailed, might be received into the Union, provided they bound them- selves to adhere to the other articles thereof, since it was not intended that one province should interfere in 14th. the religious concerns of another.) The revenues of the 15th. clergy were secured to them. The deputies of all the 19th. provinces to appear at Utrecht when duly summoned, and such as do not appear, to be bound by the acts of the rest, unless the subject to be considered will admit of delay, or be of great importance, when the deputies may be summoned a second time, under jienalty of PHILIP III. 77 losing their votes for that session; if any doubt or 1579 difficulty arise with respect to the articles of the Union, it is to be decided by the confederates them- selves, and if they cannot agree, by the stadtholders of the provinces; likewise, if it be found necessary to change or amplify its provisions, it shall be done by the unanimous consent of the confederates?. Such was the Union of Utrecht ; a measure which, Avhether we consider the particular juncture at which it was effected — when the defection of some and the . lukewarmness of others had infused mistrust and timi- dity into all the jarring elements which it composed ! and brouffht toQ-ether — or the brilliant results which ! ultimately ensued from it, must ever be held up to i posterity as a masterpiece of enlightened and successful ' policy. e Bov, boek xiii., bl. 17—26. 7S PART III. CHAPTER I. Results of the Union of Utrecht. Disturbances in the totcns. Increase of the party of ^^ Malcontents." Siege of Maastricht. Negotia- tions at Cologne. Their Effects. Campaign of 1580. Defection of Benneburg, Stadtholder of Friezland. Insurrection in Friez- land. Siege of Steenwyk. Arrival of the DvxAess of Parma in the Netherlands. Abjuration of their Sovereign by Holland and Zealand. Proscription against the Prince of Orange. His Justification. Sovereignty of the Netherlands offered to the Duke of Anjou. Council of State appointed. Deposition of Philip by the States-General. Departure of the Archduke Matthias. Loss of Breda. Intolerant spirit of the Reformers. Relief of Cam- bray by the Duke of Anjou. Death of Renneburg. Defeat of Sir John Norris. Execution of John of Castile. 1579 The Union of Utrecht shared the fate of most mea- sures of great and permanent utility, inasmuch as its beneficial effects were not immediately perceived. The towns of Ghent, Nimeguen, Ypres, Bruges, Antwerp, and Venloo, the quarter of Arnhem, and the greater number of the towns of Friezland, acceded to it shortly after, and subsequently, the Count of Ren- neburg, stadtholder of Friezland, Overyssel, and Groningen. But notwithstanding the adherence of the stadtholder, a portion of Friezland and the whole of Overyssel were yet wanting to the confederacy ; while Groningen was deterred from joining it by some long- standing disputes between the town and the Ommeland, concerning the duties payable on the transport of pro- visions, and the jurisdiction claimed by the former over PHILIP III. 79 the latter. Even in the city of Utrecht itself, the 1579 article of the Union, securing the establishment of the religious peace, caused some disturbances. The Reformers, finding that places of worship were not readily yielded to them, committed considerable vio- lence in the churches ; they were at length appeased by a compromise between the burgomasters and eccle- siastics, which gave to them the use of four churches, the Catholics retaining the remainder". Nor were the disorders confined to Utrecht alone. At Bois-le-Duc, the two parties came to actual hosti- lities, which terminated in the evacuation of the town by the adherents of. the States. The Catholics in Antwerp, while making a grand procession through the town on Ascension day, were arrested by some of the burgher guard, who attempted to prevent their passage through one of the streets, on their return from the church. Hereupon some Italian troops in the procession drew their swords, as if with the inten- tion of forcing their way, when a man and woman were killed. This was a signal for tumult. The Catholics were driven back in terror to the church, which the populace surrounded and kept closed; the archduke and his court being released with no small difficulty, in consequence of the remonstrances of the Prince of Orange, who used his utmost endeavours, but in vain, to appease the disorder. The priests and monks, to the number of 120, were carried out in boats to the distance of two miles from the city, where they were detained until it should be arranged how they were to be disposed of. The threats of the archduke and prince, that they would immediately resign the govern- ment if such outrages were persisted in, brought the rioters at length to some kind of order : they pennitted » Mcteren, boek ix., fol, 170. Bor, boek xiii., bl. 70. 80 PHILIP III. 1579 the priests to return; and that churches should be given to the Catholics according to the number of their congregation ; but the canons, and the mendicant orders of monks, were obliged to remain without the walls of the town^. Disturbances of a still more serious character occurred at Ghent, where the pacification, effected by the Prince of Orange in the preceding December, proved of no long duration. John d'Imbise and his adherents, on pretence of the continued hostility of the Walloons, had again seized the churches and ecclesiastical property, which they had given over to the plunder of the soldiers, to whom likewise D'Imbise issued express orders to sack and pillage the friendly town of Oudenburg. Not satisfied with these out- rages, he attempted the assasination of the Sieur de Bonnivet, ambassador from the Duke of Anjou, on his way through Ghent to the States-General at Antwerp. Having discovered a design among the citizens to deprive him of his authority, he brought a body of troops into the town, displaced the senate, and caused himself to be proclaimed chief magistrate; and it seems aimed at the sovereignty of Flanders itself, which, he declared had fallen into the hands of the people. In this state of affairs, Ryhoven, his formef associate, and now his chief opponent, solicited the interference of the Prince of Orange, who, notwith- standing the efforts made by D'Imbise to prevent his reception, entered Ghent, accompanied by a guard of burghers, forced him to resign his authority, and removed his friends from their offices. D'Imbise soon after retired to the court of John Casimir, Count Palatine^. The consequence of such excesses was to alienate '' Metei-en, boek ix., fol. 171. ' Idem, fol. 180. PHILIP III. 81 many of the nobles of the Catholic religion fi-om their 1579 fidelity to the States, and to enable Montigny, the leader of the malcontents, to draw them over to his party. Among them was, perhaps, the very last name' we should have expected to see numbered in their ranks, that of Charles, count of Egmond, son of that nobleman who had been beheaded by order of Alva. Egmond, now espousing warmly the royalist side, formed a design of making himself master of Brussels, in the name of the king ; and before the change in his sentiments became known, brought the regiment of infantry, which he commanded, within the town and stationed them in the horse-market, the very spot, as it happened, where his father had been executed on the same day (June 5,) eleven years before. The suspicions of the burghers as to his intention being quickly aroused, they barricadoed all the streets and ways leading to the market-place with incredible celerity, and so effectually, that all egress was pre- vented. While confined in this irksome situation, Egmond was constrained to hear the bitter taunts of the populace, some of whom asked him, " whether he remembered that in that place his father had lost his head ?" others, " if he were come in that guise to visit his grave ?" while others, yet more brutal, desired him to "lift up two or three stones, and he would then behold his father's blood." These cruel insults, com- bined with vexation at the ill-success of his enterprise, at length wrought up his feelings to such a pitch that he burst into a passion of tears. But the same cause which exasperated the indignation of the burghers against Egmond, also shielded him from its effects; they could not, on that spot at least, raise a hand upon the son of him whose blood they had so deeply sworn VOL. II. G 82 PHILIP III. 1579 to avenge; and having detained him and his troops a day and a night Avithout food or drink, they allowed them to retire unmolested from the city. Egmond met with better success at Ninhoven, which he sur^ prised and mastered a few days after ^. Meanwhile, the Prince of Parma, now Governor- General of the Netherlands, being reinforced with some German and Burgundian troops, under the Mar- quis del Monte, passed the Bure with an army of 25,000 foot and 8000 horse, and, making himself master of Ruremonde, situated on that river, crossed the Meuse a,nd marched through Weert, which he likewise cap^ tured, into Kempenland, where the cavalry of Counfc John Casimir, 6400 in number, were stationed, near the village of Turnhout. These troops, deserted by their leader, and dreading an attack from Parma's army, readily accepted the safe conduct he offered them, and consented to disband and return to their own country without receiving any pay. Casimir, then in England, M-here he had been welcomed with great honour, and detained by the hope that the Queen would grant him some aid in money, heard the news of the dispersion of his ai-m_y, while at a feast given on the occasion of his instalment as Knight of the Garter. He immediately quitted England, and, passing through the Netherlands without saluting either the prince or the archduke, returned alone and ignorainiously to Germany, whence he had come as the leader of a fine and well-appointed army''. On the side of the States-General, De la Noue, now commander-in-chief by the death of Bossu, ad- vancing to Dunkirk with 2000 musketeers and 600 horse, attacked the Sieur de la Motte, governor of Gravelingues, who, having made a confederacy with ■i Bor, Ijoek xiii., bl. C6. • Stw.da, dee. ii., lib. 1. PHILIP III. 83 Montigny, had declared himself their enemy. After ]579 a short skirmish, La Motte was defeated, with the slaughter of 250 of his soldiers; but the small number of La Noue's troops did not permit him to follow up his victory to any greater extent than preventing the malcontent soldiers from plundering the villages in Flanders^. Parma, who, by the dispersion of the States' army, was left master of the open country, having made a feint attack upon Antwerp, the better to conceal his real design, began his march towards Maestricht, the reduction of which, as the key to the entrance of the Meuse from Germany, he was bent on accomplishing. The siege of this town is signalized in tlie annals of Netherland history, as, though of inferior size and but indiflferently fortified, it employed all the skill and resources of the most able general in Europe, during a period of four months, to effect its conquest. Besides the resolute spirit which animated the inhabitants, this was chiefly owing to the courage and ingenuity of Sebastian Tappin, an engineer of Lorraine, who was intrusted with the defence, under the nominal com- mand of Melchior Schwartzenburg, an officer of little ability or experience. The troops of the besieged were no more than 1200 in number, with about 6000 additional armed men, consisting of burghers, and country people who had taken refuge within the walls. The infantry alone of Parma's army amounted to 20,000. Tappin strengthened the fortifications as far as time and circumstances permitted, by the erection of outworks, by clearing and deepening the fosse, and excavating mines under the counterscarp, in which he placed barrels of gunpowder; he likewise contrived several blind sally-ports on the Brussels side of the ' Bor, boek xiii., bl. 47. G 2 84 PHILIP III. 1579 town, facing an extensive plain, and raised half-moons wlierever sufficient space could be found within the the walls. Pai-ma, having given the command of his advanced guard to Mondragon, ordered him to pass the Meuse and surround Wyk, a portion of the town divided from the rest by that river, while he himself took up a posi- tion on the side next Brabant. In order to secure the communication between the two camps, he threw a bridge of boats across the Meuse, both above and below the town, over which he placed strong guards. As he depended on Liege for a supply of pioneers, which had not yet arrived, some difficulty was found in the way of making the intrenchments ; but this was speedily overcome by the spirit and energy of Parma, who himself took up the spade and put the first hand to the work. Officers and soldiers eagerly followed his example, and plied their task with such diligence, that within two days, four large forts were strongly in- trenched, and defended by well-protected batteries. Adopting, though somewhat unwillingly, the advice of Barlaimont, a Netherlaud officer, he made his approaches before the gate leading to Tongres, instead of that of Bois-le-Duc, where the ground was lower and more marshy. Here he erected a powerful battery, from which 6000 shots were fired in two days; when having effected a considerable breach in the curtain, it was perceived that another strong wall of earth, with a deep fosse, had been raised within. The prince, there- fore, determined to carry his first intention into effect, and make an attack on the side of Bois-le-Duc, placing the troops destined for this purpose under the command of the Count of Mansfeld. Mansfeld's first care was to drain off the waters of the Meuse, with which the ditch surrounding the town was filled ; and then briof- PHILIP III. 85 ing five-and-twenty pieces of heavy artillery to bear 1579 against a part of the wall of no great strength, an opening was soon made sufficient for the passage of the troops. Meanwhile, a Spanish engineer, Baptist Plato, having conducted a mine with extraordinary skill and labour, under the fosse, to the ravelin constructed at the gate of Tongres, had blown up the salient angle and a considerable portion of the shoulder. It was, therefore, resolved to commence an assault on both places at the same time. The besieged, on their part, had not been supine in their measures of defence. Under the active super- intendence of Tappin, they laboured incessantly in adding new fortifications to the parts that were weakest, and in repairing such as were damaged ; nor were the peasants and women backward in the work. Besides an immense number mingled with the troops, three separate regiments of women were formed under their own banners, of which one division was employed in excavating mines, a task which they executed with a skill and celerity not to be surpassed by the most able engineers ; while the rest were enrolled as part of the garrison, to none of whom they yielded either in courage or in the eifective use of their arms. Tappin himself, taking his station near the gate of Bois-le-Duc, ■where the principal danger was to be apprehended, unceasingly exhorted his soldiers to prepare for the coming attack with energy and firmness ; he reminded them that, if, on that day, they were wanting to their country, very soon no country would remain to them ; he bade them look at the thousands of peasants ardent in their defence ; at the women, ready to fight with manly strength and resolution, and preferring rather to die victors than to live conquered. " What," he said, 86 PHILIP III. 1579 "could prove a stronger bulwark against the enemy, than the unanimous determination to fill the fosse, now emptied of the waters of the Meuse, with their blood, rather than surrender?" The assailants, on the other hand, inspired by an animated address from Parma, advanced to the breach near the Bois-le-Duc gate with confidence and rapidity; they were received with a shower of bullets, stones, and other missiles by the defenders; the peasants, employing as a weapon of warfare the long heavy flails they used in threshing, let them fall on the heads of their enemies, as they mounted the breach, with deadly violence ; the women threw among them balls steeped in a mixture of pitch, bitumen, and gunpowder, and set on fire, which adhering to the clothes of the soldiers, they were slain while engaged in vain efforts . to free themselves from the clinging flames. The slaughter was fearful ; yet was not the courage of the assailants in the slightest degree abated; firesh troops constantly pressed in upon the breach, making a ram- part of the bodies of their comrades; and Fabius Farnese, cousin of the general, with several of the principal officers, hastened to their support. They were all either killed or wounded ;' and then at length the soldiers, dispirited by the loss of so many of their ablest champions, began to give way. At the same time, the Count of Mansfeld had commenced a vigorous attack on the Tongres side of the town. To sustain the courage of his troops during the contest, he caused three messengers to follow each other with the news that the Bois-le-Duc gate was taken, a figment which was at first attended with happy results ; but being soon discovered, inspired new ardour into the besieged, who intei-preted their enemies having recourse to stratagem, as a proof of conscious- PHILIP III. bi ness of their own weakness. The assailants were 1570 beaten back with a slaughter scarcely less terrific than that on the other side of the town ; the fosse was, as Tappin had foretold^ filled with blood ; not the blood of the defenders, but of their foes. The spectacle of the dead and the dying was now become appalling, and the principal commanders, hopeless of success, impor- tuned Parma to give orders for a retreat, to which he consented, but with extreme reluctance^. The failure of this attempt made it advisable for the general to change his mode of attack. Having obtained 8000 stout and able pioneers from Liege, he drew lines of circumvallation about the city more perfect than any that had hitherto been seen in the Netherlands. He then erected on the plain, on the Brussels' side, a battery composed of wood and earth of sufficient height to command a ravelin with a double redoubt, which the besieged had raised to defend the gate, and which they had named the Parma Tower. By this time the Prince of Orange had collected, though not without diflSculty, money and troops for the relief of Maestricht. Three thousand horse, and ten thousand foot were dispatched under Count John of Nassau and his brother-in law, the Count of Hohenlohe, for this purpose ; but, on their approach, they perceived the utter impossibility of forcing Parma's intrench- ments, and were constrained to retire, leaving the besieged to their fate. After five weeks of continual firing, the ravelin, or " Parma Tower," was captured, whence possession was easily obtained of the bulwarks on each side of the gate. It was then discovered that the besieged had constructed another strong half-moon within the walls, protected by a ditch forty-five feet in depth, which determined Parma upon the novel and « Strada, dec. ii., lib. 2, p. 43—59. 88 PHILIP III. 1579 masterly moveinen£ of throwing a bridge across the fosse and planting his artillery upon the wall itself. The fire of ten heavy cannon soon battered down the flank of the half-moon, and the ruins, filling up the ditch, afforded the Spaniards a passage to the breach. A close and fierce combat now commenced, and was fought hand to hand and foot to foot, with a fury and stubbornness almost amounting to frenzy ; the ground was yielded by inches, again retaken, and again yielded, but with life only. The struggle, though desperate, was short ; a fresh troop of Spaniards poured in from the opposite side of the ravelin where a breach had been effected; the brave leader of the defenders, Sebastian Tappin, was severely wounded, and . they began to retreat, but no farther than to a rampart which had been raised close behind. Parma, having - now gained a footing within the town, and dreading the carnage that must ensue if the defence were further prolonged, urged the besieged to surrender, saying, they had now sufficiently testified their courage, and it remained for them to consult their safety. "Praise be to God," they replied, "we are not yet reduced to such a condition as thus to violate our honour and our oath ; we have still enough of powder and ball left wherewith to defend ourselves to the last drop of our blood; Naarden and Haarlem have but too well taught us what is meant by Spanish mercy''." Their physical strength, however, but ill corresponded with their undaunted spirit ; the garrison, originally no more than 1200, was now reduced to 400, and with the armed burghers were too few in number to admit of their retiring from their watch, either for rest or food ; the former of which they snatched at intervals on their station, while the latter was brought to them ^ Bor, toek xiii., bl. 64. PHILIP III. 89 by the -women. This could not last. The sentinels on 1579 the rampart, OYerpoM'ered with fatigue, lay buried one night in the deep and motionless sleep of utter ex- haustion, in which state they were discovered by a Spanish soldier, and orders were given for an imme- diate attack. At break of day, the enemy quickly and silently mounted the rampart by means of scaling ladders, and slaughtered the roused watch ere they had sufficiently collected their scattered senses to defend themselves. The town was soon won ; but the women and burghers in the houses still offered a desperate though useless resistance, by throwing large stones and beams from the roofs, and pouring boiling, water and red-hot sand on the heads of the soldiers below. This served but to exasperate the rage of the victors, who, bursting into the houses, threw the whole of the inmates indiscriminately from the windows ; all whom they met in the streets, whether men, women, or children, they put to the sword, or drowned several tied up together, in the Meuse. The shrieks and cries of the helpless victims could be heard, it is said, at the distance of three miles. A multitude fled towards the suburb of Wyk, and jushing with eager and frantic haste over the narrow wooden bridge which connected it with the town, numbers were crushed to death, and the weak were borne down and trodden under foot by the strong. As a climax of horrors, the bridge itself broke down, the supporters having been purposely cut away by the inhabitants of Wyk, from fear lest the enemy might enter with the fugitives, and hundreds of unhappy creatures, pressed forward by the crowd behind, were plunged headlong into the river. The slaughter on this single day is estimated at 4000 by the writers on the Spanish side ; but the Dutcii his- torians affirm that no more than 300 persons were left 90 PHILIP III. 1579 alive, all of whom afterwards abandoued the town, which was re-peopled by the inhabitants of Liege', Parma, unhappily, lay sick of a fever within the camp, and Mansfeld and Gonzaga, the generak in command, either could not, or would not in\t a stop to the carnage and plunder, which continued until forbidden by a proclamation from the genefal-in-ehief himself. The governor, Schwartzenburg, was killed while bravely defending the last bulwark ; the life of Sebas- tian Tappiu was preserved on account of his talents and scientific knowledge ; he was carried prisoner to Limburg, where he subsequently died of his wounds in spite of the sedulous care and attention bestowed on him by his enemies'". Thus ended the first achieve- ment of Parma in the Netherlands; important, as it placed in his hands the key to the provinces from Germany, and still more so, perhaps, as it tended to confirm in favour of the king the wavering faith of the Walloon provinces. During the siege of Maestricht, negotiations for a peace had been carried on under the auspices of the empei'or, to whom Don John had in the last year remitted the arbitration of the affairs of the Nether- lands. Having appointed the city of Cologne as the place of rendezvous, the emperor sent thither, as Mar. mediator in his name, Otho, count of Schwartzenburg, accompanied by the Archbishop of Treves, Gerard Truchses, archbishop of Cologne, and the ambassador of the Duke of Cleves; Baptist Casta appeared as nuncio from the Pope ; and Charles of Arragon, duke of Terra Nuova, was nominated the ambassador of the King of Spain; the commissioners from the States- General, headed by Philip de Croye, lord of Aarschot, ' Strala, dec. ii., lib. S. Meteren, Loek i>:., fol. 100, >■ Strada, dec. ii., lib, 2. PHILIP III. 91 being twelve in number. Eacli of the contracting 1579 parties (except Holland and Zealand) came to this conference under circumstances calculated to inspire them with a strong inclination towards an accommoda- tion. The States, whose usual hesitation and timidity had been doubly augmented by the discouraging con- duct of their allies ^nd the defection of the Walloon provinces, dreaded lest the Duke of Parma, as skilful in the arts of policy as in arms, should, by his threats or blandishments, draw over other provinces and towns to the royalist side ; while the king had now sufficient experience to convince him that the reduction of a country filled with fortified cities, and inhabited by a people military both by nature and habit, who would always find foreign princes ready to lend them assist- ance, must prove a task of tedious labour and doubtful success'. But however desirable the peace itself, there existed, with respect to the terms on which it should be con- cluded, such a difference between the views and opinions of the king and those of the States, and even among the latter themselves, as it seemed scarcely possible to conciliate. Of the United Provinces, it seems evident that Holland and Zealand were averse to a peace at all, as they had proposed to the Prince of Orange to insist upon conditions wholly inadmissible by Spain;, namely, that none other than the Reformed religion should be permitted among them ; that the authority of the prince should be absolutely confirmed, and that after his death they should be at liberty to choose another stadtholder for themselves™. Utrecht and Guelderland were inclined to a pacification, with entire toleration in matters of religion ; Friezland, Groningen, and Overyssel, were of similar dispositions with these ' Strar?a, ilec. ii., lib. 2. "■ Bor, boek xiii.,l)I. al. 92 PHILIP III. 1579 tM'O jjrovinces ; and of the southern States, some were indined to stipulate for the continuance of the Arch- duke Matthias in the government, and the strict execution of the Pacification of Ghent ; while others were anxious for the entire restoration of the Catholic religion, and desired only the removal of the foreign soldiers, and the appointment of a governor from among the princes of the blood. It was a fortunate circumstance for the King of Spain that the provinces were thus divided in opinion, since it enabled him to throw on them the odium of creating diiRculties, while the secret instructions he gave to his own ambassador were in fact such as to render a permanent accommo- dation well nigh infeasible. Terra Nuova was em- powered to acknowledge the confederacy of the pro- vinces formed at the Pacification of Ghent, only in case it Mere peremptorily insisted on by the mediating party, and with the probability that it would afterwards dissolve of itself; the assembly of the States was, as Philip conceived, rendered unnecessary by the present meeting, where all matters which belonged to them to discuss could be finally arranged ; but if it proved the only obstacle in the way of peace, Terra Nuova was directed to connive at this point also ; the mitigation of the penal edicts was to be admitted only with some secret provision on Avhich they had before privately agreed (such an one probably as would render it of none effect); and the banishment of the Prince of Orange was to be peremptorily insisted on, though indulgence might so far be shown him as to permit him to transfer his estates and the stadtholdership of Holland and Zealand to his eldest son, the Count of Buuren. These intentions, however, Terra Nuova was to keep carefully concealed from the emperor, to whom he should declare, that provided the integrity of the PHILIP III. 93 Catholic religion, and the obedience of his subjects 1579 were maintained, and that the archduke were deprived of the government, the king submitted all the rest to his wisdom". But even these restrictions, with the wide interpretation which might be put upon them, were of a nature to render the efficiency of the mediator suspected by the States ; and the effect of them, together with the influence of the numerous ecclesiastics who took a share in the negotiation, was easily perceived in the terms brought forward by the Count of Schwartzenburg. As concerning religion, it was proposed that the Catholic worship should be fully restored in all the provinces except Holland and Zea- land, the Reformers being permitted to live there unmolested, provided they abstained from all exercise of their religion until the king and Council of State should have devised some moderation of the penal edicts ; such as quitted the country were to leave their estates under the management of Catholics, and if any chose to return, they must conform to the church of Rome ; in Holland and Zealand, the Pacification of Ghent was to be observed, and the Catholic religion only, permitted in those places where it prevailed at that time ; thus banishing the Reformed religion from Amsterdam, Haarlem, and such other towns as were united to the rest of the province by that act". The deputies of the States, on the other hand, desired that the Lutheran and Reformed religions should continue to be exercised in all the places where they had hitherto been allowed, while they, on their part, would use their best endeavours to procure the toleration of the Catholic religion in Holland and Zealand p. Neither were the propositions of the mediators " Sti-ada, dec. ii., lib. 2. " Bor, boek xiii., bl. G2, " Idem; book xiii., bl. 110. 94 PHILIP III. 1579 and those of the States less at variance on minor points than on that of rehgion ; the latter demanded, that the forts, ammunition, and navy of Holland and Zealand, should be disposed of in conformity with the Pacification of Ghent, or, in other words, left in the hands of the Prince of Orange ; the former, that they should be unconditionally delivered up to the governor appointed by the king. The States desired, that none should be put into public offices but such as were natives, and approved of by themselves; while the imperial commissioners demanded^ that all the magis- trates and officers who had been displaced should be restored; in like manner, the continuance of the archduke in the government, on which the States insisted, was rendered impossible according to the restrictions imposed by the king himself''. A truce had at an early period of the negotiations been pro- posed by the commissioners of the States, which, though pressed by Schwartzenburg, had been per- tinaciously refused by the Spanish ambassador, at the persuasions of Parma, who was unwilling to arrest the progress of his operations before Maestrichf^. The imperial ambassadors having equally little inclination with the King of Spain to make any con- cession in the article of religion-^which, had all the others been agreed upon, would alone have proved an insurmountable obstacle to peace— sent letters to the States-General and the States of each province, with- out the knowledge of their commissioners at the con- ferences, recommending them to accede to the terms proposed; which, proving ineffectual, they deemed it Nov. useless to prolong the debates any further, and accord- ^^- ingly quitted Cologne «. By their departure, this august ^ Bor, boek xiii., bl. 60 et seq. ; 108 et seq. ' Idem, bl. 57. ■ Idem, bl. 103. PHILIP III. 95 assemblage was at length broken up, having now con- 1579 tinned upwards of eight months, during which time their conferences had, instead of advancing, rather served to show the impossibility of attaining, the object in view, supposing it, in fact, a reconciliation between the King of Spain and his subjects. But if the real purpose of Philip in becoming a party to the negotia- tions, were, as the States aiid the Prince of Orange vehemently, though perhaps unjustly, asserted, to sow mistrust and division among his adversaries, it was answered in the fullest extent by the results. Five of the deputies themselves, the Duke of Aarschot, Gaspar Schetz, lord of Grobbendonck, and three ecclesiastics, remained behind the rest at Cologne, and, accepting the peace, were reconciled to the king ; the Count of Renneberg, also, stadtholder of Friezland, Overyssel, and Groningen, was induced by the bribes and flatteries of Parma to desert the party of the States, The people in general were impressed with the idea, that their rulers continued the war chiefly for their own private advantage; nearly every town of those pro- vinces which did not belong to the Union was a scene of confusion and tumult ; while the States, neglecting to adopt any measures for the common good, sought only how they might avoid bearing their share of the public burdens, and relieve thejnselves of the garrisons necessary for tijeir defence*. To remedy these disorders, which the Prince of Orange painted in vivid colours in different remon- strances he made to the States-General, he advised, that three Councils of State should be appointed for the better direction of affairs; one for Brabant, one for Flanders, and one for the United Provinces ; that the States should agree upon the quota each province was ' Bor, boek xiv., bl, 142 et passim. Strada, dec. ii,, lib. 3. 96 PHILIP III. 1579 to contribute to the war, to- be brought into the com- mon ftind, and not applied, as hitherto, according to tlieir own discretion; that an army of 12,000 foot, 4000 horse, and 1200 pioneers, should be imme- diately levied, and a flying camp kept always on foot, to march to the relief of besieged cities ; but, above all, he exhorted them to union and energy, declaring, that their irresolution would prove their utter ruin, and was the cause of all their present disasters ; since it had not only prevented any foreign princes from declaring in their favour, but had estranged even those friends they before possessed, and occasioned the daily defection, as well of whole provinces, as of indivi- duals^. The general spread of discontent encouraged La IVIotte to hope, that he might gain over to the king's side the town of Briel, the object at once of detesta- tion and desire to the royalists, as the spot where the germ of the liberties of the provinces was first planted. With this view, he offered large bribes to one John Symonson, a sea-captain, to enlist in his service some skippers and fishermen. Symonson immediately re- paired to Antwerp, and opened the whole matter to the Prince of Orange, by whom he was desired to carry on the negotiation, which he did for several months, without the slightest suspicion of his fide- lity, on the part of La ]Motte, who gave him a considerable sum of money for the purpose, as he supposed, of corrupting the soldiers of the garrison, and consented to undertake the enterprise on the day which Symonson appointed. La Motte, accordingly, sent a number of vessels towards Briel under the prince's colours, where they were met by the Zealand ships awaiting their arrival, according to the in- " Bor, boek xiv., bl. 141, 150, 155. PHILIP III. 97 structions of Symonsoii, and nearly all sunk and 1580 destroyed \ The situation in which the Prince of Parma found himself after the conquest of Maestricht, did not permit him to follow up his success to any great extent. He was bound by the promise made to the Walloon provinces on their reconciliation, to dismiss all his Spanish soldiers; and the king himself peremp- torily insisted on the fulfilment of this condition, as he stood in need of their services for the conquest of Portugal in which he Vv'as now engaged. The same cause prevented his sending more than a very scanty supply of money to Parma, for the payment of the troops ; and, as it sufficed only to liquidate the arrears of tlie Spaniards, he found a difficulty in raising the levies of Walloons, which were to be substituted in lieu of them, while the Germans and old Walloons becoming discontented for want of pay, it required all "the tact and promptitude of their general to arrest an universal and dangerous mutiny^. The campaign was opened in Flanders by the capture of the small towns of Mortagne and St. Amaud by the Lord de Mon- tigny ; and the malcontents likewise made themselves masters of Courtrai. On the other hand, De la None, general of the army of the States, carried Ninhoven by storm, in which. Philip and Charles of Egmond were taken prisoners ; the town of Mechlin also was surpised and captured by the English, under Sir John Norris, and cruelly plundered ; the churches were robbed of their clocks and ornaments, and even the tombstones carried away, and sent to England to be sold\ The advantages gained by the army of the States ' Bor, boek xiv., bl. 138. " Strada, do?, ii., lib. 3. " Campana, par. 2, lib. i., p. 17. Camden, book ii., p. 344, VOL. II. H 98 PHILIP III. 1580 were more than counterbalanced by the loss of their commander, De la None, who was made prisoner while marching to the siege of the insignificant fort of Ingelmunster. The States offered the Count of Eg- mond and the Baron de Selles in exchange for him ; but the king, at the instigation, it was said, of the Cardinal of Granville, refusing to release hira, he remained a prisoner for five years, and was at length exchanged for the Count of Egmond alone^. The principal scene of military events was, however, trans- ferred to the side of Friezland and Groningen, in con- sequence of the defection of Renneburg, stadtholder of those provinces, from the States. He endeavoured for some time to conceal the change in his sentiments, but various circumstances having conspired to excite the suspicion of the Prince of Orange, then in Hol- land, he took the precaution of securing the citadels of Leeuwarden, Harlingen, and Staveren, which he per- mitted the burghers to destroy ; he likewise repaired in person to Campen, where he invited Renneburg to a conference. The refusal of the latter to meet him sufficiently discovered his real designs ; yet he had so far gained the confidence of the Reformed clergy of Groningen, and through them that of the citizens, that he was still allowed to remain in the city. But while he laboured to divert their suspicions, he had secretly armed his personal friends, and some who were favourable to the royalist cause. Surrounded by these, he sallied forth from his dwelling early in the morning, when the Mar. night-watch had just retired, and after a short struggle, ^- seized and imprisoned 200 of the principal citizens of the Reformed religion, changed the government, and declared the town under the obedience of the kinsr=. Having thus established himself in Groningen, he tried y Meteren, boek x., fol. 192. ' Bor, boek xiv., bl. 163—168. PHILIP III. 9i) every means, but in vain, to bring the Ommelande and 1580 Overyssel to the same side; the only effect of his exhortations and example being to excite a general mistrust against the Catholics, not only in the minds of the people, but of the Prince of Orange himself, who, as he had placed the most unbounded confidence in Renneburg, is said to have declared, that he never again would trust a Papist, whatever appearance of sincerity he might assume. The burghers and soldiers in most of the towns of these two provinces expelled tlie Catholic priests, broke the images in the churches, and set the ecclesiastical property to sale*. Before Renneburg thus declared himself, he had secretly encoiiraged an insurrection among the peasants of Friezland, Overyssel, and Twent, who, irritated by the licentiousness of the soldiery belonging to the States, had taken up arms to the number of several thousand, regularly disciplined and commanded. They called themselves " The Legion of Despair," and carried as a device the half of an egg-shell, to denote that, having lost the yolk, they had nothing left to fight for but the shell. The Count of Hohenlohe having advanced against them at the head of some troops, and slain 700, persuaded the remainder to surrender their arms,, and with some difficulty reduced them to submission''. He then, without loss of time, besieged Renneburg in Groningen ; but a considerable portion of the royalist army being sent by the Prince of Parma to its rehef, under Martin Schenk, a deserter from the States' party, he broke up his camp before the town, and marched to meet Schenk's forces near Hardenburg. He was somewhat superior in numbers, but his troops being exhausted by a long march under a burning sun, were unable to sustain the vigorous ' Bor, boek xiv., U. 169. ^ Meteren, boek ix., fol. 185. H 2 100 PHILIP in. 1580 onslaught of the royalists. Hohenlohe was defeated with considerable loss, and forced to retire within the walls of Oldenzeel. The siege of Groningen being thus raised, Renneburg marched upon Delfziel, which, after a resistance of only three weeks, was disgracefully surrendered by a party of mutinous soldiers in the garrison •=. Lingen, Oldenzeel, and some other small places, likewise fell into his hands; and having made a fruitless attempt upon Zwol, he sat down before the small town of Steenwyk in Overyssel. Though strong by its natural situation, the fortifications of this town were in an incomplete condition, and many of the burghers were secretly inclined to the Spanish party ; yet the resistance offered by the garrison (of 600 infantry and a few horse) under Theodore Cornputte, their commander, was no less gallant than that which the Prince of Parma had encountered at Maestricht. Such was the firmness of the besieged, and so ineffi- cient the condition of the artillery at this period, that a fortress, comparatively so insignificant, was enabled to hold out against the whole force of Renneburg, consisting of 6000 foot, and twelve troops of cavalry, for a period of nineteen weeks ; at the end of which time Sir John Norris, whom the States after some hesitation sent to its relief, obliged him to raise the siege*. Renneburg retired to the small town of Ommen in Overyssel • Bor, boek xviii., bl. 398. Meteren, boek xi., fol. 239. ■= Idem, 231, 232. STADTHOLDER. 139 the capture of the Sas de Gend, surrendered the whole 1583 of that district and Ruppelmonde to the royalists. The Lord de Chimay, also, son of the Duke of Aarschot, leader of the malcontent party, and whom the States of Flanders had created governor of that county without consulting either the prince or the States-General, went over to the side of the royalists, and with him the towns of Bruges and Damme; Ostend, however, remained faithful to the States, the ari'ears of pay due to the garrison having been dis- charged by Holland. On the other hand, the Ant- werpers, upon whom the enemy were now fast closing on all sides, did not neglect to take timely precautions for their own safety. By cutting the dykes they laid the whole of the land from Borcht to Calloo under water, erected a fort at the former place, and strongly fortified the left bank of the river '^. While these transactions were going on in Flanders, John Baptist Taxis surprised the town of Zutphen, whence he was enabled to carry on a harassing warfare against Guelderland and Overyssel. Even the family of the Prince of Orange was not exempt from the general infection of infidelity. His brother-in-law, the Count Van den Bergen, entered into a treaty with Parma, engaging to betray Zutphen into his hands. This design was, however, forestalled by its capture by Taxis, and the count himself was seized and thrown into prison; but his sons, of whom he had several, entered into the service of the King of Spain®. The unfortunate alliance with the Duke of Anjou had proved, moreover, highly detrimental to the popu- larity of the prince himself, and given rise to injurious surmises as to the integrity of his motives. Although ■i Bor, boek xviii,, bl. 421. Meteren, boek xi., fol. 232. ' Idem, bl. 402. 140 WILLIAM I., 1583 there is little doubt that his zeal for the acknowledg- ment of the French prince was the result of a sincere conviction, that his government, strengthened, as he imagined it would be, by the support of France and England, would prove a strong bond of union among the Netherlands, but too many circumstances unhap- pily concurred to give his enemies a handle for the most odious insinuations against him. The fact of his having retained for himself the provinces of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht, seemed to argue either a cul- pable personal ambition, or a secret mistrust of that prince into whose hands he consigned the fate of the remaining provinces; he was deemed not to have been sufficiently alive to the designs of Francis upon Antwerp, after the warning afforded by the seizure of Dunkirk; at the moment of the attack by the French he persisted either in disbelieving, or in affecting to disbelieve it; and during the hottest of the fight on the ramparts had given orders to cease firing, on the ground that the whole originated in a misunderstand- ing^. He was supposed to be the more devoted to the interests of France from his marriage with Louise de Coligny, widow of the Sieur de Teligny, though, as both her husband and her father, the admiral, had perished in the massacre of St. Bartholomew, it could scarcely be apprehended that her influence would tend to conciliate him either with the Catholics or the court. Even the Antwerpers themselves, who had so lately evinced such unequivocal symptoms of esteem and affection for his person, now shared in the general feelings of coldness and suspicion. A report having gained ground, that the prince had introduced numbers of French troops into the town, and was preparing to fortify the citadel, the people ran to arms, and carried ' Meteren, boek xi., fol. 224. Campana, pa; ii., lib, 3, p. 43. STADTHOLDER. 141 their insolence so far as to bid him begone for a traitor 1583 and abettor of the French. As the magistrates, either secretly encouraging, or fearing to notice the tumult, took no steps towards punishing the ringleaders, William retired with all his retinue in displeasure to Zealand 5. In order to present some kind of barrier to the rapid progress of disunion and disorder, the States- General of the United Provinces debated upon the expediency of remodelling the Union of 1579; but the deputies unanimously came to a resolution, that the Union " was devised in so just, honourable, and Christian a manner, and so conducive to eternal amity among the provinces," that it was unnecessary to alter any part of it except the 13th article, whereby the Catholic religion was established in all the pro_yinces except Holland and Zealand. It was now decreed, that the evangelical Reformed religion should be maintained and exercised throughout the provinces, and that no other should be pgi-mitted*. Holland and Zealand, conceiving that the other provinces were not so prompt as it was necessary in providing means of defence, appointed a separate Council of State for their own affairs, consisting of twelve members, of which two were the pensionary and secretary of the provinces, with one deputy from the body of the nobility, and one from each of the towns of Dordrecht, Haarlem, Delft, Leyden, Amsterdam, Gouda, Rotter- B Metei-en, boek xi., fol. 228 — 231. * This was understood to regard merely its public exercise, and the use of the churches. The Catholics were left to perforin their devotions in private unmolested, and no man's opinions were inquired into ; their priests were supported by the State, and allowed to marry, bury, and fulfil the other duties of their calling, so long as they avoided a public display or scandal. 142 WILLIAM I., 1583 dam, and Gorinchem, and one from the small towns of North Holland. They likewise confirmed the power of the Prince of Orange in appearance, if not in reaUty, by bestowing upon him the title of Count of Holland and Zealand, and Lord of Friezland, a dignity which, his adversaries affirm, had from the first been the favourite object of his ambition''. On the return of the Duke of Anjou to France, he made earnest endeavours towards terminating the animosities that had subsided for several years between himself and the king, his brother, and which the late events in the Netherlands had contributed in large measure to exasperate. A reconciliation was at 1584 length eifected by the mediation of Catherine di Medici, the queen-mother, and Francis was created Lieutenant-general of the kingdom. The Sieur de Pruneaulx, whom he had left to caiTy on the negotia- tion for a final treaty with the States-General assembled at this period at Middleburg in Zealand, represented so forcibly the accession of power which the duke had gained by this circumstance, and the probability that the king would now support him with all his power, that he obtained their consent to the article of the Treaty which had been the principal source of difficulty, that, namely, whereby the King of France was declared heir to the sovereignty of the Netherlands, in case of the death of the Duke of Brabant without issue. Shortly after the arrival of the ambassadors in France with the conditions of the treaty, framed upon this footing, the health of the duke, which had been declining from the time of his residence at Dunkirk, became rapidly worse until the 10th of June, Mhen he breathed his last. The usual rumours of poison were spread abroad, and suspicions '' Bor, boek xviii., bl. 404, 191. STADTHOLDER. 143 were thrown upon the party of the Duke of Guise ; 1584 but the more probable cause of his death is ascribed to chagrin at the events in the Netherlands, augmented, it is said, by the intelligence, that the government of Antwerp had issued a decree, that the day of the expulsion of the French from their city should be solemnized as a festival for ever'. The whole of his short life, indeed, was one of continued disappoint- ment. The chosen protector of the oppressed Hu- guenots of his own country, he had to endure a long imprisonment on that account without being ever able to procure the smallest advantage to their cause, which he was at length induced by the queen-mother shamefully to desert; invited to England as the affianced spouse of the queen, with the expectation of sharing the throne of that powerful kingdom, he was destined to find his hopes delusive at the very moment when there appeared no obstacle to their fulfilment ; received with exultation in the Netherlands under the proud title of " Protector and Defender," he found himself obliged to quit his adopted country almost as a fugitive, and an object of general execration and contempt; and, lastly, looking forward with confidence to the succession of the kingdom after the death of his brother, who was childless and likely so to remain, he was cut off in the flower of manhood at the early age of thirty. liis death was followed within a month by that of the Prince of Orange, whom from the time of the proscription issued by the King of Spain, thfe snares of his enemies had literally " encompassed round about." Since the discovery of the plot at Bruges, two persons had been executed for attempts against his life, — one a rich merchant of Flushing, named John Johnson, ' Thuanus, lib. Lxxix., cap. 16. Strada, dec. ii., lib. 5, 144 WILLIAM I., 1584 and another, Pedro Dordogno, a Spaniard residing at Antwerp. At this time there were, it is said, no less than four individuals of different nations, — France, England, Scotland, and Lorraine, — who had it in con- templation to assassinate him^. The fifth, a Burgundian, was unhappily but too successful. Balthazar Gerard, a young man twenty-six years of age, a native of Ville- fons, in Bui-gundy, had contrived to insinuate himself into the confidence of the prince, by representing himself as Francis Guyon of Besan9on, the son of one Peter Guyon, who had suffered death for his profession of the Reformed religion ; and by his zealous attach- ment to that faith, of which his unremitting attendance on public worship, and his being seen constantly with a Bible or Prayer-book in his hand, gave, as it seemed, sufficient evidence. In consequence of these arts, the prince obtained for him a place in the suite of Noel de Caron, lord of SchooneM'al, one of the ambassadors to the Duke of Anjou and Brabant ; and on the death of the duke he was sent by Schoonewal to inform the Prince of Orange of the event. The prince, anxious to hear the particulars, admitted him to his chamber as he lay in bed; and Gerard afterwai'ds confessed that had he had his poignard Mith him, he would have slain his victim at that opportunity. Being told he must again leave Delft, and receiving some money from Wil- liam preparatory to his departure, he applied it to the purchase of two pistols, one of which he loaded with July three balls. The next day he introduced himself into ^^- the saloon of the prince while dining, with the osten- sible purpose of soliciting his passport, when he was desired to Avait, as it would soon be in readiness. As he left the room, the princess, struck by the tremulous >• Bor, boek xviii., bl. 423. Stiada, dec, ii., lib. 5, Meteren, boek xi., fol. 228. STADTHOLDER. 145 voice in which he spoke, asked her husband who that 1584 man was with such an ill-favoured countenance. He an- swered, that he was one waiting for his passport which was being prepared. Gerard having walked quietly for some time near the stables behind the house, returned, and meeting the prince on the steps leading from the saloon, approached as if to receive his pass- port, and immediately fired. One of the balls entered his victim's body; he exclaimed, "My God, my God, have mercy on my soul, and on this unhappy people'," and falling into the arms of his attendants, was carried back into the saloon. He spoke no more, except that when his sister, the Countess of Schwartzenburg, asked him in German, " If he committed his soul to Christ?" he whispered in the same language, " Yes." A few hours after, he expired. The murderer instantly fled towards the ramparts, purposing to drop himself from the walls, and swim across the fosse, to which intent he had provided himself with bladders. He was, however, seized and tried before the " Vierschaar," or municipal court of Delft, when he voluntarily con- fessed that he had nourished the design of assassi- nating the Prince of Orange for six years ; that he intended to put it into execution immediately on the proscription issued by the King of Spain; but hearing that the purpose had been effected by a certain Biscayan, he entered the service of the Count of Mansfeld, which he was unable to quit till within a short time before ; he had informed a Jesuit of the college at Treves of his intention, who told him that if he accomplished it, he would be numbered among the martyrs, and advised him to communicate it to the ' Bor, Authentikke Stuk, deel. ii., bl. 67. There being some difference among authors as to the exact expression used by the prince, I have adopted that recorded in the Resolution-book of tlie States-General. VOL. II. L 146 WILLIAM I., 1584 Prince of Parma, which he did, but was afraid to await his answer lest he should be visited with the effects of his displeasure, on account of the abstraction of some seals from the Count of IMansfeld. Being put to the torture he declared, that the Count d'Assonville, to whom he had opened his design, had communicated it to the Prince of Parma, by whom it was highly approved, and who engaged that if he were successful he should receive the full amount of reward promised in the proscription; and that D'Assonville had spe- cially enjoined him not to mention Parma's name in the affair*. During the whole of his examination and imprisonment, Gerard never for a moment betrayed the slightest symptom of repentance or regret, constantly asserting, that he had fulfilled the duty of a good sub- ject and a good christian; and that if the act were still to be done he would do it again, though it should cost him a thousand lives. He sustained the same spirit of stern and unflinching courage throughout his execution, which was attended with circumstances of cniel torfcuref . Not the most excruciating sufferings, when the flesh was torn from the most sensitive parts of his body by red-hot pincers, could extort from him * Strada tells us, that Grerard, having offered his services with this view to the Prince of Parma, was rejected, not, alas ! with execration and scorn, but as being unequal to the work. " Spretns ut impar." — Dec. ii., lib. 5, p. 326. t The sentence, which serves to show the barbarities practised in the executions of these times, even amongst a people by no means remark- able for the cruelty of their punishments, runs thus : — The criminal is to be placed on a scaffold before the Council-house ; his right hand, wherewith he committed the treasonable and murderous act, to be burnt off with a red-hot wafer-iron ; the flesh of his arms, legs, and all the most fleshy parts of his body to be torn off with burning pincers ; while yet alive, his heart to be torn out and thrown in his fece ; and afterwards he is to be beheaded; his head to be placed on a stake behind the palace of the prince, and liis four quarters on the bulwarks at the four gates of the town.— Bor, boek xviii., bl. 432. STADTHOLDER. 147 a cry, or expression of pain, either by word or gesture. 1584 The Catholic priests ascribed his extraordinary power of endurance to the immediate interposition of Divine aid ; the more educated of the people to obtuseness of intellect, and the effect of stupefying medicines; while the multitude affirmed and believed, that he was pos- sessed by a devil"". Thus perished by the hands of an obscure assassin, surrounded by his friend§, and in the heart of a country where there was scarcely one individual but would have died to save him, a prince, above all others perhaps of any age or nation, the object of the love and veneration of all ranks of men. His obsequies were celebrated in a style of unparalleled magnifi- cence; the States-General, the States of Holland and Zealand, the Senate of Delft, the Council of State, and a long train of nobility, followed him to the grave, dressed in deep mourning. The expenses were borne by the States of Holland, Zealand, Friezland, and Utrecht n. William of Orange, the fourth of this illustrious family who sacrificed their lives in the service of their adopted country, died at the age of fifty-one years and three months*. He was four times married. By his first wife, Anne van Egmond, daughter of Maximilian, count of Buuren, he had one son, Philip, who was carried a prisoner from the university of Louvain into Spain, and a daughter, married to Philip, count of Hohenlohe ; he married, secondly, Anne, daughter of the celebrated Maurice, elector of Saxony, and mother " Meteren, boek xii., fol. 238. Strada, dec. ii., lib. 5. Bor, boek xviii., bl. 427—432. Du Maurier, p. 168. " Meteren, boek xi., fol. 239. * We are informed by Strada, that his nativity was cast by Melanc- thon, who foretold that he would attain high honours, but that he would aim at higher, and at last end his life miserably. — Dec. i., lib. 2, p. 55. L 2 148 WILLIAM I., 1584 of the no less celebrated Maurice, prince of Orange, and of Emilia, afterwards married to Emmanuel, son of the dethroned King of Portugal : his third wife was Charlotte de Bourbon, of the family of Montpensier, who left six daughters; and within a year of her death, at Antwerp, 1582, he married Louise de Coligny, who, shortly before his assasination, gave birth to a son, Frederic Henry. Besides this numerous family, he left an illegitimate ^on, Justin of Nassau, a man of considerable courage and talent, and afterwards Admiral of Holland °- The character of William of Orange has been represented in such different lights by his panegyrists and enemies, that it is scarcely possible for posterity to arrive at a just conclusion. To the latter, his patriotism became personal ambition ; his reserve, duplicity; his penetration, cunning; his firmness in resisting persecution and oppression, obstinate heresy and rebellion ; and his affability, subserviency to popu- lar favour. None, however, have denied him the praise of eminent talent, sagacity, diligence, and per- severance. Entrusted from the early age of twenty- one, by the emperor, Charles V., with the most impor- tant concerns, and placed in the chief command of the army, he added to his natural capacity for affairs the benefits of a long and active experience ; magnanimous in adversity and fertile in resources, he endured a long series of calamities with imperturbable cheerfulness and patience; the freedom and magnificence of his hospitality were unbounded ; and though habitually silent, so as to acquire the nick-name of the "Taci- turn," he was by no means averse to social mirth and conviviality, and was accustomed to mingle on familiar terms with all ranks of persons, observing to his ° Du Manner, p. T80, 181, 18.3, 194. STADTHOLDER. 149 friends, who remonstrated upon thus lessening his 1584 dignity, that " a friend was cheaply bought by a bowP" The liberality of his views with respect to religious toleration, exposed him to the customary accusation of indifference on this subject*; a charge which, particularly in the latter part of his life, appears to be wholly unfounded. But among his many and great virtues, we cannot reckon either sincerity, or pure patriotism. In the early period of the disturbances, he acted the double part of first abetting the con- federacy of the nobles, and then giving information of its existence to the government ; of accepting a com- mand under the Duchess of Parma, when he was at the same time aiding and encouraging the Lord of Brederode in active hostilities against her. Amid all the subsequent troubles and disasters of the Nether- lands, he never lost sight of his own aggrandisement. On the invitation of the Archduke Matthias to assume the government, by the Walloon provinces, he bent to circumstances so far as to profess attachment to him, only to throw him aside when a favourable o])portunity offered itself; and took advantage of the share he had had in procuring both his acknowledgment, and that of the Duke of Anjou, to obtain the relinquishment of the valuable provinces of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht, although by so doing he excited jealousy in the breast of those princes, and prevented that close union with the other provinces, \^hich was so eminently desirable for the welfare of all ; and finally, he procured for himself the dignity of Count of Holland, which, while it added not in the smallest degree to the strength and consideration of the government, ex- p Du Mauiier, p. 167. * Strada speaks of his religion as doubtful, or " proisus nulla." — Dec. i., lib. 2, p. 57. 150 WILLIAM I., 1584 asperated still further the bitter enmity of the King of Spain against the people. His ambition, however, was pure from the slightest taint of cupidity ; he generously refused the gratifications offered him by the States of Holland ; and applied without grudging the funds of his priyate purse to the public expenses. The partisans and opponents of this prince have agreed in pointing to him as the origin of the emanci- pation of Holland ; those extolling him as the founder of the greatness of the republic, and these execrating him as the sole cause of the miseries of revolt and civil war; and popular opinion — always prone to individualize and to ascribe to the skill and foresight of eminent men those events which no human being could have anticipated, much less prepared — ^has perpetuated the eiTor. That it is an error, facts sufficiently prove. The capture of Briel, the first blow struck for Nether- land liberty, was executed not only without his partici- pation, but excited his serious displeasure, and was the consequence entirely of the sentence of banishment from England which Queen Elizabeth was induced to pronounce against the Gueux ; the whole of Holland, except Amsterdam and the greater part of Zealand, had revolted while he was yet in Germany, preparing for the invasion of the Netherlands on the side of Guelderland ; an enterprise which tenninated in failure and disappointment. It was not until some time after the States of Holland had assembled at Dordrecht, and taken ample measures for their defence, that the prince, having been forced to disband his mutinous army, came into that province then in a condition to offer security to his person, almost in the guise of a fugitive. Within two years from that time, at the siege of Leyden, when the Spaniards had again pene- trated into the heart of Holland, the States of Zealand, STADTHOLDER. 151 during a dangerous illness of the prince, admonished 1584 the States of Holland to be prepared to name "an able head and Christian prince" as his successor, in case of his death 1; a sufficient proof that the continuance of hostilities was not considered to depend on his person. The revolt of Holland was, undeniably, therefore, a popular movement, the result of fortuitous circum- stances, which it was impossible for any individual to have created, and of which none, perhaps, of the parties engaged in it had the remotest idea of the consequences. But that which William had little share in originating, he laboured earnestly, perse ver- iiigly, and successfully, to support. At an early stage of the civil war, his wisdom and policy framed regula- tions suitable to the disorganized condition of the provinces; his fertility in resources devised methods for sustaining- the vast burdens of the war; his con- stancy supported the people when ready to yield to despair ; and his sagacity and urbanity reconciled con- flicting interests and soothed contending passions. Had the Dutch possessed a leader of greater prompti- tude and energy, they had perhaps been conducted more rapidly on the path to freedom and victory ; had they been under a ruler of less fortitude, wisdom, and magnanimity, it is possible they might have sunk under the unexampled difficulties by which they were surrounded. If William can have little right to be called the founder of the Dutch republic, he has justly received from the grateful people the title of " Father of their Fatherland." The consequences of his assassination Avere far different from those which the instigators of the act proposed to themselves. Although justified by the 1 Vat. Hist., deel vi., bl. 487. 152 WILLIAM I., 1584 ecclesiastics and Jesuits, who lauded Balthazar Gerard as a martyr*, so atrocious a crime revolted the minds even of those most attached to the cause of the king ; the Spanish soldiers themselves were heard to express in loud terms their abhorrence, and the people in the Catholic towns prevented the clergy from celebrating the event, as they desired, by bonfires and other manifestations of joy; and it was remarked, that the church of Bois-le-Duc, where the priests had sung a " Te Deum" in the morning, was struck in the evening by lightning, which destroyed the belfry ; the rest of the town escaping unharmed''. The royalists had imagined that the death of the Prince of Orange would at once put an end to the war, and that the revolted provinces, dismayed and disunited, would gladly accept of pardon on any terms. But though it was true that the people were plunged into the deepest grief and consternation, and that the loss of so able a head proved of incalculable detriment to their affairs, they promptly adopted such measures as were best calculated to repair their misfortune. The States-General appointed the young prince INIaurice, then about eighteen, as governor, in conjunc- tion with a council of state, and provided him with an able and experienced adviser in the Count of Hohen- lohe, son-in-law of the late prince, who received the title of Lieutenant-General of the Provinces. The Prince was likewise created Stadtholder of Holland and Zealand, from which Utrecht was now divided, ' Meteren, boek xii., fol. 239. * The printer of the university of Louvain published, with the license of WiUiam Esthius, doctor of divinity in that university, a pamphlet, entitled " The glorious and triumphant martyrdom of Balthazar Gerard," and containing rather a commendation, than a justification, of the murder he had committed. — Bor, boek xviii., bl. 433. STADTHOLDER. 153 being placed under the stadtholdership of the Sieur de 1584 Villers; Guelderland and Overyssel were intrusted to the Count de Meurs; and the States of Friezland, which had some time before chosen William of Nassau lieutenant-general of that province under the Prince of Orange, confirmed him in the government'. It had by some been thought advisable that the States should renew their applications for aid to the German Protestant princes ; but about this time an event occurred which proved to them how little they had to expect from that quarter. Gebhard Truchses, archbishop of Cologne, having abjured the Catholic religion for the purpose of marrying Agnes, daugh- ter of the Count of Mansfeld, was deprived of his bishopric and excommunicated. The see was conferred upon Ernest, brother of the Duke of Bavaria, whose entrance Truchses, relying upon the promises of assist- ance he had received from his allies of the Augsburg Confession, attempted to oppose by arms He was soon, however, expelled from all his domains, and, deserted by the Protestant princes, who allowed so important a proselyte to be driven an exile from his country without striking a blow in his defence, was forced to retire to Delft in Holland, where he made a close alliance witb the States. The remnant of his army entered into the service of the Count of Hohenlohe, who with this reinforcement marched with the design of recapturing Zutphen, preparatory to which he laid siege to a fort that the Spaniards had built on the opposite shore of the river, in the Veluwe. Parma having sent an additional body of troops to Verdugo, under the Count of Aremberg, he was enabled to throw supplies into Zutphen, and augment the garrison by 700 men. The States of Holland, however, persisted in continuing ' Meteren, buek xii., fol. 140. 154 MAURICE, 1584 the siege, and while the troops were engaged in this ineffectual enterjjrise, the Prince of Parma was making rapid strides towards the conquest of Flanders and Brabant. Ypres, after a blockade of some months, being left entirely unassisted, surrendered, and ran- somed itself from pillage by the payment of 100,000 florins. After the conquest of Ypres, Parma deter- mined upon the arduous undertaking of reducing Antwerp, one of the strongest towns in the Nether- lands, containing above 100,000 inhabitants, well for- tified and surrounded by outworks. He took up his liead-quarters at Calloo, where he built a strong fort, made himself master of Lief ken shoeck, and commanded the able and experienced General Mondragon to invest the fort of Lillo, both of which the Antwerpers had built within a few weeks. Lillo was bravely defended by Teligny, son of the Sieur de la None, who succeeded in keeping open the communication along the river, and being able by this means to receive constant rein- forcements and supplies of provisions, he obliged Montigny to raise the siege at the end of three weeks with the loss of 2000 men. Thus disappointed in the acquisition of Lillo, Parma abandoned for the present his design upon Antwerp, and marching to Dender- monde received that town and Vilvoorden in sur- render*. A portion of the citizens of Ghent had in the year before, under the auspices of John d'Imbise, entered into negotiations with Parma; but the inhabitants were by no means unanimous in their desire for a reoonciliation with the king, the advocates of that measure being confined principally to the nobles and more wealthy burghers. Imbise, however, placed so much reliance on his influence with the people, that he ' Meteren, boek xii., fol. 40, 2-il. STADTHOLDEK. 155 entered into a correspondence to deliver Dendermonde 1584 into the hands of the Lord de Montigny. Being dis- covered, he was arrested and shortly after tried on four accusations, namely, murder, treason, sedition, and rapine ; he was found guilty, and beheaded, in spite of the exertions which his two brothers and a powerful party of friends made to save him^. From that time Ghent had been closely blockaded by the royalist troops, and the inhabitants reduced to great straits for want of provisions. By the capture of Dendermonde tlieir communication with Brabant was now impeded, and the troops of Holland being entirely occupied in the siege of Zutphen, it became evident that no relief was to be expected. They therefore made a capitulation witli Parma, by which they were to be governed with the same privileges and customs as before the breaking out of the troubles ; the clergy, monasteries, and colleges, were to be re-established in all their estates and rights ; and the Reformers were allowed to remain for two years in the town, provided they abstained from the exercise of their religion. Twelve persons were singled out for execution; but Parma, pursuing the same wise and generous course of policy which marked the whole career of his government in the Netherlands, spared the lives of every one of them. He likewise remitted a third of the ransom of 300,000 golden crowns which the inhabitants had engaged to pay. Thus ignobly fell, thus prematurely began the decay of the ancient and renowned city of Ghent, whieli was immediately abandoned by all its most industrious and wealthy citizens, who took refuge in Holland and Zealand". The fall of Ghent enabled Paraia to resume his " Metei-en, boek xii., fol. 236. ' Bor, boek xix., 1j1. 496. Metei-en, boek xii., fol. 242. 156 MAURICE, 1584 attack on Antwerp, with the advantage of having the •whole of Flanders, except Ostend and Sluys, under his command, and at the head of an army of 10,000 foot and 1700 horse. As he had found vast stores of artil- lery and ammunition in Ghent, his first care was to dig a canal from the village of Stekem to his station at Calloo, a distance of four leagues, to ensure a safe con- veyance by water to the latter place. The Autwerpei-s having inundated the whole country from Hulst to Beveren, he erected strong forts along the Couwen- stein dyke, to prevent the passage of vessels to Lillo and Antwerp from Zealand. The burghers, although they had prepared themselves in some degree for their defence by building forts in the neighbourhood, and inundating the lands, yet neglected many precautions Avhich might have ensured their safety. The extremely popular nature of the government — the disadvantages of which were scarcely perceptible in time of peace — rendered it entirely unfit for the present emergency. Besides the Council of Brabant and the JNIunicipal Senate, the great council of the town, in which the captains of the burgher guards and deacons of the guilds had votes, with the chamber of war and fortifi- cation, were to be consulted on every public matter. If these several members disagreed, there was no one of them of sufficient authority to decide the question ; and though they should ultimately be unanimous, the deliberations of so many separate bodies were produc- tive of a delay, fatal to those affairs which demanded secresy and expedition. To this evil was added, that of the uncertainty as to ■^^ hose duty it was to enforce their resolutions when at length adopted. The late Prince of Orange, on his departure from Antwerj) in the preceding year, had left Philip van JNIarnix, Lord of St. Aldegonde, as governor of the city under the STADTHOLDER. 157 name of chief burgomaster ; but notwithstanding the 1584 influence whicli his high talents and unimpeached inte- grity procured for him, he found his advice rejected upon the most important occasions*. He had strongly urged the erection of a fort at the junction of the Couwenstein dyke with the great dyke of the Scheldt ; but the private interest of some of the wealthier burghers, to whom the land belonged, prevented the execution of this measure ; and one Henry Tseraarts, who had made himself conspicuous by his activity in recommending it, was expelled the city, and entering into the service of the enemy, contributed greatly, by his local knowledge, to its subsequent capture. The position which the Antwerpers had thus neglected to secure was occupied by Mondragon, who built there a fort called after his name. Nor was this the only error which the government committed. They neg- lected likewise to lay in a sufficient store of provisions, especially corn, and allowed numbers of beggars and vagabonds, who had taken refuge in the city from Liege and other parts, to remain, and consume in use- less idleness that food which was scarcely sufficient for the support of its defenders^"- Parma, finding that the Zealand vessels continued, notwithstanding his fortifications along the dyke, to pass up the Scheldt toAntwerp,resolved upon the stupendous and apparently impracticable undertaking of throwing a bridge across the broad, deep, and rapid part of that river between Antwerp and Calloo. Its execution was entrusted to Sebastian Baroccio, an Italian engineer of long practice and eminent ability. Having built a " Meteren, boek xii., fol. 243. * He himself declared he could " hardly number his masters and com- manding lords." — Vide letter to Count of Hohenlohe, Bor, boeli xx., bl. (514. 158 MAURICE, 1584 fort at each end of the intended work, which he named the St. Philip and the St. Mary, Baroccio drove in, at the distance of eleven feet from the shore on both sides, piles, formed of the trunks of tall trees, three abreast, with a space of five feet between each ; at the distance of thirteen feet were three more, and so on at alternate distances of eleven and thirteen feet towards the middle of the river till the depth became fifty feet. These foundations were terminated each by twelve solid beams of seventy feet in length, rammed into the bed of the river in a square form, for the pur- pose of building thereon a blockhouse. The tops of the piles were joined longitudinally by rafters, and laterally by joists placed transversely. At a distance of five feet irom each of the main piles was driven in another pile, to the top of which were fastened two rafters, the other ends resting upon two of the main piles in the form of a wedge. On each side of the work was another row of piles, and against the bottom of them rested long beams, which, crossing in the middle, served to support the wedges at the top. Upon the whole he laid smooth planks to form a road, which, twelve feet in breadth, was defended on each side by a rampart seven feet high. By means of this " stoc- cade," as it was called, the river was narrowed 900 feet on the side of Brabant and 200 on the side of Flan- ders, 1250 feet being left between the two blockhouses at the ends. This space Baroccio filled with boats, ]ilaced at a distance of about twenty feet from each other, and fastened by two anchors against the flood and ebb tide; these boats, linked together by four strong cables, were connected with each other by means of masts, over which were laid planks ; thirty men were stationed in each boat, with a cannon fore and aft. In the river, on each side of the bridge, at STADTHOLDER. 159 the distance of about 500 feet, were stationed, as an 1584 outwork, boats, three together, joined by masts and planks, whence projected a number of long beams, sharpened at the ends, leaving a small interval of space between each three. Besides this defence, Parma stationed all the men of-war he could collect both above and below the bridge^. The besieged had relied on the impossibility of his achieving an enterprise of such difficulty, carried on during the winter months, when, if it escaped being- broken in pieces by the masses of floating ice in the river, it could easily be destroyed by the Holland and Zealand vessels, which in the long dark nights might approach it unperceived. Both these expectations turned out delusive. The winter proved remarkably mild, so that there was not sufficient ice in the river to do the slightest damage to the works ; and the assistance from Holland and Zealand, which the Ant- werpers besought with reiterated entreaties, did not arrive. These provinces were now engaged in a treaty with France, whence they expected a subsidy of 2000 men, and therefore delayed to send the promised aid of land forces to Antwerp till this reinforcement should arrive in the Netherlands. The Prince Maurice, how- ever, and the Council of Zealand, issued repeated orders to William de Treslong, admiral of Zealand, to sail into the Scheldt, with which he refused com- pliance, alleging that his fleet was not sufficiently strong to risk the attempt. Treslong, who was strongly suspected of a secret understanding with the enemy, was afterwards deprived of his office and thrown into prison, Justin of Nassau, natural son of the Prince of Orange, being created admiral in his stead 5^; but the irrevocable opportunity had passed " Strada, dec. ii., lib. 6. Meteren, boek xii., fol. 242. >" Bor, boek xx., bl. 574. 160 MAURICE, 1584 away, and Parma was left unmolested during the long period of seven months to complete a work, of which the ultimate fall of Antwerp was the inevitable conse- quence. He had no sooner finished than he sent to offer a pacification to the city on the most advanta- geous terms ; to which, however, the burghers, whose resolution far surpassed their foresight, returned a firm though respectful refusal. The embarrassed condition of their affairs deter- mined the Netherlanders, notwithstanding the severe lesson afforded them by past experience, to put them- selves once more under the protection of a foreign prince. The late Duke of Brabant had declared by ^^ill his brother, Henry III. of France, heir to all his rights over the Netherlands, and the States-General had sent, shortly after his death, to request the king to appoint another gOA-ernor in his room. But as Holland and Zealand were no parties to the proposal, Henry unhesitatingly declined it, deeming the possession of the Netherlands an useless burden if these two pro- vinces continued separate. With the hope, therefore, of obtaining their concurrence, he despatched the Sieur de Pruneaulx again into Holland to receive the final decision of the States-General ; when, in an assembly held at Delft, the States of Brabant, Flan- ders, and ^Mechlin strongly advocated the full acknow- ledgment of the King of France as sovereign ; Utrecht, Guelderland, and Overyssel declared they had no power to treat of this matter, and Friezland awaited the decision of the other provinces''. In Holland and Zealand, the proposition being referred to the pro- vincial States, gave rise to vehement and lengthened debates ; in the former province, the nobility declared that they could not come to a decision imless the • Bor, boek xix., bl. 504, 608, 509. ■ Idem, 462 — 466. STADTHOLDER. 161 whole body were present ; in consequence of which,. 1584 not only all the nobles, but their eldest sons also, were summoned to the assembly ; the advice of the Great Councils of all the towns was required, as well as that of the Council of Holland and Chamber of Finance. A strong party existed in favour of seeking the protec- tion of England in preference to that of France. The sovereign of England, it was said, sought no further dominion over the Netherlands than the possession of a sufficient number of towns to ensure the indemnifica- tion of her expenses ; she was of the same religion as the Netherlanders, and her power, though inferior to that of France, was chiefly maritime, and therefore more available for their defence. On the other hand, it was urged, that the government of the English in Ireland, and wherever they had dominion, was harsh and insolent ; that the succession to the crown was uncertain, and would most probably fall to the Queen of Scotland, a Catholic, and a devoted friend of Spain; that France had more power and opportunity to defend them from their enemies, owing to the situation of the two countries, and the facility wherewith she might impede the passage of troops and supplies from Spain ; the succession to the throne, also, would devolve on the King of Navarre, himself a Protestant, and of a family which had always shown itself friendly towards the Reformed religion. Upon these grounds, the States of Zealand, and the Council of State of Holland, recommended the treaty with France, which was opposed principally by the Councils of the towns ; that of Gouda especially, in a publication of their opinion, remarkable for a strength of reasoning and clearness of political views, such as one would hardly expect to find in an assembly of burghers, whose chief occupation was trade and commerce, warned the States VOL. IT. M 162 5IAURICE, 1584 against the manifold dangers to be apprehended from the hollow and insidious friendship of an absolute monarch, professing the Catholic religion, and guided by a mother (as they expressed themselves), " the most mischievous, double-dealing, and deceitful woman, upon earth." At length the entreaties of Brabant, Flanders, and Mechlin, that they would not abandon them to the enemy, now ready to overwhelm them, nor deliver them a prey to that ruin which they might avert by acknowledging the King of France, prevailed with the States of Holland to give a reluctant consent''. The Queen of England, who had hitherto evaded the solicitations of the States for a succour of 6000 infantry and 3000 horse, on the plea that they had made but slight exertions to liquidate her already standing claims, quickly took the alarm at the tidings of their resolution to place themselves once more under the dominion of France. She sent her secretary, Davidson, to inform them that the Earl of Staiford had already repaired on her behalf to Boulogne, to devise measures, in common with the ambassador of the King of France, for their protection ; but finding the latter inclined to prolong matters, she was induced to inquire into the condition of their resources, and to offer them her favour and assistance. This did not, 1585 however, move the determination of the States-General, wlio appointed a solemn embassy, headed by Peter de Melun, prince d'Espinoy, to proceed to Paris, for the purpose of laying the sovereignty of their country at the king's feet^. Henry III. appeared at this time inclined to espouse the cause of the Netherlanders with energy and good faith. Although the enemy occupied most of the i" Bor, boek xix., bl. 487 — 495. ' Idem, boek xix., bl. 610. Thuanus, lib. lxxx., cap. 18. STADTHOLDER. 1G3 principal places in Flanders and Brabant, the provinces 1585 which remained were, now that Holland and Zealand were joined to the rest, still such as to offer a tempting lure to France. Situated so as to form a frontier to the kingdom, accessible by convenient harbours, and intersected by immense navigable rivers, they contained ninety strong-walled cities, well fortified and provided with ammunition, of which thirty-six were in the invincible province of Holland. The articles proposed, also, for the acceptance of the sovereign, conferred a far more extensive authority than had been permitted to the Duke of Anjou. The king himself was to appoint the governors of provinces and garrisoned towns, from such as should be agreeable to the States* but wifhout any previous nomination by them, whereas, the Duke of Anjou had been limited to choosing one out of three so nominated ; he had likewise power to station garrisons in any of the towns in case of neces- sity; the jjrovinces were to be permanently and indis- solubly united to the kingdom of France, without any restriction, as before, upon their incorporation with it ; the right of assembling, where and as often as they thouffht fit, was confined to the States of the individual provinces, the States-General stipulating only for per- mission to assemble once a year''. It did not appear that the king would long hesitate to accept conditions of so highly flattering a nature, in the framing of which, indeed, we recognise nothing of the usual spirit of freedom and jealous watchfulness of the Dutch people. He treated the deputies, on all occasions, with the most marked attention, and replied to the demand of the Spanish ambassador, Don Ber- nardin di Mendoza, that they might be expelled the kingdom as rebels and traitors ; that he treated with '' Bor, boek xix., bl. 625 — 529. Thuanus, lib. Lxxxi., cap. 8. M 2 164 MAURICE, 1585 them, not as rebels, but as a people grievously op- pressed and persecuted, whom he was bound, after the example of the most Christian kings, his forefathers, to hear and protect. Even Catherine di Medici herself feigned to listen to their proposals with com- placency, and gave them hopes of a favourable issue ; and Elizabeth of England, disguising, under a show of friendship to France, her chagrin at the step taken by the Netherlanders, dispatched Stanley, earl of Derby, to Henry, with the order of the Garter, and an earnest recommendation that he would take their cause under his protection^ The negotiation had advanced so far as the consideration in what manner the defence of the provinces might be best provided for, when, happily for the Netherlanders, their mission itself gave rise to circumstances which prevented this inauspicious union, and preserved their rising liberties from being stifled in the embrace of their powerful and insidious neigh- bour. The civil wars which, fomented and sujiported by Philip, had for so long a period raged in France, had been for the last few years appeased, and the kingdom had regained, to outward appearance, somewhat of tranquillity. But the faction of the Guises was, mean- while, from various causes, secretly and daily gaining strength ; and the death of the Duke of Anjou, which rendered the Protestant King of Navarre next heir to the crown, roused it once more into activity. The specious pretexts of the preservation of the Catholic religion, and the protection of the people from new and burdensome imposts, scarcely veiled the real object of the Princes of Lorraine, the elevation, namely, of their family to the throne of France after the death of ' Thuanus, lib. Lxxxi., cap. 8. Bor, boek xix., bl. 633. STADTHOLDEB. 165 the King and Cardinal of Bourbon*. A secret league 1585 ■which had been made with Spain some time previously, was now renewed, whereby both parties engaged to use their endeavours, that the Cardinal of Bourbon should be appointed next in succession to the crown of France, in case of the king's death without male issue, and to extirpate the Reformed religion from France and the Netherlands. Shortly after the conclusion of this treaty, the reception given to the Netherland deputies by Henry, alarmed Mendoza with the idea that he actually purposed accepting the sovereignty of the provinces, and he therefore wrote to the Duke of Guise, urging him to take immediate and active measures for the defence of the Catholic religion, or in other words, to commence hostilities against his sovereign without delay ; a mandate which the latter, fearing that the nobles whom he had seduced to revolt, would, if occupied with a foreign war, with difficulty be impelled to the renewal of domestic strife, was perfectly willing to obey. He therefore put the troops he had levied in Switzerland, Burgundy, and Lorraine, in motion, and commenced hostilities by the capture of Verdun. The feeble and irresolute king, instead of grasping at once the powerful weapon which the pos- session of the Netherlands would have placed in his hands both against Spain and the disaffected of his own kingdom, dreaded to drive the latter to extremities and afford a plausible justification of their proceedings by undertaking the protection of rebels and heretics ; and bewildered by conflicting counsels, he chose the middle course, so agreeable to characters of his mould. * They founded their claim to the throne on their descent from- Charles, son of Louis IV. of France, who had been excluded from the succession in favour of Hugh Capet, on the plea, that he had become a vassal of the empire by receiving Lorraine as a fief from the Emperor, Otho II. 160 MAURICE, 1585 He courteously refused for the present the offer of the deputies, alleging that the disturbances excited in his kingdom by the King of Spain prevented his affording the Netherlanders any assistance; but promised at the same time to recommend their interests in the strongest terms to the Queen of England : an engage- ment to which he faithfully adhered^ The city of Bmssels had long been grievously straitened for want of provisions, in consequence of the obstruction of the Scheldt by the bridge of boats and the capture of Vilvoorden, which completely hindered the transport of supplies; and Hohenlohe, with the view of opening a communication on the side of Bois- le-Duc, made an attempt on that town, which, however, proved ineffectual. This failure, and the intelligence that no assistance was to be hoped for from France, augmented the discords already existing among the inha- bitants to such a degree as to render a longer defence impossible. Brussels surrendered therefore, on con- ditions sufficiently favourable, except that the privi- leges of the town were to be retrenched according to the pleasure of the king?. Nearly at the same time the Catholics in the city of Nimeguen found them- selves in sufficient number and strength to drive out the garrison of the States commanded by the Count de Meurs, and place the town under the government of the Prince of Parma. The like happened with respect to Doesburg. Ostend was also attempted by La Motte, governor of Gravelingues, who, vnih a detachment of soldiers, surprised and took possession of the part called the Old Town, which was but weakly fortified. But Ostend was not destined to sink thus ingloriously under ' Thuanus, Ub. Lxxxi., cap. 7, 8, 10, 18. Bor, boek xix., bl. 534, 635. 8 Strada, dec. ii., lib. 6. Meteren, boek xii., fol. 248. STADTHOLDEE. 167 the power of the enemy; an honourable place was J 585 yet reserved for her on the page of history as a martyr to the cause of liberty. The citizens, joining their arms with those of the garrison, attacked La Motte before the remainder of his troops arrived, or he had time to strengthen himself in his position, and drove him back with a loss of 200 men and forty officers'^. But the chief energy displayed on both sides in this campaign was in the attack and defence of Ant- werp. Seeking too late to repair the fatal error committed in allowing Parma to complete his bridge, the Count of Hohenlohe and Justin of Nassau, admiral of Zealand, with a considerable force of Holland and Zealand vessels, captured the fort of Liefhenshoek. This advantage should have been followed up by the erection of a fort at the cutting of the dyke at Calico nearly opposite ; by which means they might have secured a station for artillery on both sides the bridge of boats ; so necessary a precaution was, however, neglected, and Parma, taking advantage as usual of the oversight, himself gained possession of that post. Numerous plans were devised for the purpose of break- ing down the bridge, and among the rest Gianibelli, an engineer of Mantua, (the same who was in the service of Queen Elizabeth at the defeat of the armada,) undertook to blow it up by means of two fire-ships, laden each with 6 or 7000 pounds of powder. One of these, taking fire before it had approached suffi- ciently near the works, proved useless ; but the other, named the Hope, of about eighty tons' burden, exploded with fatal and terrific effect. The Spanish soldiers thinking that the intention was to set fire to the bridge, crowded upon it for the purpose of extinguishing the '' Bor, boek xx., bl. 570. 168 MAURICE, 1585 flames, when the vessel blew up, and above 800 were mingled in one horrible and promiscuous slaughter. Among them were the Marquis of Rysburg, and Gaspar de Roblez, lord of Billy, stadtholder of Friez- land on the Spanish side. Parma, himself, who had quitted the bridge only a few moments before at the reiterated instances of Alfiero Vega, captain of his guard, was struck down stunned, but quickly recovered his senses and with them his accustomed intrepidity. The shock was so violent that it was felt at the dis- tance of nine miles ; the waters of the Scheldt, driven from their bed, inundated the surrounding country, and entirely filled the fort of St. Mary, at the Flanders' end of the bridge. The vessel itself was shivered into atoms so small that not a vestige of it was distinguish- able ; and the heavy grave-stones which Gianibelli had laid upon the chest of powder were hurled high into the air, and falling at an immense distance, sunk into the ground to the depth of several feet. Three of the boats in the bridge were entirely destroyed, and three more torn away from their moorings, and a portion of the stoccade was broken down. But it seemed des- tined that all the efforts made for the delivery of Antwerp should be untimely or incomplete. The crew of the boat, which Hohenlohe sent to reconnoitre, were afraid to approach sufficiently near to ascertain the amount of damage done; and in consequence, both the Antwerpers and a fleet of Holland and Zea- land vessels, stationed at Lillo, were left in ignorance of the rupture of the bridge till Parma had time to repair it, which he effected with his customary celerity in two or three days'. In like manner the Couwen- steyn dyke, the most important position in the vicinity of Antwerp, since, forming an island in the midst of i Bor, boek xx., bl. 597. Campana, Guev. di Fiand., Pa. ii., lib. 7, p. 7, STADTHOLDER. 169 the inundated country, it not only impeded the pas- 1585 sage of the Zealand ships over the land waters, but afforded Parma a road to Antwerp, though twice captured, was each time lost. On the first occasion, the troops of Hohenlohe, being left unassisted by the besieged, wore too few in number to retain it. Soon after the second capture, Hohenlohe having repaired to Antwerp for the purpose of urging the inhabitants to afford some assistance in bringing a convoy into the town, Parma took advantage of his absence to com- mence a general assault on the dyke. Several sharp and murderous contests ensued with the troops stationed in the different forts by which it was guarded, till at length Parma succeeded in gaining possession of the whole extent ; 3000 of the Hollanders and Zealanders, upon whom the loss principally fell, having perished''. Among other measures of defence adopted by the citizens of Antwerp, they had constructed an enormous vessel, or i-ather floating castle, being regiilarly for- tified, at an expense of 1,000,000 of florins, with which they hoped to break through the bridge ; and so sanguine were they of the effect it was to produce, that with a presumption but ill justified by the event, they named it the " End of the War." But its vast bulk rendered it wholly unmanageable, and having stranded in the mud near Oordam all efforts to set it afloat again proved unavailing. It was afterwards abandoned by its crew, and taken possession of by the Count of Mansfeld\ Meanwhile, the scarcity of corn within the walls of Antwerp became extreme, although the government successfully endeavoured to conceal it for some time from the people, by keeping the price of bread down to its usual standard. As, however, the '' Meteren, boek xii., fol. 249. Strada, dec. ii., lib. 6. ' Strada, dec. ii., lib. 6. 170 MAUEICE, 1585 discovery of the fact could not much longer be delayed, and tlie magistrates were apprehensive that the consequence of it would be tumult and sedition on the part of the populace now become clamorous for peace, while no hope of assistance appeared either by sea or land, since Parma had possessed himself of all the surrounding forts, they deemed it advisable to propose terms of surrender. The negotiations were opened by St. Aldegonde, one of the strongest advo- cates for a pacification. Reasons of policy combined with the natural generosity of Parma's diposition to induce him to grant the most favourable terms. The affair, therefore, Avas not long pending; the inhabitants received a general pardon and oblivion of offences; those of the Reformed religion were allowed to remain four years in the city, and within that time to dispose of their property as they pleased; a ransom of 400,000 Aug. guilders was to be paid; and the ill-omened citadel ^^' was to be restored, but with a promise, that it should be destroyed as soon as Holland and Zealand returned to the obedience of the king. Notwithstanding the permission granted them to remain, however, the Reformers did not wait for the triumphal entry of Parma into Antwerp. Three days after the surrender they held their last melancholy service, and within a short time the whole body, among whom the most intelligent, wealthy, and industrious burghers were numbered, retired into exile, the greater portion to Holland and Zealand". Immediately upon the reduction of Antwerp, Parma was invested by the Count of Mansfeld with the order of the Golden Fleece, which had some time before been sent to him from Spain. The ceremony was held on the monument of his fame, the celebrated •" Bor, boek xx., bl. 622. STADTKOLDER. 171 bridge of boats in the St. Philip's fort. The effect of 158;'j the intelligence of the capture of Antwerp on the cold and dissembling Philip II., from whom all the previous successes attending his arms, — the victory of St. Quen- tin, that of Lepanto gained over the Turks, and even the conquest of Portugal, — had failed to elicit an ex- pression of satisfaction, was such as to transport him beyond the bounds of decorum . The news being brought to him at night, he sprang from his bed in anecstacy of joy, and hurrying, in his undress, to the chamber of the Infanta Isabella Eugenia, his favourite daughter, knocked violently at the door, exclaiming, " Antwerp is ours"." The consequence of the surrender of Antwerp was to deprive the States of the services of one of the earliest, the most active, and the most devoted de- fenders of Netherland liberty. The stratagem adopted by the government of keeping down the price of bread, had so far deceived the generality of persons as to the real existence of scarcity within the town, as to excite a suspicion that the chief burgomaster had, to answer his own private ends, unnecessarily delivered it up, although in fact there remained at the time scarcely three days' provision. This accusation, made without sufficient knowledge of the real circumstances of the case, was yet strengthened by the extreme anxiety he expressed for a general pacification, and which had prompted him to open a negotiation with Parma to that effect, without any authority from the States for so doing; and by the fact, that he was allowed to retain his property in the town, when all others of the Reformed religion were obliged to dispose of theirs within a stated term. It is utterly impossible to believe that St. Aldegonde, a man of the very highest virtues and attainments, the oldest and most '■ Strada, dec. ii., lib. 7, p. i-ii. 172 MAURICE, A585 constant friend of the late Prince of Orange, could for a moment contemplate betraying that cause for which he had made such vast sacrifices; but it certainly does appear, that weary, on the one hand, of the continual ill-success and mismanagement of the States' govern- ment, and captivated, on the other, by the noble character and insinuating address of the Prince of Parma, he was imprudently eager for a reconciliation with Spain, of which former experience and the opinions of his enlightened guide and master in poli- tical knowledge might have taught him the dangers. He presented an able defence of his conduct to the States, and his cause was strenuously pleaded by the renowned De la Noue, formerly general of their army, who declared that the Spanish camp before Antwerp was so strongly fortified that a force of 12,000 men would not have enabled him to relieve it; but, severe in punishing the slightest appearance of treachery, the States excluded him from any share in public afiairs until several years after, when he was employed by Prince Maurice in an embassy to France". The loss of St. Aldegonde was in some, though a small degree repaired by the acquisition of Martin Schenk, an able and experienced captain, who, having formerly deserted to the royalist side, now, finding that he was treated by Parma with less consideration than he imagined due to him, returned to his allegi- ance under the States, and delivered his fortress of Blyenbeek into the hands of the Count de Meurs. With his assistance, the latter made himself master of the town of Nuys in Cologne, in favour of the fugitive Archbishop, Gebhard Truchses. But on their return from that siege, the two generals were attacked and routed near Amerongeu, by Verdugo, when the " Meteren, boek xii., fol. 251. Bor, boek xx., bl. 620. STADTHOLDER. 173 Sieur de Villars, stadth older of Utrecht, was taken] 585 prisonerP. The failure of the negotiations with France had placed the United ProYinces in a far more unfavourable position, with respect to the Queen of England, than that in which they originally stood. Besides that they had gone counter to her wishes in offering the sove- reignty to her rival, she might justly take umbrage that herself, their earliest and most faithful ally, should be postponed to the King of France, and applied to only in the last resort; while the dread of their placing themselves under his protection, which had always made her amenable to equitable conditions, being now obviated, she might refuse to grant assist- ance, except upon such terms as it would be scarcely possible for the States to accept. Happily, however, the circumstances in which Elizabeth herself was placed induced her to overlook the slight she had received. She saw that Philip had been able to foment, if not to create, in the neighbouring kingdom, intestine divisions to such an extent as to render it powerless as an opponent, and useless as an ally; the formidable party of Catholics in her own dominions were constantly instigated and encouraged to rebellion by emissaries from Spain and the pope ; and she feared that if the United Provinces were driven by desperation to return to the obedience of their former sovereign, Philip would be left unembarrassed to pursue those measures of hostility which it was now fully evident he meditated against her. Hardly, therefore, was the refusal of Henry to accept the sovereignty made known to the States, than through the medium of the Sieur de Gryse, bailiff of Bruges, she expressed her regret and condolence at the failure of the negotiations p Bor, boek xx., bl. 624. 1 74 MAURICE, 1585 with France, and declared that her anxiety for their welfare had rather increased than diminished'^. Thus encouraged, the States dispatched a solemn embassy to England, of which John Oldenbarneveldt (or Barne- veldt) was a member, for the purpose of soliciting the queen to become sovereign of the United Provinces. In the audience to which they were immediately admitted, the deputies represented that Holland, Zealand, Friezland, and Utrecht still remained entire, and free from the presence of the enemy; that the three former provinces, with Ostend and Sluys, of which the States still retained possession, would render England sole mistress of the ocean; that in receiving the obedience of an affectionate and devoted people, she would rescue from oppression that faith of which she bore the title of Defender, and deliver from im- pending ruin provinces still valuable from their situa- tion, as they had formerly been, and might still become, rich and flourishing, from their navigation and commerce*. Elizabeth, in an extempore answer which she made to the ambassadors, expressed herself highly flattered by the honour done her, and promised that she would never forsake the provinces, but continue to support them to her latest breath''. The accept- ance of the sovereignty, however, was a matter M'hich required more mature consideration. The union of the two nations, v/hich the similarity of their constitu- tion, habits, and religion, would render not difficult to consolidate, would indeed have raised England as a " Bor, boek xix., bl. 539. ' Idem, boek xx., bl. 635, 636. * As the provinces of Holland and Zealand had never before been in so wealthy a condition, this mode of expression was, without doubt, adopted by the deputies, from a fear lest, if they admitted that fact, Elizabeth might take occasion to press for the payment of the debt they owed her, or refuse to grant them any further loan. STADTHOLDER. 175 maritime power far above the rest of Europe; but, on 1585 the other hand, the queen had no posterity, and was therefore little inclined to expose herself to present risk for the sake of any future and contingent advantage. By adopting a measure which M'ould engage her as a princi- pal in the war with Spain, she would justify Philip in the invasion of her hereditary dominions, while her openly declaring herself the protector of rebels would array in opposition to her, the feelings of all the sovereigns of Europe. She doubted, moreover, the ability of the provinces to support the war on their own resources, in which case she would be obliged to apply to parliament for subsidies, which, notwithstanding the present popularity of the cause of the Netherlanders, she feared would be grudgingly afforded, when large sums came to be demanded year after year without any proj)ortionate advantage. For these reasons, she de- clined accepting the sovereignty for the present*, but consented to appoint a governor-general of the United Provinces in her name; she promised also to send at her own cost an army of 5000 foot and 1000 horse into the Netherlands. As a security for the repay- ment of her expenses, the States were to admit English garrisons into Flushing, Rammekens, and Briel, and into two fortresses in the province of Holland, until the debt were liquidated; the governors of the garrisons being bound not to interfere with the * That Elizabeth did not intend this as a final rejection of the sove- reignty is evident, from her anxiety that the offer should be made her ; since, before the arrival of the deputies, Walsingham told John Ortel, resident in London on the part of the States, that it was useless for them to come unless they were provided with full powers to that effect ; and in the instructions she afterwards gave to her governor-general of the provinces, she commanded him to examine diligently into the state of their resources, as she was inclined to assume the sovereignty over them, if they were able to defend themselves by their own strength. — Hooft, Ned. Hist., boek xxiii. 176 MAURICE, 1585 political or civil government of these towns, which was to be administered according to their own laws, by the customary magistrates and officers, nor to levy any contribution on the inhabitants; two Englishmen were to have a sitting in the Council of State, to which also the governors of the above-mentioned garrisons were to be admitted, to confer on any subject relating to the queen's interests, but without the liberty of voting. A council of war, to which the queen might appoint such persons as the governor recommended, was, in conjunction A^ith the Council of State, to remedy the abuses in the levy of the taxes, to abrogate all useless offices, and to apply the public funds as they thought expedient^. Thus, it will be seen that Elizabeth secured to herself a pretty large share of influence in the provinces, and placed herself in such a posi- tion with regard to them, that she might easily assume the supreme power whenever she found it convenient. In a long manifesto, which she published in justifi- cation of her conduct on this occasion, she declared, that she had lent her assistance to deliver the Ne- therlanders from the barbarous and tyrannical govern- ment of Spain, in order as well to protect her own states against the dangers that might arise from the establishment of an absolute power by the king, in a country so closely adjacent, as to assure them against the invasion of her ill-disposed neighbours; and to establish ])eace in the provinces by the restoration of their ancient government and privileges, so that the traffic betM'een the two countries might be placed on a footing of security, in accordance with the treaties and alliances, now of many centuries duration, made ' Bor, boek xx., bl. 643, 645. Camden's History of the R«igii of Queen Elizabeth, book iii., p. 321. STADTHOLDEB, 177 between the diiferent sovereigns of the Netherlands 1585 and her ancestors*. Within little more than a month after the conclu- sion of the treaty. Sir John Norris arrived with the English forces in Utrecht, which province now lay open to the attacks of the enemy, as Bergen op Zoom was the only town yet unconquered in Brabant, Mechlin having surrendered shortly before the fall of Antwerp. His coming excited the most sincere and lively joy, not only from this cause, but from the esteem in which he had long been held, as well on account of his ability and prowess as of the admirable discipline he maintained among his troops". The command of the garrisons at Flushing and Ramme- kens was given to Sir Philip Sydney, Sir Thomas Cecil being made governor of Briel and the fortresses in Holland. The office of governor-general was con- ferred on Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, a man every way unfitted for the discharge of so delicate and important a trust. Vain-glorious, ambitious, incon- stant, and insincere, the mediocrity of his talents was thrown into still deeper shade by the brilliant lumina- ries, which at this period surrounded the throne of Elizabeth; and while his reputation as a public cha- racter was contemptible, in private life it was stained by the darkest suspicions. The knowledge probably which Barneveldt had obtained of his character during his mission to England, induced him to urge the States of Holland, on his return, to confirm the au- thority of Prince Maurice as stadtholder of that province and Zealand, which they did before the coming of Leicester; the prince being bound, however, by his instructions to respect the authority of the governor-general'. But if mistrust were entertained * Bor, boek xx., bl. CG7. » Idem, bl. 647. ' Idem, bl. 665. VOL. II. N 178 MAURICE, 1585 by the more prudent and cautious members of the government in Holland, that feeling was communi- cated in no degree to the States-General, or the great body of people in the provinces. Flattering protesta- tions, and splendid manifestations of joy had hailed the entrance of the Archduke Matthias and the Duke ofAnjou; equal magnificence and congratulations far more sincere awaited the arrival of the Earl of Lei- cester. A zealous Protestant, and the beloved subject of a sovereign, who alone had held out to them the hand of consolation and protection in their bitterest dis- tresses, he was regarded as a pledge of the conti- nuance of that friendship and assistance which he was known to have ever been the most strenuous and persevering in advocating; he was the link, as it ap- peared, which should bind Holland indissolubly to her Dec. oldest and most esteemed ally. On his landing in 19- Zealand, accompanied by his step-son, the Earl of Essex, and a train of 700 horse, he was greeted with acclamations and festivals, which accompanied him in his progress through Dordrecht and Haarlem to the Hague, where the States-General, being assembled, did not limit their welcome to mere empty compli- ments. They passed a resolution conferring on him, in addition to the queen's commission, the absolute government of the Netherlands, as it had been exer- cised in the reign of Charles V.; and joined to this office those of captain and admiral-general of the United Provinces. By this step the States had gone too far to recede, or the manner in which their offer was received by Leicester might have opened their eyes to the real nature of their rash and misplaced confidence. On the proposition to join the Council of State with him in the administration, he refused to accept an authority so greatly circumscribed, and the STADTHOLDER. 179 States were obliged to concede that, besides the two ]586 Englishmen who had a vote in the council, he himself might appoint a member for each province out of a double number nominated by them. On this condition, he consented to assume the government, in which he no sooner found himself established, than he began to aim at that uncontrolled power for which he had so early and so undisguisedly shown his desire. As the previous nomination of councillors by the provinces might prevent his choosing persons sufficiently subser- vient to his wishes, he persuaded the States to carry their complaisance so far as to declare, that he was not to consider the vote of the majority of the council as binding on him, but having heard their deliberations, to decide as he should think besf. If the States-General designed, by conferring the government on Leicester, to conciliate the favour of the queen, or to involve her as a principal in their quarrel, they found themselves widely mistaken ; since Elizabeth either felt, or thought it requisite to feign, the most violent anger at their proceedings. She immediately sent her ambassador, Sir Thomas He- neage, (Davidson having quitted Holland on the arrival of Leicester,) to the Hague, to complain, as of an extreme insult and contempt offered to her, that her vassal should be allowed to assume the sovereignty after she herself had refused it; as though she did not know what it was expedient for her to refuse or accept; and that her honour was deeply involved, since it was in direct contradiction to the manifesto wherein she had declared, that she had no desire to meddle with the sovereignty, or to espouse the cause of the Netherlanders, farther than to secure their ancient rights and privileges. At the same time, she " Boi-j boek xx., bl. 684—691. N 2 180 MAURICE, 1586 laid her commands upon Leicester to exercise no more authority than his commission from her warranted. The States justified themselves with an appearance of great humility, at the same time contriving to give their new governor pretty intelligible notice of the precarious tenure by which he held his dignity. It was far from their intention, they declared, to compromise her Majesty farther than the terms of the contract warranted; the authority of an absolute governor was necessary to the welfare of the provinces, and they had preferred that this office should be filled by one of her Majesty's subjects; but that the word absolute, meant nothing more than not provisional, the authority of the Earl of Leicester being merely administrative and revocable at any time, and the sovereignty remaining entire in the hands of the States-General, till her Majesty should please to accept of it. The queen hereupon expressed herself appeased, in consideration that the case was one of necessity, and that the States had acknowledged their fault in not having previously asked her permission^. The haughty tone assumed by Elizabeth towards the States was no whit lowered in the mouth of her vassal. Leicester never could be brought to consider the nation he was called upon to govern in any other light than as a dependent province of England; and the upstart noble, whose own greatness sprang from no very pure source, despised the industrious and faith- ful people who had committed their welfare to his charge, as a nation of traders, who brought into their councils the same sordid parsimony and spirit of chaf- fering which ruled them in their counting-houses. Unhappily, too, he bestowed his confidence chiefly upon those who were either ignorant of affairs, or who ' Meteren, boek xiii., fol. 260. STADTHOLDEB. 181 to serve their own private purposes, had an interest 1586 in sowing dissension between him and his new subjects. Among these, the principal was one James Ringault, a Brabanter, who had been commissioner of finances under Granvelle and Requesens, but being convicted of peculation in his office, had lived for some time past in retirement. By his advice, Leicester issued an edict forbidding the transport of provisions or ammu- nition to any enemy's or neutral country, and com- manding that all mercantile intercourse by bills of exchange or otherwise should cease between the United Provinces and Spain, France, and the nations of the Baltic y. The States of Holland and Zealand had, in the last year, issued an edict of the like import as regarded that part of the Netherlands in possession of their enemies, which, as it was suffering under severe scarcity, and not easily supplied by other nations, was the surest way of inflicting damage upon them. But with respect to Spain and Portugal, the case was far different ; since, as they could be plentifully supplied by England, Scotland, Denmark, and the Hause towns, the measure had no other effect than to deprive Hol- land of an advantageous trade, and throw it into the hands of those nations. The strong representations of the States of Holland to this effect were passed over unheeded by Leicester, who, some time after, was induced by Ringault to invest him with an extraordi- nary commission, empowering him to examine the letters, books, and papers of such as he suspected of carrying on the forbidden traffic^. This, which was done in direct opposition to the advice of the Council of State, added greatly to the offence already given by the publication of the edict, as it furnished the govern- '' Bor, boek xxi., bl. 703.' ' Idem, bl. 719. Meteren, boek xiii., fol. 261. 182 MAURICE, 1586 ment with an excuse for prying into the private affairs of the merchants ; a stretch of authority which, even in the most powerful of their native sovereigns, had always excited anger and impatience in the minds of the Dutch. Besides the losses which the commerce of Holland suffered in consequence of this edict, incal- culable damage was at this time inflicted upon it by the unceasing piracies of the English. While the late negotiations between England and the provinces were pending, the King of Spain had arrested the ships of both countries in the harbours of Spain and Portugal ; and the queen, by way of reprisal, commissioned a number of privateers, which, not confining themselves to the capture of the enemy's vessels, seized upon the Dutch merchant ships, which, after the arrest, were accustomed to trade with Spain and Portugal under Spanish colours. As the lawfulness of the prizes were adjudged in the courts of England, and the privateer- ing vessels generally belonged to powerful and wealthy persons of that nation, the sufferers were mostly con- tent rather to abide by the loss than incur the fruitless labour and expense of reclaiming their rights*. The queen, in answer to the complaints made by Holland on the subject, issued a number of ordinances to pre- vent the continuation of this practice, which, however, proved ineffectual ; and the navigation of the Channel was rendered so unsafe to the Dutch, that their ships, trading to the west, were obliged to perform the tedious and dangerous circuit round the north of Scotland^ Another cause of dissatisfaction between the States- • Bor, boek xx., bl. 623. Meteren, boek xiii., fol. 260. * Ambassadors being sent into England in 1589 to remonstiate with the queen on this subject, it was alleged that the losses sustained by the Holland and Zealand merchants amounted, within three years, to 3,000,000 of guilders.— Bor, boek xxvi., bl. 426. STADTHOLDER. 183 General and Leicester, was the institution by the latter 1586 of a Council of Finance, of which he appointed the Count de Meurs and Sir Henry Kiilegrew presidents, and James Ringault the treasurer. The creation of this body was vehemently opposed by the Council of State, not only as contrary to the instructions they were sworn to observe, and by which they were bound to provide for the administration of the finances, but as throwing the public monies entirely into the hands of foreigners, especially of Ringault, whose unfitness for the office conferred on him was notorious. Leicester, never- theless, declaring that he was in no wise bound by the opinions of the council, persisted in his design, and visited the advocate of Utrecht, Paul Buys, who had declared his opinion of Ringault in somewhat bold terms, with the effects of his high displeasure^. Shortly after his return to Utrecht from the assembly of the States, Buys was arrested by Welbe, an agent of Leicester, and the schout of Utrecht, who affirmed that they had the authority of the governor for so doing. The only accusation which appeared against him was, that he had been heard to observe in conversation, that the Queen of England would never accept the sovereignty of the Netherlands, and that the Earl of Leicester had treated with derision a resolution lately adopted by the captains of the burgher guard at Utrecht, to offer it to her without conditions. Buys had been for some years before advocate of Holland, and a firm and active partisan of the queen, insomuch that the offer of the sovereignty being made to the Duke of Anjou, he had resigned his office and retired into private life till the death of that prince. The States of Holland were therefore highly indignant at this proceeding, which Leicester, although the prisoner's papers had been •> Bor, boek xxi., bl. 721, 722. 184 MAURICE, 1586 carried to Tiim, thought proper to disavow. Buys, however, remained in prison till the next year, when he was released by the States-Generals This outrage upon the person of the advocate o Utrecht, was followed by one of greater extent against more than eighty of the principal inhabitants of that city, who, not sufiBciently subservient to Leicester's views, were, with the assistance of two English regi- ments, expelled from the province of Utrecht as dangerous and disaffected persons, and commanded to retire to some neutral country. On the earnest remonstrances of the States of Holland, whose protec- tion was claimed by the exiles, Leicester, notwith- standing that the act had been executed in his name, declared that it was without his participation or know- ledge. The reiterated demands of the States for justice, however, could obtain nothing more from him, than that the exiles should be permitted to reside in Friezland'i. Not content with violating, one after another, all those rights which he had been summoned to the Netherlands for no other purpose than to maintain, Leicester inflicted a far more permanent injury upon them by setting the example of interference in religious disputations on the part of the civil power, which we shall hereafter see followed to a most baneful extent. Some years before this time, one Hubert Duyfhuis, a preacher in St. Jacob's church, in Utrecht, had pro- mulgated several doctrines which deviated, in a great measure, from the extreme strictness of the Calvinistic church government, and as concerning predestination and free-will, were at variance with those adopted by the great body of the Reformers in the Netherlands. His opinions were pronounced heterodox by the assem- ' Bor, boek xxi., bl. 726, 889. '' Idem, bl. 731—736. STADTHOLDEE. 186 bly of ministers and elders, or Consistory, as it was 1586 called. Nevertheless, his followers daily augmented, and Utrecht became the arena of polemical disputes, even during the lifetime of the late Prince of Orange, who, however, had wisely forborne to exacerbate by his interference those dissensions which he could never hope to heal*. Leicester, on the contrary, who, from the time of his arrival in the Netherlands, had taken up his residence chiefly at Utrecht, whether in reality infected by the rapidly-spreading spirit of controversy, or seeking to mortify the States by raising the clergy into notoriety and importance, professed himself deeply interested in the subject; and, after the death of Duyfhuis, articles of agreement between the two par- ties were drawn up under his auspices. The favourable disposition which he manifested towards the Calvin- ists, in the terms of this compromise, emboldened them to petition for a national synod, or general assem- bly of the church. These assemblies had hitherto, with one or two exceptions, been held only after permission asked and obtained of the States of the province where they were summoned. Leicester, however, without consulting either the States of Holland or the States-General, decided, that a synod should be con- voked in the month of June of this year. At this meeting, among many other regulations highly offen- sive to the States, as calculated to raise the clergy into a separate and independent body, it was resolved, that * The Prince having on one occasion, while at Utrecht, gone to hear Duyfhuis, was informed by the other ministers, on coming out of church, that the doctiine professed hy the preacher was not orthodox. He answered, that, without being aware of any misunderstanding, he had ordered a place to be prepared for him, where the ablest preacher was to be heard, and that he had, therefore, been brought to St. Jacob's ; but on the next occasion he would attend one of their sermons, admonishing them, at the same time, to peace and unanimity. 186 MAURICE, J 586 a general synod of the provinces should be held every three years, or oftener, if necessary, without requiring any permission from the governments- While the Earl of Leicester was thus embarrassing the domestic affairs of the United Provinces, the Prince of Parma was pushing the war, with his usual prosperity, close to their boundaries. Having received reinforcements of men and money from Spain, he sent forward the Count of Mansfeldt to invest Grave, by blockading the river Meuse, both above and below the town. But Sir John Norris and Hohenlohe having cap- tured the fort of Batenburg, were able, by this means, to throw in supplies to the garrison. Parma, on hearing the intelligence, advanced in person to the walls of Grave, which he cannonaded incessantly with twenty-four pieces of artillery, and having effected a breach, commenced a vigorous assault. It was repulsed with equal ardour ; but whether from treachery, or that the terrors of the women and children, of whom there were an unusual number in the town, communicated themselves to the combatants, they suddenly lost cou- rage, and, by their clamours and entreaties, prevailed upon the Sieur de Hemert, the governor, to surrender the same day. The Earl of Leicester was on his march to relieve Grave, when he was met by Hemert, with the news of its capitulation. In a furious passion of anger, he retraced his steps to Utrecht, taking Hemert with him, whom he caused to be tried for high treason before a council of war, and executed. The death of this officer alienated the minds of many of the nobles in the provinces, since it appeared that his compliance with the desire of the burghers and garrison for a hasty surrender, was to be attributed to his youth and inexperience alone, though he has been ■ Borj hoek xxi., bl. 700—795, 850. STADTHOLDEE. 187 accused by some of having yielded to the fears and 1586 entreaties of his mistress ^- The sincerity of the professions made by Leicester on this occasion, of his anxiety to maintain fidelity and military discipline, was strongly suspected by those who saw him bestow his highest favour and coun- tenance on two of his own countrymen, of whom one, Rowland York, was a devoted adherent of Imbise, in Ghent, and had afterwards been chiefly instrumental in delivering up Brussels to the royalists; and the other, Captain Welsh, had borne the principal share in the sale and surrender of Alosts. As the possession of Antwerp had rendered Parma entire master of the Scheldt, and he had by the cap- ture of Grave obtained a strong position on the Mouse, the next object of solicitude was the Rhine, for the security of which, the experienced eye of the veteran Martin Schenk quickly saw the importance of strength- ening the point where that river divides itself into the two branches of the Rhine and the Waal ; and with this view, built the powerful fortress called after his own name the " Schenkenschans." While he was employed in this work, Parma laid siege to Venloo, where his wife and family were residing. On the first assault, the inhabitants, with arms in their hands, forced the garrison to consent to a capitulation, a safe and honourable retreat being secured to the relations of Schenk''. Cologne and Westphalia having suffered consider- ably during the whole spring and summer from the ravages committed by the troops of the Count de Meurs and Martin Schenk, Parma, at the solicitation ■ Grotius Ann. Belg., lib. v., p. 135. 12mo. B Bor, boek xxi., bl. 708—713. Meteren, boek xiii., fol. 262. I' Bor, boek xxi., bl. 713. 188 MAUJtICE, 1586 of the archbishop, Ernest of Bavaria, marched into that diocese at the head of 18,000 men, for the pur- pose of besieging Nuys. As a recompense for thus undertaking the defence of the territories of the church, he was presented by the Pope with the con- secrated hat and sword, of which, however, he delayed the investiture, till he should have rendered himself worthy of it by the reduction of Nuys. This town, celebrated as having, in the last century, detained Charles the Rash, of Burgundy, a whole year before its walls in a fruitless attempt to master it, fell within a month before the victorious arms of Parma\ During the siege of Nuys, Leicester commanded Sir Philip Sydney to undertake an invasion of Flan- ders. Under his brilliant auspices, the young Prince Maurice commenced his glorious military career, and wetted his maiden sword in the capture of the small town of Axel. Sydney likewise attempted to possess himself of Gravelingues by means of an understanding with some of the garrison; but this enterprise failing, he repaired to the camp of the Earl of Leicester, and Prince Maurice returned to Holland''. At length in the month of August, Leicester took the field in person at the head of an army of 8000 infantry* and 3000 cavalry; but not sufficiently strong to encounter Parma, whose forces numbered 12,000 of the former and 3500 of the latter, he sat down before Doesburg, while his adversary was engaged at the siege of Rhynberg. In this his first military under- ' Strada, dec. ii., lib. 8. ' Meteron, boek xiii., fol. 164. * Among tliem was a regiment of 1400 Irish, " a rude and wild race, naked from tbe hips upward ; they walked on high stilts, by means of which they were able to cross rivers, and were formidable for their skill in the use of the bow." — Strada, dec. ii., lib. 8, p. 511. STADTHOLDER. 189 taking he was happily successful, as Doesburg surren- 1586 dered without waiting for an assault. Thence he marched to besiege Zutphen, of which John Baptist Taxis was the governor. Parma, well aware that this important town was but slenderly provided, left Rhynberg blockaded, and having mastered the small towns of Burick and Wesel, threw a bridge of boats across the Rhine, securing by this means a passage for supplies from Cologne. Early on the 22nd of Sep- tember, he sent forward 300 waggons laden with corn, under a convoy of 700 horse and 2000 foot, com- manded by the Marquis del Guasto. They had arrived at the village of Warnsfeld, about half a mile from Zutphen, when the noise being heard in the camp, a body of 2000 musketeers and 300 cavalry sallied out, headed by Sir Philip Sydney and several of the English volunteers. The morning being dark and hazy, neither jjarty was aware of the other's strength, the advantage of position being on the side of the Spaniards; never- theless, the English troops commenced the attack with extraordinary vigour, and forced their adversaries to retreat; during the engagement, however, Verdugo having been warned of the approach of the convoy, advanced at the head of a small body of troops and brought the supplies safely into the town*. This unimportant, though well-fought skirmish is raised to a conspicuous place in history, as having cost the life of the illustrious Sir Philip Sydney. Receiving a severe wound in the thigh, he was carried to Ame- * The accovint of this battle is given differently by Campana, who received it, he says, from some officers vfho were present. According to him, Parma, leaving strong garrisons in the forts around Rhynberg, ad- vanced with the remainder of his army to the relief of Zutphen ; the van and the main body had passed the village of Warnsfeld, when the rear was attacked by the English, who sustained a defeat with the loss of fifty of their number, only six being killed on the side of the Spaniards. — Gruer. di Fiand., pa. ii., lib. 6, p. 93. 190 MAURICE, 1586rongen, where he died after lingering three weeks. Parma was equally successful in two subsequent attempts to introduce provisions into Zutphen, which being now amply supplied for several months, Lei- cester gave up all hopes of its reduction in this cam- paign. Having, therefore, achieved the conquest of all the forts in its vicinity, he placed strong garrisons in Deventer, Doesburg, and Lochem, and withdrew his army into winter quarters, leaving the town closely invested on every side^ On his return to the Hague, he received as an acknowledgment from the States of Holland a silver- gilt cup the height of a man, and of superb workman- ship. But this flattering token of gratitude was accompanied by a far less palatable expression of opinion, in the shape of a long remonstrance by the States of Holland, Zealand, and Friezland, containing a similar list of grievances to one which had been presented by the two former in the month of Au- gust. They complained that the administration of the finances had fallen wholly into the hands of Ringault, and demanded, that the public monies should be entrusted to a treasurer appointed by the States, and that all orders of payment should be signed by the governor and three members of the Council of State ; that in the appointment of governors of provinces, the States should nominate three, from whom the governor- general, in conjunction with the Council of State, should select one; that the soldiers of the garrisons should be paid; that no one should be cited before a court of jus- tice out of their own province; that the stadtholdership of Utrecht should be united to that of Holland and Zea- land, under Prince JSIaurice; and, finally, that the edict forbidding the export of provisions and ammunition ' Strada, dec. ii., lib. 8. Bor, boek xxi., bl. 751, 752. STADTHOLDER. 191 should be rescinded «>. In his reply the governor de- 1586 clared, that as to the appointment of Ringault, he had fixed on him only from his opinion of his capability and the improvements which he promised to effect in the administration of the finances; that the Council of State had invested him vpith the power of appointing governors of the provinces; that he had paid the garrisons as far as the public funds admitted; and that the edict had been resolved on in a full Council of State as the most certain means of inflicting damage on the enemy °- Shortly after the presentation of the remonstrance, the governor notified to the States his intention of returning to England. They requested him to delay his departure, since a rumour had gone abroad that he was about to quit the Netherlands in displeasure, which would have an ill effect on the officers of the army, as well as the troops. Leicester, denying that such was the reason of his leaving them, alleged that his attendance was required in the parliament of England: yet he confessed himself ag- grieved that the States had laid on him the odium of an edict, promvilgated by the Council of State, and had complained so heavily of the promotion of Ringault, whose sole recommendation had been his great skill in financial matters". Ringault was at this time in prison at the Hague, upon a charge of mal-administration in his office, and of creating dissensions between the governor and the States; and Leicester, although he constantly delayed his trial, promised the States that he would not shield him from justice by taking him to England. He was, nevertheless, allowed to escape to Flushing, and place himself under the protection of the English " Bor, boek xxi., bl. 746 et seq., 761. ° Idem, bl, 763, 766. ° Idem, bl. 778. 192 MAURICE, 1586 garrison, whence he retired to Brussels, and died not long after in the profession of the Catholic faith p. Leicester, preparatory to his departure, consigned the government into the hands of the Council of State, appointing Sir John Norris commander-in-chief of the forces. He desired that an embassy headed by Prince Maurice might be sent with him to England; but the States were induced by the arguments of John Oldenbarneveldt, who had this year been created advocate of Holland, to pass a resolution, that it was unadvisable for Prince Maurice to leave the country in the present state of affairs q. The governor and States-General then took leave of each other with apparent courtesy, but with feelings of mutual dissatis- faction and mistrust. On his arrival in England, Leicester was received with the highest marks of favour by his royal mistress, whose blind affection towards him had rather increased than diminished by absence, and excited in the minds of the Nether- landers a well-grounded suspicion, that she would turn a deaf ear to any complaints they might make of his conduct in the administration of their affairs. In this year died Octavio Famese, father of the prince, now Duke of Parma, as well as his mother, INIargaret of Austria, late governess of the Nether- lands. The celebrated Anthony Perrenot, cardinal de Granvelle, also, the origin it may be said of all the dissensions and miseries of the Netherlands, expired on the 24th of January in Spain, at the age of seventy. Within a few days after the Earl of Leicester had quitted Holland, a document was brought to light which excited unbounded astonishment in the minds p Bor, boek xxi., bl. 756, 777. 1 1dem, bl. 781—784. ' Meteren, boek xiii., fol. 276. STADTHOLDER. 193 of all the members of the government. This was an 1586 Act of Restriction on the Council of State, forbidding them to appoint any governors of towns or garrisons, or to interfere in any manner with the officers of the army, except in case of death, when they might sub- stitute provisionally until his return; they were to have no power to release prisoners or to recall exiles, and were to do no act in prejudice of the authority invested in him by the States to appoint governors of provinces. There was added a list of all the towns wherein he desired that English garrisons should be stationed, to which the Council was enjoined strictly to adhere. It appeared that the Act of Restriction had been secretly executed on the very same day that he transferred the government to the Council '*- The effects of the anomaly which this act created, that, namely, of a military force independent of the existing government, soon developed themselves. Leicester had, notwithstanding the vivid remon- strances of the States-General, placed in command of the garrison of Deventer one William Stanley, who, having first served the States, had deserted to the royalist party, and afterwards attaching himself to Leicester was treated by him with marks of the highest distinction and confidence. This man now entered into a correspondence with Taxis, the Spanish governor of Zutphen, to deliver Deventer into his hands, which being discovered by one of the burgo- 1587 masters, he sent to inform the Council of State of the intended treason. But the council, deprived by the Act of Restriction of the power of removing him, had no other remedy than to dispatch Sir John Norris with the hope of preventing the execution of his design ; ' Boi-, boek xxi., bl. 786. VOL II. O 1 94 MAURICE, 15r,7 before he could amve, however, Stanley, professing that he was authorized by letters from the goYernor- general, had admitted Taxis and his troops within the gates*. On the same day, Rowland York, before- mentioned as a sharer in the sedition of D'Imbise, to whom Leicester had, equally in defiance of the States, entrusted the fort of the Veluwe opposite Zutphen, delivered that also into the hands of the Spaniards. The alarm of the States at the intelligence of this double instance of perfidy was extreme, particularly as it was followed by the desertion to the enemy of a company of English soldiers, stationed in Zwol, and some excesses committed by the troops of the same nation in the province of Holland. They imagined that a conspiracy existed among all the English gar- risons through the country to betray the towns in which they were stationed, to the Spaniards ; and, assembling without delay at the Hague, they declared Prince JNIaurice governor-general of Holland, Zealand, and Friezland, during the absence of the Earl of Leicester, with whom, on account of his youth, the Count of Hohenlohe was associated as lieutenant- general, and decreed that all the officers of the aimy and governors of towns should take an oath of alle- giance to them. Eight companies of soldiers also were ordered to be levied and placed under their command". This step, however prudent or necessary, added one more to the heavy catalogue of offences with which Leicester conceived himself aggrieved by the States. He had already, if we may judge by the impression produced on the mind of Elizabeth, successfully vindi- cated himself in her eyes by representing their conduct in the most unfavourable colours. Shortly after his • Strada, dec. ii., lib. 8. " Bor, boek xxii., bl. 881—886, 894. STADTHOLDER. 195 return to England an embassy was sent by the States, 1587 of which Jacob Falk, member of the Council of State, and Justus van Menin, pensionary of Dordrecht, were the principal members, to offer the sovereignty once more to the queen upon " reasonable conditions," and to solicit a loan of 60,000^., wdth double the usual number of auxiliaries. Elizabeth, whose countenance during the whole of the audience had betrayed the highest indignation, scarcely allowed the ambassadors to finish their speech, when she replied sharply, that she was astonished they should trouble her for more assistance, when they had given her so little satisfac- tion by their past conduct ; she swore " by the living God," that it was impossible to find more ungrateful and ill-ordered states and people than they were ; she had, she said, sent no less than 18,000 men into their country, whom they treated more as enemies than allies, and supplied so scantily with provisions that they were forced to beg or starve ; they had given the name of governor to the Earl of Leicester without her knowledge, and allowed him the appearance and shadow of authority only to heap the more insult and injury on his head ; if they thought that she found her own advantage in supporting them they were deeply in error, for the King of Spain, who had offered her marriage, had lived in amity with her at the beginning of her reign, and would gladly do so again ; neverthe- less it was not true, as evil-disposed persons asserted, that she intended to make peace without them, for she would rather die than have it said that she did not keep her promises ; but if she did anything more for them, she should expect to be more respectfully treated for the future. Davidson, however, comforted the ambassadors under the dejection into which her anger had thrown them, by the assurance, that notwithstand- o 2 196 MAURICE, 1587 ing the harsbuess of the queen's expressions, her good will towards them continued unabated". On intelligence of the reception of their deputies at the English court, the States, as a justification of themselves, sent a memorial to the queen, of which a copy was given to Leicester, containing an account of all the unconstitutional measures he had pursued since the beginning of his administration. Besides the publication of the edict preventing the exportation of provisions, whereby their trade had been greatly injured, they complained that he had of his own authority coined rose-nobles at Amsterdam, current at two florins more than their just value, in proportion to the general money of the country; that the native troops were worse paid than at any time during the war, notwithstanding the immense contributions levied for that purpose ; that instead of following the advice of the Council of State he was guided entirely by a private council consisting of interested and ambitious individuals secretly inclined to Spain ; that many con- cealed traitors had been advanced to high and respon- sible offices, and that several who were known to be such were withdrawn from the hands of justice ; that the magistrates and legitimate governors were deprived of their due authority, and the towns and fortresses placed in the hands of persons whose fidelity was justly suspected. To these causes of dissatisfaction were added the restrictions placed on the authority of the Council of State, and the heavy losses sustained through the treason of Stanley and York^. Leicester, on the other hand, accused the States of HollaTad of having wantonly abridged his authority by forbidding any passports to be given ^dthout the per- mission of Prince Maurice or his lieutenant-general ; ' Bor, boek xvii , bl. 873—875. ' Idem, boek xxii., bl. 943. STADTHOLDER. 197 of arbitrarily changing the garrisons and governors of 1587 the towns, and of preventing the exportation of a quantity of grain to England, for which the governor and council had given passports at the request of the queen. They had, moreover, by their own authority issued an edict in his name, permitting free exportation to neutral places of all wares, except arms, gunpowder, and saltpetre. The memorial of the States tended to embitter still further the exasperated feelings of Leicester towards them, and was extremely ill taken by the queen herself, who at length determined upon sending Thomas, lord Buckhurst, into Holland to examine into the real state of affairs". Not the least of the evil consequences arising from the perpetual bickerings between the governor and the States was the disunion it created among the Provinces themselves. The province and town of Utrecht, where Leicester principally resided, were devoted to the English, insomuch, that in the latter, the captains of the burgher-guards had sent to offer the uncon- ditional sovereignty of the Provinces to the queen. Their example was followed by the inhabitants of Oostergouwe, in Friezland ; and the complacency with which such proposals were received both by Elizabeth and the governor, excited strong surmises that the former would gladly have seen that sovereignty thrown into her hands by civil discords and anarchy, which the "reasonable conditions" insisted on by Holland and Zealand, rendered unacceptable^. About this time the States of Utrecht proposed to Friezland, Overyssel, and the Ommelandes of Groningen, that they should hold an assembly for the purpose of obviating the hindrances in the way of the Earl of Leicester's return to the Netherlands, and instigated the States of Guel- ' Bor, boek xxii., bl. 888, 919. - Idem, boek xxi., bl. 723, 884, 198 MAUKICE, 1587derland to disavow tlie act of their deputy at the States-General in having sent the letter of remon- strance against him. The disputes at length ran so high, particularly between Holland and Utrecht, as almost to threaten a dissolution of the Union. At this critical juncture, the advocate of Holland, John Oldenbarneveldt, dreading probably the return of Leicester, to whom he was an object of peculiar aversion, and who had before made an ineffectual attempt to get him into his power*, solicited his dismissal from office. He was with difficulty persuaded to remain a few months longer, on condition that he should not be obliged to reside at the Hague, and should be at liberty to retire immediately in the event of a negotiation for peace, or the surrender of the Provinces to any prince whatever, without full security for their religion and privileges^. Such a precautionary measure on the part of so patriotic and enlightened a statesman, gave an alarming testimony of the evil forebodings he enter- tained from the present appearance of affairs. But though the United Provinces were distracted by domestic dissensions and enfeebled by mutual dis- trust, their condition, compared with that portion of the Netherlands reduced under the yoke of Spain, was such as to affiard matter of deep gratulation and thank- fulness. The miseries of war had visited the latter unhappy country in the fullest measure ; multitudes of its inhabitants had fled in despair; and the sword, ' Bor, boek xxii., bl. 959, 960, 966. * In the last year he had written to Barneveldt to come to Utrecht, as he had to communicate to him some matters of importance ; but the States of Holland, suspicious of his real designs, and warned by the fete of Paul Buys, (p. 183,) deolai-ed that the service of the country and of the Queen of England did not admit of their dispensing with the attend- ance of their advocate. — Bor, boek xxi., bl. 749. STADTHOLDER. 199 famine, and jiestilence, vied with each other in destroy- 1587 ingthe remainder; the lands lay uncultivated, and those that were sown yielded this year so scanty a harvest, that twenty-four florins a bushel (of twelve pounds) was paid for the coarsest rye; the towns were nearly depopu- lated, and many happy and thriving villages which had formerly contained 3 or 4000 houses were now destitute of a single inhabitant. The fiction of the poet became true and sad history. " The voice of the people was heard no more. The fox looked out from the windows, the rank grass of the wall waved round its head"." Wild beasts made their dens of the deserted dwellings ; wolves nursed their young on the forsaken couches, and increased to such numbers that they devoured not only the flocks and herds, but children, men, and women ; more than 100 persons are said to have thus perished within a circuit of two miles of Ghent, and the people were not in sufficient number to destroy them. The dogs, deprived of their natural protectors, wandered in troops over the country, maddening with hunger, and attack- ing indiscriminately man and beast. The rich and smiling pastures, once the admiration and envy of the less favoured countries of Europe, were now no more ; woods, roads, and fields, were confounded in one tangled mass of copse and brier. In the formerly busy and wealthy towns of Flanders and Brabant, Ghent, An- twerp, and Bruges, members of noble families were seen to creep from their wretched abodes in the dark- ness of night to beg their bread, or search the streets for bones and oifaP. A striking and cheering contrast is the picture presented by the United Provinces. The crops had, indeed, failed there also, but the entire • Ossian's " Carthoii." ■" Bor, boek xxii., M. 984. Meteren, boek xiv., fol. 283. 200 MAURICE, 1587 command of the sea, whicli they preserved, and the free importation of corn, secured plentiful supplies, and kept it at a steady and moderate price. The Dutch, particularly in the provinces of Holland and Zealand, had, by a tacit mutual understanding -with Spain, carried on unmolested a profitable trade with that country and Portugal, from the commencement of the war until the arrest of their vessels in the last year. The effect of that measure was to prompt the merchants to undertake more distant voyages to the Cape de Verde Islands, the "White Sea, and other parts ; while, in spite both of that and the preventive edict of the Earl of Leicester, they continued to carry on, under Spanish colours, a lucrative half-smuggling traffic, which the government of that nation found it its interest to connive at and encourage. The war, therefore, instead of being, as usual, an hindrance to commerce, rather gave it a new stimulus; the ports were crowded with vessels, of which 590 sailed in one year out of the Vlie alone, to fetch corn from the Baltic ; in the provinces of Holland and Zealand, the number of merchant ships, of from 100 to 400 tons burden*, amounted to 2700, besides the busses, dog- boats, smacks, &c., engaged in the herring fishery ; and 1000 vessels of different sorts were generally built new every year-. Holland and Zealand had now for more than ten years been delivered from the enemy, whom, with such unexampled heroism, they had driven from their boundaries; and the security they thus offered, combined with the freedom of religion, and the activity of trade and commerce, drew vast multi- " Meteren, boek xvi., fol. 324. * The Dutch were accustomed to build their ships, of comparatively Email size, for the navigation of the shallow waters of the channels about Holland a'ld Zealand. STADTHOLDER. 201 tudes to their shores ; the merchants and artisans ex- 1587 pelled, on account of their religion, from the Spanish Netherlands, transferred thither the advantages of their enterprise and skill ; the manufacturers of woollen, silk, linen*, lace, tapestry, pins, paper, and innumerable other articles, were here carried to a perfection far surpassing those of any other nation. The population of the towns became so overflowing, that it was found impossible to build houses fast enough to contain it, and numerous families were obliged to live entirely in boats, made large and convenient for the purpose; new and spacious streets, and magnificent public buildings, were constantly erected ; and the space between the extremity of West Friezland and Wal- clieren, became a galaxy of excellent fortifications, superb cities, and noble harbours, thickly studded with masts. Notwithstanding that the provinces had to support a navy of 100 men-of-war, and a land force of 20,000 infantry and 2000 cavalry, and that the imposts in one month amounted to a larger sum than in a whole year during the war of Philip with France, in the commencement of his reign, they daily increased in wealth and prosperity'*. The troops remaining, for the most part, within, or close to, the boundaries, little or none of the money paid to them went out of the country, while the pro- vinces enriched themselves immensely at the expense of the enemy, with whom they permitted a traffic in every species of article to be carried on by means of <> Meteren, boek xiv., fol. 283. Bor, boek xxv., bl. 337. * The manufacture of linen, it would appear, \vas carried at that time to as high a point of excellence as it is at present, since we are told, that a piece, of seventy-five Dutch ells in length, which weighed no more than three pounds, was sold in Spain for nine ducats the ell, French, or about thirty shillings a yard. — Meteren, boek xvi., fol. 324, 202 MAURICE, 1587 licences, the price of whicii they raised or lowered accordinff to circumstances, or the need in which the enemy stood of their wares, taking care always that it should never be so high as to prevent the traders from underselling those of all other nations'^. The quantity of specie which thus found its way into the provinces, formed a gradually and steadily-increasing circulating medium of real value, proportioned to their augmented wants, which they would have found it difficult other- wise to create, and which not only enabled them to trade on advantageous terms with the foreign mer- chant, but tended to keep up the credit of their paper and promissory money. But neither did the perils and anxieties of war, nor the busy search of gain, nor the absorbing excitement of political discussion, cause them to neglect the all- important subject of the education of their youth, or overlook the necessity of breeding up sons fit to enjoy that freedom which their fathers had fought so hard to secure. The consistories, or assemblies of ministers and elders of the churches, were bound to take care that schools should be everywhere provided with good schoolmasters, to instruct the children of all classes of persons in reading, writing, rhetoric and the liberal arts, as well as in the doctrines of religion, and the catechism of the Church ; and to use their best endeavours that a sufficient number of students in theology should be constantly maintained at the public expensed The Friezlanders, in no wise behind hand with the Hollanders in so noble and praiseworthy a work, founded, in the year 1585, the College of Franeker, which they endowed with a liberal income from the proceeds of ecclesiastical lands, and invited thither « Metei-en, boek xvi., fol. 323. ' Dee. of Syn. of 1686, art. 17—19. STADTHOLDER. 203 professors of the highest reputation from all parts of 1 587 the world. To the college was attached an institution where the children of the middling and poorer classes might be boarded and educated upon payment of a small sum, the rest of the expenses being defrayed by the States. The pupils were here instructed in theology, jurisprudence, medicine, philosophy, rhetoric, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin ^. The miserable condition of the Spanish Nether- lands, and the difficulty bf finding supplies for his troops, caused the Duke of Parma to delay taking the field until late in the summer ; when, making a feint attack upon Ostend, he afterwards, in spite of the extreme scarcity that prevailed in his camp, com- menced a vigorous siege of Sluys. In order to draw him off from this undertaking, Maurice, with the Count of Hohenlohe, marched towards Bois-le-Duc; but the forces of Parma being suflSciently numerous to admit of a division, he dispatched Haultpenne with a detachment to Boxtel, within two miles of Bois-le- Duc, himself remaining before Sluys. Haultpenne was delayed in his march by the acquisition of Guel- dres, which was sold to him for 36,000 crowns, by the governor, Paton, a Scotchman, in the service of Martin Schenk, out of revenge to his commander, for having struck him in a drunken quarrel. Haultpenne was slain shortly after in a skirmish at the fort of Engelen, which was captured by Hohenlohe''. The danger of Sluys hastened the return of the Earl of Leicester to the Netherlands, who arrived in Ostend with 7000 foot and 500 horse; the queen having placed in his hands the whole of the 18,000^. appointed for the payment of the soldiers. On hearing e Bor, boek xx., bl. 672. " Stiada, dec. ii., lib. 8. 204 MAURICE, 1587 of his landing, Parma made unparalleled efforts to gain the town before be could advance to its relief; be battered the walls incessantly with thirty pieces of heavy artillery and eight coleuvrines, keeping up, on one day, a continued fire from three in the morning until five in the afternoon; a breach of 252 feet in extent being at length effected, he commanded a brisk assault, which was, however, bravely repulsed. Sluys bad been besieged seven weeks, and the gan-ison was reduced from 1600 men to scarcely half that number, when Leicester made an attempt to master the fort of Blankenburg, in the neighbourhood of the enemy's camp ; but on intelligence that Parma was approaching to give him battle, he hastily retreated to Ostend. As there were, therefore, no hopes of relief from the English, and all the artillery in the town was destroyed, except four pieces, the governor, Arnold de Groene- veldt, proposed a capitulation, which Parma granted, on highly honourable conditions'. The loss of Sluys exasperated the dissensions between Leicester and the States into undisguised and irreconcilable hostility. He spared no pains to throw on them the blame of this miscarriage, accusing them (not, indeed, wholly without grounds*) of neglecting to provide either sufiicient troops, funds, or ammunition. The States, on the other hand, possessed a power- ful weapon against Leicester in an intercepted letter to his secretary Junius, desiring him to use his influ- ence with the well-disposed in the Provinces to bestow ' Strada, dec. ii., lib. 8, 9. * In a letter from the governor, Groeneveldt, to Buckhurst, the English ambassador, he complains that the States wUl not believe in the reality of the siege, and that he has not received half the ammunition promised him. — Bor, boek xxiii., bl. 7. STADTHOLDEE. 205 on him an authority free from the continual opposition 1587 and countermining of tlie States, who ought to be con- tent with the share of power they had enjoyed under Charles V. and his son, so that he might be sovereign in reality, and not in appearance only. It was gene- rally supposed that the purpose of furthering the views laid open in this communication had induced him to bring a large body of troops into Maaslandsluys and Delftshaven''. But it was not with the States alone that Leicester was at variance ; the English ambassador Buckhurst, Sir John Norris, Prince Maurice, and the Count of Hohenlohe, alike shared his resentment. Buckhurst had written to England justifying the States, and expressing his opinion, that the acts which had given rise to the misunderstandings had been done on their part, not from any ill-will, but from anxiety for the safety and welfare of their country. Leicester in con- sequence declared that he was " a dunce and a fool, whom the States made to believe just what they pleased^" His jealousy of Sir John Norris, an old and highly-esteemed servant of the States, had prompted him to obtain his recall from the queen, and that he should be employed in Ireland. Besides the offence which Prince Maurice had given Leicester, by accept- ing the office of governor during his absence, the colonelcy of Zealand, a post held by Sir Philip Sydney, had been by his advice conferred on the Count of Solmes, instead of Sir William Russel, whom Leicester wished to see promoted to this station. Leicester even entertained the design of seizing the person of the prince, together with John Oldenbarneveldt, and k Bor, boek xxii., bl. 991 ; boek xxiii., bl. 19, 21, 61. ' Idem, boek xxii., bl. 967 ; boek xxiii., bl. 23. 206 MAURICE, 1587 conveying them to England, of which the latter having received information, they retired precipitately from the Hague to Delft"". Numerous causes of envy and spleen had long existed between the governor and the Count of Hohenlohe. The latter, a prince of the empire, had never consented to enter the service, or to take the oath of allegiance to the English noble, although it was principally by his influence that the troops had been induced to do so ; to this was added the circum- stance of a petition from the native soldiers, presented by Hohenlohe to Leicester, against the undue promo- tion of English officers, and the placing garrisons of that nation in all the principal towns of the provinces, which had been extremely ill received by the latter, who imagined it to proceed chiefly from Hohenlohe's instigation ; he accused him likewise of contributing to the surrender of Sluys, by drawing off the troops of Holland to Bois-le-Duc. From the fear of augmenting his influence, Leicester had secretly prevented the levy of 3000 foot and 1000 pioneers, which the States had ordered to be raised in Germany ; and, with a view to mortify him still further, he had lavished marks of regard and distinction on one of his subaltern officers. Sir Edward, brother of Sir John Norris, who, on the occasion of a dispute between himself and Hohenlohe at table, had challenged his commander. In the hope of terminating the quarrel with the governor, Hohen- lohe offered to resign his offices, on condition that the privileges of the towns he surrendered should be secured to them. But the States were, as may be supposed, little inclined to forego the services of one of the few active and experienced captains they pos- ■" Bor, boek xxii., bl. 953. Hooft, boek xxvi., bl. 292, 293. STADTHOLDEB. 207 sessed, to gratify the caprices of an arbitrary and 1587 insolent foreigner". While thus at issue with all the authorities of the State, Leicester had still a powerful party among the clergy, whom, as it has been observed, he affected to treat on all occasions with the most profound consi- deration and respect; and they, in return, not only lauded his conduct and advocated his interests in the pulpit, but even ventured to interfere in matters of civil government on his behalf. They complained to the States that, since the dismissal of Ringault, the public funds were not properly applied ; that Luther- anism, and even Catholicism was allowed to spread in the provinces, and that many magistrates and other persons, who were not members of the Reformed church, were permitted to remain in public offices ; and in a subsequent remonstrance, presented in the name of all the ministers of Holland, they admonished the States to preserve union and good understanding with England and the governor. To this address the advocate, Oldenbarneveldt, shortly replied, that the States were well able to provide measures to that effect without their assistance, and that it behoved them to take care, lest, under the pretext of religion, evil-disposed persons should seek to bring their rulers into contempt, and render them odious to the people". The reproof implied in this caution was not by any means unmerited. Guided and fostered by the preachers, the tide of popular opinion had, during the first part of Leicester's government, set strongly in his favour against the States ; as if, while jealously insisting on their own sovereignty, they were loth to " Campana, part ii., lib. v., p. 94. Meteren, boek xiv., fol. 278. Verant. van Hohenlohe. Bor, boek xxiii., bl. 120. " Bor, boek xxii., bl. 977 ; boek xxiii., bl. 74. 208 MAURICE, J587 surrender to the governor sufficient authority either to carry on the war with success, or to regulate the inter- nal administration ; and had preferred to run the risk of offending a powerful ally in his person, rather than resign into his hands the management of affairs, which they themselves, either from want of union or ability-, were incompetent to conduct. The surrender of Deventer and the fort of Zutphen had given the first shock to Leicester's popularity, which rapidly declined after the fall of Sluys ; and the conduct he now thought fit to pursue was such as might well have annihilated the little that remained. Eight of the nobles of Utrecht having ventured to present a petition for the restoration of their former customs and privileges, they were seized all on one day, and confined in the public prison ; an act which, though disavowed by Leicester, excited such an uproar against him in the city, that he was fain to retire to North Holland, where he possessed a devoted partisan in Theodore Sonoy, to whom he had given a commis- sion as governor of that district, independent of the stadtholder, Prince Maurice^. This event was followed by a far more dangerous disturbance at Leyden, where a number of refugees, from Flanders and Brabant, formed a conspiracy to deliver the town into the hands of Leicester, which was only prevented by a timely and fortuitous discovery. Some of the ringleaders, who were tried and executed, pleaded in their confes- sion that they were acting entirely by the authority of the governor^. As no doubt appeared of the truth of their statements, this strange revelation excited symptoms of more general disaffection throughout the provinces than had as yet been manifest. The inha- bitants of Enkhuyzen, while Leicester was in North p Bor, boek xxiii., bl. 67. ' Idem, bl. 93—95. STADTHOLDER. 209 Holland, gave him to understand that he would find 1587 their gates shut against him ; and on intimation of his design to visit Friezland, the States of that province sent to request he would delay his journey thither for the present. The States, at the same time, as well those of Holland as the States-General, evinced their doubts of their personal safety by transferring their assemblies from the Hague to the fortified town of Haarlem r. Greatly alarmed at these unequivocal demonstra- tions of hostile feeling, and feeling too surely that his authority was irretrievably gone, Leicester retired to Flushing, where he shortly after received a summons to return to England, through Lord Herbert, whom the queen had appointed her ambassador to the United Provinces. Having taken leave of the States in a letter, couched in terms considerably more mild and moderate than any of his previous communications, he set sail from Zealand. Shortly after his arrival in England, an accusation of mal-administration in his government in the Netherlands was brought against him by Lord Buckhurst, from the effects of which the queen permitted him to screen himself under the plea of her private instructions ; she even detained Buck- hurst a prisoner in his own house for several months ; but obliged Leicester, nevertheless, to execute a for- mal act of resignation early in the following year, which finally terminated his misguided and unfortunate governments. ' Bor, boek xxiii., bl. 67, 70, 71. ' Camden, book iii., p. 400. Bor, boek xxiv., bl. 153. VOL. II. 210 CHAPTER III. Proposals of Peace. Negotiaiions between England and Spain. TJmr termination. State of Affairs in the Provinces. Dvke of Parma prepares to invade England. Failure of his design, and Defeat of the Invincible Armada. Parma lays Siege to Bergen-opZoom. Restored good understanding between the Provinces and Qmen of England. Sale of Ge&rtruydenberg to Parma. Mutiny of the Spanish troops. A ttempt to surprise Nimeguen. Naval Expedi- tion of the Dutch and English. Begulations made by the States in the Army and Navy. Breda taken by stratagem. Parma Tnarches into France. Advantages gained by Prince Maurice. Complaints of the German Princes. Alliance between the United Provinces and France. Successful Campaign of Prince Maurice. Offer of Mediation by the Emperor. Campaign of Parma in France. Capture of Steenwyk and Coevoerden. Death and Character of the Duke of Parma. Administration of Affairs in the hands of the Count of Fuentez. His barbarous Edict. Reduction of Geer- truydenberg. Campaign in Friezland. Renewal of the Alliance with France. Archduke Ernest of Austria, Governor of the Netherlands. Union of Ctroningen with the Provinces. Pacific Negotiations. Design of Assassinating Prince Maurice. Extensive Mutiny among the Royalist Troops. Spaniards in possession of Brest. States stand Sponsors to Prince Henry of Scotland. Anger of the Queen of England. Dissatisfaction of the Spanish Provinces. Death of the Archduke Ernest. Renewed Proposals of Peace unsuccessful. Inundation. Campaign. Commencement of the Trade to the East Indies. Voyages of Discovery towards the North Pole. Archduke Albert of Austria, Governor of the Netherlands. Arrival of Philip, Prince of Orange. Loss of Calais, and of Hulst. Storming of Cadiz. Queen of England demands Payment of her Debt Treaty with France. Bank- ruptcy of the King of Spain. Battle of Tumhout. Continued Successes of Prince Maurice. Naval Expedition. Mediation offered by the King of Poland. Execution of a Heretic at Brussels. King of Denmark offers his Mediation. Philip declares his inten- tion of abdicating the Sovereignty of the Netherlands. Peace between Spain and France. Elizabeth of England contimies the War. Surrender of the Sovereignty of the Netherlands to Albert and Isabella, Archdukes of Austria. Intended Assassinatimi of Prince Maunce. Excesses of the Troops in the Royalist Army. MAURICE, STADTHOLDER. 211 Hostilities transferred to Cleves. Skilful Defence of the Frontier hy Prince Maurice. The Spanish Army quartered in Germany. Increase of Commerce in the Provinces. Death and Character of Philip III. In the present disturbed state of tlie relations 1587 between the provinces and England, nothing could be more calculated to excite renewed mistrust and dissension than the mention of peace, on which sub- ject the ambassador, Lord Herbert, was commissioned to ascertain the opinion of the States, the King of Denmark having some time before oifered his media- tion between Spain and the Netherlands, as well as England. But the interference of that monarch, never very acceptable to the States, was rendered doubly displeasing by a dispute which had arisen on the subject of Caius Rantzou, ambassador from the Court of Denmark to the Duke of Parma, who had been seized near Bergen-op-Zoom by a foraging party of the States' troops, and his papers broken open and examined. In revenge for this insult, the king arrested 700 Holland and Zealand vessels in the Sound, which he refused to set at liberty till they had paid a ransom of 30,000 dollars ^ The Queen of England, on the other hand, appeared inclined to accept the good offices of Denmark ; and for several months the report that a peace was really desired, both by herself and Philip, had been generally believed in the provinces. The States of Holland and Zealand, therefore, left no effort untried to divert Elizabeth from any attempt she might be inclined to make to include them in the negotiations. They represented to her in strong terms, that negotiations for peace were always prejudicial to the weaker party; that the consequences to them- selves of the conferences at Cologne had been the loss - Meteren, boek xiv., bl. 292. P 2 21-2 MAURICE, 1587 of Artois, Hainault, and other important territories ; the proposal, they said, was an insidious device of the enemy, who, seeing that the injuries they had suffered, the long wars they had sustained, and the cruel deaths of the most eminent of their nation, had been power- less to make them forget their duty, chose this method of fomenting divisions amongst them. The very men- tion of peace, they declared, was in the highest degree injurious to their affairs; as, by inspiring the people with false hopes, it rendered them lukewarm in defence of their country, and unwilling to afford the contribu- tions necessary for the support of the war ; there could be no security, they alleged, for their religion, since the Pope would readily absolve the King of Spain from any engagement he might enter into, and the Reformed worship would only be ])ermitted, until the latter, having appointed public officers and magistrates wholly subservient to his will, should find himself suffi- ciently powerful to adopt measures for its extirpation. In conclusion, they earnestly besought tlie queen to use her influence with the King of Denmark, to induce him to withdraw his mediation^. But in proportion to aversion of some of the provinces towards peace, was the anxiety among others, lest the Queen of England should treat without them. On the proposition now made by Lord Herbert to the States-General, Guelderland, Overyssel, and Friezland were inclined to entrust the conclusion of a peace between Spain and the provinces to Eliza- beth, with security for their religion and privileges; while Holland and Zealand strongly insisted upon the peremptory rejection of all pacific overtures whatso- ever. Between these conflicting opinions a middle course was at length agreed on; namely, that two '' Bor, boek xxii., bl. 854. STADTHOLDER. 213 able persons should accompany the ambassador on his 1587 return to England, for the purpose of persuading the queen to break off the negotiations ; and if that were found impossible, to ascertain from her by what means it was proposed to provide for the security of liberty and religion. But, on the arrival of the embassy at Gravesend, they found the queen irrevocably deter- mined upon pursuing the negotiations with the Duke of Parma, and that the ambassadors for the conference were already appointed c. Happily for the provinces, however, the King of 1588 Spain, who had nourished the design of conquering England so far back as the year 1583*, and had now for three years been making preparations for that object, was anything but sincere in his advances. He sent orders to Parma to prolong the negotiations until he should receive intelligence that the fleet, then nearly completed in the ports of Spain, was ready for sailing ; while Elizabeth, on her part, mistrustful of its destination, was no less anxious to gain time, hoping that ere the conferences should be finished, the season would be too far advanced for the ships to put to sea''. Considerable delay was, therefore, purposely created on each side, by disputes concerning the place of meeting, which was at length fixed at- Bourbourg, in Flanders ; whither Elizabeth invited the States of the United Provinces to send their deputies also. But it was found impossible to induce them, by any threats or ' Bor, boek xxiii., bl. 134, 135 ; boek xxiv., bl. 165. '' Strada, dec. ii., lib. 9. * In his letters of tliat date, he desires the Duke of Parma to cause an accurate survey of tlie ports, rivers, sea-coasts, and fortified places in England, to be made and sent to him. Parma accoi-dingly entrusted the commission to an engineer named Plato, by whom it was successfully executed, and tlie results canied to Spain. — Strada, dec. ii., lib. 9. 214 MAURICE, 1588 persuasions, to comply with her request. Not all the promises that their religion and liberties should be secured to them, nor the dread that she might make a separate peace with Spain, and thus leave the whole force which the king had collected to fall upon them, could modify the repugnance of Holland and Zealand to make the smallest advance towards an accommo- dation, to which all the most eminent men in the provinces offered violent and determined opposition. Adrian van der JSIyle, president of the provincial Council of Holland, had, after the example of Bame- veldt, obtained from the States an act, permitting him to consider the commencement of negotiations with Spain as a virtual dismissal from his oflSce ; and the Reformed ministers, whom Prince JSIaurice thought it advisable to consult as to whether a peace could be concluded consistently with the honour of God and the safety of his church, declared, that the conse- quences of such a measure would be the rooting out of the true religion, the desertion of thousands of the faithful, and years of misery and bloodshed. Deputies, likewise, irom the churches of the United Provinces were sent to the Queen of England, to recommend to her the care of the Reformed religion^. Their fears, however, that the negotiations might have a successful termination, or that the Queen of England would be induced, by the hopes of averting the danger that threatened her, to desert their cause, proved to be groundless ; since her ambassadors pro- posed terms on their behalf, to which, had the King of Spain been ever so well inclined towards peace, he could hardly be expected to accede. They required that all the foreign soldiers should be removed from the Netherlands, and the ancient laws and privileges of • Bor, boek xxiv., bl. 157, 242, 260. STADTHOLDER. 215 the provinces restored ; that the public offices should 1588 be filled by natives only ; that the article of religion should be arranged by the States-General, and the Pacification of Ghent be carried into effect. The queen consented on her part to give up the places she held in Holland and Zealand on the repayment of her expenses. The purpose of concealing the real inten- tions of the king, which Parma had in view, did not permit him to follow his inclination in returning an immediate and haughty refusal to these demands ; he therefore amused the ambassadors for a considerable time with evasive answers ; but no sooner were Philip's projects ripe for execution, than the Spanish commis- sioners declared that the king would rather deliver up his only son to the Hollanders than permit them the exercise of the new religion ; and that the queen had no right to ask for the Reformers in the King of Spain's dominions that toleration which she denied to the Catholics in her own ; the remaining proposals of the ambassadors being rejected in a manner equally peremp- tory. This conduct, and the bull of Pope Sixtus V., depriving her of her kingdom, together with the pub- lication issued by Doctor Allen, exhorting the people of England and Ireland to carry its injunctions into effect, rendered the destination of the Spanish fleet so evident, that Elizabeth could no longer affect to believe the palpable fiction put forward by Philip, that it was intended to protect the West Indian trade. She therefore desired her ambassadors at once to break off the conferences, when they hastily quitted the Nether- lands. The Earl of Leicester, on his departure in the pre- ceding year, had not forgotten to throw the apple of discord behind him*. The government was consigned * Soon after his return to England, Leicester committed a wanton and 216 MAURICE, 1588 to the Council of State, of which there were two English members, the command of the forces being given to Peregrine Bertie, lord Willoughby, a man of clear judgment and conciliating temper. But the Act of Resignation having been addressed to the ambas- sador, Lord Herbert, who was on his return to England when it arrived*, it remained some time unpublished ; and the soldiers, of whom a great portion were English, took occasion from thence to refuse obedience to the Council and Prince Maurice ; being, as they declared, still bound by their oath to the late governor. The garrisons of Medemblick, Hoom, Naarden, Worcum, Heusden, and other places, encouraged by secret emis- saries from Leicester, were in a state of revolt from this ostensible reason; Sir William Russel, likewise, governor of Flushing, feeling himself aggrieved that the colonelcy of the Zealand troops had been given to the Count de Solmes, arrayed himself in open hostility to the Council. Veere and Amemuyden had been gained over by Leicester during his short stay in Flush- ing; and thus the whole of Walcheren was in the foolish outrage on public feeling in the provinces, by issuing a medal engraven with his own image on the one side, and on the other a scattered flock of sheep, at which an English mastiff was looking, surrounded by the inscription, " Non gregem sed ingratos invitus desero." Not a whit behindhand in their retort, the Hollanders struck a medal, bearing the similitude of an ape pressing its young to death at its bosom, with the motto, " Libertas ne ita cara ut simise catuli ;" and on the reverse, a man standing near a fire, who in trying to avoid the smoke falls into the flames, with these words, " Fugiens fumum, incidit in ignem." — Meteren, boek xiii., fol. 265. ' The French author Cerisier, (Tableau des Provinces Unies, torn, iv., p. 169,) adduces the circumstance of Lord Herbert's not delaying his voyage to publish this act, as a proof of the contempt in which the English held the new Republic ; his hasty departure is, however, to be attributed, not to this cause, but to the impatience of the deputies from the States by whom he was accompanied, and who were anxious to arrive in England to arrest the progress of the negotiations for a peace between that country and Spain, STADTHOLDER. 217 hands of the English, with the exception of Middle- 1585 burgh, which Russel threatened with hostilities unless it united with the other towns. Prince Maurice, there- fore, repaired thither under a commission from the States, in order to secure its fidelity; but Admiral Howard arriving in Zealand soon after, with a sum of money for the payment of the English troops, the prince conceived that a scheme was laid to seize and carry him to England, and hastily retired to the fleet before Lillo^ It was somewhat singular that the most formidable opposition to the present government and to Prince Maurice should be offered by Theodore Sonoy, one of the earliest leaders of the revolt from Spain, who had been proscribed at the same time with the late Prince of Orange, and intrusted by him with the conduct of affairs in North Holland, previously to his arrival in 1572. Leicester had seduced him from his allegiance to the States, by giving him a commission as governor of North Holland independent of them and of the Stadtholder ; in consequence of which he refused to take the oath to the latter imposed by the States upon all public officers after the surrender of Deventer ; and on the prince's coming in person to enforce it, had shut the gates of Enkhuyzen against hims. But the aver- sion which the burghers of that town subsequently evinced towards the party of Leicester, by refusing him admittance, obliged Sonoy to retire to Medem- blick, where he increased the garrison, already in a state of mutiny, by 150 additional troops, and peremp- torily refused to obey the orders he received to dis- tribute them into other quarters. Unable to bring him by mild measures to a sense of his duty, the ' Bor, boek xxiv., bl. 221. Meteren, boek xiv., fol. 296, 298. e Bor, boek xxiii., bl. 896, 897. 218 MAURICE, 1588 States found themselves obliged to send a body of troops under Prince Maurice and the Marshal de Villars to besiege him in that town. As, however, it was with the utmost reluctance that the government proceeded to an act of open hostility so pregnant with evil consequences, the siege was but slackly carried on, and had continued for several weeks, when matters were arranged through the intervention of Lord Wil- loughby ; Sonoy consenting to receive a new commis- sion from the Council of State, and a pardon being granted to the inhabitants of Medemblick. Not long after, the States, suspecting Sonoy of still clandestinely fomenting mutiny among the soldiers, dismissed him from his office with an annuity of 1000 guilders. He subsequently retired into East Friezland''. With the hope of putting a stop to these disorders Prince Maurice wrote to the Privy Council in England, making heavy complaints of the conduct of their countrymen and partisans in the provinces ; in conse- quence of which, Willoughby and Sir Thomas Kilh- grew, member of the Council of State, received orders from the queen to disavow in her name all acts of sedition against the Council or the prince, pretended to be done for her service. The effects of this measure, together with* the publication of the Act of Resigna- tion by Leicester, were beneficial in the extreme ; the public mind was gradually appeased, and the govern- ment acquired every day an increase of strength and stability^ The time, indeed, was now come when all trivial dissensions, all petty jealousies, should be hushed. The gigantic armada, which was to crush England at a blow, was now ready. Henceforth, she must fight hand in hand with Holland, for their altars, their homes, ^ Bor, boek xxiv., bl. 228,287. ' Idem, bl. 213,224. STADTHOLDER. 219 for all their dearest rights ; in this hour of dread and 1588 danger it was, that Holland felt the strength of those ties which bound her to her ally ; already the Spaniard had portioned her fair lands and divided the spoil of her cities ; already were the fetters forged that should bind the limbs of her sons*; in her fall, Holland would behold the bulwark of her religion overthrown, the safeguard of her liberty and commerce annihilated; and the foot of her insolent foe once placed on the neck of England, would, she well knew, trample her- self to the dust. The memory of ancient alliances, the friendship cemented by ages, which but a few short months had interrupted, returned in all its vigour; and Holland, with a zeal, an earnestness and anxiety, which her own defence had never called forth, began to prepare for that of her former pro- tector. The Duke of Parma, who had delayed until the last moment commencing his preparations in order to avoid the discovery of their purport, amply made up for his involuntary loss of time, by the promptitude and celerity of his movements. Thousands of work- men were employed night and day in the construction of transport vessels, in the ports of Flanders and Bra- bant. One hundred of the kind, called Heudes, built at Antwerp, Bruges, and Ghent, and laden with provi- sion and ammunition, together with sixty flat-bot- tomed boats, each capable of carrying thirty horses, were brought by means of canals and fosses dug ex- pressly for the purpose, to Nieuport and Dunkirk; 100 smaller vessels were equipped at the former place, and • " Constans fama est, honores, fundos, tabernas, cuncta belli prsemia ante divisa. Laquei certe, et plura necis instrumenta aut servitutis, inter spolia visitata sunt, quse in victos, ut non dubio eventu, paraverant."— Grotius Hist., lib. i., p. 164. 220 MAURICE, 1588 thirty-two at Dunkirk, provided with 20,000 empty bar- rels, and with materials for making pontoons, for stop- ping up the harbours, and raising forts and entrench- ments. The army which these vessels were designed to convey to the coast of England amounted to 30,000 strong, besides a body of 4000 cavalry stationed at Courtrai, composed chiefly of the ablest veterans. of Europe, invigorated by rest, (the siege of Sluys having been the only enterprise in which they were employed during the last campaign,) and excited by the hopes of plunder, and the expectation of certain conquest. Among them were 700 English, from the troops whom Stanley had commanded at the delivery of Deventer. Parma was appointed general-in-chlef of the expedi- tion, the government of the Netherlands being com- mitted durinor his absence to the Count of Mansfeld, with a force of 10,000 men''. The >States, on their part, equipped ninety addi- tional men-of-war, under the command of the Lord of Warmond, vice-admiral of Holland, and Justin of Nassau, vice-admiral of Zealand, to be stationed so as to blockade the entrance of the harbours from the Scheldt to Gravelingues; and laid an embargo on all merchant-ships in the ports of above sixty tons burden, which amounted to the number of seventy; these, already equipped for battle and well provided, required nothing more than an additional complement of men, and a further supply of ammunition. Several compa- nies of the burgher guards were taken into temporary service as marines; the beacons, buoys, and lights were removed, and the whole extent of coast strongly fortified. Permission was likewise given for 1000 of the most experienced seamen to enter into the service of the queen. Fasts were observed, and prayers for " Meteren, hoek xv., fol. 302, 303. Strada, dec. ii., lib. 9. STADTHOLDER. 221 the delivery of England were offered up in all the 1588 churches'. The protracted negotiations for peace had some- what retarded the measures of Elizabeth for the defence of her kingdom, and a considerable portion of the nation still persisted in the belief, that the King of Spain would not venture vessels of such enormous bulk as those of which his fleet was said to be composed, in the narrow channels of England. She was informed of the full extent of her danger by an Englishman in the service of Don Bernardin di Mendoza, ambassador of Spain at the French court, and whose sister had been Mendoza's mistress during his former residence in that quality in London. He contrived to escape with letters and papers belonging to his master, which laid- open the whole design of Philip, and the intelligence they contained was soon after confirmed by a special message from the King of France™. Thus roused, the queen carried on her preparations with such activity, that in a short space of time a fleet of 150 sail was ready for service, and placed under the command of Lord Howard of Effingham. Lord Henry Seymour was dispatched with forty of the smaller vessels to guard the Straits of Dover, with whom Cornelius Lonke van Rosendaal, at the head of thirty Dutch ships, attempted to effect a junction, but was obliged by stress of weather to put back into Zealand". The Armada had scarcely set sail from Lisbon, when a violent storm drove it into the harbour of Corunna, which occasioned a report, that the intention of invading England was abandoned for that year. Not long after, however, the Armada appeared in sight off ' Bor, hoek xxv., bl. 319, 320. Meteren, boek xiv., fol. 299, 307. "' Bor, boek xxv., bl. 320. Thuanus, lib. Lxxxix., cap. 11. » Bor, boek xxv., bl. 321. 222 MAUEICE, 1588 the coast of Cornwall, when, instead of at once attack- ing the English vessels in the harbour of Plymouth, the Duke of ISIedina Sidonia, high-admiral of the Spanish fleet, passed by and sailed towards Dunkirk; having received express orders from the king to effect an immediate union with the forces under Parma. He was pursued by the English ships and forced to give battle. Had Parma, while the two fleets were engaged in the Channel, and Seymour with his squadron was guarding the Straits of Dover, been able to enter the Thames, and effect a landing in England, the results are almost too fearful to contem- plate. The shores were, it is true, lined with 60,000 troops of determined spirit and admirable disposition, but newly levied, ignorant of war, and commanded by the Earl of Leicester, — a general whose deficiency in capacity was undoubted, and in courage more than suspected, — they would, it might be apprehended, form but a feeble barrier against the disciplined and experienced warriors of Parma. But it was otherwise ordered. During the whole of the time consumed in that glorious contest, the image of which is fresh and bright in the mind of every English reader, the great commander was kept in a state of helpless inactivity on the shores of Flanders. Justin of Nassau, with thirty-five Holland and Zealand vessels, well armed, and containing, besides their complement of seamen, 1200 skilful musketeers, effectually blockaded the harbours of Dunkirk and Nieuport, so that, not only the ships of Parma were debarred from egress, but the smaller vessels of the Spanish fleet were prevented from entering, to afford them any assistance; the ap- proach of the larger being impossible from the shal- lowness of the water. The fleet of Parma, meanwhile, though infinitely superior in number, yet being STADTHOLDER. 223 equipped for convenience of transport rather than 1588 for battle, was scarcely fit to sustain a regular engage- ment; to which, also, an additional obstacle was found in the ill disposition manifested by the crews. The memory of the old " Water-gueux," of whom the rear- admiral in command, Justus le More, was a remnant, had not yet faded away from men's minds; and the terror excited by the Holland and Zealand mariners was so excessive, that all the efforts of Parma were unable to check the desertion among his men, which continued day and night without intermission"- In vain, therefore, did the Spanish admiral, having readied the port of Calais, urge him to effect a junc- tion without delay ; he could do no more than hurry from place to place in an agony of impatience ; at one time offering up bootless vows at the shrine of Notre Dame de Halle; at another giving orders to his troops to embark and set sail at all hazards; and then again countermanding them, as dreading to trust that army on which the hopes of Spain depended, to the mercy of the tempestuous waves and the enemy, who lay in wait for their destruction. Eighteen thousand troops were already on board the vessels at Nieuport, and had been two days eagerly awaiting the signal for depar- ture, when they were ordered to reland?. Meanwhile the terrible havoc which the English fireships occa- sioned to the remains of his fleet, determined the Duke of Medina Sidonia to quit the port of Calais. Two of the disabled vessels, — the St. Philip, of 1600 tons burden, and the St. Matthew, of 1500, — ^having drifted towards the channels of Zealand, were captured, the former by the people of Flushing, the latter near Ostend, by Peter van der Duys, captain of a Holland <• Meteren, bcek xv., fol. 306. Camden, book iii., p. 415. f Strada, dec. ii., lib. 9. Bor, boek xxv., bl. 324. 224 MAURICE, 1588 vessel. The Duke of Parma had advised, that, pre- viously to the attempt upon England, a safe harbour should be provided for the Armada, by securing^ Flushing or some port in Holland; a counsel which, however prudent, Zierikzee and Haarlem had proved not very easy of execution; and Stanley, the traitor of Deventer, had with the same view recommended, that the first attack should be made on the seaport town of Waterford in Ireland''. But Philip, conceiv- ing that the smallest delay interposed in their progress to London was so much time lost to victory and glory, rejected both these plans; and the admiral now found himself obliged, in spite of the advanced season and tempestuous weather, to return^ to Spain. The disas- ters which attended his melancholy voyage homeward have been often told. Of the superb navy of 140 vessels which sailed from the port of Lisbon fifty shattered and disabled wrecks returned; and of 30,000 men who departed full of hope, confidence, and vigour, scarcely one-half remained, — enfeebled by sickness, disappointment, and sorrow. Philip, with an appearance of indifference to the miseries of his sub- jects, which we would do him the justice to believe was assumed, retained an unmoved' countenance on hearing the dismal tidings; observing that "he thanked God who had given him sufficient strength and power to send forth another fleet into the ocean; nor did it much signify that the stream should run to waste, so long as the source from whence it flows is secure""." He forbade, however, any outward demonstrations of mourning, probably lest the survivors should count how many of the noble and the brave were lost from among them. No less joy and gratitude was felt in the provinces, " Sti-ada, dec. ii., lib. 9. - Idem, p, 671. STADTHOLDER. 225 than in England, at her glorious and almost miraculous 1588 deliverance; the same day (November 29th) was appointed to be solemnized as a thanksgiving, and the States of Zealand caused medals to be struck of a like pious import vrith those by which the queen comme- morated the event, bearing on the one side the arms of the province, with the inscription, " Soli Deo Gloria," and on the other the image of several large ships, surrounded by the motto, " Classis Hispanica — venit, ivit, fuit^" The grief and disappointment of Parma at the destruction of this powerful armada, were intense. As commander-in-chief of the expedition — planned in full reliance on that co-operation which he had been unable to render* — he might, in the event of its success, have fairly expected the vice-royalty of Eng- land ; and, by its failure, he saw the rich reward of so many years of toil glide from his grasp, while at the same time it gave a blow to his reputation which it could scarcely recover. Misfortune, to which lie was so wholly unaccustomed, had the sinister effect of depriving him of that self-confidence which is rarely known to desert true genius. In accordance with the advice of others, rather than his own judgment, he determined to employ his large and hitherto useless army in the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom'. Had not the lateness of the season, indeed, pre- cluded all chance of success, the capture of Bergen would have proved highly advantageous to his affairs. It was the last town in Brabant left to the States, ' Meteren, boek xv., fol. 307. ' Grotius Hist., lib. i., p. 172. * Don Diego di Piemontel, commander of the St. Matthew, captured by Van der Duys, on his examination before the provincial council of HollaAd, said, that the possibility of Parma's not being able to co-operate with the fleet, had never been contemplated. —Bor, boek xxv., bl. 326. VOL. II. a 226 MAURICE, 1588 except Oeertruydenberg, and, by its position, com- manded Brabant, Flanders, Holland, and Zealand; while the roads between Antwerp, Mechlin, and Bruges, were continually infested by pillaging parties from the garrison. In order to gain a favourable posi- tion for his attack upon the town, Parma sent forward 800 foot, with 2000 musketeers, under the Count of Mansfeldt and the Marquis de Montigny, to take possession of the island of Tholen, separated from it by a shallow channel of the Scheldt. Two several attempts were vigorously repulsed by the Count de Solmes, at the head of a small number of Zealand troops, occasioning a loss to the assailants of 400 men ; the commanders themselves having narrowly escaped drowning in the retreat across the river, owing to the sudden rise of the waters^. Parma, notwithstanding this ill success, sat down before Bergen, with the whole of his army, amounting to 30,000 men. The preservation of this town was chiefly owing to the extraordinary courage and dex- terity of two Englishmen, Grimston, a lieutenant of the garrison, and one Redhead, a suttler. They had been offered large bribes, by two Spanish prisoners, to deliver the North Fort, a strong fortress, which secured the entrance to Bergen, from the Scheldt, on the north- east side, into the hands of Parma. By the orders of Lord Willoughby, to whom they discovered the affair, they pretended to give a ready consent to the proposal, and secretly left the camp, provided with letters from the two Spaniards to the Duke of Parma, informing him that everything was prepared for the admittance of the besiegers into the fort. After undergoing a severe examination, Parma obliged them to take an oath on the Sacrament, that they were acting in good " Metei-en, boek xv., fol. 308. STADTHOLDEK. 227 faith ; after \\^hicli, he gave them each a splendid gold 1588 chain, and promised them a large sum of money in the event of success. Still, however, doubting somewhat of their fidelity, he ordered their hands to be tied behind them, and placed a Spanish soldier as guard over each, with a naked poignard, ready to plunge into their breasts on the slightest suspicion of treachery; thus secured, he ventured to entrust them with the conduct of the expedition. Meanwhile, Willoughby had brought a strong body of troops into the fort, and stationed an ambush near the dyke outside. He like- wise caused the portcullis of the gate through which the enemy was to pass, to be fastened merely with a single rope. The assailants, marching at low water over the drowned land between their camp and the fort, found the gate open, as they expected. About fifty entered, when Willoughby, cutting the rope with his own hand, let down the portcullis, and excluded the remainder. Those within were immediately slain or captured ; the two who guarded the English pri" soners, forgetting, in their confusion and terror, the orders they had received from Parma, allowed them to escape unhurt. As soon as the troops on the outside perceived the snare into which they had fallen, they threw down the palisades, and began a vigorous attack on the fortifications. They were speedily driven back, and being assailed on their retreat by the ambush on the dyke, a great number were slain, and several officers of distinction made prisoners. The waters having risen considerably from the coming up of the tide in the Scheldt, SOO were drowned in attempting to reach the camp. Grimston and Redhead received a preset of 1000 florins each from the queen, and an annuity of 600 florins"'. ' Bor, boek xxv., bl. 341. Meteren, boek xv., fol. 308< Q 2 2l>8 MAURICE. 1588 The mortification of Parma at finding himself thus overreached, was increased by the hopelessness that appeared of his being now able to prosecute the siege with advantage. The garrison, which had been increased from 1500 to 5000 men, of the choicest troops of England and the provinces, animated by the presence of Prince Maurice, Barneveldt, and several English nobles, made perpetual sallies, of which the event was nearly always in their favour ; the town had been supplied from Holland and Zealand with an extraordinary abundance of ammunition, provisions, and even luxuries of all kinds ; while, on the contrary, the most alarming scarcity, both of food and fresh water, began to prevail in the besieging camp; in addition to which, the rains and tempestuous weather caused excessive sickness and suffering among the troops. Parma, therefore, broke up the siege, his troops abandoning the entrenchments in somewhat of disorder, and leaving a great portion of their arms, material, and baggage, behind them. Unwilling, how- ever, to end the campaign without appearing to have effected something, Parma raised forts at Rosendaal, Turnhout, and Kempen, to check the incursions of the garrison of Bergen in Brabant. The Count of ]\Ians- feld, also, captured the small town of AVachtendonck, in Guelderland, at the siege of which the bomb-shell was first used, having been invented shortly before by an artisan of A'^enloo^. The death of the Earl of Leicester, which occurred within a few days of the defeat of the Spanish armada, contributed in a considerable degree to the continu- ance of the restored good understanding between the Queen of England and the provinces. Many who had ~ Bor, boek xxv., tl. 338—343. Meteren, boek s.v., fol. 308. Strada, iee. ii., lib. 10. STADTHOLDER. 229 looked forward to his reappointment to the govern- 1588 ment, began now to incline towards Prince Maurice. Sir William Russel, one of the strongest opponents of the States, was recalled, and William Sidney made governor of Flushing in his room ; Sir Thomas Bodley being substituted for Sir Thomas Killigrew, as member of the Council of State. The queen, likewise, declared to Leonard Vooght, ambassador from the provinces to London, that all which had passed should be buried in oblivion, if they would assist her in the enterprise she was then meditating against Spain^. Her powerful intercession was at this time of the greatest service to the States, in an embarrassing affair in which they were engaged with the King of Scot- land. Colonel Stuart, a Scottish captain, formerly in the service of the States, being unable, as he alleged, to obtain his arrears of pay, amounting to 500,000 guilders, ]3rocured letters of marque from James against the United Provinces. Holland and Zealand objected, and not without good grounds, that Stuart had been in the service of Brabant, Flanders, and the other provinces under the government of the Archduke Matthias and the Duke of Anjou, during the time that they themselves were no further united with them, than as being bound to furnish a specified number of troops, and were therefore not liable for any debts they had contracted. A sharp letter of remonstrance, which Elizabeth wrote to the king on the subject, and the representations of her ambassadors at his court, at length induced him to recal the letters he had given to Stuart^*. '■ Bor, boek xxv., bl. 377, 378. >■ Idem, bl. 378, 888. * Elizabeth gave on this occasion a remarkable instance of the suspi- cious jealousy of her disposition.. She refused to allow Leonard Vooght, the ambassador sent from the States to solicit her interference in the 230 MAURICE, J 588 The garrisons, which were in a state of revolt after the departure of Leicester, had, for the most part, been induced, by the commands of the queen, and the publication of the Act of Resignation, to return to obedience. That of Geertruydenberg, however, per- sisted in its contumacy. This town, although situated in Brabant, was under the government of the county of Holland, to which it formed a frontier, valuable not only for the strength of its position on the Biesbosch, and for its vicinity to Dordrecht, but for the wealth arising from its extensive fisheries. The soldiers of the garrison, a motley assemblage of Germans, Dutch, and English, had, in the last year, reftised submission to any authority but that of the late governor, and insisted upon receiving the whole amount of their arrears ; the usual mode being to discharge a month's pay in fOrty-eight days, leaving the remainder in arrear 1589 until the end of the war. A compromise was with some difficulty effected, the States and Prince Maurice agreeing to pay the sum of 216,000 guilders, and that the garrison should be bound to swear allegiance to Lord Willoughby only, who engaged, however, to deliver the town at some future time into the hands of Prince Maurice, and gave the command to his brother- in-law, Sir John Wingfield. But as the money, in- stead of being distributed in the regular manner, was placed in the hands of the officers, to be disposed of according to their discretion, it bore more the appear- ance of a donation extorted by fear, than a just pay- ment, and rather contributed to encourage insolence than appease discontent. The soldiers having soon squandered it in riot and excess, proceeded to renew matter, te proceed direct from her court to that of James ; he was obliged, therefore, to return home, and the States had to appoint a fresh embassy to Scotland. — Bor, ubi supra. STADTHOLDER. 231 their outrages ; disarmed the burghers, seized the tolls, 1^89 customs, and taxes, and ravaged the adjacent country in the same manner as a hostile territory. Willoughby being about to depart for England, the States claimed the fiilfilment of his promise of delivering Geertruy- denberg into the hands of Prince Maurice ; he, how- ever, excused himself; and Sir John Wingfield, on receiving orders that a portion of the garrison should march out of the town, to be employed elsewhere, replied, that he was not bound to execute any com- mands but those of his sovereign, the Queen of England ; the soldiers at the same time declaring, that they would rather surrender to the enemy, than obey either the prince or States. Maurice being informed that they had already begun negotiations with Parma, determined to lay siege to the town, and investing all the approaches, brought seventeen pieces of artillery before the walls. But, unwilling to appear to provoke a revolt which he despaired of preventing, he first employed all amicable methods to reclaim the garrison^ exhorting them to return to their duty, and promising them a favourable reception ; the magistrates of Dord- recht, likewise, wrote to the same effect. Wingfield tore the letters unread, and threatened the messengers with death if they came again on the same errand. Finding his remonstrances thus unavailing, Maurice opened a sharp fire on the town, which was returned by the besieged, and the Marshal de Villars, general of the States' troops, was mortally wounded. A con- siderable breach being at length effected, the prince once more made offers of pardon, to which the garrison feigned to listen, until they had given time for the Duke of Parma to advance as far as Breda, His approach, and a violent tempest, which inundated the wh6le country round, obliged Maurice to retire from 232 MAURICE, 1589 before Geertmydenberg, wliicli was immediately deli- vered to Parma on the payment of the aiTears due to the troop?, and a gratuity of five months' pay in addi- tion. Under these circumstances, the burghers made the best terms they could for themselves; they received a general indemnity, and permission for the Protestants to remain two years in the town. Provoked beyond endurance at this mingled insolence and treachery, the States issued a decree, condemning the whole of the garrison to death as traitors, and setting a price upon above 600, with Wingfield at their head. He suc- ceeded in escaping to England ; but several who were arrested in the provinces were executed without form of law. Nor did those who benefited by the treason evince much gratitude or consideration towards the actors, who, distinguished by the nick-name of brokers (bergverkoopers), became objects of scorn and derision through the whole of Parma's ai-my"'*. The acquisition of Geertmydenberg first roused Parma from the deep dejection into which he had fallen since the failure of the attempt upon England. In his eagerness to find himself in possession of the town, he ventured, with a small retinue, among men who might, without the slightest compunction, have rendered themselves masters of his person, in the hope, by a double perfidy, to reap a double advantage. INIounting the tower of the citadel, he from thence feasted his eyes on Dordrecht, the ancient capital of HoUand, which now seemed to lie within his grasp ^ • Meteren, boek xv., fol. 316, 317. Campana, pa. ii., lib. 6, p. 111. Bor, boek xxvi., bl. 403—418. ' Grot. Hist., lib. i., p. 181. • Grotius says, that they afterwards fought in the enemy's i-anks with the courage of despair : « egregia beUo opera fuit, spe nulla salutis nisi per victoriam."— Hist., lib. i., p. 181. But this was not altogether the fact ; a portion of them ran away from Nimeguen, when besieged by Prince Maurice, in 1591.— Meteren, boek xvi., fol. 336. STADTHOLDER. 233 The barrier, he flattered himself, was at length thrown 1589^ down, and an easy road opened into Holland, where he had never )et set his foot; while Sluys affording an advantageous point of attack on Zealand, he would be able to search out the enemy in their strongholds; and these formidable and stubborn provinces once reduced to submission, the conquest of the whole Netherlands would speedily follow. But once again he was destined to disappointment. A feverish sickness, aggravated, it is supposed, by chagrin at the calumnies of his enemies in the Spanish court, obliged him to quit the camp and retire to the Spa. Not relinquishing his project, how- ever, he charged the Count of Mansfeld to lay siege to Ileusden, a town in Brabant, but belonging to Holland, strongly garrisoned, and commanded by the Lord de Famars, an officer of ability and experience. Leaving Heusden invested, though not so closely but that Prince Maurice was able to throw in supplies, Mans- feld passed over into the Bommel, and mastered the forts of Pouderoy, Heel, and Brakel, at which latter place he prepared a number of flat-bottomed boats, for the purpose of advancing into the islands of Voorn and Tiel. He found it, however, utterly impossible to induce his soldiers to cross the Waal; a mutiny which took its rise among a regiment of veteran troops, commanded by the Spanish captain Di Leyva, quickly spread through a great part of the army ; they remem- bered, they Sfiid, the danger to which the lives and reputation of the Spaniards were exposed in this island many years ago ; they beheld the same rivers threaten- ing to overwhelm them in their floods ; the same enemy standing on their banks to work their destruction ; nor was it to be expected that heaven would again inter- pose a miracle to save them from perishing by famine, cold, and storms''- Mansfeld was in consequence con- '' Strada, dec. ii., lib. 10. 234 MAURICE, i589 strained to abandon his enterprise, and withdraw the greater portion of his troops into garrison at Grave ; and shortly after, want of provisions obliged the besiegers to retire from before Heusden. Di Leyva's regiment, the principal promoters of the sedition, was subsequently broken up, although formed of the oldest and ablest troops in the service ; seven hundred only, who had no share in it, accompanied the Count of Mansfeld to the camp before Rhynberg, in Cologne, which had now been besieged for several months by the Marquis di Varabon. Martin Schenk had been employed during the last year in the capture and defence of Bonn, which being too distant a point to be maintained by the States, he had endeavoured to persuade the German princes to take it under their protection. He found them unwilling, however, to involve themselves unnecessarily in the troubled affairs of the Netherlands ; and Bonn, left wholly to its own resources, was forced to surrender, having first sus- tained a long siege, during which John Baptist Taxis, governor of Zutphen, was killed. After the loss of Bonn, Schenk made the most strenuous efforts to preserve Rhynberg, the last town in Cologne which adhered to the fugitive archbishop, Truchses. He succeeded several times in throwing in reinforcements, but was unable to prevent the capture of his own fort of Blyenbeek, which enabled ^^arabon to invest Rhynberg more closely. Schenk, on the other hand, attacked and defeated, at Lipperheyde, on the banks of tlie Weser, seven companies of foot and 300 hoi^e, which were marching to reinforce Yerdugo, in Friez- land'^. He then made an attempt to sui^ise Nimeguen, a strong town on the Waal, for which purpose he collected twenty small vessels and five flat-bottomed ' Grot Hist., lib. i., p. 176. Stiada, dec ii., lib. 10. STADTHOLDER. 235 boats, which he filled with armed men, and approached 1589 the town on the night of the 10th of August. The troops effected an entrance through the windows of a house commanding the market-place, where, as it unfortunately happened, a marriage feast was being held, and the design was thus prematurely discovered. The burghers and garrison were instantly in arms ; and falling furiously on their assailants, drove them, after a sharp contest, out of the gate and to the water's edge. Meanwhile a part of the vessels had drifted past the town, and others were kept back by the cowardice of their crews. The troops of Schenk, in their haste to retreat, crowded into the few boats that were near, in such numbers that they were either overturned or sunk. Schenk himself, after having exhausted every effort of entreaty or objurgation to arrest the fugitives, retired fighting to the last ; when, finding no vessel within reach, he plunged into the Waal, in the hope to save himself by swimming, but instantly sank, overpowered by the weight of his armour. His body was afterwards found by the peo- ple of Nimeguen, who divided it into quarters, and placed his head on one of the gates of the town ; but the Sjianish general, Varabon, ordered it to be taken down, and his remains to be collected in a coffer, which he deposited in one of the towers. Two years afterwards they were interred with great magnificence by Prince Maurice, in the sepulchre of the ancient dukes of Guelderland at Nimeguen''. In Martin Schenk the States lost their bravest and most enter- prising captain. Bred up from infancy in the camp, he added the benefits of a long experience to his natural promptness and ingenuity. He is said to have been less conspicuous for judgment than valour, and ■' Meteven, bcek xv., fol. 319. 236 MAURICE, 1589 fitter for carrying places by bold hazards tbau for retain- ing them by prudence and skill ; but a consideration of the slenderness of the resources with which he was provided, and the difficulties against which he had to contend, will exempt him from this charge. The vice of drunkenness, which, unhappily, he shared with Hohenlohe and other great commanders of this age, tended in nothing to impair his efficiency ; he never planned his enterprises more ably and judiciously than when intoxicated ; and wine, which usually reveals the secrets of men, only enabled him the better to dissem- ble. On the other hand, his inconstancy and over- bearing temper, which, even in times of confusion and disorder, rendered him a servant quite as troublesome as useful to the States, were beginning to be wholly intolerable as the government assumed a more even and regular march ; he had latterly professed himself in the service of the fugitive Archbishop of Cologne, and denied to the States the slighest control over his actions ; he levied contributions alike on friendly and neutral lands ; obstructed the roads and rivers, seized the tolls and customs, and engaged, without consulting them, in such enterprises as he thought fit, threatening revolt every time his demands for money and ammu- nition were not fully complied with«. After the death of Schenk, the duty of relieving Rhynberg devolved solely on the Count of IMeurs, who was preparing an expedition for that purpose ^\'hen he was killed, while examining a cellar of gun- powder, which ignited by the accidental falling of a spark from a torch he held in his hand. The States, some time after, dispatched a convoy of 2500 foot and 400 horse, under the Count of Overstein, and Francis Vere, an Englishman, who being attacked by Varabon, ' Strada, dec. ii., lib. 10. Bor, boek xxv., bl. 380. STADTIIOLDER.. 237 inflicted on him a severe defeat, and conducted the 1^89 supplies to the town in safety. Nevertheless, Mans- feld having arrived with his troops from Bommel, and gained possession of the fort of Rees, the garrison of Rhynbcrg found themselves enclosed on all sides, and consented to capitulate, on condition that they should be allowed to march out with their arms and baggage, and that no fine should be levied on the citizens^ The sale of Geertruydenberg to Parma seemed likely to renew those feelings of dissatisfaction between Eng- land and the States-General which had before been so happily appeased. In the preamble to the Act of Proscription against the garrison, a stigma was cast on the Earl of Willoughby, as if he had been the principal promoter of the sedition. Willoughby complained to the queen, who took up the defence of her servant with some vehemence. She did not, however, give full vent to her displeasure, as her subjects were at this time desirous of the assistance of the provinces, in an expedition they had planned against the King of of Spain, The project of weakening that monarch by assailing him in his own dominions had long been a favourite one with the adventurous commanders of the English nation ; and Sir Francis Drake, previously to his enterprise against Cadiz in 1586, had visited the provinces for the purpose of soliciting an aid of twenty vessels of war. But the embarrassments they then laboured under, and the heavy expenses they had to sustain, prevented the States from entertaining his proposal ; and the permission which they gave him to raise volunteers was attended with little advantage, since they refused to become responsible for their payments. A scheme was now on foot, planned by ' Strada, dec. ii., lib. 10. e Bov, boek xxi., W. 772. 238 MAURICE, 1589 Drake and Sir John Noms, without the participation of the government, for establishing Don Antonio the titular King of Portugal on the throne of that king- dom; and Norris repairing to the Hague for the pui-pose of obtaining auxiliarie.", the States gave per- mission for 1000 foot and 600 horse, of the troops furnished by the Queen of England, to enter his ser- vice, and joined to these a regiment of 1500 Dutch troops, under the command of Nicholas van Meet- kerke. Sir Francis Drake was commander-in-chief of the navy, and Sir J. Norris of the land forces. While assembling at Dover, the adventurers fell in with seventy Holland vessels proceeding to Rochelle for salt, which they engaged in their service for a tenn of three months. These proved a welcome addition to their armament, as they afforded space for the soldiers, and an abundant supply of provisions and other neces- saries, in both of which they were miserably deficient. Instead of proceeding at once to Lisbon, the armament anchored at Corunna, where they burnt a large vessel which had belonged to the Armada, and gained posses- sion of the lower town ; failing in their attempt to master the upper town, they made for the port of Lisbon, and landing at Paniche, the troops, to the number of about 6000, marched to Lisbon at about twelve miles' distance. They "defeated the Spaniards in every encounter, and succeeded in eifecting a lodg- ment in the suburbs ; but destitute of ammunition, they were unable to cannonade the town, and sickness among the troops soon obliged them to reimbark. At the mouth of the Tagus they found sixty ships belonging to the Hanse towns, laden with com and ammunition, which, under the unjustifiable pretext of their conveying contraband articles to the eneany, they seized, and offered them to the Dutch captains in STADTHOLDER. 239 payment of their services; an offer which the latter, 1589 unwilling to involve their country in any dispute with those towns, prudently refused. The expedition on its return fired Vigo, and plundering the country round, carried away a rich booty to England*". The transfer of a portion of the English troops into the service of Norris, besides that it relieved the States of some rather troublesome allies, afforded them a favourable opportunity for reducing their military establishment to a magnitude more suitable to the capacity of their finances; the infantry, exclusive of the burgher guards and soldiers of the garrisons, was restricted to the number of 12,000 or 13,000, (seldom actually amounting to more than 10,000,) with 3000 cavalry, and continued without increase till the year 1599 ; the month's pay was reckoned at forty-eight days, the officers and soldiers being required to bind themselves by oath not to demand the arrears before the end of the war. The maintenance of the troops was divided among the provinces, in proportion to the quotas they were bound to contribute to the finances of the generality; and the security thus afforded for the payment of the soldiers, enabled their officers to keep them in a high state of discipline, and to punish without hesitation acts of pillage, which they had no temptation to commit. "To render them the more on the alert with respect to this point, the captains were obliged to indemnify the peasant or citizen for any injury inflicted on him by a soldier, the Council of State repaying the captain by deducting the amount from the wages of the offender. The victualling of the troops when in winter quarters, was provided for by the States'. Thus their presence, instead of causing, •" Bor, boek xxvi., bl. 432, ' Meteren, boek xv., fol. 311, 312. Grot. Annal., lib. v., p. 155. 240 -" MAURICE, 1589 as usual, terror ancj desertion among the inhabitants, was eagerly desired as a positive benefit; the peasant cultivated his land, and the artisan laboured in his vi^orkshop, rather cheered than alarmed by the appear- ance of the soldier, in whom he beheld, not a ruthless pillager, but a profitable customer; while the abun- dance of supplies, which the facility of water-carriage secured to every part of the provinces, prevented the occurrence of any dearness of provision. " The navy was, in like manner, placed upon a better and more regular footing. A Council of Admiralty was created for the generality, of which the members were to reside in different parts of the provinces, — Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hoorn or Enkhuyzen, Mid- dleburg, and Harlingen or Doccum; of this council. Prince Maurice, as admiral-general, was the head. The duration of oifice of the members, like those of the Council of State, was limited to a term of two or three years. Their functions were to provide ships, ammu- nition, and artillery for the navy, and for the payment of the seamen; for which they received the proceeds of the convoys, permits, and customs. Holland main- tained on sea thirty-eight men-of-war, Zealand twelve, and Friezland eighteen, with an equal number to protect the rivers and inland navigation; to these were now added eight men-of-war and twelve armed pinnaces, of from sixty to a hundred tons burden; the latter being equipped chiefly against the pirates of Dunkirk, from whom the navigation and fishery of Holland and Zealand suffered continual molesta- tion i<. 1590 The year 1590 opened propitiously for Prince Maurice, by the union of Utrecht with Holland, under his stadtholdership; the States of Guelderland and k Meteren, boek xv., fol. 312. Bor, boek xxvi., bl. 446. STADTHOLDER. 241 Overyssel, likewise, conferred the stadtholdership of 1590 their provinces, vacant by the death of the Count of Meurs, on the Prince William Louis, of Nassau, his first cousin. This good fortune v?as followed by the recovery of Breda, part of the hereditary estates of the late Prince William of Orange, ina sudden and unlooked- for manner. Some boatmen of the village of Liere, who were accustomed to supply the garrison of Breda with fuel, suggested to Prince Maurice the possibility of surprising that town. He referred them to Barne- veldt, who, deeming the enterprise feasible, entrusted its execution to Charles Heraugiere, a man disposed to avail himself with alacrity of the opportunity of showing his zeal in the service of Prince Maurice, to obviate the suspicions that were entertained against him, as a secret adherent of Leicester's party. He- raugiere having hired a small vessel of one Adrian van den Berg, contrived in the bottom a place of con- cealment capable of containing seventy persons, and covered with boards, upon which was placed a quan- tity of turf. Sixty-eight soldiers were picked out for the purpose, of four different regiments, nearly all beardless boys, daring, resolute, and eager for adven- ture. On the night of the 1st of March, they em- barked secretly at the fort of Noordam, and arrived the next morning within a quarter of a mile of Breda, where they ran aground, and were obliged to wait till the following tide. Meantime the ship sprung a leak and filled with water nearly up to their knees; while, to add to their discomfort, the space where they were confined was only high enough to admit of their sitting in a stooping posture. While they were in this situa- tion, the corporal of the guard in the citadel came to examine the contents of the vessel. A lieutenant, named Matthew Held, fearful lest his cough might VOL. II. R 242 MAURICE, 1590 lead to a discovery, gave his poignard to one of his comrades, intreating him to kill him, that he might not involuntarily cause the death of them all. The generous sacrifice was, however, unnecessary. Al- though the weather was piercingly cold, and that several others were similarly affected, not a sound was heard; and the corporal, after having in the course of his inspection opened a window close to their place of concealment, returned to the citadel. The soldiers, exhausted by cold and the irksomeness of their posi- tion, at length began to lose courage, and break out in reproaches against Heraugiere for leading them, as they said, to certain slaughter; but by an animated harangue, showing them the impossibility of escape, and the glory to which they were destined, he soon restored their drooping spirits. As the tide rose, the leak stopped of itself, having proved rather an advan- tage than otherwise, as it gave the sailors a pretext for working the pumps to disg-uise any noise that might occur. The vessel being prevented by the ice from coming close to the citadel, the Italian soldiers assisted with alacrity in hauling her up; and as they stood in great need of turf, unloaded so fast that the boards under began to appear. The skipper, dissem- bling his alarm, affected to feel fatigued, and giving the soldiers some money to drink, bade them return for the rest on the morrow. About midnight, the adventurers emerged from their hiding place, unseen and unheard, the sailors continuing to work violently at the pumps. As they reached the gate, the sentinel gave the watchword, when Heraugiere without answer- ing ran him through the body. The alarm thus given, the garrison put themselves on the defensive; an ensign rushed furiously on Heraugiere and wounded him in the arm, but was instantly felled dead to the STADTHOLDEE. 243 earth. The governor of Breda, Edward Lanzavecchia, 1590 was at this time at Geertruydenberg, of which place he was also governor, having repaired thither on infor- mation that Prince Maurice entertained a design to surprise the town. His nephew, Anthony Lanzavec- chia, who had the command in his absence, attempted, with more valour than judgment, to defend the cita- del by sallying out at the head of only thirty-six men, who were nearly all killed and he himself wounded. The citadel being captured, the signal agreed upon in case of success was given, which brought Plohenlohe with the vanguard of the prince. He was followed within a short time by Maurice himself, at whose a})proach the garrison of the town, consisting of 600 Italian foot and a troop of horse, took flight without attempting its defence, or even breaking the bridge which connected it with the citadel. The burghers, thus deserted, were glad to redeem themselves from pillage by a contribution of two months' pay to the soldiers. Not a single life was lost on the side of the assailants, a few only being wounded. Prince Maurice acknowledged his obligation to Heraugiere, by appoint- ing him governor of Breda; nor did the States neglect to reward the actors in this gallant exploit; each soldier received two months' pay and a gold medal of twenty- five guilders' value; an annuity for life was settled on the skipper and his men; and Barneveldt, who by his counsel and encouragement had contributed greatly to its success, was presented with a superb gilt cup, on which was an accurate representation of the whole occurrence'. On intelligence of the loss of Breda, the Duke of Parma ordered the Count of Mansfeld to invest it without delay. He captured the small town of Seven- ' Meteren, boek xvi., fol. 326. Bor, boek xxvii., bl. 522, 626. R 2 244 MAURICE, 15£0 burgen, built a strong fort at Ter Heyde, in the vicinity, and laid siege to that at Noordam, purposing to reduce the town by famine. Barneveldt had, however, imme- diately on its capture, taken care that it should be supplied with an abundance of provision and ammuni- tion ; and Matthew Held, the same who had offered his life to his companions on board the turf-ship, being now in command of Noordam, obliged Mansfeld to retire with severe loss. Prince Maurice and the Count of Hohenlohe, meanwhile, marched with a small but well-appointed army to Nimeguen, rather with the purpose of calling off Mansfeld from the siege of Breda than the hope of mastering that city. The movement had the desired effect; Mansfeld, breaking up his camp before Breda, hastened to cover Nime- guen, and the prince's army not being sufficiently numerous to continue the siege, he erected the strong fort of Knodsenburg, on the opposite shore of the Waal. He likewise raised blockhouses along that river from Bommel to Schenkenschans, with the view of protecting Guelderland on the side of Brabant". Mansfeld had now the sole conduct of the war in the Netherlands, since Parma, but partially recovered from his infirmities, was fully occupied with prepara- tions for an expedition into France, in obedience to the express orders of the King of Spain, who had now determined to apply his most strenuous efforts to the support of the League. Since the year 1585, when the threatening position assumed by the Duke of Guise and his adherents had constrained Henry III. to refuse the sovereignty of the United Provinces, the civil war had continued with unremitting fury; the insurgents had driven the king out of Paris, and pos- sessed themselves of nearly all the fortified towns in ■" Meteren, boek xvi., fol. 327. STADTHOLDEE. 245 the kingdom; nor did the assassination of the duke, 1590 and his brother the Cardinal of Lorraine, by the king's order, though it deprived the party of its most able and powerful heads, occasion any visible diminution of itsstrength. Henry, therefore, though a zealous Catholic,- found himself obliged to make an alliance with the King of Navarre, the leader of the Huguenot party in France, and with his assistance to undertake the siege of his capital. The knife of the assassin, Jaques Clement, shortly after terminated the career of this unhappy prince, who, before his death, declared Henry IV., king of Navarre and next heir to the crown, his successor. The Leaguers on their side proclaimed as king, under the title of Charles X., the aged Cardinal of Bourbon, then in prison ; the conduct of affairs rest- ing in the hands of the Duke of Maine, brother of Guise, as lieutenant-general of the kingdom. On this event, the King of Spain began to espouse more openly, if not more vigorously, the cause of the League, which the acknowledgment of Charles X. enabled him to do without incurring the obloquy, or affording the danger- ous precedent of encouraging subjects in rebellion against their legitimate sovereign. He accepted the title 'of " Defender of the crown of France," and in spite of the earnest remonstrances of Parma, who urged the utter ruin it would prove to his affairs in the Netherlands, commanded him in sti-ingent terms to march in person to the assistance of the Duke of Maine : " If," said he, " you wish to make me forget the destruction of the armada, succour my good city of Paris"." No resource thus being left but to obey, Parma sent forward Philip, count of Egmond, with 1500 cavalry and a strong body of infantry, which joined the ° Addit. ad Hist. Thuaiii, p. 192. 246 MAtJRICE, 1590 Duke of Maine shortly before the battle of Yvri. In the signal defeat sustained by the Leaguers on this occasion, the troops of Egmond were nearly all cut in pieces, and he himself slain. Henry followed up his victory by marching directly upon Paris, and having carried the suburbs, closely invested the city and reduced it to the last extremity of distress for want of provisions*. Late in the summer, Parma, leaving Ernest, count of Mansfeld, provisional governor of tlie Netherlands in his absence, entered France with twelve regiments of foot and 3000 cavalry. Advancing directly upon Paris, he foiled the king in all his attempts to bring him to an engagement, and at length forced him to raise the siege. He afterwards made himself master of Corbeil, but at the approach of winter, being disappointed of his supplies of provision from Hainault, and the French towns refusing to receive his troops in winter quarters, he was obliged to retire to the Nether- lands, closely pursued by the king, who inflicted con- siderable damage on his rear. No less than one-third of the fine army he had led into France, perished by famine, sickness, and the sword ; and the hospitals of Hainault and Artois were crowded with invalids". The absence of Parma gave Prince Maurice a far different antagonist to contend with in the old Count of Mansfeld, and his operations accordingly presented " Bor, boek xxviii., bl. 648. Mem. de SuUy, torn, ii., p. 21, et seq. * From this epoch, it appears, is to be dated the notable invention, so extensively practised in our own day, of " grinding bones to make bread." The Spanish ambassador, Mendoza, persuaded the starving citizens that they would derive a great deal of nourishment from dead men's bones, ground to powdex', and kneaded with flour into bread ; it must, however, have bjen less skilfully managed tlian at present, since numbers died from tlie effects of the experiment. Mendoza said, he learned it from the Persians, but the probability seems to be that the idea was original. — Thuanus, lib. xcix., cap. 4. STADTHOLDER. 247 a series of gradual, but uninterrupted and important 1590 successes. Instead of wasting his strength in the tedious sieges of large towns, he applied himself to the less showy but no less valuable acquisition of forts. He possessed himself of those of Hemert, Telshout, Crevecoeur, and Heel, forming a frontier to Utrecht on the side of Brabant, and levied contributions in the latter province to the gates of Antwerp ; mastered Ter Pleyde, which Mansfeld had built to straiten Breda, and by the capture of the forts of Steenberg and Rosen- daal, secured the communication between that town and Bergen-op-ZoomP. At Venloo the burghers in- duced the German troops to join them in expelling the Italians, when, finding themselves stronger than the remainder of the garrison they attacked and drove them out also. They wrote to Parma, notwithstand- ing, professing their determination to remain faithful to the king?. About this time the United Provinces were threat- ened with an enemy in another quarter. The princes of Germany, whose territories bordered upon the Netherlands, had suffered grievously from the hostilities of the belligerent troops on both sides. At a diet held to consider of this subject, it was determined to send an embassy to demand both from the Duke of Parma and the States-General reparation for the injuries they had sustained, and restitution of all those places of which they had been deprived. Parma, occupied in preparations for a second expedition into France, did not embarrass himself much with complaints from sufferers so little likely to follow them up with em- phasis as the feeble and dilatory princes of Germany. He shortly observed, that preceding wars had occa- sioned far more damage to the neighbouring countries p Bor, boek xxviii., bl. 639. "■ Meteren, boek xyi., fol. 329. 248 MAURICE, J-i^' than this had done; that they should look upon their losses exactly in the same light as those occasioned by flood or fire, and bear them with the more patience since they were inflicted for the sake of the true religion ; and if restitution had all along been insisted on the king would liave been saved the expense of the campaigns in Cologne'". From the States, to whom the friendship of such near neighbours, how inefficient soever as allies, was a matter of eminent importance, the ambassadors met with a more gracious reception. They declared that during the whole of the war, which had been forced upon them by the necessity of self- defence against the cruelty of the Spaniards, they had never designedly violated the neutrality of other nations ; that they had only invaded Cologne on the part of the Archbishop Truchses, after his opponents had called in the aid of the Spanish troops ; and were willing to restore the places they had taken from the enemy in Cleves to their rightful owners ; the passage of their troops over neutral lands had never been per- mitted, except in cases of absolute necessity ; and any pillage among them was always severely punished, since, being better paid than those of any sovereign in Europe, they had no temptation to commit excesses ; and were in this respect an entire contrast to the pre- datory bands of their enemies, who subsisted chiefly on plunder; the vessels which they retained in the rivers of Germany were, they alleged, indispensable for the security of their commerce. They refused to deliver the fort of Schenkenschans demanded by the ambassadors, objecting that the land 'on which it was situated belonged to Guelderland. Burick, and two or three .smaller towns in Cleves, were afterwards evacuated by the States, in the hope that Parma would ' Giotiiis Hist., lib. i., p. 2C3. STADTHOLDER. 249 be induced to follow their example; in this, however, 1590 they were disappointed. After the conclusion of the campaign in France, the Vicomte de Touraine, the Baron de Salignac, and the Sieur de Buzanval, visited the provinces on their return from England, to solicit on the part of the king a loan of 100,000 guilders and six men of war. Shortly before his accession, Henry had sent to request the aid of the States, but, embarrassed by the heavy expenses attendant on their own war, they Avere only able to supply him with 30,000 crowns, rather as an earnest of their good will than as any efficient support. Subse- quently they had furnished him with such occasional supplies of money and ammunition as they M'ere able to afford ; and their aid, though small, was so prompt and well-timed, that the king was often heard to declare they had contributed in great measure to preserve the crown of France on his head'. In the present improv- ing condition of their affairs they readily granted him the moderate sum he asked, and prepared six stout vessels to join the fleet which the Queen of England had sent to his assistance off the coast of Normandy. They soon after supplied him with a large quantity of artillery and 200 skilful mariners to work it". The condition of the enemy's garrisons, weakened by 1591 the withdrawal of a great portion of the troops to supply the army destined for France, determined the States to carry on an offensive warfare during this campaign. The army they brought into the field was small indeed, consisting of no more than 8000 infantry and 2000 horse, but all volunteers, perfectly well-appointed and provided, in an excellent state of discipline, and with " Bor, boek xxviii., bl. 544—547. ^' Idem, boek xxvi., bl. 476 ; boek xxvii., bl. 518. " Idem, boek xxviii., bl. 550, 552. Meteren, boek xvi., fol. 338. 250 MAURICE, 1591 a highly efficient train of artillery, which they had lately adopted the plan of working entirely by seamen. With Prince Maurice, as captain-general, were asso- ciated some deputies of the Council of State, and a Council of War, whom he was bound to consult upon every measure of importance. The English troops were commanded by Sir Francis Vere, the captain, next, perhaps, to Sir John Norris, most esteemed among all those who had served in the Netherlands"^'. Having mastered the forts of Turnhout and Wes- terloo, near Geertruydenberg, ]\'Iaurice made as if he designed an attack on that town, when, learning that Zutphen was badly garrisoned and provided, he ad- vanced thither by rapid marches. Vere led on the English troops to Doesburg, whence he captured the fort on the Veluwe, opposite Zutphen, by means of some soldiers disguised as peasants, and their wives ; who, obtaining admittance under pretext of bringing provisions for sale, slew the guard and opened the gate to a party of their comrades stationed without. This important position gained, Maurice commenced the siege on the 25th of May, and prosecuted it with a vigour as yet unknown in the military operations of the Netherlands. Being joined next day by William of Nassau, he employed the 27th in making his approaches, and throwing a bridge across the Yssel, cannonaded the walls in three places with thirty pieces of artillery on the 28th, and forced the town to capi- tulate two days after. A free passport was granted to the garrison, ecclesiastics, and such of the inhabitants as chose to depart; the municipal privileges were to remain inviolate, and religion to be on the same footing as in the other towns of the provinces, where the public exercise ■■ Meteveii, boek xvi., fol. 333. STADTHOLDER. 251 of the Catholic religion was not allowed. Similar 1591 terms were imposed upon nearly all the towns which subsequently fell into the hands of Prince Maurice. In the evening of the day that Zutphen capitulated, Maurice embarked his artillery, closely followed by the troops, for the siege of Deventer. The governor, Van den Berg, cousin of the prince, refusing to sur- render, he opened a heavy fire on the walls, and soon effected a breach upon the side next the quay of the river Yssel. The first attack was unsuccessful, owing to the bridge of boats thrown across the river proving too short ; and the assailants prepared for a second on the following day, when the besieged, being deficient in ammunition, and the governor severely wounded, prevented it by a surrender. After the acquisition of these two valuable towns, Maurice, in compliance with the earnest entreaties of the Friezlanders, invested Groniugen, but finding that its reduction would prove a work of too much time and difficulty for the advanced season of the year, he again raised the siege, and, attacking the fort of Delfziel, mastered it, together with Opslag and Imentil, in the vicinity'''. It now behoved Parma, in preference to all other considerations, to 'arrest the rapid progress of Prince Maurice ; but the Spanish army was at this time in a condition, such as almost to preclude any effort for that purpose. The garrisons of Diest, Herenthals, Lieuwe, and several other places had mutinied, and, taking up arms against their officers, had laid the wliole of Kempenland and Liege under contribution. That of Diest, when commanded by Parma to march to his camp, flatly refused obedience ; and he was consequently unable, even when joined by some volunteers from Liege, to bring more than 5000 foot " Meteren, boek xvi., fol. 334. Bor, boek xxviii., fol. 5C4. 252 MAURICE, 1591 and 2000 horse into the field. With these he designed to march to the relief of Groningen, but deterred by the badness of the roads and the scarcity of provisions, he changed his purpose, and laid siege to the fort of Knodsenburg, opposite Nimeguen, which the States had built to hold that city in check. On intelligence of his movements, Maurice, abandoning a project he had formed of seizing Steenwyk, advanced by rapid marches to Knodsenburg, where, on his arrival, he had the good fortune to draw a troop of horse, which Parma had sent to reconnoitre, into an ambush; they were entirely defeated, sixty killed and one hundred and fifty captured, with the general's own standard. Parma had fallen into the unaccountable error of neglecting to throw a bridge over the Waal, between Nimeguen and the besieging camp ; on the appearance, therefore, of some vessels in the river belonging to Prince Maurice, he feared lest the communication might be entirely cut off", and ordered an immediate retreat. Within a few days after, alleging that he had received orders from the king to hasten his journey into France, he quitted Nimeguen amidst the insults and jeers of the populace, and retired to Spa-^'. The waters of the Waal being too high to admit of his undertaking the siege of Nimeguen, Maurice, in order to mislead the enemy, placed about half his troops in winter quarters, and embarking with the remainder, sailed into the Hondt, and suddenly pre- sented himself before Hulst, in the Waasland. The to^yn surrendered without a blow. Alarmed for Ant- werp, the veteran JMondragon, governor of that city, assembled all the troops he could muster, and having obtained a loan from the Spanish and Italian merchants, he satisfied the mutineers of Diest, and was thus en- ' Canipaiia, par. 2, lib. vii., p. 131. Meteren, book xvi., fol. SS5. STADTHOLDER. 253 abled to oppose a considerable force to the advance of 1591 Prince Maurice. As the latter, however, had not abandoned his purpose upon Nimeguen, he forbore to prosecute hostilities in Flanders, confining himself to laying the country round Hulst under contribution; and leaving a garrison in the town, under the command of the Count of Solms, recalled his troops from their quarters, and once more marched to Nimeguen. Having thrown a bridge of boats across the Waal, he passed over with about 10,000 men, and planted his artillery in three batteries before the walls. The garrison was in small number, consisting of no more than three companies of infantry, and a troop of horse. The latter, a portion of the traitors of Geertruydenberg, dreading what their fate might be in the event of a capitulation, made their escape on the first view of the enemy's cannonv. The burghers, nevertheless, pre- pared for their defence with undaunted courage ; and as the citadel was the most exposed to the attack of the besiegers, fortified the space between it and the town, so as to enable them to prolong the defence of the latter, in case of the loss of the former. In spite of their exertions, however, but a short resistance was offered. The damage done by the cannon at Knodsen- burg, and by the unceasing fire of red-hot balls from the besieging camp, contributed, together with the persuasions of a strong party within the town favour- ably inclined towards Maurice, to induce a surrender. The garrison marched out with all the honours of war ; but the privileges of the city were, in some degree, abridged, by the prince taking into his own hands the appointment of the government, which usually lay with the guilds. The request of the inhabitants, like- 1 Meferen, boek xvi., fol. 335. 254 MAURICE, 1591 wise, to be allowed the free exercise of the Catholic religion, was refused^ *. With the reduction of Nimeguen, which involved the submission of nearly the whole of Guelderland, Prince Maurice teiTuinated his brilliant and success- ful campaign; having, in the space of five months, mastered Zutphen, Deventer, Hulst, and Nimeguen, besides Delfziel and other smaller forts. The lateness of the season, and the continued rains, together with the sickness of Barneveldt, upon whose able and active co-operation he chiefly depended, induced him to arrest his progress for the present, and withdraw his army into winter quarters ^ On his return to Holland, he was greeted with unbounded joy and affection by all ranks of men. Under his auspices had dawned the first bright hopes — the first firm expectation of ultimate success to the cause of free- dom. The military undertakings of his father had been peculiarly and uniformly unfortunate ; the small advantages gained by Leicester had been more than counterbalanced by the discontents and cabals which had grown rife under his government; hitherto the provinces had had to struggle for their actual exist- ence in miserable dependence on the aid of foreign princes ; now they were able to treat on equal terms with those powers which had before disdained to receive them as subjects, and to render effective ^ Bor, boek xxviii., bl. 576, 677. ■ Idem, boek xxviii., fol. 680. * This event was celebrated by the renowned Grotius, then in tiii' eighth year of his age, in the follovrfng distich : — "Plaudite Mauritio victori quotquot adestis ; Namque is Csesaream Neomagum venit in urbem ; Vel potius domino victori plaudite Christo, Namque is Mauritio Neomagum tradidit urbem." STADTHOLDER. 255 assistance to their ally the King of France; their 1591 own boundaries were not only secured, but extended ; and the enemy was harassed on every side by an army whose small numerical force was more than compen- sated by the celerity of its movements, its admirable spirit, and the perfect knowledge which every one of its members possessed of his respective duties. The people beheld the hitherto invincible Duke of Parma, indisputably the first captain of his age, retreat, or rather fly before their young general, and were inclined, as it usually happens, to ascribe to his conduct those results which the altered circumstances of the enemy, combined with other causes, had contributed in no small degree to bring about. Prince Maurice, indeed, though the ostensible, was not the sole, nor perhaps even the principal, creator of the vast change that had been worked in the condition of the provinces. A powerful, though unseen, hand had now grasped the pivot on which public affairs turned. John Oldenbar- neveldt, from the time of his appointment to the office of Advocate of Holland, had begun to acquire that influence which ultimately became almost unbounded ; he it was, whose eloquence prevailed with the States to consent at once to all the beneficial measures which his fertile genius suggested ; and whose comprehensive intellect combined those plans which his unceasing diligence, in supplying the army with material, ammu- nition, and provisions, enabled Prince Maurice to execute. It was not very probable that the States-General would now be inclined to listen to terms of accommo- dation, to which they had in their adverse fortunes shown so decided a repugnance. The Emperor Rodolph, nevertheless, sent Otho, baron of Reyd, to the Hague, to renew an offer he had made in the last year of his 256 MAURICE, 1591 mediation in their favour with the King of Spain. The ambassador was courteously received and enter- tained at the expense of the States, and a superb gold chain was presented to him; but he found it impos- sible to make the slightest advance towards the object of his mission. The States recapitulated the damages they had already sustained from the effects of the feigned and hollow negotiations which had been so often held before ; they animadverted in strong terms upon the proceedings of King Philip in France, and protested that they could not, consistently with their duty to God, their country, and their allies, entertain the emperor's proposition for a conference, from which no good result could be anticipated ''*. The King of France, strengthened by a subsidy of 4000 troops from the Queen of England, together with 1000 Dutch and 1000 Scottish under Philip of Nassau, and a large levy of German mercenaries, had undertaken the siege of Rouen, which the Leaguers per- ceived must inevitably fall into his hands, unless they could obtain the assistance of the Duke of Parma. In compliance with their entreaties ^nd the commands of his sovereign, therefore, the duke set out in the depth of winter, at the head of 20,000 men, to the relief of 1592 that city. He compelled Henry to raise this siege as he had done that of Paris, and carried by assault the village of Caudebec; but, finding himself closely ' Bor, boek xxviii., bl. 691. * The prudence of the States in forming this resolution is amply vindi- cated to posterity, by a letter written fi-om Philip to his ambassador, St. Clement, in which he expresses his determination not to make the slightest concession on the subject of religion ; the consideration of which, he desires, should be delayed till the other terms were agreed on, so that " the people's hearts being softened by the desire of peace," this article might be the more easily aiTanged to his satisfaction.— Vide Lett, in Rym. Feed., tom. xvi., p. 64, 65. STADTHOLDEK. 257 pressed by the royalist troops, who had invested all 1592 the roads from Rouen, Caudebec, and Yvetot, and destitute both of bread and forage for his camp, he determined upon a retreat, which he executed in sight of the enemy, in a manner worthy of his best days. Having secretly collected a number of boats at Rouen and Caudebec, and built a fort on each side of the Seine, he in a single night constructed a bridge of boats across that river, and passed with his army, securing the whole of his artillery and baggage. Thence he proceeded, by hasty marches, to Chateau Thierri, where he remained a short time, but, finding his health rapidly declining, he surrendered his com- mand to the young Duke of Guise, and once more revisited the Spa. While Parma was in France, the States-General resolved to take advantage of his absence, by laying siege to some considerable town. They hesitated for a time between Geertruydenberg and Steenwyk, until at length the persuasions of the Friezlanders, and some intercepted letters frofti the garrison of Groningen to Mansfeld, representing their feeble condition and want of provisions, determined them to carry the war into that quarter; and Prince Maurice accordingly encamped with a small army before Steenwyk, in the month of May. This town, a place of great strength from its situation, had detained Renneburg, stadtholder of Groningen, five months uselessly before its walls in 1580, when its fortifications were very far inferior to what they were at the present time. The garrison, consisting of 1600 infantry and about 80 horse, was commanded by Anthony Coquel, a brave and skilful captain. Maurice having completed his intrench- ments and planted his artillery with little molestation, fired several thousand shots against the walls, but with VOL. II. s 258 MAURICE, 1S84 incpnsiderable ^flfpct, owing to the lowness of the sur- rounding ground- lie therefore had recourse to wines, of which he carried two as far as the ramparts on different sides of the town; the one failed, hut the Qther blew up a large portion of the wall, laying ppen the interior of the town tp thp fiye of tlie artillery. The garrison then surrendered at discretion, having sustained a siege of about six weeks, and werp allpwed to depart with colpiirs flying, except such as had been implicated in the delivery of Geertruydenberg, who were exect^ted". Though elated at, the capture of Steenwyk, the States of Holland were not without a fear at the same tipip, that if the enemy were expelled the bounclaries of Friezland, the States of that province might become slack in affording their contributions; and as Prince Maurice had repeived a wound before its walls, they made that the pretext for recommending him, that the army should be allowed to repose for the remainder of the campaign. Their advice, however, was overruled by the States of the other provinces, and by Maurice, who had a strong desire to possess himself of Coevoer- den, a place of eminent importance, as affording the only road between the two immense marshes of the Bourtang and Groot Veenen, extending from West- phalia on the east, to the Zuyderzee on the west. The fortifications of this town had been commenced in the early part of the war by Martin Schenk, and being afterwards captured by the royalists, had been strength- ened and improved by the Spanish general, Verdugo. The garrison, consisting of about lOQO men, was com- manded by Count Frederic van den Berg. The prince, in order to secure the passage of supplies to his camp, first possessed himself of Oetmars ; after which he com- ■= Grotius, Hist., lib. ii., p. 231. Bor, boek xxix., bl. 628. STADTHOLDER, 259 pleted his entrenchments before Coevoerden, though 15912 frequently interrupted in his operations by the sallies of the besieged. Verdugo, having by dint of reiterated importunities received, on the return of Parma from France, a rein- forcenient of Spanish and Italian troops, which aug- mented his army to 10,000 foot and 700 cavalry, took up his position at Emblicamp, at about three leagues distance from Coevoerden. The information which he had received from a deserter as to the position and state of Prince Maurice's camp, determined him to attempt an assault by night on that side where it was weakest, and the troops being new levies were likely to keep but negligent watch. A portion of his fprces advanced uuperceived to within the entrenchments; but the soldiers recovering immediately from their surprise, snatched up their arms and formed themselves at once into small battalions; when the troops from the other parts of the camp coming up to their assistance, they repulsed the assailants with terrific slaughter, the white linen frocks which they wore to distinguish each other rendering them a mark for the fire of the defenders. The loss on the side of the latter was only three killed, and six, among whom was William of Nassau, wounded. After this defeat, Verdugo retired to Velthem, when the garrison of Coevoerden seeing themselves abandoned, capitulated on extremely favourable conditions''. Both generals then withdrew their armies into winter quarters, Verdugo remaining in the environs of Grol, and the prince stationing his troops in and about Arnhem on the Rhine. He embarked his artillery and pontoons on board a num- ber of vessels anchored near the town, that the army -> Grot. Hist., lib. ii., p. 232—237. Bor, boek xxix., U, 629, a seq. S 2 260 MAURICE, 1592 might be ready to take the field if requisite on the shortest notices. The Duke of Parma, having received commands from the King of Spain to undertake a third expedi- tion into France, repaired to Arras where he appointed the rendezvous of the troops from the different quar- ters of the Netherlands. Here, on the 2nd of Decem- ber, he was seized M'ith a sudden and violent increase of sickness which carried him to the grave the next day. The coincidence of his death, with the arrival of the Count of Fuentez from Spain, who had been sent by Philip to examine the state of affairs in the Nether- lands, and who was a man of a harsh and cruel dispo- sition, and personally obnoxious to Parma, gave rise to suspicions of poison; suspicions wholly gratuitous as it appears, since he had long been in a declining state of health, and it was impossible, as was proved by opening his body after his death, that his disease, of a dropsical nature, could have any other termination**. Alexander Farnese, duke of Parma, was in the forty-seventh year of his age at the time of his decease, havino- aoverned the Netherlands for fourteen years. Although not gifted with the powerful grasp of mind, or the extensive political views which distinguished his predecessor, Don Louis di Requesens, he surpassed him in military skill, and was nowise inferior to him in prudence and conduct, or humanity and generosity • Meteren, boek xvi., fol. 343. ' Idem, fol. 344. * In addition to his natural inniMnitie?, a wound, which he received in the arm at the siege of Caudebec, proved incurable. An expression which he made use of shortly after that accident, evinced that he felt the springs of life already exhausted within him'; " To fight the King of Navarre," said he, " we should have living men, and not one bloodless and half-dead as I am." — Mem. de Sully, torn, ii., p. 77, 93, 108. Esorit de la Ligne, liv. vii., p. 216. See also Thuanus, lib. civ., cap. 3. STADTHOLDEK. 261 of disposition. He was accused by his enemies of 1592 having advanced the king's interests but little, in proportion to the immense armies and treasures placed at his command. A complete refutation, however, of this charge is found in the comparison of the condition of these provinces at the time of his coming and at his death. When he assumed the government in 1578, two provinces only, — Luxemburg and Limburg, — re- mained in obedience to the king. By his unrivalled political address and by his eloquence, he gained over at one time Hainault, Artois, and Namur; and while his indefatigable energy subdued, his moderation and humanity reconciled, the rich and powerful provinces of Brabant and Flanders; nor were his successors, with equal resources at their disposal, able to add in any considerable degree to the conquests he had achieved. His acts during the last five years, indeed, by no means responded to those of his earlier administration ; and it has been supposed, that he purposely stopped in his career of prosperity to avert the suspicions which his increasing influence might arouse in the jealous mind of his master?. But it does not appear necessary to attribute to such a refinement in policy, that which was a necessary consequence of the circumstances in which he was placed. The expedition to England in 1588, if undertaken with any hopes of success, would require all the troops and money that could be col- lected in the Netherlands, and it would have been the height of absurdity previously to waste in enterprises of minor importance, the strength and resources of an army destined to so mighty an achievement as the conquest of one of the most powerful nations in Europe. After that time, the choicest troops in the Netherland army were twice drawn off to serve in the 6 Grot. Hist., lib. ii., p. 238. 262 MAURICE, 1592 campaigns in France; and on their return, wasted by sickness and privation, were not in a condition to be Employed in any active enterprises; to these causes might be added, latterly Parma's own impaired energies, arising from the rapid decay of his health and spirits. This great man gave in early youth so little token of what he was afterwards to become, that he was imagined to be rather deficient in intellect; until serving under his uncle, Don John of Austria, at the time of the battle of Lepanto, when his real character first began to develop itself. To his commanding talents, he added a disposition nobl^ generous, sincere, and affable, though somewhat haughty, impatient of contradiction, and wedded to his own opinion; of un- exampled moderation in prosperity, he displayed not equal fortitude in sustaining reverses; temperate even to abstemiousness in his habits, he was yet rather given to show and ostentation in dress and equipage ; his temper was social and amiable, with an extreme fondness for dancing, tennis, and other active amuse- ments. Of the most disinterested rectitude, he died so poor that his furniture was sold to pay his debts; and though often solicited to assume the sovereignty of the Netherlands^ particularly during the govern- ment of the Earl of Leicester, who offered him an equal division of the provinces, and promised him the support of France and England\ he maintained his fidelity to his sovereign unshaken. Although a zealous Catholic and deeply imbued with devotional feelings, he was exempt from the persecuting spirit by which all the previous Spanish governors had been animatedj and possessed the transcendent merit of substituting a more humane and civilised mode of warfare for the " Meteren, boek xvi., fol. 3i4. STADTHOIiDER. 263 savagie and exterminating hostilities which had before 1592 prevailed'. One stain, Unfortunatelyj and that of the deepest dje, thtows its shade over a cliaracter other- wise so fair and bright; his participation, namely, in the assassination of the Prince of Orange. A moment's consideration of the light in which he viewed the act will serve, not to palliate it, — that is, beyond human power, — but to account iii some degree for the existence of such an atiomaly, as the mere contemplation of it in the mind of a man, whose integrity we rtiight sup- pose would have scorned, and whose gentleness would have shuddered, at a crime so atrocious. The Prince of Orange was regarded by all true and loyal Catholics as an apostate from his God, and a rebel to his king* whose unprincipled and reckless ambition had plunged his country into all the miseries of civil war, and whose arts alone prevented the people from returning to the faith of their fathers, and their obedience to their sovereign; as a criminal, placed, in consequence of his own nefarious acts, high above the reach of the law, whom it was, therefore, permitted to punish in any manner that was feasible, and whose death was the only means of restoring peace, and saving from temporal ruin and eternal perdition the misguided multitude whom he had deluded and sacrificed. Such were the motives, probably, which impelled Parma to an action so repugnant to his nature; but the good, on which he so presumptuously reckoned, failed him, and the evil which he did that it might come thereby, recoiling on himself, transmitted his fame defaced and blackened to posterity. The government of thfe Netherlands wafe now com- 1593 mitted nominally to Ernest, count of Mansfeld, a man in the extreme of old age (nearly eighty), the actual i Bor, boek xxix,, bl. 661. Grot. Hist., lib, ii., p. 237, 239. 264 MAURICE, l.:03 power being vested in the hands of the Count di Fuentez and Don Estevan d'lbarra, two Spaniards, lately commissioned by Philip to examine into the admiiiistration of affairs in the Netherlands. A very short time elapsed before both friend and foe perceived how deep cause they had to deplore the noble and generous commander they had lost. One of the first acts of the new government was to issue a decree forbidding any quarter to be given or received, and ordering that none should be permitted to ransom their lands from pillage by paying contributions, or to accept any passports or safeguards from the enemy, on pain ctf death. This violation of the rules of civilised warfare, was a consequence of the advice of Fuentez, who declared in the council, that it was only the sup- port given by the Netherlands themselves, under the name of contributions, which had enabled a miserable band of rebels to carry on the war for so many years against their sovereign ; the peasants, he said, cared little whether they were levied by friend or enemy, and looked forward with indifference to the issue of a contest fought at the expense of others' blood, and not their own ; they themselves should be forced to take part in the war, and those lands which could not be defended, should be presented to the enemy a desert, not a soil from whence they may reap wealth and abundance. It was the custom of giving quarter, he asserted, which made of the soldier a traitor and a coward; hence arose flight in the field, and proposals of surrender in the garrison, on the first attack of the enemy. The hope of safety often took aM^ay courage from the brave; despair gave it to the timid. Let there, then, he said, be no choice for the soldier but death or victory ; and let this mingled war and peace, by which war is nourished and yence retarded, be ter- STADTHOLDER. 265 minated''. The States were obliged, in their own ]593 defence, to publish a similar decree, delaying, however, its execution, to give time for such of the Nether- landers as chose to comply with their earnest exhorta- tions to quit the service of their cruel masters, and return to the friendship of their countrymen'. The Spanish government was soon made to feel the impolicy, as well as barbarity, of its own measure ; since, before the commencement of the campaign, Philip of Nassau, with about 3000 troops, penetrating into the duchy of Luxemburg, plundered and burnt several villages, and having ravaged the open country of Flanders and Brabant, the troops regained their own quarters in safety, and laden with booty. After their return. Prince Maurice, by desire of the States- General, invested Ge6rtruydenberg, at the head of an army of 7000 foot and 2000 horse. Geertruydenberg, as it has been observed, was a strong town, situated on the Biesbosch, which formed an extensive and tolerably commodious harbour. The garrison, commanded by the Sieur de Masieres, in the absence of the Lord of Waterdyk, the governor, amounted to about sixteen companies of foot. Prince Maurice, himself taking up his position on the right bank of the Merwe, stationed the Count of Hohenlohe to the west of the town, on the left bank of that river, which here empties itself into the Biesbosch. Hohenlohe had no sooner completed his entrenchments, than he attacked and carried by storm, though not without some bloodshed, a strong fort, called Steelhof, which commanded the approach on that side, and thus enabled Maurice to throw two bridges across the river, in order to secure the communication between the several divisions of his camp; for which purpose, likewise, he constructed '' Grot. Hist., lib. iii., p. 242. ' Bor, boek xxx. bl. 676, 677. 266 MAURICE, 1593 roads where the ground was wet and marshy, by means of fagots and hurdles, overlaid with s&nd. On the side of the Biesbosch, the town was blockaded by vessels fastened together with cableSi in the form of a crescent, \^■ith small boats between ; a number of others being stationed in the river and lake, to serve as out- lyers and transports for provisions. The prince's camp was surrounded by a high rampart and a deep fosse, and defended by four or fiAe bulwarks, on each of which were two pieces of hea^ y artillery ; the outworks and videttes fconstructed around occupied a space of three leagues in circumference. These works, in order to avoid interrupting the useful labours of the peasant, were executed chiefly by the soldiers and seamen, who, when not on guard, were employed in this manners for which they received additional wages. The discipline which Prince JSlaurice maintained among his troops was so exact, that, within the precincts of the camp, people tilled and sowed their lands, and pursued their usual occupations as in a time of profound peace; a great portion of the inhabitants of the surrounding country took refuge there as in a place of safety, bringing Tnith them their cattle and other property, so that provisions were not only abundant, but sold at a cheaper rate than in many of the towns of Holland ; while the enemy's camp constantly laboured under the most distressing privations in this respect. Prince Maurice had completed his operations before the arrival of Count Charles of IMansfeld, nephew of the governor, who was recalled with the army, which had been sent into France under his command, after the death of the Duke of Parma. At the head of 11,000 men. Count Charles attempted in vain to draw out the prince to an engagement, and finding it impracticable to force his entrenchments, he STADTHOLDER. 267 took VLp a position at Waasbeke, near the quarters of 1 5&3 the Count of JHbhenlohe. Hohenlohe's more hasty and restless valour gave occasion to several skirmishes between the two armies, which were unattended with aiiy important i'esultSj excepting the death of the com- manderi De Masieres, who was succeeded by the Sieur di Gesiaii, as govefiior of the garrison. Meanwhile, Prince Maurice carried his covered ways almost close to the ramparts ; and the incessant discharge of artillery from two ravelins commanding the town, had done such terrible execution, that scarcely a house remained uninjured. At length, one of the principal bulwarks having been carried by assault, this event inspired so great alarm into the minds of the besieged, that, although the garrison, besides the wounded, were still 700 in number, and plentifully provided with ammuni- tion, they capitulated the same day. The garrison were allowed to march out with their side arms, but obliged to surrender their colours to the prince ; three, however, who had been parties to the delivery of the town four years before, were immediately hanged. The government of Geertruydenberg was bestoM'ed by Prince Maurice on his younger brother, Frederic Henry, then no more than ten years of age^n. To repair his ill success at Geertruydenberg, Count Charles of Mansfeld attempted to make himself mas- ter of the fort of Crevecoeur, which harassed extremely the inhabitants of Bois-le-Duc ; but on his arrival, found the prince already prepared to receive him ; and the inhabitants of Gorcum and Bominel having bayed back the iSraters of the Domihel and Aa, so that they overiflowied the surrounding country, he was obliged to md• Meteren, boek xviii., fol. 389, 390. Bor, boek xxxiii., bl. 233—236. Camden, book iv., p. 5] 8-622. 302 MAURICE, 1596 which, she had neither the mines of Peru, nor the philosopher's stone, but only the love and generosity of her peOplOj which she was not inclined to tax to the utmost; and that she wanted some other satisfaction than elnpty expressions of gratitude. The ambassadors at length offered, that an instalment of 20,000^. shotild be delivered every year on the queen's birth-day, and 80,000^. for four years after the end of the war. But this was deemed insufficient by the English ministers, and the matter remained in debate for some time longer^- Elizabeth was the more pressing in her demands, since she had lately concluded a treaty with the King of France, engaging to maintain a body of 4000 auxiliaries in his service, at her own expense, and to make no peace with Spain without his participatioii. Henry's Ambassador, theUuke de Bouillon, after the conclusion of this treaty, repaired to the States^Gene- ral, at the Hague, where he found more ready, and, in proportion to their ability, more liberal allies. The conditions of a new treaty were soon agreed upon ; the king promised to bring an army into Picardy and Artois in the month of May ensuing, to which the States should contribute 8000 foot and 1500 cavalry, with the sum of 450,000 guilders, for the maintenance of 4000 additional infantry in the king's service, which he engaged to send back into the provinces in case of invasion; he was to assist them, moreover, with a subsidy of 1000 cavalry and 4000 infantry, for four months. The "Droit d'Aubaine" was abolished as regarded the inhabitants of the United Provinces*. ' Bor, boek xxxiii., bl. 245. Meteren, boek xviii., fol. 394, 395. * This law, by wliicli the estates of foreignefs, dying in France, escheated to the king, had previously been abolished, in favour of the Dutch, by ]Francis I. I do not find at what time it was subsequently renewed. STADTHOLbEE. 303 Oil this occasions the tiniversity of Leyden obtained ^^^^ from Henry, that the degrees conferred by it should be recognised in France a. The number of troops sent into France and England, with the defence of Hulst, had disabled the States-General from bringing any army into the field this campaign; and the States of Holland found it necessary for the protection of their frontier to raise 2000 " Waardgelders," or paid burgher guards. For the payment of these soldiers, and to remedy the deficiencies in their revenue, which had now augmented to a considerable amount, they laid an addition of 8j per cent, on all taxes already subsisting, and attempting at the same time to create a source of revenue, and to enact a beneficial sumptuary law, they imposed a tax on gold, silver, silk, and velvet, used in wearing apparel or accoutrements. This, however, bore the appearance of a meddling which the people were by no means disposed to endure ; the opposition to the tax, " raised chiefly by those who were likely to pay little or nothing towards it," was so violent and determined, that it was found impossible to bring it to bear, and the authority of the States suffered no slight detriment on the occasion ''- The King of Spain, burning with desire to avenge the sack of Cadiz, had begun immediately after that event to equip a new fleet, for the purpose of making a descent on some part of Ireland or Cornwall. 148 ships, having 14,000 troops on board, set sail from the port of Lisbon ; but had scarcely reached Cape Finis- terre, when they were scattered by a violent tempest. Forty being driven upon the shore perished, with the greater portion of their crews ; several were saved by » Thuanus, lib. cxvi., cap. 14. Bor, boek xxxiii., bl. 265. ^ Bor, boek xxxiii., bl. 192, 262. 304 MAURICE, 1596 the skill and courage of a Holland pilot, but the enter- prise was of necessity abandoned"^. The loss which Philip sustained in the destruction of his two fleets, the vast sums which he had for years transmitted into France for the support of the League*, and the long wars in the Netherlands, together with the exorbitant rate of interest at which, from the low state of his credit, he was compelled to borrow money, had reduced his finances to a condition of the utmost confusion and exhaustion. He found himself wholly destitute of funds to fit out a fresh navy, to make pre- parations for the preservation of Calais, or to answer the bills which the archduke had drawn upon Spain, to the amount of 3,500,000 florins; and, as he was unable to obtain any further loan, he had recourse to the same short-sighted and dishonest expedient which he had adopted under similar circumstances in 1587. By an edict, in which he complained that the extortion of the usurers had absorbed the royal domains, ex- hausted the treasury, and rendered the king unable to protect the Catholic church or to extirpate the here- tics, he decreed, that all payment of interest upon the debts of the government should henceforward cease; cancelled his bonds and obligations; and seized the revenues mortgaged for the payment of either prin- cipal or interest. At the expiration of a year, how- ever, the merchants bribed him by a new loan of 7,400,000 ducats f, to give them fresh securities; but his credit never more recovered the shock it sustained •= Grot. Hist., lib. v., p. 382. * In 1593, Spanish pistoles were so abundant in France, that they formed the ordinary circulating medium of the country. — Mem. de Sully, torn, ii., p. 202. t The value of the ducat was at this time fifty-three pence.^-Bor, boek xxxvi., bl. 434. STADTHOLDER. 305 by the measure. He refused, likewise, to honour the 1596 bills drawn upon him by the archduke, who, in con- sequence, was reduced "to the degrading necessity of pawning his private jewels for the maintenance of his courts The archduke, purposing to take advantage of the 1597 severe frost of the winter of this year to invade the island of Tholen, stationed a portion of his troops, con- sisting of 4000 infantry and about 500 horse, under the command of the Count di Varax, at the village of Turnhout, to await the arrival of the reinforcements which he had summoned from Guelderland. At the earnest importunities of Heraugiere and Marcellus Bacx, the former governor of Breda, the latter of Bergen-op-Zoom, Prince Maurice determined to attack the enemy in their quarters, and with this view, assem- bled at Geertruydenberg about 6000 troops, from the neighbouring garrisons, accompanied by Sir Francis Vere, the Count de Solmes, Sir Robert Sidney, governor of Flushing, and Colonel Murray, with his Scottish regiment of ten companies. The cavalry was put under the command of the Count of Hohenlohe, who, then on his route to Germany, had hastened back to the scene of action. After a laborious march from Geertruydenberg, through deep mire and incessant rain, they arrived near midnight, wet and harassed, at the village of Ravels, about a mile from Turnhout, and had Varax attacked them while in this exhausted con- dition, there is little doubt that their defeat must have been inevitable. Instead of pursuing this course, how- ever, he, at their approach, prepared for an immediate retreat. Drawing up his infantry in ranks of eleven abreast, with a considerable space between each rank, ■> Meteren, boek xviii., fol. 397, 398 ; boek xix., fol. 417. Bor, boek xxxiv., bl. 318. VOL. 11. X 306 MAURICE, 1597 he placed the musketeers in the van and rear, and the pikemen in the middle, while the cavalry, divided into three troops, occupied the right of the army, and in this order commenced his march to Herenthals. Jai>- Early the next morning, the scouts of Prince Maurice informed him, that the enemy were already at some distance from Turnhout, whereupon he immediately sent forward his cavalry to intercept them, command- ing the infantry to follow with all possible expedition. Vere, Sidney, and Marcellus Bacx, advancing to recon- noitre, encountered the enemy in a narrow road on the heath of Thiel, where, with about ten others, they prolonged a skirmish till the remainder of the troops came up. On the first charge of Hohenlohe with the advance guard of cavaliy, the enemy's horse gave wayj and threw the foot into disorder; the whole of the prince's cavalry then pressing forward to the main army before the pikemen had time to form, the flight became general ; the means of a regular retreat being cut off by a wood on the one hand, and a stream on the other. An accident had, however, well nigh turned the fortune of the day. While the victors were occupied with securing the plunder, a Spanish captain, Nicholas Basta, rallying a troop of fugitives, to the number of about forty, fell suddenly upon them. Having imagined the battle at an end, and unprepared for this new assault, they were immediately scattered ; but JVIarcellus Bacx with a few others made a stand against the enemy, until Vere, reassembling his troops, once more forced them to take flight. The victory on the side of the Dutch was complete ; 2000 of their adversaries, among whom was the general, Varax, remained dead on the field ; 500 were made prisoners, and thirty-eight standards captured. The loss of the conquerors is stated to have been no more than nine STADTHOLDER. 307 or ten «. Their infantry had not been engaged, and 1597 the number of cavalry did not exceed 800, armed only with carbines and long pistols ; a circumstance which, coupled with the inefficiency of the enemy's lancers in the encounter, brought the latter weapon into disfsr- Tour with Maurice, who commanded that, henceforth, the arms of the cavalry should be a carbine, or a pistol of two feet long, and the short cut-and-thrust sword to which they had been accustomed^*. The Council of State, sensible of the error they had committed in the last year, in not having an army sufficiently powerful to keep the field, demanded of the States-General for the ensuing campaign, besides the ordinary supply of 200,000 guilders a month, an extraordinary sum of 2,000,000, for the purpose of levying twenty-one new companies of infantry and 6000 " waardgelders," for the service of the towns. It was the month of August before the new levies were ready for action ; but the campaign, in which Frederic Henry, younger brother of Prince Maurice, then no more than thirteen years of age, made his first essay in ■= Bor, boek xxxiv., bl. 302, 303. Meteren, boek xix., fol. 398—400. Grot. Hist., lib. vi., p. 393. ' Meteren, boek xix., fol. 409. * The.', cavalry from this time consisted only of cnirassiers and car- bineers ; the former armed with a helmet, gorget, and cuirass before and behind, shoulder-pieces, armlets, and a gauntlet on the bridle-hand, and carrying the pistol and sword above-mentioned. The carbineer was similarly armed, with a carbine of three feet long instead of the pistol ; neither were allowed to ride horses less than fifteen hands high. The infantry were divided into pikemen, musketeers, and arquebueiers ; the pikemen were armed with the helmet, gorget, and cuirass, a sword, and a pike eighteen feet long ; the musketeers had only a helmet, and a sword and musket, with its fork or rest ; they were first introduced as field-troops by the Duke of Alva, being before his time employed only in defence of the walls or trenches of besieged towns ; the arque- busiers were appointed in a similar manner, with an arquebuse, instead of a musket. — Campana, Guer, di Fiand., pa. i., lib, 2, p. 32. Met., ubi sup, X 2 308 MAURICE, 1597 arms, though commenced late in the season, was sig- nalized by a succession of victories as useful as they were rapid. Alpen, Rhynberg in Cologne, and Meurs, were captured in the short space of one month. Then, returning from Cologne, through the bishopric of Mun- ster to Zutphen, Maurice laid siege to Grol, which capitulated, after having suffered excessive damage from the effects of the red-hot balls fired by the besiegers. The next point of attack was Breeport, a town of Zutphen, situated in the midst of a marsh, over which the prince, having brought his artillery with incredible skill and labour, by means of roads constructed with fagots, rushes, and cork, planted five batteries before the walls. On the first can- nonade the garrison and inhabitants took refuge in the citadel, which soon surrendered at discretion ; the garrison only were compelled to pay a ransom, the citizens being exempted on account of an accidental fire which had occasioned gTeat havoc among their houses. Following the tide of his success, Maurice attacked, one after the other, Entschede, Ootmars, and Oldenzeel, which yielded with scarcely any resist- ance. The winter had already set in when he invested Linghen, a frontier town of Westphalia, strongly forti- fied with a double rampart, and provided with every thing necessary to withstand a long siege ; the garri- son being commanded by Count Frederic van den Berg. Maurice had scarcely begun his approaches when a sally was made by the besieged, though with- out much loss on either side ; he was obliged to wait some days for his artillery, which was delayed in its passage down the Ems by contrary winds. On its arrival, he planted a battery of twenty-four pieces, from which he cannonaded the walls incessantly during eight hours. The effect was an immediate surrender ; STADTHOLDEK. 309 the garrison binding themselves not to serve the King 1597 of Spain on that side the Rhine for the term of three months. After this achievement, Prince Maurice reposed his army in winter quarters, having, in the course of this expedition, reduced three counties and three lordships under the dominion of the States; passed seven rivers, and opened the communication with Zutphen, Overyssel, and Friezland. The arch- duke, meanwhile, had been occupied in endeavours to relieve Amiens, which, having been surprised by the Spaniards, again submitted to the King of France after a siege of some duration; and in unsuccessful attempts on Bergen-op-Zoom and Geertruydenberg. The States-General, in acknowledgment of the boun- ties of Divine Providence, appointed a day of public fast and thanksgiving; they also struck medals, with emblems illustrative alike of their admiration of their general, and gratitude to Him who had blessed his arms with such prosperity^. The issue of the naval enterprises of the Dutch this year was less propitious. The Queen of England had prepared a fleet in the harbour of Plymouth, with the triple purpose of destroying the remainder of the Spanish Armada at Ferrol, destined for the invasion of Ireland, under Don Martin di Padillo ; of intercepting the fleets of both the Indies ; and of taking possession ofTerceira; and the States-General, in answer to her demands of the stipulated succours, equipped ten large men-of-war, to which they added fifteen double Vlie-boats, under the Lord of Warmont. The united armament, commanded by the Earl of Essex, set sail from the ports of England about the end of July, and was in sight of the coast of Gallicia when it was overtaken by a violent storm, and forced to '- Meteren, boek xix., fol. 409—412. 810 MAURICE, 1597 return, not without considerable damage, to England. The attack on the Armada at Ferrol thus frustrated, Essex once more set sail, hoping to intercept the Indian fleet; but the ships being separated hj unfa- vourable weather, they missed the fleet, and their advantages were coniined to the possession of the small island of Fayal, and the town of Villa Franca in the island of St. INIichael i>. While prosecuting the war with fresh vigour, the States were constrained to listen to importunities for peace, as unceasing as unwelcome. A new advocate for the King of Spain now appeared in the person of Sigismond III., king of Poland, whose ambassador to the States-General, Paul Dialy, in a Latin oration of some diffuseness, strongly urged them to escape destruction, by returning to obedience imder a sove- reign of such infinite power and greatness as Philip II., whose virtue and clemency he lauded without measure, though in the presence of Prince jNIaurice, and added a threat of the evils Avhich his master might inflict on them, by forbidding the exportation of corn from his dominions*. To this address, the States returned a mild and dignified answer, observing, that Poland could as ill dispense with the gold of the provinces as they could with her corn, and recapitulating the causes they had before alleged to the emperor, which rendered the conclusion of a peace impossible'. i" Camden, took iv., p. 533. Bor, boek xxxiv., bl. 336. ' Bor, boek xxxir., bl. 332, et seq. * This idea was suggested to Sigismond so far back as 1587, the time of his election to the throne of Poland. As one of the advantageous results to be expected from that event, he observed, " The King of Sweden (Sigismond was crown prince of that country) being King of Poland, will have the power, by merely forbidding the transport of grain from Dantzic to Holland and Zealand, to cause these provinces to perish by famine," (Discorso del Papa sopra Felezlone da farsi del STADTHOLDER. 311 About the time of this visit of the Polish ambas- 1597 sador, an event occurred at Brussels which seemed, as it vpere, a commentary on the text of Spanish mercy, on which he had chosen to enlarge. One Annette van der Hove, a single woman, of about forty years of age, in the humble station of a servant, who had been brought up from her youth in the Reformed religion, was accused of heresy, tried, and condemned to be buried alive. The executions for heresy, relaxed after the paciiication of Ghent, had wholly ceased from the time of the promulgation of the religious peace, under the Archduke Matthias ; and the now unaccustomed spectacle, accordingly, filled all men's minds with horror and commiseration, augmented still further by the heroic constancy of the sufferer. When called upon, in prison, to make a recantation of her errors, she answered with humility, that, as far as her capabi- lity of judging went, she believed herself to be right ; but if not, she was guilty of a mistake, which, in one so ignorant, might well be pardoned; but that she should merit the just vengeance of heaven, if, under the influence of fear, she should subscribe to the truth of that which she believed to be false, even though it were in fact true. Being brought to the place of execution, she was let down, in a standing posture, into a pit prepared for the purpose, which, when the executioner had filled with earth up to the shoulders, the Jesuit priest, who attended her, asked if she were then willing to be converted ? "I will not fear,'' she replied, " this dreadful death — it is for the truth — into the Lord's hands I commend my spirit." The executioner completed his horrid work, and those who nuovo Re cli Polonia, 1587. Thesaurus Honorii, torn, i., p. 459.) It was a remarkable coincidence, that before the end of the same year, Italy herself should be forced, from the failure of the crops, to seek food Bt the hands of these very Hollanders, 312 MAUEICE, 1597 stood around heard the shrieks and groans of the agonized victim, as he stamped the earth down over her head"^. It is a singular anomaly in the constitution of man- kind, that objects of dread or aversion, when multiplied before the eyes, lose, instead of increasing, in intensity. Not all the blood, which had been spilled like water before the commencement of the war, had caused such a feeling of vengeful detestation, as the death of this one poor woman ; a feeling so deep and universal, that the government dared not repeat the spectacle. Nor was it less a matter of astonishment, that this act of cruelty should have been perpetrated, with the sanction, as it was believed, of the archduke*, at a time when he was making to the provinces plausible offers of peace and liberty of conscience ; and convinced such as before had doubted, that the general sentence of death against all heretics, was only suspended for want of power to carry it into execution. Some supposed that he was prompted to this act by a desire to gain favour with the King of Spain, and to forward the negotiations, then on foot, for his marriage with his eldest daughter. Besides the King of Poland, the Emperor of Ger- many, in pursuance of the resolution adopted at the last diet, proposed to the States to send a solemn embassy into Holland, for the purpose of mediating a peace. This they courteously refused, on the ground that they were unable to treat without their allies of ' England and France. Shortly after, a deputation arrived, to the same effect, from Christian IV., king of Denmark; on which the States, seizing the opportunity, "■ Bor, boek xxxiv., bl. 335. * He is reported to have said, when the question was debated in the Council, as to whether the sentence should be executed, " Let the law have its course." — Grot. Hist., lib. vi., p. 405. STADTHOLDEE. 313 which they rarely let slip, of expatiating at length upon 1597 the tyranny and barbarities of the Spaniards, and detailing the injuries they had suffered from the former insidious overtures, represented the dangers which would arise to the king himself from the peace he proposed ; since, if the provinces, either by that means, or by conquest, should be again reunited to Spain, the king would have an army of 100,000 troops at his command, wherewith to insult and oppress the Pro- testant princes of Europe^ While thus enlisting the good offices of the different friendly courts on his behalf, Philip enabled the arch- duke to undermine the strength of his enemies, by empowering him to offer a separate peace to the King of PVance ; a project which, unhappily for the States, proved but too successful. Henry, while he lent a favourable ear to the advances of the archduke, availed himself of them, at the same time, to expedite the succours of the Queen of England, which had of late been but slackly afforded ; but Elizabeth, who was forced to make a large outlay in the levy of forces to suppress the rebellion in Ireland, besides the constant expense of keeping up a large naval armament, paid little heed to his remonstrances. The States, on the other hand, who considered the loss of the co-operation of such an ally of vital importance to their interests, made vivid representations to the king of the advantage to be gained by the continuation of the war ; urging, that they had now almost expelled the enemy from this side the Rhine, and that, after the capture of Zutphen, which was then besieged, they would be able to unite all the forces of the triple alliance, and by driving the Spaniards entirely out of the Netherlands, obtain per- fect security for France and England. Notwithstand- ' Bor, boek xxxiv., bl. 355, 374. 314 MAURICE, 1597 ing tbese flattering prognostications, of which, indeed, no one was better aware of the futility than Henry, lie persisted in sending his ambassadors to meet those of the king and archduke at Vervins™. The results of Prince Maurice's last campaign, in the extension of the frontiers of the United Provinces, excited the fears of the people of Brabant and Flan- ders, lest they should be now enclosed and assailed on every side by the enemy. Their demands for peace, therefore, became loud and vehement, and impelled the king to the first step of real importance he had yet made towards an accommodation. The principal obstacle, he knew, in the minds of the Dutch, was detestation of his person, and distrust of his sincerity; and of the allies, the dread of the preponderating power he would acquire in Europe by the submission of his revolted States, now especially that their wealth and resources had undergone such a vast increase ; he himself, moreover, was bowed down by age and infirmi- ties, and, it may be well imagined, was by this time heartily tired of his Netherland dominions. For these reasons, he promulgated his determination to give his eldest daughter, Isabella Clara Eugenia, in marriage to the Archduke Albert, and to bestow upon her, as a portion, the county of Burgundy, and the provinces of the Netherlands. But the intelligence was not received with the satisfaction he expected ; the United Provinces sus- pected that some new stratagem lurked under this show of generosity; and those under his obedience manifested a dread lest it might be the earnest of his intention to abandon them in future wholly to their own resources". The fears of the latter, however, proved groundless ; since the king, shortly after, having » Bor, boek xxxir., bl. 400. ° Bor, boek xxxiv., bl. 405 — 407. STADTHOLDER. 315 obtained, as it has been observed*, a fresh loan from 1598 the merchants in his dominions, supplied the archduke with a considerable sum of money, and evinced his continued care for the provinces, though not in the most palatable mode, by sending over a reinforcement of 4000 Spanish troops, chosen from among those destined for the invasion of Ireland. They were embarked in thirty-eight vessels, which, on arriving at the port of Calais, were attacked by some ships from Holland and Zealand; one of the largest was captured, and four more ran aground in attempting to escape". The conferences having now commenced between the ambassadors of France and Spain at Vervins, the States determined upon sending Justin of Nassau, and John Oldenbarneveldt, into France, at the same time that Sir Robert Cecil and Sir Thomas Wilkes were despatched thither from the court of England, for the purpose of deterring Henry, if possible, from proceed- ing with the negotiations ; which the former indulged strong hopes of being able to effect, since he had, not long before, sent a requisition for naval subsidies to assist him in the projected siege of Nantes p. They brought forward, with renewed emphasis, the remon- strances they had employed in the last year ; but the determination of the king remained unshaken. He pleaded the absolute necessity of peace to the safety of his ruined and exhausted dominions; that the Spaniards had oifered to deliver up all the strong places they held in his kingdom, which he had no other means of regaining, except at an enornious waste of blood and treasure; but declared, neverthe- ° Meteren, boek xix., fol. 418. ; " Bor, boek xxxv., bl. 415, * Vide p, 304, 316 MAUEICE, 1598 less, his resolution to remain in arms, should they refuse, as it was probable, to evacuate Calais and Blavet; and professed an undiminished affection and zeal for the welfare of the provinces, which he pro- mised to assist with the sum of 3,000,000 of guilders in four years, under cover of liquidating the debt he owed them''. But, if unable to arrest the progress of the negoti- ations, the liberal offers of assistance made by his allies obtained for Henry the most favourable terms. By the treaty now concluded at Vervins, the King of Spain and archduke consented to restore all the towns occupied by the Spaniards in Picardy and Champagne, receiving in return tlie county of Charolois, to be held as a fief of France. A provision in the treaty, giving liberty for any other power to accede to it witliin the term of six months, seemed framed purposely to include the Queen of England, with whom Philip was not unwilling to enter into an accommodation, on con- dition that she would permit the free exercise of the Catholic religion in her dominions, and deliver into his hands the towns of Briel and Flushing^ The States, at the time they had sent ambassadors into France, had commissioned the admiral, Warmont, and John van der Werke, pensionary of Middleburg, to repair to the court of England, for the purpose of obviating the effects of any representations which the King of France might make to induce the queen to become a party to the pacification. They presented to her a long and able exposition of the dangerous results to be anticipated from a hollow and factitious peace with the King of Spain, whose only design in " Bor, boek xxxv., bl. 445. Mem. de Sully, torn, iii., liv. 9, p. 166, et seq. ' Eecueil des Tiaite's, torn. ii. Meteren, boek xix., fol. 423. STADTHOLDER. 317 making the oifer was to break the triple alliance, in 1598 order that he might afterwards be able to attack each member singly with the more effect ; that as the war was undertaken by him for the sake of religion, so would it be continued as long as the cause existed ; and that he would, therefore, remain armed on sea, under pretext of resisting the progress of the Turks in Europe, and securing the navigation to the Indies, and by land, under that of the war with the Nether- lands ; and, consequently, the sovereigns of France and England would be obliged, for their own protection, to keep a war establishment constantly on foot, at an enormous cost, and without reaping the slightest advantage ; more especially the latter, against whom the King of Spain bore so implacable a hatred as to omit no opportunity of doing her an injury^. The question of peace or war appeared to depend, as to which of her two most favoured counsellors, the Earl of Essex or Lord Burghley, Elizabeth should resolve to hearken. To Essex, young, ardent, and generous, the cause of the Dutch people was invested with a deep and romantic interest; stimulated as well by his passion for glory as his desire to avenge their wrongs, he had, in early youth, made his first essay in arms in their favour; while they, on their part, had proved their gratitude for his attachment, by support- ing him on some signal occasions against his numerous rivals and enemies. He therefore was earnest with the queen to continue the war, and not to risk at once her safety and her honour by abandoning those allies for whose sake she had undertaken it, and by whose means she might most eflectually weaken a monarch who never would be to her aught but a formidable and inveterate foe. The aged Burghley, on the other " Bor, fcoek xxxv., bl. 413. 318 MAURICE, 1598 hand, who had filled the office of treasurer for forty years, as Avell from the natural caution and parsimony of his temper, as his inclination to oppose. On all occa- sions, the opinion of his rival, unceasingly represented to his mistress, that the war was Unchristian and unne- cessary, and that peace was absolutely indispensable to the welfare of her dominions. Elizabeth at first appeared disposed to adopt the advice of her treasurer, complaining that the States made no eflfort towards the liquidation of their debt to her; and that while laying the burden of the war on her shoulders, they consulted their own private interests by persisting in carrying on their traffic with Spain. In fine, however, the more generous counsels of Essex prevailed, strength- ened, probably, by the fear that the provinceSj if left to continue the war alone, might profess themselves unable to provide funds for the payment of her loan. At the same time she determined to take advantage of the anxiety of the States to retain her in hostilities, by making the terms of the renewed alliance wholly favourable to hereelf. She empowered Sir Francis Vere to propose as conditions, that she should receive immediately 100^000/. sterling ; that if she should find it advisable to carry the war into the Netherlands, they were to assist her with the Avhole of their forces^ and with fifty men-of-war, in case Philip sent a fleet against her*. The States, unwilling to close with such proposals Avhile a hope remained of the rupture of the neg-otiations between France and Spain, awaited for some time the event of their termination ; but on intelligence of the peace concluded at Vervins, they were fain to submit to such terms as the queen should think fit to impr?e. It was finally agreed, therefore, that she should henceforth be released from the obli- ' Camden, book iy., p. 552—656. Meteren, boek six., fol. 423 — i29. STADTHOLDER. 319 gation to afford any further subsidies to the provinces, 1598 who engaged to assist her with forty ships in any naval expedition she might undertake against Spain, and with 5000 foot and 500 horse, or an equivalent in money, in case the King of Spain should invade any part of her dominions ; the debt which she herself had estimated at two millions, was fixed at 800,000/., to be paid by instalments of 30,000/. a year until the half were liquidated; the mode of discharging the remainder to be arranged at the end of the war, when, if any of the first moiety was still unpaid, the annual sum should be reduced to 20,000/. The States also bound themselves to pay the garrisons of Briel and Flushing to the number of 1150 men. They were permitted to retain the English troops already in the Netherlands at their own expense, and the queen was to continue to name one English member in the Council of State. The government of Briel was entrusted to Sir Francis Vere, an appointment every way acceptable to the States ^ The publication of the peace of Vervins in the Spanish Netherlands was followed within a short time by that of the act of surrender, on the part of the King of Spain, of the Netherlands, and the counties of Charolois and Burgundy, to his eldest daughter, in the event of her marriage with the Archduke Albert. By the terms of this act, it appeared evident that the measure was merely adopted to answer the present purposes of the king, and that no real design existed of separating the Netherlands, permanently at least, from Spain. The provinces were conferred on Isabella and the archduke to be held as a fief of Spain, revert- ing to that kingdom in default of direct heirs; the future sovereigns were to swear that they would con- " Bor, boek xxxv., bl. 476. Meteren, boek xx., fol. 441. 320 MAURICE, 1598 stantly adhere to the Catholic religion, and any one of them embracing heresy incurred by that act a forfeiture of the sovereignty ; they were forbidden to marry their children without the consent of the King of Spain ; and in case of inheritance by a female, she was bound to marry either the king or the crown prince of that country; the sovereignty was to remain with the Archduke Albert in case he survived the Infanta. The provinces were forbidden to trade either to the East or West Indies. A confirmation by Philip, heir- apparent to the crown of Spain, accompanied this surrender, and a procuration from Isabella, empower- ing the archduke to take possession of their joint dominions iii her narae\ The mode in which Albert effected the assumption of his new sovereignty, was of no good omen as to its future administration. Not venturing to convene a full and legal assembly of the States, he summoned a few persons only from each province, who were advised beforehand of what they were fb say, and whose oppo- sition, had they been inclined to offer any, was silenced by the presence of near 6000 troops quartered in the environs". Having- concluded the ceremonv of his inauguration, the archduke began to prepare without delay for his journey to Ferrara, where his espousals were to be solemnized by the pope. He left the government of the Netherlands during his absence to the Cardinal Andrew, of Austria, his first cousin, entrusting the conduct of military affairs to Francis di Mendoza, admiral of Arragon. Before bis departure, the archduke wrote to the States of Holland and Zealand, professing that he had no other desire than to effect a durable peace, and exhorting them, now that the King of Spain had obviated all occasion of ' Meteren, boek xx., fol, 426—428. " Grot. Hist. lib. vii., p. 463. STADTHOLDEE. 321 suspicion or mistrust, by the entire separation of the 1598 two countries, to unite with the greater portion of the Netherlands in receiving himself for their sovereign. Letters of a similar purport were likewise written by the Prince of Orange and several other nobles to Prince Maurice, but all remained unanswered^. It was a strange coincidence that, simultaneous with nearly every overture for peace, should be the discovery of a plot against the life of Prince Maurice. In the present instance, one Peter Panne, of Leyden, a man reduced to the extreme of poverty, by a failure in his mercantile pursuits, voluntarily confessed that he had been prompted by some Jesuits, of the College of Douay, to assassinate the prince; that they bestowed on him a salary of fifty guilders, and promised him 200 more in the event of his attempt proving successful, to which he was vehemently exhorted also by his wife; but on arriving in Zealand for the purpose, he was seized with remorse and let drop some expressions which led to his arrest. He was condemned to death by the Municipal Court of Leyden, with the advice of the Provincial Council, and executed^. The commencement of the campaign of this year was delayed by numerous impediments. The archduke was desirous of waiting till the conclusion of the peace with France should enable him to recall the army from that country, in order that with his combined forces he might undertake some enterprise of importance. In addition to this, the troops in different parts of the Netherlands were again in a state of mutiny. At Antwerp, in particular, their insolence exceeded all bounds; they drove out their commander, Augustus di Mexia, chose an " Electo," and obliged the inhabitants to supply them with provisions and money, till they ' Meteren, boek xx., fol. 434. ^ Bor, boek xxxv., bl. 463. VOL. II. y 322 MAURICE, 1598 received the twenty-two months' pay which they demanded. Their usual mode of making a requisition was by a discharge of musketry into the houses, which they continued until interrogated as to what was their pleasure; and in this manner they extorted large suras from the inhabitants both in money and valuables. Although the mutineers were but 600 in number, and that the burghers were well armed, the remembrance of their sufferings twelve years before from the same cause, and the dread lest the Spaniards might be supported by the troops of the surrounding garrisons, took from them all courage to resist. After the lapse of some months spent in this manner, the mutineers were paid by the Cardinal Andrew with money which he borrowed from the merchants and gentry of Ant- werp '■. The miseries of war which it appeared likely would, after the accommodation with France, fall wholly on the exhausted provinces of the Spanish Netherlands, were transferred in this campaign to Cleves and Juliers, in the affairs of which ducliv, the ambition of Philip, or his zeal for the Catholic religion, induced him to take an active share. The present duke, who, from the disordered state of his intellect, was fre- quently incapacitated from administering the affliirs of government, had no issue, and of his four sisters three were mai-ried to the Dukes of Brandenburg, Nieuburg, and Deux-Ponts, all princes professing the Reformed religion; and the fourth, at this time single, after- wards became the wife of the Marquis of Burgau, brother of the Cardinal Andrew, of Austria. The King of Spain was not without hopes, that in the event of the emperor claiming the duchy as a male fief reverting to the Empire, after the death of the ' Meteren, boek xx., fol, 432. Bor, Tjoek xxx^., bl. 522. STADTHOLDEE. 323 present possessor, he would be easily persuaded to 1598 make a transfer of it to the Archduke Albert. He had two years before earnestly exhorted Rodolph to appoint a regency, and induced him to consent that he might hold an army in readiness to enter Cleves on the first favourable opportunity, which now, if the succession of the archduke should be followed by a general peace, might be for ever lost. A powerful force, therefore, under the Admiral of Arragon and Count Frederic van den Berg, passed the Rhine near Cologne, and presented themselves before Orsoy, a small town situated just within the confines of Cleves. The citizens in vain pleaded their entire neutrality, and that no war existed between Spain or the Nether- lands and their country. The admiral, seizing a hatchet, cut down with his own hand the barrier near one of the gates, and commanded scaling ladders to be placed against the walls, when the temfied inhabitants instantly submitted. Prince Maurice was on his march towards the Yssel when he heard of the cap- ture of Orsoy, which determined him, as his forces were not sufficient to encounter the enemy, to take up such a position as should enable him at once to protect his own boundaries and harass his opponents, by inter- cepting their convoys. He, accordingly, formed a strong encampment on the island of Weert, and in the neighbouring country of the Betuwe, which he connected by a bridge of boats over the Rhine, and at the same time reinforced the garrisons of Zutphen, Grol, and other towns in the vicinity''. The troops of Mendoza, having utterly devastated the country for five leagues round Orsoy, and beginning to suffer from want of provisions, he led them to the siege of Rhyn- berg, a town in the hands of the States, but of which ' Meteren, boek xx., fol, 434, 43S. Y 2 324 MAURlcfi, 1598 they had forborne to repair the fortifications out of complaisance to the Archbishop of Cologne, who pro- mised to maintain its neutrality against the enemy. Besides the weakness of their defences, the inhabitants were suffering from the ravages of the plague; never- theless, they rejected the summons of the admiral to surrender, till one of the bastions being accidentally blown up by a quantity of gunpowder within catching fire, overthrew a considerable portion of the adjacent wall. They then capitulated; the garrison engaging not to serve out of the boundaries of Holland and Zealand for four months. Shortly after the reduc- tion of Rhynberg, Burick fell into' the hands of Men- doza^ Meanwhile, a portion of his army had attacked a fort belonging to Valkenstein, count of Broek, whose feeble garrison, amounting to no more than forty men, immediately capitulated, on condition of their own safety and that of their count. They were nearly all massacred in cold blood; and the count himself a few days after was treacherously murdered, with the con- nivance, as it was generally believed, of Mendoza himself. The only crime of the suiferer being his attachment to the Reformed religion, this atrocious proceeding, which Mendoza undertook to justify before the Council of Cleves, excited a deep and general feeling of revenge, of which some Holland soldiers shortly after gave fearful testimony. Having dis- covered one of the murderers, a brother of Don Louis di Velasco, in the small fort of Axel which they captured and abandoned, they cut oif his head and left it on a table with this inscription round it, " This is the first vengeance of the death of the Count of Broek''." ' Bor, boek xxxv., bl. 487. ' Meteren, boek xx., fol. 437. STADTHOLDER. 325 Mendoza having forced Wesel, Rees, and Erame- 15.)8 rick to receive Spanish, garrisons, and to abolish the exercise of the Reformed religion, bent his course towards the Yssel, and invested Dotekum, upon which Prince Maurice, leaving the Count of Hohenlohe, with a detachment, to guard the Betuwe, hastened to secure Doesburg. The capture of the insignificant town of Dotekum was all that the admiral was able to effect in Zutphen with his powerful body of forces. Famine began, within a short time, to cause terrific ravages in his camp ; the deserters affirmed that the soldiers had not tasted bread for five days, and seven thousand are said to have died of hunger, and of disease occasioned by improper food. Unable, therefore, to remain longer in Zutphen, Mendoza came to the iniquitous determi- nation of quartering his whole army during the winter months, in the neutral and unoffending states of Germany. Westphalia, Cleves, and Cologne, were overrun by a brutal and licentious soldiery, who prac- tised the same wanton outrages, and revolting crimes, as they had been accustomed to perpetrate in the con- quered towns of the Netherlands ; the profession of the Reformed faith by the sufferers, fully justifying, as they conceived, all their proceedings. The princes of the circle of Westphalia, presented a memorial to the emperor and princes of the circles of the Rhine, bitterly complaining of the violence committed on their towns and fortresses ; of the slaughter and expulsion of the garrisons, and the oppression and pillage exercised by the Spanish soldiers on the peasants. But the German princes, with their characteristic tardiness and irreso- lution, neglected to take any precautions for tbeii' own security; and it was not until the country had been devastated and kept in terror for a period of four months, that the emperor issued an edict, commanding 326 MAURICE, 1598 the troops both of Meiidoza and the States-General to withdraw from the confines of the empired. On the retreat of Mendoza into Germany, Prince Maurice, placing his army, of which the greater por- tion consisted of English troops, in winter quarters at Arnhem, Zutphen, and the different towns on the frontier of Overyssel, returned to the Hague, after a cam- paign, which, if less brilliant than that of the preceding year, had been by no means less useful to his country, or less worthy of his great military talents. By the judicious strengthening of the fortified towns, and the able disposition of his camp, he had, with a force of less than one-third of the enemy's numbers, frustrated the design of Mendoza to quarter his army in Zutphen and the Vein we, and forced him to direct liis hostilities against the neighbouring neutral states, and thus to convert the German princes from indifferent spectators into bitter and implacable, if not active, foes. While not unpropitious to the arms of the Dutch, the events of this year tended to the rapid advance- ment of their manufactures and commerce. A quarrel between the Queen of England and the Hanse towns*, i Campana, pa. iii., lib. 7, p. 11:4 — 146. Grot. Hist., lib. vii., p. 507, 509. * These towns had, as it is well Icnown, from a very early period, kept one of their principal factories in London, wligre their mercliants were endowed witli extensive privileges, and by degrees monopolized the whole wool trade of the kingdom; buying up the raw material iii England, which they sent to the Netherlands to be dyed and prepared. After the establishment of the English merchant adventurers, in 1296, and the settlement of a number of Flemish dyers and weavers, who took refuge thither in the reign of Edward III., fi'om the miseries occasioned by the floods in their own country, the privileges of the merchants of the Hanse towns were found to interfere greatly with the general trade of the kingdom. They were, therefore, abridged by different sovereigns, more particularly by Edward VI, and Mary, and subsequently by Eliza- beth. They complained heavily to the emperor of the deprivation of tl^os? jpiiixiinities which they l^ad enjoyed for §9 mmf centvu'ies ; the STADTHOLDER. 327 which had existed for some years, now became so 1598 violent, that the emperor, to whom belonged tlie pro- tection of the latter, in revenge for the injuries which the merchants were alleged to have suffered in England, banished from the empire the company of English merchant adventurers resident in the town of Stade. Intelligence of the circumstance no sooner reached the United Provinces, than all the principal towns sent to offer the merchants extensive privileges, in the hope of inducing them to settle there. After some con- sideration, they chose the town of Middleburg in Zealand, whither they drew an immense trade in cloths, serges, and baize; the queen commanding that all the wools exported from England should be consigned to them. About the same time, the city of Amsterdam was enriched by the settlement of an immense number of wealthy JeAvs, who had fled from Portugal to avoid the renewed persecutions exercised against them on account of their religion*^. A new source of foreign commerce also, was at this period opened to the provinces, by a treaty with the grand signior of Constantinople, from whom they obtained, through the medium of the French ambas- sador, entire liberty of traffic to Syria, Greece, Egypt, and Turkey, for all their vessels sailing under the j^ro- tection of the King of France: a permission of which they were not slow to take full advantage. The expedition to the East Indies undertaken by the merchants of Amsterdam, in 1595, though attended with some disasters, had roused the emulation of the other towns of Holland and Zealand. Eighty ships of " Meteren, boek xix., fol. 416. Grot, Hist., lib. vii., p. 433. queen, on the other hand, justifying her proceedings by the accusations of abusing their privileges, falsifying their wares, and introducing mis? cbi?yoits monopolies, which she brought agajnst th^m, 328 MAURICE, 1598 considerable size sailed this summer to the East and West Indies, to Brazil, and to the coast of Guinea, whence they brought large quantities of ivory and gold- dust^. Nor did these novel and exciting enterprises divert them from their long established and profitable trade with the countries of the north ; 640 vessels from the Baltic arrived early in the next year in the port of Amsterdam, bearing 100,000 tons of merchandise, (timber, corn, hemp, tar, &c.,) of which each ton paid a duty of twenty guilders^. The Archduke Albert had not yet reached Italy, when he received intelligence of the death of the King of Spain. Philip had for two years been labouring under continued attacks of the gout and a low fever; and in the hope of receiving benefit from a change of air, caused himself to be conveyed in a litter from Madrid to the palace of the Escurial. But shortly after, an excruciating and loathsome disease Sep. which came upon him, in addition to his previous ^' maladies, terminated his existence, at the age of seventy-one years and a few months. This monarch, in common with all who have held a conspicuous station in the drama of political events, has been differently judged of according to the different prejudices and passions of the historians who have given us their opinions. By the greater portion, he has been handed down to posterity as a blood-thirsty and remorseless tyrant, fit only to be placed on a level with the Tiberius, Nero, or Domitian of antiquity; while others, the Jesuits and zealous Catholics, have not scrupled to represent him as equalling Solomon in wisdom, and excelling him in virtue. A closer inspec- tion of his character will show that both of these judgments are undeserved. Philip, cruel and relent- ' Meteren, boek xix., fol, 419. « Idem, b. xxi., fol. 451. STADTHOLDER. 329 less as he was, shed not blood in the terrors of a 1598 cowardly suspicion, nor in the recklessness of wanton folly, nor in the insensibility of brutal stupidity, but in obedience to the dictates of a stern, though self- imposed necessity. Of an inferior understanding, weak and bigoted, he was firmly persuaded that he was the instrument chosen by the Almighty to extir- pate heresy from the earth ; he had consecrated himself to this work in early life, when apparently on the brink of the tomb*, and he pursued his object ever after, with a singleness and devotedness of purpose, from which no consideration of humanity, policy, or even self-interest could turn him aside. To this end, he judged all means were lawful. Too narrow-minded to foresee the consequences of his acts, too blindly bigoted to distinguish their true bearing, he believed they were all done to the glory of God ; in the here- tics, he imagined, that he punished miscreants, who, having forsaken the God and the altar of their fathers, were prepared for every crime ; their sufferings, in his eyes, were but an expiation for their sins ; their death, the removal of a stumbling-block in the way of the faithful f. It was to restore the Catholic church, that he desired to obtain the empire of Europe ; for this, • On Ms journey to Spain from the Netherlands, in 1561, being in imminent danger of shipwreck, he made a vow to the Virgin, that if his life were spared, he would devote it to the extirpation of heresy. — Hooft Ned. Hist., boek ii. bl. 28, 29. t This peculiar disposition of Philip's mind is strongly developed in his letters to the Duchess of Parma. When the question is the punish- ment of heretics, he urges her to severity, blames her remissness, and exhorts her to persevere in the holy work (Strada, dec. i., lib. 4, p. 102, 103) ; but when, on the breaking out of hostilities, tlie governess recom- mended the immediate assault of Tournay, he desires, that time may be given for repentance, and that then, if a surrender did not foUow, the city might be attacked ; but that aged men, boys, and women, should be spared, and care be taken to put no one to death, who had not been actively engaged in resistance. — Ibid, lib. vi., p. 187. 330 MAUHICE, 1598 he wrecked the hopes of his people on the rocks of Britain, and poured his gold into France ; for this, he trampled on the laws and rights of his Netherland subjects, grasped at power which did not belong to him, and finally consented to lose so fair and rich a portion of his dominions*. More justly, then, than as a monster of human iniquity, we might regard him as a feeble-minded bigot, following out his perverted notions of right with the immovable pertinacity which often accompanies uninstructed mediocrity of intellect. It affords, indeed, a memorable lesson to mankind of how much evil may result from a misapplication of the powers of the understanding, to consider, that of all the actors in the terrible drama of religious persecution in the Netherlands, there was scarcely one, perhaps, who was swayed by corrupt or wicked motives ; scarcely one who did not imagine that he was an instrument in the hands of the Almighty, for avenging the wrongs done to his church ; or who did not regard the atrocities he perpetrated as the fulfilment of a sacred and painful duty, and an act of leniency or mercy, as a criminal yielding to the weakness of humanity. Neither was Philip, as some have pictured him, a genius, whose mighty mind, grasping at the dominion of the whole earth, hurled at will, from the obscurity of his cabinet, the thunderbolts of war, to crush the puny foe who dared to oppose him ; or who, disen- tangling, thread by thread, the intricate mazes of policy, found a clue to guide him to the hearts of princes. His ambition was of the most puerile kind, * Philip, at the commencement of the civU war, had it in his power to an-est the progress of disaffection, and satisfy the minds of the people, could he have been induced to permit the exercise of the Reformed religion, though in a manner never so obscure and humble ; but he would, as he was often heard to say, rather have beheld the provinces 9. STADTHOLDER. 331 undefined in its object, and unsustained in its pursuit ; 1 598 and his influence in the aifairs of Europe, great as it necessarily was, is to be ascribed to the fortuitous circumstances of his position, wealth, and the extent of his dominions, and not to his talents or personal consideration. Never, surely, were such vast resources placed in more feeble and inefficient hands. The wealth of the new world — armies disciplined and in- structed during the long wars waged by himself and his father in nearly every country in Europe — religious enthusiasm, refreshed and invigorated alike by the opposition of the Reformers, and the unceasing zeal of the new order of Jesuits — presented a combination of causes, of which one alone, developed by a master spirit, might have sufficed to realize the most gigantic projects of ambition ; but of which, all, from want of power or steadiness in the directing force, failed in producing effects in the smallest degree proportioned to their magnitude. The gold, coined from the sweat and blood of the tortured Indian — snatched in the midst of perils and honours by the roused activity and awakened enterprise of the mariner — wrung from the imploring hands of the broken-hearted Netherlander, was scattered in senseless prodigality by its possessor, and united again in one rich stream, only to flow into and fertilize the land of his foes ; the soldier, to whom long service had taught obedience, and long experience valour, left unpaid in the midst of a rich and hostile country, was allowed, if not encouraged, to become an enervated and licentious brigand, a burden to his commander, a curse to those whom he was bound to defend, and a scorn to the enemy, whom he often refused to encounter ; while the wise and good of the Catholic faith, appalled at the atrocities perpetrated in the nam© of their religion, shrank shuddering 332 MAURICE, ]598 back irom the moloch to Avhich their holy altar Tvas profaned. Thus, every one of the grand designs of Philip failed, in consequence of some radical defect in the mode of its execution. The revolted provinces of Holland and Zealand were reduced to the last extre- mity by Don Louis di Requesens, when the wanton insolence of those troops, for whose payment the king had neglected to provide, drove nearly the whole of the Netherlands to join them in their rebelhon ; in like manner, when there appeared no human probability of arresting the successes of the Duke of Parma in the same quarter, they were turned aside by Philip's un- timely attempt to conquer England, when he might easily have awed or flattered the queen into acquies- cence, till the subjugated Netherlands should have afforded him an invincible point from which to direct his attack upon her dominions ; and the results of that memorable expedition were nothing but loss and disappointment to its framer, fi-om his imprudence in trusting his mighty armada in unknown seas, without first securing a port m here they might take refuge in case of necessity. In France, the fruit of years of secret and disreputable negotiations with the Leaguers, and of mines of wealth lavished in their support, were sacrificed in a single day to his hasty and impmdent eagerness to procure the crown of that kingdom for his daughter, Isabella''. The acquisition of Portugal, and the extension of his conquests in America, were more than counterbalanced by the loss of the kingdom of Tunis, of the more valuable portion of the Nether- lands, and the ruin and dismemberment of the remainder. Though constantly engaged in hostilities during his long reign of forty-three years, Philip >■ Thuamis, lib. cii., cap. 19 ; lib. cv., cap. 10. STADTHOLDER. 333 never, except upon one occasion*, conducted his armies 1598 in person ; he was, nevertheless, not deficient in cou- rage ; of slow parts, and totally uneducated, he made up in some degree for these defects by his indefatigable diligence and unwearied industry. His character in private life, the pen of the' historian is constrained to trace in yet more unfavourable colours. Dark, haughty, and morose, his only relations of courtesy with man- kind were the exaction of a rigorous etiquette ; human joys never wrung from him a smile, nor human woes a tear ; suspicious and implacable, his friend could hope for no confidence, his enemy for no forgiveness ; that the ties of conjugal love, of parental affection, and of gratitude, weighed as nothing in the scale against the gratification of his jealousy or vengeance, he proved by the murder of his wife, Elizabeth of France, his son, Don Carlos, and Escovedo, secretary to Don John of Austria ; his reserve partook of dissimulation rather than prudence ; his fortitude, of apathy rather than resolution ; and his liberality rather of profusion than generosity. In person, he was well-formed and hand- some, bearing traces of his mingled Spanish and Flemish origin, his hair and beard being completely black, and his complexion fair ; his forehead was broad and high ; the principal defect in his countenance being the large open mouth peculiar to his family. The deathbed of the man who had caused as much of misery and destruction to the human race as, perhaps, any in the history of the world, was calm, resigned, and peaceful; during fifty-three days of unremitting and almost insupportable torture, his patience was unmoved, his fortitude unshaken; not a shadow of doubt or discouragement for an instant darkened his soul; he declared, (to such an extent * Vide vol. i., chap, vii., p. 496. 334 MAUEICE, 1598 may fanaticism pervert the mind,) that he had never knowingly inflicted an injury on any human being. Desiring a number of different relics to be brought him, he kissed them with fervent devotion, and passed them over the wounds with which his body was covered, testifying unbounded faith in their efficacy; his eyes were constantly fixed on a crucifix which stood before him; and as a memorial of the nothing- ness of human grandeur, he caused a death's head, encircled with a golden crown, to be placed on his buffet. As he found the hour of dissolution approach, he summoned to his bedside the crown prince and his eldest and favourite daughter, Isabella, and pointing to his wasted form, exclaimed, "Behold the end of this world's greatness; see this miserable body, for which all human help is unavailing, and nothing is left but a speedy burial." He then gave the prince a written instruction for his future government, and showed them, as one of the greatest treasures he possessed, the scourge which his father had used shortly before his death, whereon the marks of his blood were still visible. Having received the crucifix which Charles V. held in his hand when dying, he caused one of his attendants to read aloud a paper on which be had noted down the arrangements to be made at his funeral, and shortly after became speechless, in which state he lay for two days before he expired. He was buried, in obedience to his wish, in his royal robes in the chapel of the Escurial'. ' Bor, boek xxxv., fol. 473, 476. Meteren, Iboek xx., fol. 441, 442. STADTHOLDER. 385 CHAPTER IV. Prejiaraiions of the States for the Campaign. German Princes levy an Army. Invasion of the Bom/mel. Dispersion of the Gertnan Forces. Edict of the King of Spain. Naval Expedition to the Canary Islands. Marriage and Arrival of the Archduke Albert in the Netherlands. Condition of the Spanish Provinces. Fruit- less Negotiations for Peace. Difficulties of the United Provinces. Siege and Battle of Nieuport. Results of the Battle. Renewed Proposals of Accommodation. Ineffectual. Prosecution of Has- tilities. Siege of Ostend. Mutiny of the Royalist Troops. Esta- hlishment of ilie Dutch East India Company. Death of Queen Elizabeth. Embassy to the Court of her Successor. Invasion of Flanders and Capture of Sluys. Compromise between the A rch- duke and the Revolted Troops. Fall of Ostend. Peace between Spain and England. Ambrose Spinola created General-in-Chief of the Royalist Army. Invades Overyssel. Battle of the Roer. Attempt upon Bergen-op-Zoom. Naval Successes of the Dutch. Obstacles to the levy of Troops. Attempt to surprise Sluys. Reduction of Grol, Siege of Rhynlerg. Unaccountable conduct of Prince Maurice. He besieges Grol, and raises the Siege. Naval Encounter. Death of John of Nassau, and the Count of Holenlohe. Scheme of a West India Compiany. Reasons of both the Bellige- rents for desiring Peace. Negotiations opened. Battle of Gibraltar. Peace found Impracticable. Proposal of a Truce. Its reception ill the Provinces. Truce for twelve years effected by the Ambas- sadors of France and England. Articles of the Treaty. The States now found themselves virtually aban- 1599 doned, as it were, by both their allies; since the Queen of England, not engaged in any actual hostilities against Spain, and embarrassed with the rebellion in Ireland, gave them no further support than to allow of their levying troops at their own charges in her dominions. Yet the difficulties of their situation, far from creating any discouragement, rather aroused them to renewed exertions. They commissioned Count Ernest, of Nassau, to levy 2000 German troops, 336 MAURICE, 1598 and invited from France the Chevalier de la None with 2000 French and 1000 Swiss, of those which had served King Henry during his wars*; replaced 2000 English veterans, who were recalled by the queen to be employed in Ireland, by as many fresh troops of the same nation; and augmented the cavalry by five companies of cuirassiers". To provide for the expenses of this armament, the States of Holland and Zealand, since the excise and customs were as heavily burdened as they could bear, imposed a tax of one half per cent, on every species of property, from which, however, those were exempt whose capital amounted to no more than 2000 guilders. Every one was bound to declare on oath the value of his property, and a person making a false return was pronounced dishonoured, as guilty of perjury, and fined in four times the amount of the original payment. Such as chose to contribute at once 2000 guilders were spared all further inquiry into their circumstances. A duty of two and a-half per cent, also, was levied upon the sale of real property. The wealth of the two provinces was such that these taxes, although productive of a large revenue, were scarcely felt; nevertheless, considerable difiiculties were en- countered in the collection of the former. The property of the great majority of persons consisting in mercantile speculations, was uncertain and difficult to be estimated; while often but little dependence was to be placed on the declaration of the owner as to " Meteren, boek xxi., fol. 468. * To the remonstrances of the King of Spain and archduke upon this subject, Henry somewhat cavalierly replied, that the troops were Pro- testants who had served him faithfully, and whom he was unable to recompense, on account of the impoverished condition in which the wars of the League had left him ; and that Philip was welcome in return to take any number of Leaguers he pleased out of his kingdom. STADTH OLDER. 337 its amount; and the power of compromising for 2000 1599 guilders was, in the eyes of the less wealthy, an invi- dious distinction in favour of the rich''. The Admiral of Arragon, not content with the injuries and excesses committed by his soldiers in the territories of the German princes, (mentioned in the last chapter,) had treated all their remonstrances with jeering contempt; had forced the inhabitants of the town of Wesel, in Cleves, to abolish the Reformed religion, and issued his mandates to the Count of Oldenburg and several other princes, accompanied with expressions of insolent menace, enjoining them to return to the bosom of the Catholic church. To the edict of the emperor, by which he was commanded to quit the boundaries of the empire, he replied, that, if the emperor with his whole authority were on the one side, and the pope ready with his excommunication on the other, he should persist in obeying the directions of his master ; and he induced the Cardinal Andrew to send an embassy to the diet justifying his measures. Seeing, therefore, no hope of obtaining redress by amicable means, the princes at length passed a resolu- tion in a diet, held at Coblentz, to levy an army for the protection of the circles of the Rhine; the appoint- ment of generalissimo being conferred on the Count de la Lippe, a Protestanf^. But it was not till the time had arrived for com- mencing the campaign in the United Provinces, that Mendoza thought fit to withdraw his troops from most of the towns they occupied in Germany. After an unsuccessful attempt on the Schenkenschans, he effected a landing in Bommel, an island of Guelder- b Boi-,lioek xxxvi., bl. 621, 522. Meteren, boek xxi., fol. 450. Grot. Hist., lib. viii., p. 522. « Meteren, boek xxi., fol. 457, 458. VOL. II. Z 338 MAUEICE, 1599 land, formed by the Meuse and Waal, on the northern part of which is situated the town of that name, strong from its natural position, but of which part of the forti- fications had fallen down some time before, and were then but insufficiently repaired. On intelligence of the invasion of Bommel, Prince Maurice immediately advanced thither with his whole army, which he sta- tioned along the Waal, and in the island of Voorn; hastened the completion of the fortifications of the towns, and built two bridges of boats across the river, for the purpose of connecting the Bommel with the neighbouring country of Thiel. He, likewise, threw up entrenchments from each side of the town to the Waal, capable of inclosing 6000 men, which were not yet completed, when they were attacked by the troops of Mendoza, who had laid siege to Bommel. The assailants were repulsed with loss; but, on the other hand, the Scottish colonel, Murray, an old and esteemed servant of the States, was killed a few days after in an abortive attempt to force the enemy's camp. Finding himself at length unable to make any progress in the siege, and having sustained a loss of 2000 men, the admiral abandoned his design. He afterwards built the strong fort of St. Andrew in the island of Voorn, for the defence of which he left 3000 men, and retired to Brabant. On his departure, William Louis of Nassau, stadtholder of Friezland, marched into Guel- derland and recovered Dotekum and Schulenburgd. The German levies, meanwhile, were proceeded with, but in a negligent and disorderly manner. Of the Catholic princes, some delayed or refused to furnish their contingents; and others were deterred from raising any troops by the menaces of the Spaniards; while, on the other hand, some of the ■' Meteren, boek xxi., fol. 463, 464. STADTHOLDER. 339 Protestant princes having, in their hasty zeal, assem- 1599 bled their armies too early in the season, were forced by want of money and provisions to disband them before the remainder were ready. Fourteen thousand men, however, troops of the Princes of Brunswick, Hesse, and Brandenburg, were assembled under the banner of the Count de la Lippe, who, having taken Gennep, committed the first act of hostility within the confines of the Netherlands, by the pillage of the small town of Peel, in Brabant, when returning to Germany, he laid siege to Rees. But the constitution of the German camp was such as to preclude all hopes of success in this or any other undertaking. The eccle- siastics and partisans of the Spaniards, of whom a great number were allowed to take a share in the debates of the councils, impeded their resolutions, and discovered all their plans to the enemy ; the general- issimo, inexperienced in military affairs, was totally destitute of influence or authority; the inferior com- manders were divided by dissensions amongst them- selves ; and the troops, of whom the greater portion were ill paid, and the whole levied only for three months, seeing the end of their term approach with- out anything of importance being effected, became mutinous and discontented. Within a very short time, therefore, of the commencement of the siege, and before William Louis of Nassau, who was hastening his march to join the camp, could arrive, the army dispersed, abandoning nearly the whole of their artil- lery. Thus a force which should have proved a powerful diversion in favour of the United Provinces, melted fruitlessly away, serving but to increase the insolence of the enemy, and to render the princes themselves objects of contempt and derision^. " Grot. Hist., lib. viii., p. 626, et seq. Bor, boek xxxvi., M. 682. Z 2 340 MAURICE, 1599 Mendoza broke up his camp early in the season, paying the soldiers their arrears only from the period of the inauffuration of the archduke. But the conse- quences of this misplaced parsimony, whether voluntary or imposed by necessity, were vexatious to him in the extreme. He found himself obliged, in order to pre- vent the spread of the mutiny which it occasioned among the troops, to distribute the greater portion of them in the different towns of Luxemburg, Limburg, and Namur ; and by this separation he vras disabled from taking advantage of the severe frost of the fol- lowing winter, which rendered the rivers passable for artillery for the space of three Aveeks, to invade Hol- land ; an enterprise which he had been watching for such an opportunity to achieve ever since the beginning of his command. The campaign, though productive of but small comparative results to the States, had proved enormously expensive from the increase in the number of their troops, and the prodigious quantity of boats, artillery, and waggons employed; and their finances having, in consequence, fallen into arrear, they thought it advisable again to reduce their military establish- ment to a magnitude more proportioned to their means ^. The first act of the young sovereign of Spain was one of more bitter hostility against the provinces than his father had ever exercised; since he not only arrested all their ships in his ports, (which had been often done heretofore,) but made the whole of the crews prisoners; caused such as were suspected of having taken part in the expeditions of the English to be put to the torture, and forced the remainder to work as galley-slaves. Coincident with this pro- ceeding, was an edict issued in the Spanish Nether- ' Bor, boek xxxvi., p. 562, 563. STADTHOLDEE. 341 lands, forbidding the inhabitants to traffic in any 1599 manner with Holland and Zealand, or their adherents, till they had returned to obedience under their lawful prince. But these measures, like most others devised by Spain against her former subjects, recoiled upon herself, and tended ultimately to the advantage of those whom they were designed to injure. The States, on their part, issued a decree, prohibiting the ships, not only of their own subjects, but those of foreign powers, from carrying provisions or other wares to Spain ; all goods belonging to that country, wherever found, were declared lawful prizes ; permits or safe- conducts to the enemy were forbidden ; and indemnity for all injuries done by them, and for the extortion of exorbitant ransoms, was to be levied on the hostile territories of Flanders and Brabant^. They followed uj) this measure by the immediate equipment of seven- ty-three vessels of war, containing 8000 men, for the purpose of either making a descent on Spaiu, or inter- cepting the India fleets. Setting sail from the Meuse, under the command of Peter van der Duys, the arma- ment reached in safety the harbour of Coruuna, where they found the Spanish fleet anchored under cover of the artillery on the shore. Unable to draw out the enemy to a combat, and not venturing to attack them thus protected, Van der Duys changed his purpose, and, directing his course to the Canary Islands, effected a landing on the largest of them, called the Great Canary, M'hich he occupied and plundered witli but trifling loss. Gomara next shared the same fate; the inhabitants everywhere abandoning the towns, and taking refuge in the recesses of the mountains. As his principal object, that of making a descent on Spain, had been defeated, the admiral found that no good end E Bor, boek xxxvi., bl. 623, 625. 342 MAURICE, 1599 was answered by the presence of so large a fleet, and accordingly sent home a portion of his ships. Sailing with the remainder, thirty-six in number, along the coast of Africa, he arrived at St. Thomas, an island in the Gulf of Guinea, situated under the equinoctial line, where they found a numerous colony of Portu- guese established. Pavoasa, the principal town, sur- rendered at the first summons; but the inhabitants, who had fled into the mountains, returning, 7000 in number, set fire to their houses, and made an unex- pected attack on the invaders. The former were, however, in a short time completely routed; and the pillage of the island afforded a rich booty in sugar, ivory, and other wares. Unhappily, the cupidity of the victors proved their destruction. Occupied in securing their goods on board the vessels, they neg- lected the warning they had received as to the unwholesomeness of the atmosphere, and remained after the burning summer heats had commenced. Their effect, combined with the imprudent indulgence in the tropical fruits, and the deleterious nature of the water, was to produce a pestilential sickness of the most terrific description ; which, in a short time, carried off great numbers, and among the rest, the admiral himself, and his nephew, George van der Duys, son of the heroic defender of Leyden. The admiral was buried in the island, and the sailors, to secure his remains from insult, heaped the ruins of the whole town of Pavoasa upon his grave^. After the death of their commander, the ships immediately set out on their return homewards; but the change of climate, though it altered the nature of their disease, produced but slight mitigation in the sufferings of the unhappy crews ; above one thousand perished on the voyage in ^ Grot. Hist., lib. viii., p. 537. STADTHOLDER. 343 the sjjace of fifteen days ; in some of the vessels not 1599 more than six or seven individuals were in a condition to execute their duty ; one ship was wholly deserted ; another, too weak to defend itself, fell into the hands of the enemy ; some were driven by a storm on the coasts of England; and on their arrival in Holland, at the end of the winter, not more than two captains were left alive'. Such was the end of the fleet, which had cost vast sums in preparation, and from which the most important results had been expected. But how- ever unprosperous the expedition, it had produced the effect of exciting great alarm in Spain, as appearing a prelude to others of the same nature, and had put the king to considerable charges in providing convoys for his fleets from the Indies. The Archduke Albert, having been detained in Italy the whole of the preceding winter, by the fes- tivals and entertainments which the princes and sovereigns of the different states exhibited in honour of him, did not arrive until the end of March in Spain, where his nuptials were celebrated on the same day Apl. with those of his niece Margaret of Austria, the bride of the young king, Philip III. It was the September following before the new sovereigns arrived in their dominions, which they found the scene of universal discontent. The Cardinal Andrew and Mendoza were at variance, each blaming the other as the cause of the miscarriages that had occurred; of whom the former shortly after quitted the Netherlands, while the latter remained in his office ; the soldiery were on the brink of a general insurrection for want of pay, for which the treasury was too much exhausted to provide funds; and the people, oppressed and impoverished, were offended alike with the footing of lavish expenditure ' Bor, boek xxxvi., bl. 566—570. Grot. Hist., lib. viii., p 632—538. 344 MAURICE, 1599 on which the court "was placed, and the Spanish man- ners, dress, and customs which they remarked in its members. The archdukes having immediately on their coming summoned the States of the provinces, preparatory to their inauguration, the latter required as a preliminary to the acknowledgement of the new sovereigns, the removal of the foreign troops in garrison in the Nether- lands ; that the public offices should be filled only by natives; and the conclusion of a definitive peace with the United Provinces. To these requisitions Isabella haughtily replied, that she had received the Nether- lands from her father, as a free gift without any con- ditions whatsoever; and the States, bowed down by poverty and sorrow, did not venture to persevere in this last struggle for a remnant of their former freedom. Albert and Isabella were therefore received without further difficulty, and made their "joyeuse entree" into the principal towns, after the manner of the ancient dukes of Brabant, taking the oath to preserve entire all the privileges, rights, and customs of the provinces. On this occasion, the Prince of Orange and several other nobles were created Knights of the Golden Fleece; an order to which, though instituted by the House of Burgundy, and appertaining peculiarly to the Netherlands, the King of Spain had reserved the nomination to himself''. The only one of the requisitions of the States, which the archduke made the slightest effort to comply with, was that which it was wholly out of his. own power to obtain. The time had long since passed away when it depended upon the will of Spain to effect a peace with the United Provinces; and the only advance Mhich Albert was able to make towards this ^ Bor, boek xxxvi., bl. 677, 679. Grot. Hist., lib. viii., p. 539—542, STADTHOLDER. 345 object, was that of inducing his brother the emperor 1599 to appoint once more a solemn embassy with an oifer of his mediation. The ambassadors, accordingly, headed by the Count of Yssenburg, having arrived at Gren- sauwe, applied to the States-General for passports to the Hague; their request was courteously refused, the States alleging that the reasons which had before moved them to reject all propositions for an accommo- dation, still held good, being indeed rather strengthened than obviated by the pretended transfer of the Nether- lands to the infanta, and the death of the late King of Spain; since the present monarch had shown himself far more inimical to the United Provinces than his father had ever done ; and the tyranny exercised by the archduke against those of the Reformed religion was greater than had existed since the early period of the war, in addition to which, the unworthy and barbarous treatment of the princes and states of the empire had been such as to excite the wonder and indignation of mankind. They concluded these adroit and well-timed observations by declaring, that they esteemed it inconsistent with the safety and dignity of his majesty and the empire, and disadvantageous to themselves, to receive ambassadors for any such purpose. This did not, however, prevent the repe- tition, not long after, of a similar requisition; when the States peremptorily declined to hold any commu- nication direct or indirect with the King of Spain, the archduke, or the infanta ; but offered to surrender the towns they held in Germany, if the enemy would set the example, and the princes bind themselves to maintain a strict neutrality; observing, at the same time, that they did not desire to possess a foot of ground beyond their own boundaries' ' Bor, boek xxxvi., bl. 550, 883. 346 MAURICE, 1599 Thus wholly foiled in his attempt to obtain peace from the United Provinces, the archduke next turned his eyes to the Queen of England, to whom he wrote in terms expressive of the great desire of himself and the infanta to preserve peace with all their neighbours. She replied, that though equally anxious for peace VFith his highness, she was unable to enter into any treaty to that effect till she had first ascertained the opinions and inten- tions of her allies, the United Provinces™. To the States themselves, however, her language was of a far different and most dispiriting tenoxir, evincing unequi- vocal symptoms of her inclination to hearken to the overtures of the archduke. Peace, she said, was abso- lutely necessary to the welfare of her kingdom, and for the security of her person against the machinations, which the hopes of the speedy opening of the succes- sion to the English crown from her increasing years had given rise; adding, that her friendship towards them would always continue, if, avoiding the govern- ment of the houses of France and Austria, they should retain their freedom, or place their country under the sovereignty of a native prince, alluding to Prince leooJNIaurice. She did, in fact, in the next year send ambassadors to meet those of the archduke and King of Spain at Boulogne ; but, after having disputed the question of precedence for the space of three months, they separated without having made any progress". While thus pressed and harassed on all sides by importunities for peace, the States found themselves in no slight, though temporary, embarrassment, as regarded the means of continuing the war on which they were so determined. The fruitless preparation of the fleet against the West Indies, in the last year, had "> Meteren, boek xxi., fol. 468. » Grot, Hist., lib. viii., p. 6i2. Winwood's Memorial, vol. i. STADTHOLDEE. 347 involved the admiralty greatly in arrear ; and the 1600 arrest of the Dutch vessels in Spain had occasioned for the time a considerable diminution of trade. The province of Groningen, where the majority of the inhabitants were Catholics, had for three years refused to furnish its contingent, on the plea that it was levied in contravention of their privileges, alluding to such as had been granted by the King of Spain as a reward for their secession from the rest of the provinces in 1581. The necessitous state of their finances, and the fear of the precedent which would be thus afforded to the other provinces, obliged the States-General to enforce payment by the adoption of coercive measures, violent and unconstitutional in themselves, and of the most pernicious tendency in the present state of affairs. They dispatched a commission to the city, supported by a body of 1000 troops, who disarmed the burghers, (the latter yielding their arms without resistance,) and sent detachments of soldiers into the towns and villages of the Ommelande of Groningen, to collect such imposts as were due. The people of the Omme- lande, hereupon, were inclined to stop further pro- ceedings by an immediate payment of 100,000 guilders, which 1000 of the most wealthy individuals were willing to subscribe; but the citizens persisted in their contumacy, closed the doors of the council- chamber, and forced the government to remain in abeyance during a period of eight weeks. The com- missioners, therefore, finding that no remedy was left, except to proceed to extremities, obliged the most obstinate of the recusants to repair to the Hague, to answer for their conduct before the States-General, and commenced the erection of a citadel within the walls*. * This citadel was thrown down by order of the States-General six years after, when magistrates had been appointed upon whose fidelity 348 MAURICE, 1600 This method proved effectual; the citizens sent a deputation to the States, declaring their readiness to comply with all their demands. They were obliged, however, to pay an instalment of 400,000 guilders before they could obtain to an audience". The province of Zealand was likewise in arrear, her trade and navigation having been greatly embar- rassed by the privateers of Dunkirk, and in consequence of the hostilities committed by six of the enemy's galleys, which under the command of Frederic Spinola of Genoa had entered unperceived the harbour of Sluys. These vessels, rowed by Turkish slaves, took advantage of every occasion of a calm, to come out of the harbour and attack the merchant ships that were arrested in their progress, as they lay immoveable in the seas, unable either to resist or escape. The dues and customs of the admiralty were consequently so much decreased, that the States of the province offered to surrender all the revenues arising from this source, requiring that the States-General would either be satis- fied with that, or afford them some effective aid both in men and money. Holland and Utrecht, on the other hand, rich and powerful, were accustomed to advance the arrears of the other provinces, as well as to provide funds for any extraordinary contingency ; and the States of the former now consented to raise a loan sufficient to remedy the existing deficiency, and to double the property-tax of one half per cent, laid on in the last yearp. Prince Maurice, anxious to take advantage of the ° Bor, boek xxxvii., fol. 605, et seq. i> Meteren, boek xxii., fol. 473. Bor, boek xxxvi., bl. 521. both in civil and religious matters tliey could depend. Grot, Hist., lib. xvi., p. 718. STADTIiOLDER. 349 •widely-spread insurrection which prevailed among the 1600 archduke's troops, more especially those in the forts of Crevecoeur and St. Andrew, laid siege to the former, which he mastered with little difficulty. The garrison of St. Andrew, however, resisted all the solicitations which he used to induce them to surrender, and opposed to him a vigorous and spirited defence for nearly six weeks; until reduced to a state of extreme sickness, destitute of many of the necessaries of life, and despairing of all relief from without, since Prince Maurice, fortifying himself on the dykes, had sub- merged the whole of the surrounding country, they accepted the offer of a payment of 125,000 guilders which he made them, and delivered the fort into his hands. Nearly the whole of the troops entered into the service of the States, and being formed into a separate regiment, (to which the soldiers gave the name of the " New Gueux " from the ragged appear- ance they made on coming out of the fort,) were placed under the command of the young Prince Frederic Henry i. From hence Prince Maurice was desirous of pursuing his success along the course of the Meuse; but at the vivid instances of the Zealanders, who were greatly vexed and incommoded by the near neighbourhood of the enemy, he, in concert with the States-General, determined upon the invasion of Flan- ders. The rendezvous of the troops was, accordingly, appointed at Rammekens, in Walcheren, where nearly 1000 boats were collected, on board of which were embarked 12,000 infantry, with 3000 cavalry, four field- pieces, and thirty smaller pieces of artillery. Having waited in vain for some days for a fair wind to carry them to Ostend, they sailed up the Meuse, and landed at the Sas de Gand; the fort of Philippine, by which 1 Meteren, boek xxii., fol. 475. 350 MAURICE, 1600 it is defended, having been first captured by Count Ernest of Nassau. From thence, the prince began his march over-land tovs'ards Nieuport, a town of no great size, but well fortified, and situated at the mouth of a branch of the river Yperlee, which forms its harbour. Having taken possession of the forts on his route which he found abandoned, Maurice sat down before the town, hoping to effect its reduction ere the enemy could collect sufficient forces for its relief. But the archduke, repairing in person with the infanta to Diest, of which his mutinous troops held possession, the latter employed her entreaties, persuasions, and promises with such effect, that she prevailed with them again to join her husband's standard, though under the banner of their own "electo." With these, and the troops already in Brabant and Flanders, Albert found himself at the head of 10,000 infantry and 1500 horse, Fre- deric van den Berg being major-general, and the Admiral of Arragon commanding the cavalry, with Don Louis di Velasco as commandant of the artillery. Marching from Bruges, he first attacked Oldenburg, a fort commanding the passage between that town and Nieuport, and lately captured by Prince Maurice, which surrendered without resistance. The loss of this fort was followed by that of Snaaskerke, of which the garrison was massacred in cold blood after the surrender; and of Breden, which was abandoned. Maurice was impressed with the idea, that the enemy had not yet taken the field, and even then that the reduction of Oldenburg would detain him several days. The news of the archduke's rapid approach, there- fore, threw him into the greatest perplexity. He sent forward without delay Count Ernest of Nassau, with the Scottish regiment, under Colonel Edmonds, and a regiment of Zealanders, making together about 1900 STADTHOLDER. 351 men, with four troops of horse, to occupy a bridge 1600 at Leffingham on the road to Ostend, over which the hostile army must pass. Though he used all possible expedition, Ernest found on his arrival, the enemy already in possession of the post, who, remarking the smallness of his force, immediately advanced to the attack. His cavalry, seized with a sudden panic, rapidly gave way, and communicating their terror to the infantry, the rout soon became universal; the Zealanders fled towards Ostend, but the Scottish soldiers, heedlessly directing their course over the sand-hills towards the sea, were pursued and cut in pieces by the victors. Nine hundred were slain, and all their standards taken; but none were made pri- soners, since the archduke, who deemed himself certain of the destruction of Maurice's army, had, it is said, given orders that no lives should be spared except those of the prince himself and his brother, Frederic Henry, whom he had determined to send prisoners, bound hand and foot, into Spain '^. The time occupied by this calamitous encounter, enabled Maurice to transport his whole army across the harbour of Nieuport, which is fordable at low water, to the right bank of the Yperlee, where he drew up on the sands and adjacent downs to await the coming of the hostile forces. The van of his army was occupied by 2600 English infantry and 1800 Friez- landers, commanded by Sir Francis Vere, and his brother Horace; on the left of which, towards the sea, were placed Vere's ten troops of cavalry, and six pieces of artillery; the remainder of the cavalry under Louis of Nassau being stationed so as to be ready to give assistance where it was required. The main army, composed of French, Swiss, and Prince Henry's regi- ' Du Maurier, p. 230. 362 MAURICE, 1600 ment of "New Gueux," was commanded by Count George de Solmes; while the Hollanders and Utrech- ters, forming the reserve, was under the special direc- tion of Maurice himself, and led by Sir Oliver Temple. With the hostile town of Nieuport in the rear, the river and enemy's forts on the right, and the sea on the left, the only mode of retreat in case of a defeat was on board the ships, which must inevitably be attended Avith extreme confusion and danger; and it was not improbable that during the engagement the vessels themselves might be attacked by the garrison of Nieuport. Maurice, therefore, determined upon the bold and wise measure of cutting off all hopes of safety but in victory, by commanding the vessels to set sail for Ostend, as soon as the tide should serve. Before their departure, he earnestly exhorted the young Prince Henry to retire on board, that both might not perish at one blow; but his entreaties were without effect on the heroic boy, who expressed his resolute determination to share equally with his brother the dangers and glory of the day. At tliis juncture, a straggler from the enemy's camp, who allowed himself to be taken, gave intelligence of the defeat and flight of Count Ernest's detachment, which the prince was careful to conceal from the troops, causing a report to be spread that they had entered Ostend in safety. After the repulse of Count Ernest, the archduke hesitated for some time as to whether he should advance to the attack of the remainder of the army, or besiege a fort called Albert, which would cut off the communication between Prince IVIaurice's camp and Ostend. He was determined to the former course by the advice of the Spanish commanders, who urged, that the rebels would scarcely await their coming, and STADTHOLDEE. 353 would give no further trouble than that of putting 1600 them to flight*. He continued his march, therefore, along the sands, his army being separated into three divisions, of which the mutineers of Diest and the cavalry, under Mendoza, occupied the front; then followed the Spaniards and Italians in two detachments, accompanied by the archduke himself; the rear being brought up by the Walloons, under La Barlotte, and the Irish auxiliaries. The returning tide having narrowed the space between the sea and the downs, or sand- hills, a portion of the cavalry were obliged to proceed along a road in the latter, considerably harassed by two field-pieces, which Maurice had stationed so as to command it. The number of troops which the prince had left in the forts, with the loss of Count Ernest's detachment, had reduced his army to an equality with that of his opponent. In other respects also, their strength vpas nicely balanced; the situation depriving the allied troops of the advantage to be reaped from their superior dexterity, and from the quick and agile movements of their battalions, in which they greatly surpassed the Spaniards. On both sides were disci- plined and experienced troops, full of courage and ardour, these hoping to achieve by an easy victory, won under the eyes of their sovereign, the termination of a thirty years' war; those fighting for their freedom, their religion, the sanctity of their homes, and even for life itself. The shock of battle ^vas commenced by j„]y the English, under De Vere, who having taken up an 2nd. advantageous position on the sand-hills, was attacked by the van of the enemy's horse, followed by the musketeers; * This is one of the many instances to prove the error of passing judgment on the conduct of a general according to the event ; had the archduke not attacked the enemy on this occasion, there is little doubt that he would have been accused of having wantonly thrown away an opportunity of effecting the entire destruction of the States' armj-. VOL. ir. 2 A 354 MAURICE, 1600 here were concentrated the strength and fury of the contest; De Vere had told Prince Maurice, that, living or dead, he would this day deserve his thanks; and he well redeemed his pledge. Fighting in the foremost ranks, he forced the enemy's musketeers to give way, when a squadron of the main body coming to their support, the English were severely pressed in their turn. Every foot of the slippery and uncertain ground was alternately lost and won, with an intensity of toil of which it is scarcely possible to form an idea. "Vere himself was twice wounded, and had his horse killed under him; he, nevertheless, remained at his post till his brother Horace came up to take the command. The army of the archduke, anxious to gain the advantage of sun and wind, which were both in favour of their opponents, deployed, as far as the nature of the ground permitted, hoping to turn Prince Maurice's right flank, resting on the downs, or his left^ towards the sea. This was prevented, on the one hand, by Vere's troop of Friezlanders, and on the other, by a brisk charge of cavalry, under Louis of Nassau. A close fight now ensued between the main armies, when that of Prince Maurice appeared inclined to waver, but the prince, sending a fresh detachment under the Count de Solmes, restored their fainting courage. Meanwhile the artillery played incessantly on both sides; but after two or three murderous dis- charges, the enemy's cannons sunk deep into the sand, which rendered their subsequent fire of little effect; the Dutch had prudently raised theirs on floors formed of planks and hurdles, a circumstance which contri- buted, in no small degree, to the result of the battle. The combat had lasted four hours, each side pouring in fresh troops, until the whole of both armies, except a reserve of about 300 cavalry on the side of the STADTHOLDER. 355 Dutch, were engaged in a sharp and desperate struggle; 1600 all the resources which genius could suggest, or courage execute, had been employed by both the commanders to decide the balance of victory in favour of one or the other, but in vain. Maurice and his brother presented themselves in every part of the field, rousing the fainting and cheering the strong; the efforts of the archduke were no less strenuous; but the soldiers of both, who had tasted but little food or refreshment during the day, were now grown feeble and wearied. At length the English, from utter exhaustion, began slowly to retreat towards the cannon in the rear, when the archduke, hoping to achieve the victory by one bold stroke, ordered a general pursuit; at this moment. Prince Maurice, who had been on the watch to seize some such opportunity, made an unexpected and rapid charge with his reserve of cavalry; a movement which caused some confusion among the enemy. Perceiving this, the troops raised a sudden shout of victory, and rushed on to the attack with renewed ardour ; Francis de Vere, though severely wounded, with the assistance of his brother Horace, rallying his men with inconceiv- able celerity to join the onslaught. The enemy's cavalry first began to retreat, and the infantry were thrown into considerable disorder, when the archduke, eager to seize a chance that remained of restoring the fortune of the day, rode with his helmet off, before the mutineers of Diest, and vehemently exhorted them to renew the fight. While thus engaged, he received a severe wound in the face from the pike of a German soldier, which forced him to leave the field. His departure was the signal for a general fiight. The soldiers, scattered in every direction, made their escape, favoured by the approaching darkness; four regiments of Germans only retreating in their ranks. About 2 A 2 356 MAURICE, 1600 3000 were killed in the battle and pursuit, of whom 250 were officers, and the whole of their artillery and standards taken; the Admiral of Arragon, with many other noblemen, were made prisoners; the archduke himself narrowly escaped capture, but the superb white charger, on which he had made his "joyeuse entree," and several pages and officers of his house- hold, fell into the hands of Prince Maurice, who immediately restored the latter v>'ithout ransom. Tears gushed from the eyes of ]Maurice, when he beheld the victory certain; he felt that his country was saved; and, dismounting for a moment, he knelt down on the field of battle, and offi?red up a short, but heartfelt thanksgiving to the Almighty: "What are we, O Lord," he exclaimed, " that thou hast enlarged us with thy bounty ! Glory be to thy name for ever^" The wearied condition of the troops, and the number of wounded, together with the darkness of the night, and the danger from the hostile forts in the vicinity, deterred Maurice from pursuing the fugitives to any distance. Neither was the victory purchased without bloodshed on the side of the conquerors; 1000 remained dead on the field, of whom 600 were English, besides those who had perished in the defeat of the morning. The prince continued the whole night in a tent pitched upon the spot, and entertained at supper his illustrious captive, the Admiral Mendoza, to whom he observed, in a tone of good-humoured raillery, that "he was more fortunate than all his army, since, having for four years desired to visit Holland, he had now an opportunity of doing so." The admiral Avas sent, a few days after, to Woerden, and subsequently exchanged, together with the x-est of the captives, and the governors of the Canary and ' Lett, of Uytenbogaart, in Bor, bosk xxxvii., bl. 657. STADTHOLDER. 357 St. Thomas's islands, for all the prisoners of war, 1600 inhabitants or allies of the United Provinces, within the dominions of the King of Spain and the archduke, including those whom the king had seized in the Dutch ships, and forced to work as galley-slaYes. The standards, more than 100 in number, were deposited in the great saloon of the provincial court at the Hague'. The situation of the States-General during the battle, who had followed the army to Ostend, to be ready with their assistance and advice, and to provide necessaries for the campaign, had been anxious in the extreme; their own safety and that of the republic was now, they felt, placed upon the cast of a single die; the fugitives from the forts recaptured by the arch- duke, came continually into the city, followed by those who had escaped from the slaughter of Count Ernest's troops, each bringing news of disaster and defeat ; the deputies spent nearly the whole of that eventful day in prayers for the success of their countrymen, their consternation being so great, that they neglected to send 600 cavalry, in garrison there, to secure the bridge of Leffingham; which, if they had doue, they Avould inevitably have made themselves masters of the person of the archduke". The results of this famous battle were, except iu regard to the moral effects it produced on the feelings of the belligerents, chiefly negative ; a defeat would probably have involved the subjugation, if not the utter destruction, of the republic, in the loss of her only army, and all her most eminent men ; but the ' Bataille de Nieuport, e'crite par le Chcv. Fra. Vere. Meteren, boek xxii., fol. 480—484. Grot. Hist., lib. ix., p. 566—670. Bor, boek xxxvii., bl. 649—663, 670. " Meteren, boek xxii., fol. 484. 358 MAURICE, 1600 consequences of the victory were in surprising dispro- portion to its magnitude. The States at this juncture committed a grave fault, by insisting that Prince Maurice should pursue the design upon Nieuport, instead of at once attacking the surrounding forts, which would have given them the command of the open country in Flanders, and which they, in conse- quence, left the archduke leisure to strengthen. The prince, in obedience to their dictates, though contrary to his own judgment, recommenced the siege, but Albert, having rapidly reassembled his scattered troops, enabled La Barlotte to throw a succour of 2500 men into the town, which circumstance, coupled with the incessant heavy rains, induced JNIaurice to retire within a few days ; when, hopeless of being able to undertake any further enterprise of importance, he sent his cavalry to Brabant, and embarking his infantry for Zealand, returned himself to Holland. It is supposed that at this time the seeds were sown of that mutual mistrust and animosity between Prince Maurice and the States, ^'hich afterwards increased to an uncon- trolled and ruinous excess; that the enemies of both represented the latter as valiant in giving counsel when they themselves were exempt from danger, but hesitating not to sacrifice the general and army to their anxiety for their own safety; while Oldenbar- neveldt and other clear-sighted patriots among the States began to entertain suspicions that the prince would, at no distant day, make use of the support of the army to grasp at more authority than was con- sistent Avith the liberties of his country''. However this may be, it is certain that the States now began for the first time to hearken to the proposals of accom- ' Grot. Hist, lib. ix., p. 571. Waarachtige, Historie van J. Oldenb., bl. 407. STADTHOLDEE. 359 modation made by the Spanish provinces, which they 1600 had before constantly and peremptorily rejected. Pre- viously to the battle of Nieuport, the archduke had found himself obliged, by the necessity of his affairs, to summon a general assembly of the States, in order to devise means as well for providing for the payment of the troops as for procuring a peace, of which he professed himself equally desirous with his subjects, and that he would readily listen to, and embrace with open arms, any method they might propose to that effect. The States replied, that the reasons why Holland and Zealand showed themselves so constantly averse to any accommodation, were first, because they saw that, notwithstanding their highnesses had sworn to maintain the privileges of the Netherlands, many of the principal towns and forts were in the hands of Spanish governors; secondly, that individuals of the same nation were permitted to fill the principal offices of the State ; thirdly, that by the terms of the transfer, their highnesses had sworn never to permit liberty of conscience in their dominions ; fourthly, that the Netherlands by the same transfer were regarded as a fief of Spain ; a fifth difficulty was found in the prohi- bition to carry on the trade with India; and finally, the deficiency of any security that the peace would be observed with exactitude on the part of the arch- dukes ; to obviate which last ground of mistrust, they proposed that it should be made an express condition of the treaty, that if any one of its articles were violated by the archdukes, the States-General of the Nether- lands should be thereby absolved from their oath of allegiance, and bind themselves to assist Holland and Zealand with all their power^. But, notwithstanding these favourable dispositions manifested towards them, " Meteren, boek xxii., fol. 477. 360 MAURICE, 1600 the United Provinces at that time paid little regard to the propositions made for holding a conference. Now, however, the States-General consented to receive the deputies from the States of the Spanish provinces at Bero-en-op-Zoom. In answer to their remonstrances, setting forth the miseries of war, and exhorting the United Provinces to lay aside the " mask of mistrust," and enter into the negotiation in good faith and sin- cerity, the States replied, through the advocate, Olden- barneveldt, that they were perfectly willing to treat on the footing, that the Netherlanders should join arms with them in expelling the foreigners ; adding, that the Netherlands once freed from the dominion of Spain and the archdukes, it would be easy to frame such a con- stitution of government that men of all religions might live under it in freedom and peace. But the Spanish Netherlands, those provinces upon whose wealth the emperor Charles V. himself had depended in great measure for support, were now reduced to such a state of poverty as to be no longer able to maintain them- selves on their own resources ; and as the abandonment of the archdukes must inevitably involve the stoppage of all further supplies from Spain, the deputies, making a merit of necessity, declared their resolution to adhere firmly to their present sovereigns; and the States- General of the United Provinces being on their side irrevocably determined in no case to acknowledge them as such, it was found impossible to make any advance in the negotiations, which therefore termi- nated. The effect of the meeting was, however, so far favourable to the archduke, that the States, seeing no hope of an accommodation, voted him a liberal supply towards the support of the war ; they desired, at the same time, that they might place the funds destined for the payment of the native troops in the STADTHOLDER. 361 hands of commissioners appointed by themselves ; but 1600 this was at once refused by the archduke, who feared, not without reason, that, being thus separated from the remainder of the army, they would one day join with the troops of the United Provinces in expelling the Spaniards from the Netherlands''. The United Provinces likewise made vigorous preparations for the prosecution of hostilities. The Council of State prevailed with the States-General to levy a duty of a guilder upon every hearth ; and despatched commissioners to the States of each of the provinces, to represent the condition of affairs, and to urge them to speedy resolutions upon the ways and means for supplying the present exigencies y. Besides the expenses of the land forces, it had now become a matter of paramount necessity to provide some addi- tional protection for the fisheries, which constantly suffered extensive damages from the pirates of Dun- kirk, who had been directed by the archduke to attack and destroy the Dutch herring busses. Most of the people engaged in this peaceful occupation belonged, at that time, to the sect of Mennonite Anabaptists, according to whose tenets the use of weapons of death, even in self-defence, is unlawful ; and as their insuffi- cient convoys were soon overpowered, they became an unresisting prey to their assailants, who sunk their boats, and put them to death with circumstances of atrocious cruelty. Their losses were in some degree revenged by the execution done by a galley, built at Dordrecht, of forty-eight feet long, called " the Black Galley of Dort," which, rowing in a dark night up the Scheldt, came before the walls of Antwerp, where the crew, consisting of Hollanders, captured a man-of-war armed with three rows of guns, and seven smaller ' Boi-, boek xxxvii., bl. 677. ? Idem, bl. 685. 362 MAURICE, 1600 vessels, all of which they towed out of the harbour in triumph, the trumpeters playing the national tune of "WUlem^*." 1601 Prince Maurice having, early in the year, reassem- bled his forces, to the number of 10,000 infantry and 3000 horse, commenced the campaign in an auspicious manner, by the reduction of Rhynberg and JVIeurs, both of which towns the States now determined to fortify and garrison with their own troops, trusting no longer to the neutrality of the German princes ^ Meanwhile, the archduke, at the vehement solicita- tions of the people of Flanders, who suffered perpetual damages from the excursions of the garrison of Ostend, made preparations for the siege of that town. Ostend, the Troy of modern history, is situated on the sea-shore, among the numerous sand-hills, which, as it is well knoAvn, form a distinguishing feature of the coast of the Netherlands ; the mouth of a small branch of the river Yperlee forming its harbour on the west side. Until the present war, it was nothing more than an open fishing village, which, in 1572, the inhabitants surrounded with palissades and wooden gates, to pre- vent the continued passage through it of the troops; regular fortifications were afterwards commenced in 1578, and, improved by William of Orange, in 1583, were continually added to from that time, until it had, by degTees, become one of the strongest places in the Netherlands; the ramparts, about three miles in cir- ^ Grot. Hist., lib. ix., p. 675, 676. ■ Meteron, boek xxiii., fol. 498. * This celebrated song, which has been to the Dutch, in turn, a hymn of gratitude, a note of patriotism, and a warwhoop of party spirit, and was often attended with the same electrifying effects on them as the " Banz des Vaches" on the Swiss, was composed in honour of William, the late prince of Orange. The author is not known with certainty, but is generally supposed to have been Philip Mai-nix, lord of St. Aldegonde, though it has been ascribed to one Dirk Volkertson Koomheet, as com- posed about the yeai- 1572,— Brandt, boek x., bl, 535. STADTHOLDEE. 363 cumference, being protected from without by numerous 1601 redoubts and outworks. Within a few years from this period, the sea had gradually formed a new harbour on the eastern side, which, at ebb tide, was eighteen feet deep in the interior, and no more than three at its mouth; and the inhabitants having levelled the sur- rounding sand-hills, the water, at spring tides, covered a space of 3000 or 4000 square yards. The garrison, consisting of 2100 infantry, besides the burgher guard, was now reinforced by 1000 additional infantry, under Huchtenbroek, and 2600 English troops of De Vere, who was now made governor of Ostend," and at whose desire they had been summoned from the camp of Prince Maurice, before Rhynberg. On the 5th of July, the archduke despatched Frederic van den Berg, with four regiments of infantry, to take up a position at the east of the town, while Don Augustus di Mexia, commanding a force of 8000 foot and 400 cavalry, encamped towards the south-west. As Van den Berg, in consequence of the width of the harbour and the numerous canals, was unable to carry his approaches sufficiently near to effect any damage upon the walls, he directed his efforts principally towards preventing the passage of vessels into the harbour, and filling up the entrance by means of fascines and sandbags ; both of which attempts, however, proved wholly unsuccessful. The western side, the oldest and weakest part of the town, was defended by a double redoubt, raised on a sand-hill of some height in the outskirts ; and to this point, the force and activity of the besiegers, under Mexia, was chiefly directed. They kept up an inces- sant fire upon the redoubt from their batteries, the roar of the artillery being so tremendous as to be sometimes heard, it is affirmed, even in London''. I" Meteren, boek xxiii., fol. 499. 364 MAURICE, 1601 But their efforts were attended -witli little effect, the breaches being repaired by the besieged almost as soon as made. On the other hand, the besiegers were greatly incommoded by the inundation of the land around their camp, in consequence of the defenders having cut through a dyke between the sea and the downs, by which they let in the water, so as to render Ostend a perfect island. The enormous expenses lavished in this siege, and the extraordinary resources employed by both sides, soon rendered it so famous, that people flocked in crowds from all parts to behold it ; the brother of the King of Denmark, and the Earl of Northumberland, were at one time within the walls; and the King of France himself came to Calais, that he might be able to obtain more speedy intelligence of its progress, or perhaps to afford the besieged, if pos- sible, secret assistance. The Count of Chatillon, son of the renowned Admiral de Coligny, who had the com- mand of the French volunteers, was killed at an early period of the siege by a cannon-ball. To recount the daring deeds, extraordinary ventures, and hairbreadth escapes, which were constantly occurring, would fill a volume ; the familiarity with danger, ere long, rendered the troops on both sides so indifferent to its presence^ that they were accustomed to walk amidst the showers of balls, which were [pouring incessantly around them, as unconcernedly as if engaged on a party of pleasure. The archdukes, residing principally at Nieuport, were accustomed to pay frequent visits to the entrenchments on the west side, Isabella passing fearlessly in her carriage before the fire of the artillery from the town; it is even said, that she sometimes applied the match to the cannon Avith her own hand, and that whenever the sound of the artillery ceased at Nieuport, she STADTHOLDER. 365 became dissatisfied, and sent express commands tliat 1601 the firing should be kept up continually''. The number of troops, and the immense funds required for the defence of Ostend, had left Prince Maurice so poorly supplied, that he was in doubt what enterprise he might be able to undertake for the pur- pose of calling off the enemy's army from the siege ; nearly the whole of the autumn was passed in debates on this subject, when, at length, it was determined to invest Bois-le-Duc, a town which, though slightly garri- soned, was filled with burghers, well armed and trained, and capable of presenting a vigorous resistance. This measure so far effected a diversion, that Count Frederic van den Berg was despatched from the camp before Ostend to its relief; but the winter setting in pre- maturely, and with extreme severity. Prince Maurice feared lest the enemy might take advantage of the frozen state of the rivers and marshes, to attempt an invasion of Holland, and thought it therefore expedient to raise the siege, and remove his artillery to the neighbourhood of Heusden''. The rough season was equally unpropitious to the garrison of Ostend. A strong north-east wind blowing at the spring tide, did extensive damage to the fortifi- cations, which the besieged were scarcely able to repair with the requisite expedition, since a terrible sickness had broken out among them, particularly the English ; and this, with the desertion it ' occasioned, and the facility with which the soldiers obtained leave of absence from their commander, had reduced them from near 8000, their number in July, to 3000, before the end of September. In this enfeebled condition, Vere obtained intelligence, through a prisoner, that the archduke had formed a plan of a general assault, <^ Meteren, boek xxiii., fol. 500, 645. ■" Grot. Hist., lib. x., p. 689. 366 MAURICE, 1601 which, if carried into effect, must ensure their inevit- able destruction. In order to gain time, therefore, he proposed a parley, to which the archduke consented, and a truce by land was accordingly agreed upon. Vere sent hostages into the besieging camp, and the archduke commissioned deputies to repair to Ostend for the purpose of agreeing upon the terms of a sur- render. During the time occupied by the prelimi- naries, a reinforcement of Zealand troops eiFected an entrance, when Vere informed the deputies, that the necessity of his affairs only had induced him to propose negotiations, which he had no authority from the States to continue ; retaining them, however, tiU his hostages should be restored to him in safety. As the report of the surrender had been widely spread, and numbers had flocked from the neighbouring towns to witness the event, the indignation of Albert, at finding himself 1602 ttiis duped, was excessive, and prompted him, notwith- standing the change that had taken place in the posi- tion of affairs, to persist in the execution of his original design. He accordingly ordered a general assault to be commenced on the side of the old harbour, where, as it has been observed, the town was weakest ; but Vere, to whom a deserter had given intimation of the purpose, had taken measures for a resolute defence. On attempting to cross the harbour, which is nearly dry at low water, the assailants found themselves exposed to a heavy fire from seven mortars*, stationed at the entrance, and had scarcely reached the middle, when the English opening two sluices, by which the waters were retained in the fosses, the flood rushed out with such impetuosity, that great numbers of cavalry, * The bomb, invented, as it has been observed, in the year 1587-8, by an artisan of Venice, was extensively used by Prince Maurice, both in the attack and defense of towns. STADTHOLDER, 367 as well as infantry, were carried out into the sea. 1602 The few who escaped drowning, were forced to make a hasty retreat. A resistance equally successful was offered in other quarters ; when, after a desperate con- test, of nearly two hours' duration, the besiegers were obliged to retire, with a loss of 1500 men ; only forty of the garrison being killed, though several, among whom was Horace Vere, were wounded^. Ostend had now been invested six months, during which time it had sustained the fire of 161,500 shots, and as yet not a step was advanced towards its reduction. The besieged having possession of the harbours, were con- stantly and amply supplied with every necessary ; and reinforcements of troops could at any time be thrown in with little difficulty. During the space of fifteen days in the month of September, in the preceding year, the Lord of Warmont convoyed thither 170 boats, laden with bread, fuel, &c., and immense quanti- ties of ammunition ; provisions, indeed, were so cheap and abundant within the walls, that a barrel of the best Delft beer was sold for five guilders. The damage done by the artillery was quickly and ably repaired, insomuch, 4hat the fortifications appeared daily to become stronger ; and as a defence against the red-hot balls, incessantly poured in by the besiegers, the inhabitants had covered all the houses with sodsf In spite, however, of these circumstances, of the severity of the season, and of the mutinous disposition evinced by his troops, the archduke was immovably determined to persevere to the end, cost what it would. He obtained from King Philip a large supply of money and a number of Spanish and Italian galleys, under the command of Frederic Spinola, [manned with crews sought out from all parts of the world ; he invited to " Meteren, Ijoek xxiii., fol. 606. ' Idem, fol. 499. 368 MAURICE, 1602 his camp the most able engineers from every country in Europe, who employed one invention after another to stop up the mouth of the eastern harbour; but before their works were completed, they were fired or destroyed by the artillery of the besieged; and, not unfrequently, a single tide carried away every vestige of the incessant labour of many days. Barracks were erected for the soldiers; the officers began to build themselves houses in the environs; and a new town gradually rose up before the astonished eyes of the inhabitants of Ostend. The States-General, on their side, were no less resolute ; they ordered that the garrison should be charged every four or six months, to preserve the health of the troops; in consequence of which, Vere was superseded by Frederic van Dorp, a Zealander ; and although the defence was carried on at the cost of 100,000 guilders a month, besides the pay of the soldiers, they passed an unanimous decree, that it should be maintained as long as possible, whatever number of years the siege might continue s. During the winter and spring, the belligerents con- tinued to make their levies with increased spirit and activity. The States, assisted with a small sum of money by the Queen of England, enlisted 6000 men in that country, and raised, likewise, a body of 2400 horse in Germany. The archduke, on the other hand, having satisfied the mutineers of Weert with the arrears of their pay, induced them to return to their duty, and received from Italy a reinforcement of 8000 Spaniards and Italians, conducted by Ambrose Spinola (the bro- ther of Frederic Spinola, above mentioned), and raised almost wholly at his own expense. After their arrival, the army, amounting to 20,000 infantry and 3000 cavalry, was once more placed under the command of « Meteren, boek xxiii., fol. 506. STADTHOLDER. 369 Mendoza, who had been released some time before 1602 from his imprisonment in Holland. The force of Prince Maurice was nmiibered at 18,000 foot and 5000 horse, supplied with ammunition, material, and every other necessary, in extraordinary abundance*'. Nothing, however, was eifected on either side at all commensurate with these great preparations. The achievements of Maurice were limited to the reduction of Grave, the chief town of the ancient barony of Cuyck ; and the movements of the archduke's army were paralyzed by a sedition more formidable than any that had yet appeared. From the instant of the arrival of the fresh troops of Italians, the desertion among them was so extensive, that Mendoza found it neces- sary to remain at a distance fi-om Prince Maurice's camp ; but, notwithstanding all the precautions he could adopt, more than two-thirds either made their escape or openly revolted. The mutineers, being joined by numbers of their comrades, took possession of Ploogstradt, ■whence they conducted their system of pillage in a regular manner, and maintained, under their " electo," as strict a discipline as that to which they had been accustomed under their legitimate com- manders'. Hoping to arrest these disorders, the arch- duke dismissed the commander, Mendoza, who was detested by the soldiers for his severity, and despised for his servile devotion to the priests, which obtained for him the cognomen of the " Great Commander of the R osary." Mendoza returned to Spain, where, after his long services, he met with a very cold reception from his young sovereign. At the same time, Albert issued a ban against such of the rebels as did not return to their duty within three days, by which they were con- !> Meteren, boek xxiv., fol. 513. ' Grot., lib. xi., p. 604. VOL. II. 2 B 370 MAtJRICE, 1602 demned to death, their property confiscated, and a reward oifered to any persons who should seize or kill them''. But as the mutineers were in considerable force, and had fortified themselves strongly in Hoog- stradt, this edict served rather to irritate than alarm them. They published a manifesto, justifying their conduct, in terms of unexampled insolence and con- tumely, reproaching the archduke with presenting himself at the head of his army only when there was nothing to be done ; Avith diverting the funds destined for their payment towards supporting the luxuries of his court; and observed, that it ill agreed with his reputation for wisdom, to issue an edict, decreeing the punishment of death against those who were powerful enough to destroy all who should attempt to inflict it. They forced the counties of Juliers, Cleves, and Liege to pay them heavy contributions; and sent to Antwerp for 500,000 florins, with a menace, that, if their demand were not complied with in five days, they would inundate the land and set fire to the windmills; they did, in fact, bum down Waveren and several other villages in Brabant. All the stragglers from the rest of the army whom they feU in with, they forced to join them, or stripped of their amis and hoi-ses; and maintained intelligence in most of the neighbouring towns, and even in Brussels itself. Their force was too great, and the disposition of the rest of the troops too uncertain, to admit of the archduke's attackino- them openly; and they had, moreover, obtained permission from the United Provinces to retire to Bergen-op- Zoom or Breda, in case of necessity. In this difficulty he employed the good ofiices of Frangipani, the pope's nuncio, who repaired to the camp of the insurgents for the purpose of efiecting a compromise; he was honour- ■■ Meteren, boek xxiy., fol. 51C. STADTHOLDER. 371 ably received, but they refused in absolute terms to 1602 treat with the archduke, unless the proscription were first withdrawn and some strong town ceded to them ; conditions to which Albert would not, as might be expected, listen for a momenti. While the enemy's army was thus disabled by sedition, Louis of Nassau, with a small band of troops, entered the duchy of Lux- emburg, which, as the people were forbidden by the governor. Count Ernest of Mansfeldt, to pay contri- butions, was ravaged in a deplorable manner. The affairs of the archduke were equally unprosperous on sea as on land. Eight galleys which had been sent under Spinola for the purpose of occupying the harbour of Ostend, fell in with some English ships near St. Ubes, when two of them were burnt, and a carack, by which they were accompanied, taken. The remaining six, sailing towards Flanders, found four Dutch ves- sels, one English, and a pinnace, awaiting their arrival in the straits of Dover; under cover of a fog, they attempted to escape by coasting along the shore of England, and thus reached Gravelingues, closely pur- sued by their enemies; here an engagement ensued, when one Soal, the captain of a vessel belonging to Ploorn, struck against a galley, which soon after foundered; another shared the same fate; two more were driven disabled on the coast of Flanders; and of the remaining two, one was wrecked off Calais, and the other, on board of which was the admiral, reached Dunkirk only by dint of the strenuous efforts of the rowers "'*- ' Meteren, boek xxiv., fol. 619, 620. " Idem, boek xi., fol. 620. * It was a source of considerable gratification to the sailors, that these happened to he the identical galleys on which their countrymen, arrested in the ports of Spain in 1699, had been forced to work as slaves. 2 B 2 372 MAURICE, 1602 In this year is dated the erection of the famed Dutch East India Company, a source of immense wealth to Holland, and of continual heartburnings and jealousies between herself and other nations. The groundwork of this company had been formed, as it has been observed, by a few merchants of Amsterdam in 1595; and, notwithstanding the losses and disasters subsequently occasioned by the combined hostility of the natives and Portuguese, the trade had become yearly more profitable, and the public appetite for it had constantly and rapidly increased. The comman- ders of the Dutch vessels had been able to obviate in some measure the effects of the misrepresentations of the Spaniards and Portuguese on the minds of the people of India, and had made alliances with the islanders of Banda, and the King of Ternate, and of Candy in the island of Ceylon. The Sovereign of Achem, who had hitherto shown himself the most bitter enemy of the Dutch, was induced by the captains of two Zealand vessels to send ambassadors to the United Provinces, in order to convince himself that the Dutch were not, as the Spaniards and Portu- guese had represented them, a band of pirates, but a nation renowned equally for wealth and integrity, who desired to share the blessings of peace and commerce with all the world except Spain. One of the ambas- sadors died on his arrival, and was honourably interred at Middleburg; the other visited Prince Maurice in his camp before Grave, where he was received with extreme magnificence; and on this occasion, a league of amity and commerce was concluded between the King of Achem and the prince, in the name of the States. On his return, the ambassador filled the whole country with the fame of the power and excellence of STADTHOLDER. 373 the Dutch nation"*. Under these favourable circum- 1602 stances, companies were established in several tovras both of Holland and Zealand; but they perceived, ere long, that they unconsciously inflicted extensive damage on each other, inasmuch as some of the. ves- sels on their arrival at the Spice Islands found either, that the market was already forestalled, or that the competition of the buyers induced the native traders to raise the prices upon them; while, on the other hand, the quantity of wares they brought back at one time, often occasioned a glut in the market at home. For this reason, the States determined upon consoli- dating all the companies into one general East India Company, which for a term of twenty-one years should have the exclusive privilege of navigating east of the Cape of Good Hope, and west of the Straits of Magellan. The number of directors was not to be increased for ten years after the first granting of the charter; and on a vacancy occurring it was to be filled up by one whom the States should choose out of a triple number, nominated by the remainder; the capital amounting to 6,600,000 guilders, belonged half to Amsterdam, a fourth to Zealand, and a sixteenth each to Delft, Rotterdam, Hoorn, and Enkhuyzen; the shares in the two latter towns to be 500 guilders, in the former 1000; the company was empowered to make alliances with the sovereigns of India in the name of the States or chief magistrate of the prov- inces!, to build forts, and appoint governors taking the oath to the States". " Meteren, boek xxiv., fol. 511, 512. " Groot Plakfiatb., deel i., bl. 529. * Among other absurd fabrications, the Spaniards had made the people of India believe that themselves and the Portuguese v»-ere the only vphite men in Europe, and that the Dutch were merely pirates of those nations. t As the natives of India had no other idea of government than the 374 MAURICE, 1602 Not the least of the advantages expected from the formation of this company, was the concentration of their force to oppose the attacks of the King of Spain, who had from the first applied all his efforts to put a stop to their traffic; and it rarely happened that the mer- chant vessels of the two nations met in the Eastern seas M'ithout a fierce engagement, which, however, ended most frequently in favour of the Dutch. The company, therefore, commenced operations by the equipment of a fleet of fourteen armed vessels, of which AVybrand van Warwyk was appointed admiral. Wybrand remained nearly five years abroad, and in the year 1606 discovered the island to which he gave the name of Mauritius p. Ig03 An event now happened, the death, namely, of the Queen of England, which was the cause of deep grief and perplexity to the States''. Elizabeth had, it is true, shown herself neither a generous protector towards the Dutch people, nor a forbearing ally; she had in the time of their utmost need, by her harsh demands of payment, made them feel painfully the weight of their obligations to her; she had, after refusing their sovereignty constitutionally offered to her, sought to obtain an undue influence in their affairs, by widening their intestine dissensions; she had encouraged her vassal, the Earl of Leicester, in all the haughty and Illegal proceedings he had adopted during his government; and had viewed every step they advanced towards greatness and independence with an ill-disguised jealousy. Yet, notwithstanding the faults p Meteren, boek xxiv., fol. 513; boek xsv., fol. 540; boek xxviii., fol. 614. ". Idem, boek xxv., fol. 531. simple one of a monareliy, and could never be brought to understand the sovereignty of the States, alliances -were usually concluded with them in the name of the stadtholder. STADTHOLDER. 375 arising from the parsimony of her disposition, or the 1603 uncertainty of her temper, her merits towards them were such as they could scarcely forget. In the com- mencement of their apparently hopeless contest, the moral force with which the support of the wisest, and (as she proved herself) the most powerful monarch in Europe imbued their cause, was incalculable; in giving them early and prompt assistance against their sovereign, she had yielded her most cherished preju- dices of unlimited prerogative and passive obedience, to her zeal for the Reformed religion, or her clear- sighted views of the interests of her people — a rare example among princes, who too often sacrifice the welfare and happiness of whole nations to their slightest caprices; nor had she been deterred from manifesting her friendship towards them, by the fear of the inevi- table consequence of drawing the common enemy to her own shores. From James I., her successor, they had nothing to expect, but that he would conclude an immediate peace with their foes, without regard to them; if, indeed, he were not induced to surrender the towns which he held in his hands, as its price; and they feared, with but too much reason, that the indefinite levies of troops, which they had always been permitted to make in the queen's dominions, would henceforth be impeded. As the great object of the States was now, how- ever, to conciliate the good will of the new sovereign, which, they well knew, the manifestation of sorrow for the loss of his predecessor was by no means the readiest mode of effecting, they commanded a general thanksgiving to be held in honour of his happy acces- sion, and dispatched a magnificent embassy to England, composed of Prince Frederic Henry, Barneveldt, Wal- rave van Brederode, and the most illustrious men of 876 MAURICE, 1603 the provinces, to congratulate him upon the event, and to solicit the continuance of the friendship which the late queen had constantly evinced tovcards them ; praying at the same time, that he would grant them immediate succours for the relief of Ostend. With some general expressions of good will towards the provinces*, James professed his inclination for peace, and excused himself from entering into any treaty till he should be better informed of the real state of affairs. At the same time, the archduke dispatched the Count of Aremberg to the court of London, together with John Baptist Taxis, on the part of Spain, to propose negotiations for a peace, and forbad any further hostilities to be exercised against the English vessels on the coasts of the Netherlands. James, however, signified to the States through Sir Ralph Winwood, the English member of the Council of State, that he would conclude no treaty with Spain, or the archduke, without first giving them notice''. ■• Meteren, boek xxv., fol. 531, 532. * We are informed hy Sully, (Mem., torn, iv., liv. 14, p. 238,) then Marquis de Rosny, and ambassador from France, to the court of James on his accession, that, before the king heard of his appointment, he refused to see Prince Frederic Henry, and applied to the States, in public, the epithets of traitors and rebels. But as neither Meteren nor Grotius mention any thing of the kind, it may be suspected, that it was an exaggeration of Sully to magnify his own importance; a disposition which he betrayed on all occasions, and which formed an alloy to his high talents and many sterling virtues ; particularly as it is impossible to divine, how the news of his departure from Paris could have effected such a change in the feelings of James, whatever his presence might have done; and he himself says a little lower down, (p. 240,) that he sought from Oldenbameveldt for information, as to the king's views and dispo- sitions both towards France and the States, which his personal acquaint- ance with James enabled him to give. According to the author of the Life of Oldenbameveldt also, they had many conferences with the king before the arrival of the ambassadors from the King of France. (Sceven van J. Olden., bl. 39.) With respect to the epithet of rebels, it was not only on this, but on very frequent occasions, that James was pleased to designate the States as such. STADTHOLDER. 377 Albert was the more anxious for a peace with 1603 England, as his affairs in the Netherlands continued to prosper but ill. In addition to the mutiny among the troops, dissensions had arisen between the commanders of his army; the Italian and Netherland officers refus- ing to obey the Spaniards, and the latter, in their turn, disdaining to submit to the authority of Don Louis di Velasco. The Duke of Aarschot having raised a levy of 4000 Walloons, with the understanding that they were to be paid by the States, they immediately dis- persed upon the archduke's taking the payment into his own hands. The mutineers themselves also per- sisted in their contumacy, sufficiently testifying their determination not to surrender, by the execution of some among them who were suspected of an under- standing with the commander Count Frederic van den Berg. Van den Berg, thereupon, besieged them in Hoogstradt, when they immediately solicited the assistance of Prince Maurice, who marched with a force of 12,000 men to their relief. At his approach. Van den Berg made a rapid, but orderly retreat, the pursuit of Maurice being hindered by the rains and bad condition of the roads, which embarrassed the march of his infantry. The enemy's army having thus escaped him, the prince wrote to the States for per- mission to lay siege to Bois-le-Duc; but they recom- mended rather that he should make an incursion into Flanders. They subsequently left it to his discretion; but in consequence of their indecision, a delay of eight days was occasioned, of which time the archduke availed himself, to take measures for the defence of Bois-le-Duc^. Maurice, nevertheless, persisted in his design, and threw up his entrenchments before the town, not with the hope of reducing it, since his ■ Meteren, Ijoek xxv,, fol. 634. Grot. Hist., lib. xii., p. 629. 378 MAURICE, 1603 forces were insufficient either to surround or carry it by assault, but in order, by employing the enemy, to prevent their accomplishing the purpose they enter- tained of transferring the seat of war within the boundaries of the United Provinces. He was closely followed by Van den Berg, who also entrenched him- self in the vicinity of Bois-le-Duc, and thus the two armies remained encamped opposite each other for the space of three months, during which period but one skirmish occurred of any importance, when Prince Maurice came off victorious, until the approach of winter obliged them to retire. If the hostilities on land were unproductive of any advantage to the arch- duke, those by sea were attended with severe loss. Frederic Spinola, after the destruction of the galleys he brought from Spain, had taken the command of those stationed at Sluys, eight in number, together with four frigates. On attempting to leave the harbour, the vessels were attacked by two ships and two galleys from Holland and Zealand, and, notwith- standing their great superiority both in numbers and strength, were totally defeated, and Spinola himself with three hundred men killed; the loss on the part of the victors was but trifling*. 1604 The States, resuming on the approach of spring their purpose of diverting the enemy from the siege of Ostend by undertaking an expedition into Flanders, Maurice collected the whole of his disposable force in Walcheren, and, accompanied by the deputies of the States-General, and some members of the Council of State, set sail for that province. But in this instance, Maurice, whether from inadvertence, or that he wished to assert his independence of the deputies by acting in opposition to their advice, committed a gi-ave, and ' Grot. Hist., lib. xii., p. 626. STADTHOLDEB. 379 almost irreparable error. Instead of directing his 1604 course to the Zwin, in which case Sluys must have fallen at once into his hands, as it was almost unde- fended, he landed in the island of Cadsand, and occupied much valuable time in the reduction of the neighbouring forts, which enabled Spinola to throw a strong garrison into Sluys. Having mastered Cadsand and the forts of Philippine and St. Catherine, with some smaller ones, Maurice at length sat down before Sluys; Velasco, who attempted to oppose his passage, being defeated with a loss of 800 men. In consequence of the intelligence he obtained, that the numerous garrison within the walls, was but scantily supplied with provision, he resolved to reduce the town by famine, and invested it closely on all sides. On the signals of distress made by the inhabitants, the arch- duke commanded Spinola to quit the camp before Ostend, and march with an effective force to its relief; an order with which he unwillingly complied. At the head of 3000 foot, he attempted to force the besiegers' entrenchments, but was driven back, leaving behind all his baggage. On his retreat, he captured the forts of Philippine and St. Catherine, and endea- voured to effect a landing in Cadsand, in which, how- ever, he was unsuccessful. The garrison of Sluys, on seeing the defeat of their succours, capitulated, after having endured the uimost extremities of famine. Seventy pieces of artillery and ten galleys fell into the hands of the victors, with 1400 slaves, chiefly Turks and Moors, the whole of whom were set at liberty, and afterwards conveyed home in vessels provided by the States for that purpose^'. During tha siege of Sluys, the archduke effected a reconciliation with the mutineers, whom Prince ■■ Meteren, boek xxv., fol. 643. 380 MAUfilCE, lg„ , Maurice had permitted to take up their residence in the town of Grave. From hence, in contravention of the agreement they had made with him, they had committed terrible ravages in Westphalia, when they were induced, by promises of support from the States, to make an incursion into Brabant. They were accord- ingly joined by a body of horse, under the Bailiff of Salland, who soon discovered that he had acquired most troublesome and dangerous allies. They invaded in concert the island of Thienen ; but the negotiations with the archduke having already commenced before they quitted Grave, they refused to attack the town of Thienen, or in fact to commit any act of offensive warfare ; appropriating to themselves all the contribu- tions that were levied, and leaving the States' troops almost without subsistence ; whom indeed they made no scruple of putting to death on the slightest opposi- tion they ventured to offer. At length a compromise M-as concluded between them and the archduke, under the mediation of Herman, bishop of Ruremonde, whereby they were to receive the whole of their arrears, with a general pardon and oblivion of what had passed ; the town of Ruremonde was to be deli- vered into their hands, and three noblemen were to become hostages for the fulfilment of the conditions. After the conclusion of this degrading compact, to which the archduke was compelled by the probability that appeared of the mutineers being joined by a great portion of the remainder of the army, he employed them in the attempt to relieve Sluys ; some, however, took service with Prince JNIaurice, to whom, also, Grave was, contrary to the general expectation, punc- tually restored''. The enterprises in other quarters of Brabant and ' Meteren, boek xxv., fol. 544. STADTHOLDEE. 381 Flanders had caused the siege of Ostend to be for a 1604 time somewhat slackened. In the middle of the pre- ceding summer, Ambrose Spinola had consented to undertake the conduct of this enterprise ; but, deter- mined not to allow all his schemes to be frustrated by the continual dissensions of the commanders, as had been the case with former generals, he made it a condition that he should be invested with unlimited authority over the army ; a requisition the more readily granted as, besides his undoubted ability and integrity, he had expended considerable sums from his private purse in the service of the King of Spain"". The besieged soon felt the effects of the presence of so able and skilful a captain, assisted as he was by the most experienced engineers in Europe, who applied their efforts successfully to the formation of roads for the passage of his artillery over the drowned lands, and to the invention of new engines and methods of attack. The garrison had been forced, within the last six months, to abandon, one after another, nearly all their outposts, and irreparable damage had been done upon the fortifications of the town itself; while the rapid succession of governors iDrev.ented either promp- titude or stability in their measures of defence. Three, Huchtenbroek, Gistelle, and John van Loehn, were slain within a short time of each other; Uytenhove, who followed, was obliged to retire desperately wounded, and the last, the Sieur de JVIarquette, accepted the charge, after this dangerous post of honour had been some time vacant. Spinola, at length, gained possession of the sand-hill on the west side, from whence he was able to carry his mines to the ramparts of the old town ; when, hopeless of defending this quarter, the besieged divided it from " Grot. Hist., lib. xii., p. 633. 382 MAURICE, 1604 the new town by a line of flanked bastions, carrying another line from thence to the eastern harbour; and flattered themselves that they had rendered the remainder of the town capable of a renewed and prolonged resistance. But the enemy having suc- ceeded in planting their cannon on the old ramparts, fired incessantly on these new works, which, being scarcely dry, had not acquired sufiicient firmness to resist its force, and proved therefore but a feeble defence. The States and prince, in consequence, considering that the possession of Sluys now afforded them a firm footing in Flanders, and that Ostend, even could it be preserved, would be of little use from the number of forts by which it was surrounded, deter- mined to abandon its further defence, and directed Marquette to capitulate on the best terms he could obtain. Ostend accordingly surrendered, after a siege of three years and two months, the garrison being permitted to march out with all the honours of war. On their arrival in the camp near Sluys, they received, before the whole army, the thanks of the prince and States for the eminent services they had rendered their country. The defence had cost the States the sum of 4,000,000 of guilders, and the loss of 50,000 men; an expenditure which, however enormous, was yet far surpassed by that of the besiegers. Immediately after the surrender, the archdukes came to visit the city, and found that they had lavished blood, time, and treasure, to gain a heap of ruins. Scarcely a house was left entire; dismounted cannon, broken mortars, splinters of shells, and balls, lay mingled together in one confused heap, with fallen buildings, remnants of furniture, and wearing apparel. The inhabitants had deserted their shattered dwellings; a few aged mendicants alone were seen creeping about the ruins. STADTHOLDEE. 383 to gather up the miserable plunder they could find. 1604 Hurrying from this scene of hideous desolation, Albert and Isabella made a pilgrimage to Dunkirk, to return thanks to the Virgin for the -victory she had bestowed upon them. They subsequently offered valuable privi- leges to any persons who would fix their residence in Ostend; but years elapsed before the people could endure the sight of a spot, defiled with the blood and whitening bones of their countrymen. The greater portion of the citizens settled permanently at Sluys'^. The overtures of accommodation made between the archduke and King of England in the last year, were followed by the appointment of Richardot and Verreiken, as ambassadors on the part of the former, together with Ferdinand Velasco, constable of Castile from Spain. The deputies of the States at the court of London, at the same time, used their most strenuous endeavours to delay, if they could not arrest, the pro- gress of these negotiations. They represented to the king, that in a very few years they should obtain a peace, accompanied by a declaration of their independ- ence from the King of Spain ; and affirmed that Philip had akeady discovered to the emperor intentions of this nature ; in which case, they would be enabled to prove themselves valuable allies to England, and the united forces of the two nations might afterwards humble effectually the power and arrogance of the house of Austria. Their arguments were powerfully supported by the French ambassador, Maximilian de Bethune, Marquis de Rosny, who, shortly before the arrival of the Spanish ambassador, had, by his address and eloquence, prevailed with James to consent to a treaty between France and England, whereby these two powers engaged themselves to use their influence " Meteren, boek xxv., fol. 646—648, Grot. Hist., lib. xiii., p. 646. 384 MAURICE, 1604 with the archduke to procure a peace, for the pro- vinces; and if their efforts should fail of success, a sufficient number of troops should be raised for their defence, two-thirds of the cost of which should be paid by King Henry, and the remaining third set off against the debt which he owed. to England^. A numerous party among James's own subjects were, likewise, strongly opposed to the peace. Alli- ances, it was urged, between different states, were either voluntary or necessary; the first, entered into from motives of inclination or courtesy only, by nations, who had no interests in common, and between whom no subject of contention was likely to arise, were, therefore, of little comparative importance; of such a nature was that with Spain. The second, formed for the purpose of securing the mutual com- merce or safety of the contracting parties, ought to be observed with the utmost exactness and constancy; and of this kind was the alliance of England with Holland, whose friendship it was more advantageous to the former to preserve, than that of any other nation of Europe; as had been sufficiently proved by the numerous treaties made from the earliest times, long before the usurpation of the county by Phihp of Burgundy from the Countess Jacoba; that the peaceful and unambitious disposition of the people, and the convenience of their situation for trading with Eng- land, rendered them both safe and profitable allies; while, from the difficulty of securing the coast against tbeir attacks, or the merchant ships from their priva- teers during a war, they would prove mischievous and formidable enemies; that England and the provinces, when divided, could serve only to injure and weaken each other, Aihile, united, they might always maintain y Grot. Hist., book xii., p. 620. Mem. de Sully, torn, v,, lib. 16, p. 14. STADTHOLDER. 385 the undisputed sovereignty of the seas; by the last 16'04 treaty, England had become a party to their cause, which she could not now abandon without incurring the imputation of ingratitude and injustice. To these just and wholesome maxims it was opposed, that England, maintaining a strict neutrality, might make peace with the archduke without injury to the pro- vinces; that the King of France had reaped great advantages from a similar course of conduct; and that the provinces were, thanks to the assistance of the late queen, now in a condition to defend themselves. James himself, also, was little inclined to overcome his natural indolence and love of peace in favour of the Dutch, towards whom he constantly entertained a strong personal dislike; a feeling increased by the observation, that the troops who served in their wars returned home imbued with notions of popular rights and civil liberty, which, though destitute of sufficient sagacity, perhaps, to perceive the full effects of their diffusion on the character of the nation, he could not but be convinced, were highly inimical to his preten- sions of divine vicegerency and unlimited prerogative. Added to this, he was well pleased to make it appear that war or peace emanated from the person alone of the sovereign, and not from the body of the nation; and that, therefore, the cessation of hostilities between England and Spain was the natural consequence of his accession to the crown of the former kingdom, he himself having always lived in amity with the King of Spain ^. The archduke, on his part, was willing to purchase an accommodation at any price; and as there was nothing to be ceded on either side, few difficulties were found to delay the conclusion of the treaty. As '■ Winwood's Memorial, vol. ii., p. 65. VOL. ir. 2 c 386 MAURICE, 1604 regarded the provinces, it was agreed, that neither of the contracting parties should assist the enemies of tlie other in any manner; the king engaged that no English vessels should carry the wares of Holland into Spain, not those of Spain into Holland; with respect to Briel and Flushing, James declared his determina- tion to abide by the contract made with the late queen, binding her to restore these towns to none other but those from whom she had received them; he promised, however, to enter into a fresh contract with the States- General, giving them time to make a reasonable peace with the archduke, which, if they refused, he should consider himself discharged from his alliance with them; and, meanwhile, the garrison should take no part whatever in the war^. 1605 Amid empty rumours and futile projects of peace between Spain and the provinces, both sides again roused their strength to the utmost for the continua- tion of hostilities. The States made extensive levies in France and Germany, and in England, where, however, the king after the pacification with Spain, observing, not a steady and passive, but a vacillating and doubtful neutrality, permitted the archduke like- wise to raise troops at his discretion; numbers of Catholics and of the discontented Scotch and Irish enlisted under his banners, in spite of the heavy com- plaints of the States, to which James turned a deaf ear^- On the side of the royalists, the affairs of the war were henceforward to be conducted by the able and vigorous hand of Ambrose Spinola, a countryman of the illustrious Parma, Avhom, while he nearly equalled in military talents, he resembled in humanity and generosity of disposition. His appointment as » Bym. Feed., torn, xvi., p. 586. Winwood, vol. ii., p. 23. '' Metei-en, boek xxvi., fol. 565. STADTHOLDER. 387 commander-in-chief of the army, conferred by the 1605 King of Spain himself, while it excited the jealousy of the Spaniards, was offensive in a high degree to the Netherlanders, being regarded as a new proof of the fictitious nature of the surrender made by the late king, and of how mere a pageant was their nominal sovereign, since they were, in fact, as completely under the government of Spain as they had ever been. But, however invidious his elevation to the great majority of the people, none could deny the reality of the rapid and almost miraculous reformation he effected in the army; discipline, long corrupted by license and sedi- tion, was now fully restored; punctual in payment, and liberal in reward, he was inexorable to the most venial crime; not only theft and rapine, but desertion was punished with death; and the immediate execution of a few malefactors in sight of the whole army infused into the remainder of the troops awe and submissive- ness. The beneficial consequence of this change was felt, during the ensuing campaign, in the plentiful supplies which the country people voluntarily brought to his camp. The States in vain forbad the sale of any provisions to the enemy; lust of gain, or fear of Spinola's vengeance, should he prove the victor, caused their orders to be perpetually violated; and famine, the evil which had heretofore paralyzed some of the most important efforts of the royalist army, now disap- peared =- Spinola, on his arrival in Brussels from Spain, had brought with him an immense sum in specie and bills of exchange, with 4000 fresh troops, to which were added a powerful reinforcement of Germans and Italians, comprising altogether an army larger than any that had yet appeared in the Netherlands'^. Hoping ■= Grot. Hist., lib. xiv., p. 46G, 4G6. ^ Meteren, l)oek xxvi., fol. 56-5. 2 C 2 388 MAURICE, 1605 to make up in celerity what he wanted in strength, Maurice took advantage of the opportunity afforded by the festivals attendant ou the ratification of the treaty with England by the archduke, and the birth of a son to the King of Spain, to attempt the siege of Antwerp. But Spinola, hastening thither with 8000 men, he found his army insufficient to admit of his perseverance in the undertaking, which he therefore abandoned, indemnifying himself in some degree for his disappointment by the capture of the fort of Woude. Unable, likewise, to prevent Spinola from throwing a bridge of boats across the Meuse, to secure his pas- sage into Flanders, JSIaurice, in order to protect Sluys and the neighbouring forts, encamped at Watervliet, closely followed by the'enemy, who took up a position at Boekhoude, between that village and the Sas de Gand. Here the two armies remained in juxta-position for a considerable time, each seeking to gain some advantage over the other, when, at length, Spinola, perceiving that nothing was to be effected in that quarter, since Maurice, constantly on the watch, had strengthened the forts and inundated the greater por- tion of the surrounding country, commenced his march in the direction of Friezland, through Twent, having sent forward the Count of Bucquoi to secure tjie jjas- sage of the Rhine ; and entering Overyssel, he gained possession of Lingen and Oldenzeel. Had he pursued his advantages, he might have mastered Coevoerden, the Bourtang, and the remaining places of importance in that vicinity ; since, unprovided with more than their ordinary garrisons, they could have offered little resistance. But, as if intoxicated with his unexpected success, he remained inactive for several days, which gave time to Prince Maurice, who immediately on his departure had broken up his camp in Flanders, to STADTHOLDER. 389 strengthen Coevoerden and the pass of the Bourtang, 1605 as well as to reinforce Groningen with a large body of troops, under Count William of Nassau; a detach- ment, which Spinola sent to secure the Bourtang, being defeated, with severe loss". Having repaired and improved the fortifications of Lingen, Spinola retired to the neighbourhood of Juliers, with the view of stationing his army along the banks of the small river Roer. Hither he was followed by Prince Maurice, who, having received intelligence that the several detach- ments of the enemy's army were encamped at a dis- tance from each other, sent forward his brother Henry, and ISIarcellus Bacx, with 1600 cavalry, to cross the river, and attack a detachment, stationed at the village of Mulheim, and commanded by the Count di Trivulzio. But the 3'oung prince, instead of obeying the orders he had received, to commence an immediate assault while the enemy were yet unconscious of his approach, awaited the arrival of the infantry ; and, during the interval, Trivulzio had leisure to secure the neighbour- ing fortress of Bronck, and to draw out his army in battle array. Finding the enemy, whom they had expected to surprise, prepared to receive them, the Dutch cavalry were seized with one of those sudden and luiaccountable panics which will sometimes infect the best troops, without any apparent cause. At the first onset, they turned and fled in confusion and dis- order, leaving Prince Henry and Bacx almost alone in the midst of their enemies ; in vain did Maurice, who, by that time, had reached the opposite bank of the Roer, remind them of Turnhout and Nieuport ; upbraid them as cowards, who trusted more to their horses' legs than their own arms ; entreat them, with the most moving prayers, not to leave his brother surrounded by " Meteren, boek xxvi., fol, £69; xxvii., fol. 574. 390 MAURICE, 1605 foes ; their terror was insurmountable ; and had it not been for the stand made by the infantry, utter destruc- tion must have ensued. Henry narrowly escaped death ; a soldier having presented a pistol at his breast, which happily missed fire. Horace Vere, with a batta- lion of pikemen, first \\'aded across the river, to the support of the flying cavalry. He was followed by D'Omarville, with the French auxiliaries, who, however, was quickly slain. The enemy, in their turn, began to give way, when Spinola, coming up with 600 men, caused the trumpets to be sounded, as if the whole army were near; and JSIaurice, dreading the con- sequence of a second encounter with his cavalry, made a retreat in good order. The commander, Trivulzio, was killed; the loss on both sides was nearly equal; but the disgrace of a defeat rested wholly with the troops of Prince Maurice. Wachtendonk, and the fort of Cracow, fell shortly after into the hands of Spinola; while an attempt made by Maurice to sm*- prise the town of Gueldres, proved abortive*"- While Spinola was employed in Overyssel, the archduke was induced by one Du Terrail, a French engineer, who boasted, that, by means of his petards, he could master any town in the Netherlands, to attempt the surprise of Bergen-op-Zoom. In the night of the 22nd of September, a powerful body of troops marching to the town, gained possession of a redoubt near one of the gates, when the garrison and burghers, aroused from their slumbers, began to fire upon them with such vigour, that they were forced to retreat. This attack was speedily followed by a second. Again, in the dead of night, Bergen was assaulted, in three quarters at the same time, by a force of nearly 6000 men. The assailants succeeded in blowing up ' Grot. Hist., Ub. xiv., p. 670—672. Meteren, boek xsvii., fol. 576. STADTHOLDER. 391 the two outer gates, but were unable to master the 1605 inner one, which the besieged had barricaded with wagons, beams, stones, and such other materials as they could collect in their haste. The burghers on the walls fought with unexampled fury; and mingling jeers and insults with blows, shouted to the besiegers, that " their commander had led them to certain slaughter, for neither our Ladies of Halle or Montaign were near enough to save them*." By means of torches of straw, and hoops dipped in pitch, which they set on fire and threw about amongst the enemy, they were enabled to distinguish all their movements, and to take an unerring aim ; the women and children came in crowds to supply them with ammunition, straw, and other materials ; such as were too timid to take an active share in the combat, were seen kneeling along the streets, offering up loud and fervent prayers to heaven, and thus infused courage into the breasts of their defenders. The governor, Paul Bacx, appeared in every quarter, his cutlass and bridle in one hand, and his pistol in the other, exhorting his men to their duty; the Catholics were among the foremost on the ramparts, dealing destruction on their foes ; and the ministers of religion, not confining themselves to rousing the zeal of the combatants, were found in arms by their side. At the dawn of day, the assailants were obliged to retreat with disgrace ; about 100 were killed, but the number of wounded was immense ; the petards, which were to have done such signal execu- tion, were abandoned, with the rest of the baggage. On the side of the victors, only one Avas slain, and six more wounded^. e Meteren, boek xxvii., fol. S75. * Alluding to tbe pilgrimages wliicli the Infanta had made barefoot to these shrines, to pray for the success of the siege of Ostend, and that she might be blessed with issue. — Meteren, boek XXT., fol. 541, 392 MAURICE, 1605 The vexations arising from the unfortunate cam- paign in Overyssel, were compensated in some degree to the States, by the successes of their arms on sea. Ten large vessels, coming from Spain with troops, under the command of Don Pedro di Cubiera, were attacked near Dover by William de Zoete, or Haultain, vice-admiral of Zealand, with a squadron of the Dutch fleet ; the Spaniards attempted for a short time to defend themselves, but, soon overpowered, took refuge in the harbour of Dover; one vessel ran aground, which was quickly boarded and taken by a Zealander, and the remainder were, ere long, easily mastered. A part of the crews escaped to the shore ; such as were captured were, in obedience to the command that had been issued, to give no quarter to the troops brought to the Netherlands by water, bound back to back and thrown into the sea*; thus relapsing into the savage mode of warfare formerly practised by the Water- Gueux. The English, during the combat, siding with their newly-reconciled foes, pointed the fire of the cannon at Dover against their ancient allies, of whom they killed more than one hundred. The king after- wards justified this act, by complaining that the neu- trality of the English shores had been violated by the too near approach of the Dutch ; an insulting pretext, the harder to be borne by the latter, as the pirates of Dunkirk were allowed to pursue the Holland and Zealand merchant-ships into every port of England. The enemy lost in this engagement above half their men ; and the rest, as the States refused to admit of the safe conduct of James for their conveyance to * This barbarous custom, called in the provinces " voetspoelen," or feetwashing, ivas constantly enforced by the authority of the States and Admiralty, against the pirates of Dunkirk. At length the sailors refused to go to sea unless it were abolished, when it was allowed to fall into disuse. — Aitzeraa Saaken van Staat en Oorlog, deel i., bl. 775. STADTHOLDER. 393 Flanders, were forced to remain in England, where, 1605 though maintained at a great expense by the King of Spain, they lived in wretched poverty in huts built along the shore, and the greater number died of cold and misery'^. While the Dutch vessels were in the Straits, on the watch to prevent the passage of these troops into Flanders, they perceived three privateers of Dunkirk, the admiral's ship and two others, coming out of the port in quest of booty ; the vice-admiral of Holland, John Gerbrandson, and Lambert Hendrick- son, (distinguished by the name of handsome Lambert,) captain of a Rotterdam vessel, immediately set out in pursuit ; tAvo of the three escaped ; but the admiral's ship, with a crew of 126 men, was boarded and cap- tured by the Hollanders, the admiral, Dirkson, himself being slain. The prisoners, ninety-one in number, were condemned to death as pirates by the Admiralty of Rotterdam and Enkhuyzen, sixty-one of whom were executed ; the remainder being pardoned on account of their youth, except six, who were allowed to escape'. The commencement of the career of the new East India Company was one of almost uninterrupted pros- perity. The fleet which it had fitted out in the first year of its formation, was followed by another in 1603, of thirteen ships, under the command of Stephen van der Hagen, which, sailing to the coast of Malabar, made with Samarin, king of Calicut, an advantageous treaty of commerce and alliance against the Portu- guese ; and early in this year arrived before Amboyna, the citadel of which the Portuguese were forced to surrender. The fleet then dividing, a part directed its course towards Banda, and the remaining vessels, ■■ Meteren, toek xxvi., fol. 670. Winwood's Memorial, vol. ii., p. 83—87 ' Meteren, boek xxvii., fol. 677, 394 MAURICE, 1606 five in number, proceeded towards Tidor, and falling in with two richly-laden caracks, the admiral com- manded as many of his ships to attack them. After a heavy fire on both sides, the Hollanders betook themselves to their boats, and boarding the caracks, mastered them with little loss; when, clearing them of all their artillery and valuables, they burned them to the water's edge. It was a remarkable proof of the bitter and savage hatred which subsisted between the Dutch and Spaniards, that the former on this, as on most other occasions, when they captured an enemy s ship, put the whole of the Spaniards to death, while the Portuguese they brought safely to land, and often released them without a ransom. At this time a strong enmity subisted between the kings of Tidor and Ternate ; but both, equally anxious to rid them- selves of the Portuguese, their cruel and oppressive masters, made an alliance with the Hollanders, whereby the latter engaged to lend their assistance in expelling the common enemy from their country. In pursuance of this agreement, the Holland vessels presented them- selves before the citadel of Tidor, which they carried by storm, and in a short time obliged the Portuguese to abandon the island, with their wives and children. They were thus driven entirely out of the Moluccas, except a small fort in the island of Timor. Having effected a reconciliation between the kings of Ternate and Tidor, the Hollanders, at the request of the latter, demolished the citadel, and making it no longer a military post, left their factors only resident in the island, to trade under the protection of the native sovereign i^- After the termination of the campaign in OverysseJ, Spinola repaired to Spain to obtain fresh supplies for ■^^ Jleteien, boek xxviii. passim. STADTHOLDER. 395! the prosecution of the war ; but in consequence of the 1606 delay of the West India fleet, he found the royal exchequer in a lamentable state of exhaustion ; an evil which he remedied in some degree by himself and his friends raising loans for the king's service at exor- bitant interest, and upon the security of the provinces of Friezland and Groningen, of which he was to make the conquest. The event, however, proved the insuffi- ciency of this security. On the part of the States- General, the funds depending upon no such fortuitous circumstances, but upon the wealth and credit of an industrious and upright people, were more speedily and easily raised. In compliance with the demand of the Council of State, they voted 618,000 florins a month for the charges of the war, and a sum of 1,800,000 to be applied towards the payment of their debt, repair- ing the fortifications, assisting the Admiralty, and other expenses. The levies of troops on both sides encountered serious impediments. The French king- was himself assembling an army against the rebel Duke de Bouillon, and the German mercenaries were, for the most part, engaged in a war which had broken out between the Duke of Brunswick and the inhabit- ants of that city. In England, a new oath of allegiance had, in consequence of the gunpowder-plot, been im- posed upon the nation, purporting that the Pope had no power to depose the king, or to absolve his subjects from their allegiance, or authorize any monarch to invade his dominions ; and all such as entered the service of any foreign prince, without first having subscribed to it, were declared guilty of felony'; a measure which deprived the archduke of a vast num- ber of recruits, since the Catholics, who would other- wise have enlisted under his banners, were deterred by ' Winwood's Memorial, vol. i., p. 216, 217. 396 MAURICE, 1506 their reluctance to fulfil this conditiou. Tlie Italian troops also were retained in their own country by a dispute ^\hich had arisen between the Pope and the Council of Venice, in which the former being sup- ported by the King of Spain, the United Provinces sent to offer their aid to the Venetians, which, although not accepted, since the matter was subse- quently arranged by Henry IV. of France, laid the foundation of a close and lasting amity between these two powerful republics'". In consequence of the small number of their troops, the States resolved to continue entirely on the defen- sive during the ensuing campaign, of which the com- mencement had well nigh been signalized by an event of most sinister presage. The French engineer, Du Terrail, had again persuaded the archduke to make trial of his petards in the surprise of Sluvs, where he had received information that but negligent watch was kept. The town was saved by a singular coincidence. It had been agreed by the Spaniards, that a feint assault should be made on the southern gate at an appointed hour before sunrise, in order to engage the attention of the garrison, at the same time that Du Terrail and about 4000 picked men were to attack the gate on the east side. It happened that the sexton of the great church, in winding up the clock the night before, drew the pendulum too tight, and the hour not striking as expected, the assailants on the south side imagined that their jjurpose was dis- covered, and remained stationary and silent. Du Terrail, meanwhile, having succeeded in letting down the drawbridge over the fosse, had blown up the outer gate, and made a breach in the inner one suffi- ciently large to admit of the entrance of the troops, ■" Grot. Hist., lib, xv., p. 684. Meteren, boek xxvii., fol. 583. STADTHOLDER. 397 who, hearing nothing of their companions, suspected 160G an ambush, and instead of advancing to the assault, remained standing in doubt and hesitation on the drawbridge. Perceiving this, the garrison, consisting mostly of English, who, on the alarm, had put on their armour over their shirts and hurried to the scene of action, fired volleys of musketry through the gate upon the drawbridge, M'hich, long, narrow, and crowded from behind, afforded no means of retreat. The slaughter, consequently, among the close files of men was appal- ling ; numbers in their terror sprang into the fosse and were drowned ; the hindmost betook themselves to flight, leaving the whole of their artillery. Among the prisoners was a Jesuit priest, who confessed that he had accompanied the troops from a desire to be the first to perform mass in the town, and that the inten- tion of the assailants was to put every one of the inhabitants to the sword "- Spinola had been so long detained in Spain by the difficulty of obtaining supplies, as well as by an illness under which he laboured for some time, that the month of July arrived before he joined his army on the Roer, when he found the passage to Coevoerden, upon which town he designed to make his first essay, utterly impracticable, from the excessive rains having laid all the roads under water. As it was therefore impossible to make any advance upon Friezland or the Ommelande, he laid siege to Lochem, in the county of Zutphen, whence Prince Maurice had drawn off a considerable portion of the garrison to reinforce Zutphen and Deventer. No more than 300 men being left within the walls, Lochem surrendered without a blow. About the same time, the Count de Bucquoi, having stationed a detachment of inf^intry at " Meteren, book xxvii., fol, 588. S98 MAURICE, 1606 Roeroort, on the Roer, marclied witli 7000 foot and a strong detachment of cavalry to the Moock with the design of crossing the Waal, at the small village of Keeckerdam, three miles above Nimeguen, to invade the Betuwe, and effect a junction with the army of Spinola. In this, however, he was prevented by the general of the States, Warner du Bois, who, hastening from Nimeguen, filled the opposite shore with a power- ful body of troops, in sight of which Bucquoi was unable to accomplish the passage. Spinola, disap- pointed of his expected junction, marched to besiege Grol, of which, notwithstanding some smart skirmishes, he mastered two ravelins of the outworks in a few days. Having intercepted some letters from Prince Maurice to the garrison, exhorting them to hold out but for three days, when he would bring them relief, Spinola pressed on the siege with reckless impetuosity; brought up his approaches close to the ramparts, in spite of the continual fire of the besieged, and prepared for a simultaneous assault on three different quarters of the town; at the same time signifying to the inhabi- tants, that if they did not decide upon a surrender Avithin an hour, he would put every one of them to the sword. At this terrible threat, they threw them- selves at the feet of their young governor, Van Dort, and by their tears and entreaties wmng from him a reluctant consent. The garrison were allowed two hours to depart, and a free exit was likewise granted to such of the inhabitants as did not choose to conform to the Catholic religion". In this, as in most of the other towns conquered by Spinola, nearly all the citi- zens preferred to remain, "as if satisfied with any religion and any government p;" an indifference which the frequent change of masters, and the circumstance " Meteren, boek xxviii., fol, 593, 594. p Grot. Hist., lib. xv., p. 693. STADTHOLDER. 399 of their province having been made the scene of per- 1606 petual hostilities, were M'ell calculated to bring about. In this enterprise, Spinola, in consequence of his impatience to effect the capture of the town before the arrival of Prince Maurice, lost nearly 1000 men. As provisions were becoming scarce in his camp, he once more turned his steps towards the Rhine, and with the view of securing the transmission of supplies from Cologne, invested Rhynberg, which Count Ernest of Nassau had, in the year before, greatly strengthened with additional fortifications and outworks, in obedience to the orders of the States. At the commencement of the siege. Prince Henry succeeded in throwing in a reinforcement of 2400 men; but Maurice, to the astonishment of all men, remained inactive in his camp at Doesburg, without making any further effort to relieve a place, which the States had taken so much pains to secure; and on the preservation of which they set so high a value, that they gave him permission to risk a general engagement, if necessary, in its defence^. To the deputies of that body who repaired to his camp for the purpose of inducing him either to attempt its relief, or to call off the enemy by undertaking some enterprise of importance in its vicinity, he declared, that the entrenchments of the besiegers were so strong as to render it impossible to throw succours into the town except from the east side, and that, while he was thus engaged, Spinola might suddenly break up his camp, and make an irruption into the Betuwe; and, in any case, he must risk a battle, which, if won, would only enable him to relieve Rhynberg, but, if lost, would expose the whole country to danger. With these reasons the States were obliged to rest, or appear to '1 Grot. Hist., lib. xv., p. 693—095. 400 MAUEICE, 1606 rest, satisfied, and the garrison of Rhynberg, seeing no hope of relief, capitulated"". The loss of this strong and well-provided town before the eyes of a numerous army, well able to pre- serve it, excited among those of the neighbouring provinces of the Union, extreme fears for their own security, and inclined them towards a peace more, perhaps, than any event that had yet occurred. The results, however, were not such as they anticipated. The funds collected by Spinola for the payment of his army were now exhausted, the soldiers were again in arrear, and mutiny, the inevitable consequence, followed. Spinola applied all his efforts, but in vain, to arrest the mischief. He caused a placard to be affixed to a gibbet before Rhynberg, containing the names of 436 of the offenders, in the hope to inspire terror into the seditious, who, nevertheless, daily increased in numbers and audacity, and possessing themselves once more of Hoogstradt, committed their usual outrages*. While the enemy was labouring under this embar- rassment, Prince Maurice recovered Lochem, and conceiving it impossible for Spinola to reorganize his army for this campaign, pursued his march leisurely and negligently towards Grol. By this mode of proceeding, he allowed the fine season to pass away, and had no sooner commenced the siege, than the continued rains filled his camp with sickness; the impassable state of the roads also, having hindered the ' Meteren, boek xxviii., fol. 595. * These miscreants were accustomed to go about with straw in their hats, to signify that they would immediately set fire to any place where they were refused contributions, and to send letters to the same eifect, burnt at the corner, and headed by a picture of a naked sword. Neither were they a whit less ready with the execution than the threat, in case their demands were not instantly complied with. — Meteren, boek xxviii, fol. 696. *' STADTHOLDEE. 401 conveyance of provisions, scarcity was added to disease. 1606 Unwilling to force his troops to labour during the bad weather, the prince delayed his operations from day to day, making not the slightest progress either in the entrenchments or in his approaches against the town. On a sudden, he was surprised by the intelligence, that Spinola (who had bribed his army to follow him by the payment of a small sum of ready money) had passed the Lippe with 8000 men and ten pieces of artillery, and was marching with all speed to the relief of Grol. In spite of sickness and famine, the troops of Maurice were eager for battle, and the French in particular loudly exclaimed, that they " must always seek for hiding-places from the enemy, if they were to fly before him now, when feeble and exhausted with cold, wet, and long marches;" but whether from an excess of his usual caution, or, as it has been affirmed, that he purposely sought to avoid gaining any advantage which might tend in its results to the termination of the war, he hastily broke up his camp at the approach of Spinola, and retreated to Doesburg; alleging that the army was too much enfeebled by sickness to risk an engagement^. Once again, therefore, the troops of Maurice retired to their winter quarters, disappointed and dishonoured*. Neither at this time could the States look to their maritime successes as an indemnification for their losses on land. They had in the early part of the year, with the view of revenging on the Spaniards the capture and destruction of six Holland merchant ships, return- ing from the Cape de Verde Islands, equipped a fleet of twenty-four men-of-war, under William Haultain, ' Meteren, book xxviii., fol. 596. Grot. Hist., lib. xv., p. 699. * Meteren, from whom this account is chiefly taken, is an author strongly inclined to favour Prince Maurice. VOL. II, 2 D 402 MAURICE, 1606 commissioned to prevent the egress of a number of caracks lying in the port of Lisbon, and to intercept the return of the West India fleet. The armada, sailing towards Portugal, captured a number of rich vessels ; and having sacked some villages on the coast, remained before Lisbon until the crews of the caracks, hopeless of effecting their voyage during that season, relanded their cargoes. But as Haultain himself began to suffer from want of provisions, since the transport ships which conveyed them from Holland were delayed by contrary winds, it became necessary for him to return home*- He again set sail in the autumn with twenty- one vessels, to await the arrival of the India fleets ; of these, six were separated from the rest by stress of weather and other causes; the fifteen which remained, cruising round Cape St. Vincent, fell in with nine large galleons and some smaller vessels, under the command of Don Louis di Fasciardo, which imme- diately engaged the foremost of the Dutch, com- manded by Regnier Klaaszoon, rear-admiral of Holland. The others, seeing him surrrounded by five of these enormous vessels, were struck with such an excess of terror, that they kept themselves out of reach of the shot, and at the approach of darkness stole away. Klaaszoon, undismayed at finding himself thus abandoned, and haughtily rejecting every proposal of surrender, kept up the fight with unceasing energy for the space of two whole days, while the Spanish sailors, fearing the effects of his desperate resolution, refused to board. At length the sixty men who formed his crew were nearly every one wounded, both his masts had fallen, and the ship, drilled in every part by cannon shot, appeared ready to sink. In this condi- tion, he proposed to his men, to blow up the vessel, ' Meteren, boek xxviii., fol. 584. STADTHOLDER. 403 that none might be left alive to grace the triumph of 1606 the conqueror. The consent was ready and unanimous. Falling on their knees on the deck, they offered up a short prayer to the Almighty for pardon of the deed, and instantly fired their powder. Two of them were yet breathing when their burnt and mangled bodies were picked up by the Spaniards; but they expired in a few hours, the fierceness of their words and looks tindiminished even by the approach of death itself. The bitterness of remorse which the crews of the Dutch vessels felt for the shameful desertion of their countrymen, was aggravated by the intelligence, that three of the galleons had received excessive damage in the encounter; rendering it perfectly evident, that if they had but ever so feebly seconded his noble resolu- tion their victory had been certain^\ It is not impro- bable, that the desire to wipe out tlie remembrance of this grievous disgrace might have contributed in no small degree to the events of the naval war, which we shall ere long have to record. This year was rendered remarkable by the death of two illustrious men, each of whom had borne an eminent part in working out the liberation of Holland, — John of Nassau, the sole surviving brother of the late Prince of Orange, and the Count of Hohenlohe. The former, the ready assistant of William both in purse and counsel, was made stadtholder of Guelder- land in 1578, and was the chief promoter of the Union of Utrecht in the subsequent year. He expired at an advanced age at Nassau Dillenburg, the only one of the five illustrious brothers who did not perish by a violent death. The Count of Hohenlohe, a German soldier of fortune, had come into the Netherlands at the beginning of the war, and from that time had " Meteren, boek xxviii., fol. 698. Grot. Hist., lib. xv., pp. 699, 700. 2 D 2 404 MAURICE, 1606 espoused tlie cause of the patriots with unalterable zeal and devotion; one of the most confidential friends and strenuous supporters of the late Prince of Orange, whose daughter he married, he had been entrusted with the chief management of affairs for Prince Maurice during the period of his youth. The latter, when he found him no longer necessary to serve his interests, had treated him with marked indifference and contempt; and the chagrin he felt at this conduct, combined with the habits of intoxication he had acquired, to bring on a lingering disease which ulti- mately proved fatal. As a commander, he was reckoned to possess more activity and valour, than foresight or prudence^ The accession of wealth brought into the provinces by the commerce of the East India Company, had caused the people to regard these distant speculations with a favourable eye; and an edict promulgated by the King of Spain, forbidding any foreigner to engage in the trade to the East or West Indies on pain of death'", had rather the effect of inspiring a keener zest in its pursuit, than of discouraging the projectors. They were easily incited, therefore, by the example of England, where a West India Company had lately been established, to desire the formation of a similar one in 1607 the provinces. Accordingly, some wealthy merchants of Holland and Zealand proposed to the States, to grant a charter to a company for the trade to the West Indies, of the same nature as that of the East India Company, for a period of thirty-six years. But the aim of this company was not, like that of the former, merely the acquisition of a profitable trade; the projectors pro- posed to themselves objects of no less importance, than by the civilization and military organization of the " Grot. Hist., lib. xv., p. 708. " Jleteren, boek xxvi., fol. 5C5. STADTHOLDER. 405 natives of the West Indies and America, to create a 1607 power which, combined with their own naval supe- riority, should be sufficient to deprive Spain of her empire of the West, or, at least, transfer the war to this, the most distant and vulnerable seat of her power, with incalculable advantage to the provinces. The forts of the Spaniards, it was affirmed, were far distant from each other; the natives everywhere in bitter hostility against them; and, in case of attack, the colonists must depend on the assistance of the vessels of the mother country, which, as it had been fully proved, were unable to retain possession of the seas against the Dutch. The more prudent ventured to hint at the uncertainty of maritime war; at the fear lest the Spaniards, by dint of being frequently con- quered, might at last learn to conquer; that it M^as rather too vast an undertaking for forty men-of-war (the proposed navy of the company,) to retain the mastery of the seas; and that the natives hated not so much the Spaniard as the master, and when once freed from the former, they would indubitably turn the arms they had been taught to use against the new comers'^. In the end the scheme was, for various reasons, laid aside for the present; but its proposal, probably, brought more strongly before the eyes of Barneveldt and other enlightened politicians, the change that had come over the spirit of their countrymen, who, hereto- fore patient traders and scrupulous defenders of their own rights and boundaries, had, since their successes against Spain, begun to imbibe a restless spirit of cupi- dity and ambition, and to indulge in dreams of rapidly- acquired wealth, of glory, and of conquest, alien to their iisual sober and calculating habits, and as fatal to their own happiness as they would prove invidious to = Metei-en, boek xxviii., fol. COl, 602. Grot. Hist., lib. xvi., p. 721—726. 406 MAURICE, 1607 nations hitherto friendly. This may have been one amonff the causes which led Barneveldt now to seek eagerly for that peace, the bare mention of which, he had, twenty years before, regarded as a virtual rejection of his services. But numerous others were not want- ing, The expenses of the war had become almost insupportable ; the province of Holland alone, though her imposts had been strained up to the highest pitch, was 26,000,000 in arrear; the generation, which, driven to desperation by Spanish tyranny and cruelty, had been ready to make any sacrifice to rid themselves of the yoke, had passed away, and a new one sprung up in its stead, of which the greater number in Hol- land and Zealand, had never beheld the face of the Spaniard, and had heard of him only as a distant and somewhat contemptible foe; they might, therefore, when they felt themselves oppressed by the burden of taxation, become clamorous for a peace, which, possi- bly, could then be procured only on far less advan- tageous terms ; the provinces of Guelderland, Overyssel, and Groningen, more exposed to the incursions of the enemy, and where great numbers of Catholics still remained, were undisguised in their expressions of solicitude for a pacification, and might, at ihe first favourable opportunity, refuse their contributions. The less declared, though not less cogent, motives that actuated Barneveldt and his friends, were their fears, lest, if, on the one hand, the tide of success should turn against them, they would be forced to seek the protec- tion of France, and own a master where they now possessed an ally; or, on the other, that continued prosperity might give to Prince Maurice and the army such a preponderating influence in affairs, that the nation might behold its liberties and government at the mercy of a pretorian band of soldiers. In these STADTHOLDBR. 407 views, Barneveldt was opposed by a powerful party in 1607 Holland and Zealand, which numbered in its ranks nearly the whole of the large and important body of Reformed clergy, and had received it as an axiom, that a just and equitable peace wi-th Spain was wholly impossible, and that the sole object of all her negotia- tions was merely to reduce the provinces again under her yoke, and to extirpate the true religion. A third party, no less numerous and influential than the former, and of which Prince Maurice was the head, were of opinion, that, though the King of Spain and the arch- duke should, as it was not improbable, in the present condition of their affairs, accede to all the terms required by the States, yet that war was more safe and advantageous to the provinces than peace ; by the latter, they would be deprived of a fruitful source of gain, from the capture of the Spanish vessels in the East and West Indies; of means of employment for vast numbers of the people; and the government would lose the profits of convoys and licences; they feared, moreover, that the bond of union, which the care of their common safety formed, being removed, the provinces would fall into contests and dissensions among themselves, of which the enemy would lie in wait to take advantage; while the merchants appre- hended that, peace once restored, the refugees from the Spanish Netherlands would return thither; and the more advantageous situation of Antwerp would draw back to her shores her former trade and com- merce, of which a great portion was transferred to Holland and Zealand^. We have frequently beheld sovereigns bent upon continuing a war for the attainment of some secret or avowed object of ambition, or to gratify their ven- " Grot. Hist., lib. xv., p. 716. 408 MAURICE, 1607 geance for some public insult or private pique; and the people, though far more quickly wearied, led to support it from motives of national vanity, commercial rivalry, or anger at some real or supposed injury ; but the fact of any nation, or part of a nation, essentially commer- cial, such as the Dutch, placing their hopes of wealth and prosperity in war, and a number of honest and intelligent patriots and politicians arriving soberly at the conclusion, that a state of perpetual hostility is the only one in which their country can exist with advan- tage, seems almost without a parallel in history*. On the other hand, the desire of the Spanish provinces for peace was ardent and unanimous. At the end of a forty years' war, they found themselves enfeebled, exhausted, and impoverished, depending almost wholly on Spain for their support, while their opponents they beheld daily increasing in wealth and power, and strengthened by the avowed alliance of England, France, and Denmark. The archduke, a churchman by profession, now advanced in years, and childless, sighed for repose, and had conceived a strong abhorrence of a war, productive of nothing but misery to his subjects, and mortification to himself; his ex- chequer was utterly drained, and no means appeared of replenishing it, since funds arrived but slowly from Spain, and, after the siege of Ostend, he had not ventured to summon an assembly of the States-Gene- ral ; while the demands of supplies he made to those of the individual provinces, had more than once been flatly and uncourteously refused^; nor was it the least among many considerations, that so long as the war '■ Meteren, boek xxvi., fol. d54. * The assertion, that the republic of the United Provinces was so constituted as to find no safety except in arms, was justly considered by others as alike impious and infemous. — Grot. Hist., lib, xvii. p. 777. STADTHOLDER. 409 lasted, Spinola, as commander-in-chief of the army, 1607 would possess the whole virtual authority of the government, while he himself remained a mere puppet, under his guidance and that of Spain. Spinola him- self was not backward in his eflforts towards preparing the way for an accommodation, for desiring which, he had his own peculiar reasons. He had now, during two campaigns, laboured incessantly to carry the war into the enemy's country, in which attempt he had been in great measure foiled, as well by the able tactics of Maurice, as by natural impediments; and his suc- cesses had been limited to the capture of a few towns, which, in comparison of the sums they had cost, were actually worthless ; his troops were now in a state of general mutiny, and any fresh attempt against the provinces must inevitably be attended with loss and disaster; he had involved nearly the whole of his private fortune by raising loans for the king's service, which, if Philip, from the loss of the West India fleet, or the continuance of his present burdens, Avere unable to repay, the consequence must be his entire ruin and disgrace. He therefore strenuously recom- mended pacific counsels to PhiHp, which found a ready ear in a young monarch, indolent and sensual, and wholly governed by the Duke di Lerma, a minister, whose sole principle of action was the gratification of his own rapacity, and who, as well as his master, sorely grudged the sums abstracted from their ^^leasures to support a war in which they had no personal concern. Added to this, Spain herself was now in a state of complete exhaustion; " the public treasury was drained ; the revenues and customs mortgaged for former loans ; credit annihilated ; every device for raising funds, by debasing the coin, or other means, come to an end; the nobility, poor and overwhelmed with debts; the 410 MAUEICE, ] 607 merchants, plundered, impoverished, and discontented; and the people, reduced to the extremity of necessity, and even of starvation, were ready at any moment to break out into revolt^." While the kingdom was in this distracted condition, rumours were constantly afloat, that the King of France was labouring to effect the union of the provinces with his dominions; and that the States had it in contemplation to supply the Moors with ships, for the purpose of invading Granada, and repossessing themselves of the land of their ancestors i». The first proposal for negotiations emanated, as might be expected, from the archdukes, who, in the month of January, sent to the Hague, Walrave van Wittenhorst and John Gevaarts, to represent to the States, how strongly they were inclined to renew the conferences so often broken off, and leaving it to them, who were well aware that the archdukes required nothing but what of right belonged to them, to propose conditions of peace or truce, whichever they thought most desirable. The opening, thus commenced, was singularly inauspicious. The States were surprised to observe, that the archdukes persisted in the error of conceiving, that they had the smallest right over any part of the United Provinces, when they themselves might, with so much more justice, demand the restora- tion of those provinces which had been violently wrested from the Union; and declared their deter- mination to enter into no treaty, unless their entire independence were first recognised *=. Finding these difficulties to be encountered on the very threshold, the archduke substituted for "Witten- ■ Letter from Sir Charles Comwallis, the English ambassador in Spain. — Winwood's Memorial, vol. ii., p. 65. ^ Grot. Hist., lib. xv., p. 715. ' Meteren, boek xxviii., fol. 608. STADTHOLDEK. 411 horst, as conductor of the negotiation, one John Neyen, I6O7 a Franciscan monk, of Zealand origin, though born at Antwerp, who, combining in his own person the appa- rently incongruous attributes of Jesuit and Dutchman, partook somewhat of the charactar of both ; possessing with the courteous manners and insinuating address he had acquired in his calling, a considerable portion of the straightforward simplicity, and boldness of speech peculiar to his nation; while to these qualifications he added eloquence, skill, and long experience in affairs, The repugnance of the archdukes to make the required acknowledgment of the independence of the States may be well imagined. To declare those people free and independent against whom they had all along been waging war as rebels, seemed to stamp their own cause with injustice, and would manifest so great a desire for peace as to convince the world that they were destitute of means for sustaining the war ; while the acquisition of independence as the reward of rebel- lion would afford the worst possible example to the provinces yet under their obedience. Present circum- stances did not, however, admit of their allowing much weight to these considerations ; and Neyen was, therefore, furnished with letters, declaring that the archdukes consented to treat with the States of the United Provinces " in the quality, and as considering them free Provinces and States, over which they had no pretensions," either for a peace, or a truce for twelve, fifteen, or twenty years ; for which purpose they would appoint ambassadors, requesting the States to name on their side an equal number; at the same time they proposed, for the better advancement of the negotia- tions, a truce of eight months. The States accepted the truce so far as that no town or fort should be 412 MAURICE, 1607 besieged or new fortifications erected, on condition that it should be ratified, ^yithin three months, by the King of Spain, ^ith a similar acknowledgment of their independence ■'. While the statesmen of Holland were thus watch- ful over the interests of their country at home, her admirals achieved a victory which gave unexpected emphasis to their negotiations. A fleet of twenty-six ships was this year placed under the command of Jacob Heemskerk, a man who concealed under a mild exterior and the most frugal and simple habits, undaunted prowess, and a lofty and enterprising spirit of ambition^. He had already rendered himself cele- brated by the memorable voyage to the north of Nova Zembla in 1596, and had commanded the fleet to India in 1604, when he signalized himself by the capture of a carack and two smaller vessels. His present commis- sion was entirely tinrestricted, and he would accept no other remuneration than one-eighth part of all the spoil above 500,000 dollars which they should conquer from the enemy. Setting sail on the 25th of JNIarch from the Texel, he arrived on the 10th of April in the Tagus, where he obtained intelligence that the enemy's fleet was in the bay of Gibraltar, lying in wait for the Dutch ships coming from the Mediterranean, and accordingly directed his course thither. Having entered the straits, he summoned together all his cap- tains, and informed them that he was determined to attack the Spanish vessels in the bay. He commanded that every two ships should simultaneously engage one of the enemy, reserving to himself and Lambert Hen- drickson of Rotterdam the attack of the admiral. Before they separated, they swore to follow him even ■^ Bentivoglio Tregua di Fiandra, lib. i. Meteren, boek xxix., fol. 608. ■^ Grot. Hist., lib, xvi., p. 731. STADTHOLDER. 413 to death, and pledged to each other a solemn cup of 1607 mutual fidelity*. On the 25th they made sail towards the bay, where they perceived the Spanish fleet of nine galleons and twelve smaller vessels, anchored in three fathoms water near the shore, and defended by the cannon of the town and citadel. The admiral's ship, the St. Augustine, on board of which was Don John Alvarez d'Avila, a veteran seaman, who had served under Don John of Austria, in the battle of Lepanto, was 800 tons burden, and contained a crew of 700 mariners and soldiers. The whole number of men in the fleet was estimated at 4000, and among them were several nobles and volunteers, who, on the report of the arrival of the Dutch vessels, had hastened to wit- ness and share the honour of that victory which they deemed secure. Seeing the ships approach, the Spanish admiral called upon deck the master of a Rotterdam merchantman, whom he had jDrisoner on board, and asked him what he thought was their design. " Either I mistake my countrymen," replied he, " or they are coming to attack you." " To attack me ?" retorted the other, with a scornful laugh, " why my single ship is sufficient to destroy their whole fleet." " We shall see," said the Dutchman quietly. Having put up a short prayer to the Almighty, Heem- skerk first bore down direct upon the admiral's ship, who, on his advance, cut his cable and retired nearer the shore, behind the vice-admiral and three galleons. * G-rotius, in imitation of Livy, on this and all similar occasions, dis- figures liis excellent and admirable history, by attributing to the leaders displays of oratory, which they (usually men of few words) were little likely to have exhibited, and which their audience would scarcely have understood if they had. The actual address of Heemskerk to his cap- tains was more like that of our own Nelson, the perfection of the simple sublime. After explaining to them his mode of attack, " Comrades," said he, " do your duty and follow me, I shall be foremost."- — Meteren, boek xxviii., fol. 604. 414 MAURICE, 1607 Heemskerk, passing these vessels, quickly followed, commanding the anchor not to be dropped, or the guns fired, till he had come close up with the enemy. The Spaniard opened the first fire from a cannon at his prow, which passed before the Dutch ship without damage. Heemskerk instantly ran alongside, and let fall his anchor, when a second fire carried off his left leg above the hip-joint, as he stood conspicuous in glittering armour in the middle of the deck. He had but a moment's time, before he expired, to exhort his captain, Verhoef, to conceal his death, and pursue the glorious work he had begun. "Verhoef instantly sent a broadside into the enemy, when D'Avila, the Spanish admiral, was likewise killed; and at the same time Lambert Hendrickson attacked the vessel from the opposite side. jNIeanwhile, Alteras, vice-admiral of Holland, being prevented by the wind from closing with the Spanish vice-admiral as commanded, dropped down below, the town, out of the reach of the artillery, which fired incessantly from thence and from the citadel, and engaged two galleons, which in a short time were so damaged as to be totally disabled. The ship of the vice-admiral, attacked by the Dutch captain, Eoest, caught fire, and burnt to the water's edge, which placed the Holland vessels in imminent danger; that of Roest and two others had even their sails burnt. The same accident happened to a second Spanish vessel, which, upon the destruction of the vice-admiral, had hoisted the flag, and the flames rapidly extending to several others, some blew up with a tremendous explosion. Volumes of lurid fire and smoke filled the air and obscured the vision ; bright mid-day bore the image of night ; and the water was choked with the burnt and mangled bodies of the dead and STADTHOLDEE. 415 dying. The admiral's ship resolutely sustained the 1607 combat against her two opponents, until a third came up, and her standard was torn down, when the crew, springing overboard twenty and thirty at a time, attempted to save themselves by swimming, but met with a more certain death from the musket balls of their enemies. The capture of the admiral's ship terminated the battle, in which the Spaniards lost ten of their largest vessels, either sunk or destroyed by fire, and the rest were so cruelly damaged as to be wholly unserviceable. During the night, some of the crew of the admiral's ship cut the rope by which she was made fast to her captor, and ran her on shore, ■where she was burned by the people of the town. The number of lives lost on the side of the victors is stated, with some appearance of improbability, to have been no more than one hundred*, while of the 4000 in the Spanish fleet, scarcely one half were saved. It was in the moment of victory that the creM'S of the Dutch vessels first learned, how dearly it had been purchased by the death of their beloved commander, the loss of whose master mind was soon felt. Instead of carrying into eifect his intention of attacking the town of Gibraltar, while the terror of the inhabitants was yet unabated, or clearing the harbours of the Mediterranean from the enemy's ships, the conquerors remained two days inactive in the bay, and then retired to the port of Tetouan to refit. Here they were received by the Moors with the warmest congra- tulation, and treated during their stay with every .species of favour and hospitality. The fleet was, not long after, recalled. * According to the account given in the Me'moires de Sully, 250 ; torn, vi., liv. 24, p. 290. 416 MAURICE, 1607 The embalmed body of Heemskerk was brought to Amsterdam, where his obsequies were celebrated iu the old church with every testimony of sorrow and respect; and a tomb raised to his memory engraven with his achievements and victories. He fell in the prime of life, being no more than thirty-nine years of age^ After having concluded tlie eight months' truce Avith the archdukes, the States presented a request to the King of France, that he would send ambassadors to the Hague to assist them vrith their counsels in an affair of so much importance; and lest the preference shown to Henry might excite umbrage in other powers, they desired the like assistance from the Kings of England and Denmark, the Count Palatine, and the Duke of Brunswick. James, however, would not comply with their request, till they had proffered it through the medium of a formal embassy; when he dispatched to the Hague Sir Richard Spencer, as coad- jutor to Sir Ralph Winwood, the English member of the Council of State, of the provinces. On the part of France appeared the Sieur de Jeannin, president of Burgundy, a statesman and negotiator of the very first ability, formerly a follower of the League in France, but who, being included in the pacification between Henry IV. and the Duke of INIaine, had from that time been employed and trusted by the former in the most important matters. With him were joined Buzanval, the king's ordinary ambassador to the States, and the Sieur de Russy". In the audience he obtained of the States four days after his arrival, Jeannin reminded them of the benefits conferred on them by his master, ' Meteren, boek xxviii., fol. 604, 605. Grot. Hist., lib. xvi., p. 731 — 738. s Winwood's ^Memorial, vol. ii., p. ,329. Grot. Hist., lib. x\-i., p. 739, 740. Rvm. Feed., torn, xvi., p. 663. Eloge de Jeannin, in Neg. de Jean., torn. i. STADTHOLDER. 417 complained of those who had originated the rumour, 1607 that the king aimed at the sovereignty of the pro- vinces*, and reproached them, as with a species of ingratitude, for having proceeded so far as to conclude a truce with the enemy without consulting their ally. In fine, he declared, that, nevertheless, he was come to offer them, on the part of the king, effective assistance in case they continued the war, or to obtain for them equitable and advantageous conditions of peace\ The thfee months appointed for the period of the ratification of the truce had nearly expired, when this document was brought to the Hague by Louis Verreiken; but both its form and tenour were widely different from what the States expected, or the archdukes had promised. The acknowledgment of the provinces as "free States, &c.," was restricted to the continuance of the truce; the king's small seal only was affixed; and it was signed " Yo el Rey," as usual in edicts addressed to. subjects. Although Verreiken was bold enough to maintain, that this had occurred through inadvertence only, the States positively refused to accept it, on the ground that it was deficient both in form and sub- stance. Verreiken, accordingly, undertook to get it ' Neg. de Jeannin, torn, i., p. 116. * Notwithstanding the indignation manifested by Jeannin, at the suspicion of the king's amliitious views, the fact was undoubted. Heniy had commissioned the Sieur d'Aersens, ambassador of the States at Paris, to sound their dispositions upon this point, and whether they would in that case permit tlie public exercise of the Catholic religion. Aersens, however, did not venture to mention the subject. (Neg. de Jeannin, torn, i., p. 23, 24.) Jeannin afterwards broached the proposition to Barneveldt, who extricated himself from this most embarrassing dilemma, by declaring, that if the provinces should be inclined to change their government, he would use his endeavours that they should choose the king as their sovereign preferably to any other prince. (Idem, p. 67.) Henry often expressed his vexation, that Jeannin did not " touch this chord more strongly."— Mem. de Sully, tom. vii., liv. 25, p. 99. VOL. II. 2 E 418 MAURICE, 1607 amended'. The indignation of many at finding them- selves thus mocked, as they conceived, by Spain was excessive; and the intelligence, that a fleet was in preparation both in Spain and Flanders confirmed the opinion, that the truce was only a pretext put forth to disarm them; a further proof of the duplicity of the enemy was found in an attempt made by Neyen to corrupt Cornelius Aersens, registrar of the States- General, by the offer of a bill of exchange for 50,000 ducats, a diamond of great value, and a superb gold chain; which gifts Aersens, after some hesitation, accepted. He immediately informed Prince Maurice and Barneveldt of the circumstance, and placed the presents in the hands of the States, but his reputation suffered, notwithstanding, considerable injury in the minds of the multitude''. Barneveldt afterwards deli- vered these presents to Verreiken in a full assembly of the States. " Take them back," said this stern repu- blican, "and restore them to whom they belong; desire the archdukes, also, if they sincerely mean to enter into any treaty of peace, to forbear all such attempts for the future; think not, that here, as in monarchies, we are guided by the will of two or three; our numbers render it impossible to corrupt us, and, were it not so, they would be still further increased; and should any one of us allow himself to be tempted, exemplary chastisement would be immediately inflicted on him." Vexed and confounded, Verreiken protested, that Neyen, judging, after the mannerof monks, of others' cupidity by their own, had acted of his own accord, and without the authority or knowledge of the archdukes ; an "excuse which the States, despite its improbability, were complaisant enough to receive^. i Neg. de Jean., torn, i., p. 271, 278, et seq. Grot. Hist., lib. xvi., p. 744. '< Idem, torn, i., p. 24". ' Idem, torn, i., p. 310. Grot. Hist., lib. xvi., p. 745. STADTHOLDER. 419 In consequence of tliese circumstances, the request 1607 made by Verreiken, that the fleet should be recalled from the coasts of Spain, encountered vigorous oppo- sition. Prince Maurice, in especial, declared his opinion, that instead of recalling the fleet, they should rather reinforce it, and keep it in readiness to take immediate vengeance if it were discovered that any deception were intended by the King of Spain. But at length by the persuasions of Bameveldt, who urged that the king might exercise reprisals on a great num- ber of merchant ships, then on their return from Italy, the States were brought to consent, that "out of regard to the archdukes, who had no part in the delay of the ratification," the ships should be summoned home, and all prizes taken after a period of six weeks declared unlawful"". The difiiculties in which Barneveldt was placed now began to thicken around him. The municipal governments, indeed, with the deputies of the States, over whom his eloquence and persuasive powers had given him unbounded influence*, were firm and con- stant in his support; but the multitude, — led on by Prince Maurice, who saw in prospect the diminution of his own authority, and excited by their preachers, who, nearly all his zealous partisans, thundered their denunciations from the pulpit against the peace and its supporters, — became daily more eager and clamorous for war ; while the ambassadors of France and England, though they received instructions not openly to oppose the peace, would yet have better satisfied their masters, coiild they have incited the States to continue hosti- " Neg. de Jean,, torn, i., p. 124 — 302. Metereii, boek xxviii., fol. 610. * " They readily followed his counsels, without considering ^Yhether they were good or had." — Jean., torn, ii., p. 345. 2 E 2 420 MAURICE, ]607lities without pledging tlie former in any specific manner to their support". Maurice had been strongly opposed to the armistice, as well as the recall of the fleet, and angry at finding himself thwarted on every occasion by Barne veldt, scrupled not to throw out hints to the prejudice of his integrity; while Barneveldt discovered his suspicions, that the prince sought to prolong the war from motives of private interest and ambition. Their dissensions, though appeased for a while by the interference of Jeannin, subsequently burst out on all occasions with renewed violence and bitterness <=*. Towards the end of the year, Neyen and Verreiken arrived with the amended ratification of the King of Spain, which contained the acknowledgment of inde- pendence in the terms proposed by the States, but with the condition, that if the negotiation for peace failed, his rights remained undiminished. As there were, moreover, numerous obscurities in the wording, and it was signed like the former " Yo el Rev," the States hesitated to receive it, although strongly advised by the French and English ambassadors to do so; and deemed it therefore requisite to refer the matter to the States of the several provinces their principals?. Before their separation for this purpose, they received a letter from the emperor, reminding them of the trouble and charges which his father had incurred on their account; and expressing his astonishment, that ° Neg. de Jean., torn, i., p. U4, 145. WinTvood's Memorial, vol. ii., P- S34. 1 » Idem, torn. i.,p. 90, 104 et passim. p Idem, tom. i., p. 451, et seq. ; tom. ii., p. 11. * Du Mam-ier relates, (p. 293,) that in one of the conferences, the prince so far forgot himself, as to give Barneveldt the lie, and raise his hand to strike him ; but as he is a gossiping crater, not wholly to be relied on, we may give Maurice the benefit of the strong doubt, which the entire silence of Jeannin on the subject creates. STADTHOLDEE. 421 they should have taken so important a step as that 1607 of concluding a truce without first consulting him; the provinces, he declared, were ancient fiefs of the empire, as might be proved by numerous archives and deeds of investiture, and he forbad them to enter into any treaty without the consent of their liege lord, other- wise all their acts would be invalid. The States, not a little amazed at this claim of feudal superiority, from a quarter where protection had so often been denied, answered, that they remembered, when suffering under the oppi-ession of the Spaniards, they made their com- plaint to the emperor, as well as other princes of Europe, and no aid was sent from him; that the negotiations held under the mediation of his ambassa- dors at Cologne, had caused hostilities to rage more violently than ever ; and now that they had secured their freedom by arms, they trusted, neither the emperor nor princes of the empire would seek to impede the progress of the treaty which would jDut an end to so long and bloody a war. The question of fealty " was left untouched, as being invidious to deny, and dishonourable to acknowledge''*." The States, on their reassembling, were empowered, notwithstanding the deficiency of the ratification, to enter into negotiations for a treaty of peace or long truce, on the fundamental jjrinciples, that no concession Mas to be made on the subject of the sovereignty or independence of the provinces, nor on any point concern- ing their internal affairs or the regulation of religion. As the truce of eight months was now nearly expired, the States requested a prolongation of it for six weeks. iMetei-en, boek xxviii., fol. 614; boek xxix., fol. 624. Grot. Hist., lib. xvi., p. 751. * Upon this subject see chap, v., of Part II. 422 MAUEICE, 1607 It was afterwards renewed from time to time during the whole of this and the ensuing year^ The first-fruits of a cessation of hostilities were perceived in the projection of one of those stupendous works, which it seems to belong only to the indomitable patience and perseverance of the Dutch to achieve. This was the draining and dyking of the Beemster lake, about twenty-four miles in circumference, and six feet deep in the shallowest part. The work was begun in the following year; but though forty mills* were constantly employed, it was not fully completed till 1612. Eighteen thousand acres of fine arable and pasture land were thus redeemed, and divided among the projectors'. As the extreme severity of the winter f, delayed for some time the journey of the Spanish ambassadors to the Hague, the States made use of the intervening 1608 period to conclude a defensive alliance ^ith the King of France, whereby Henry engaged to procure for them, if possible, a secure and advantageous peace, and in case of its violation, to assist them with a force of 10,000 foot at his own cost. The States, on the other hand, were to supply France, if she were attacked, with 5000 foot, or an equivalent in ships. A similar treaty, which they endeavoured to conclude with - Meteren, boek xxviii., fol. 614. • Meteren, boek xxviii., fol. 612. Velius Hoom, boek iv., bl. 294. * No description, unfortunately, is given of the engines used for this purpose. t It was one of those remarkable coincidences which often excite our interest during the course of Butch history, that now, for the first time since Spinola had taken the command of the royalist army, the rivers and marshes were frozen so hard, as to have afforded an easy passage for his troops and artillery into Holland, the invasion of which he had from the beginning projected, as soon as such an opportunity should offer. The ice on the Zuyderzee, Texel, and Vlie, was sufficiently strong to bear heavily laden sledges.— Velius Hoom, boek iii., bl. 288. STADTHOLDER. 423 England, encountered considerable delay and difficulty, 1608 as well from the reluctance of James to take a step ■which Spain might interpret as hostile, as on account of some disputes with respect to the trade of the merchant adventurers, which Holland desired that Amsterdam should divide with Middleburg, and of the debt owing to England by the provinces. At length it was agreed, that each of the contracting parties July should provide a subsidy in defence of the other when called upon; James of 6000 foot and 400 horse, with twenty men-of-war, and the States a like number of vessels with 5000 infantry and 300 horse; the expenses of the armaments to be repaid five years after the con- clusion of the war for which they were required. The debt, fixed at 818,408^., was to be liquidated by half- yearly instalments of 30,000/^. from the commencement of the peace with Spain*. On the last day of January, the ambassadors on the part of Spain and the archdukes, the Marquis of Spinola, John Richardot, president of the Privy Council of the Spanish Netherlands, Don Juan di Mancicidor, secretary to the King of Spain, with Neyen and Verreiken, arrived at the Hague. They were met at Ryswick by Prince Maurice, who greeted his rival commander with every testimony of unfeigned welcome and esteem; seated him in his own coach, on his right hand, and conducted him to the hotel pre- pared for his reception. The spectacle of ambassadors coming to their capital to sue for peace in the name of their powerful and deposed sovereign — of the general who had proved himself so formidable an antagonist to Prince Maurice, joining hands with him in courtesy and friendship — excited the natural curiosity of the ' Neg. de Jean., torn, ii., p. 72. Grot. Hist., lib. xvii., p. 761. Eym. Feed., torn, xvi., p. 667, 674. 424 MAURICK, 1608 people to the highest pitch. They flocked together in the streets of the Hague in such multitudes, that the procession could scarcely pass, and for several days the house of Spinola was filled with persons eager to see and converse with him; a reception which led the ambassadors into the serious error of supposing that it was a manifestation of their excessive desire for peace^- On the part of the States, William of Nassau and Walrave, lord of Brederode, were appointed deputies for the generality, with a deputy from each of the provinces. The one named by Holland was John Oldenbarneveldt, in whose hands, in fact, the whole conduct of the negotiation lay''. The first article of the treaty, that of the acknowledgment of the inde- pendence and sovereignty of the States, passed without opposition, Ri chard ot bluntly declaring, that the States might erect themselves into a kingdom if they would, he should not oppose them; the usual provisions of a treaty of the like nature also, general amnesty and oblivion, the restoration of sequestrated estates, &c., encountered little opposition ; but the demand made by the States that the King of Spain and archdulces should renounce the title and arms of the provinces, was complained of to the ambassadors of France and England as a grievous insult, and a harsher condition than one king would venture to impose upon another. The King of England, they said, bore the title and arms of France, and the archdukes those of Burgundy, although they possessed nothing of these dominions but the name, without giving umbrage to the King of France the actual possessor. To this it was replied, that monarchs could protect themselves from insult by " Meteren, boek xxix., fol. 625. Neg. de Jean., torn, ii., p. lO.'i. ' Meteren, boek xxix., fol. 626. STADTHOLDEE. 426 their own greatness, but that a free people could not 1608 be too solicitous for tbe preservation of their rights, and that the sacrifice required would be but trifling to the house of Austria, who had so many proud titles to boast^. In fine, this article was, to the astonishment of all men, yielded, provided the remainder should be agreed on. The deputies of the States began to suspect, that the conditions were so readily acceded to, only because no intention existed of fulfilling them; but the reason of this unexpected conplaisance in the Spanish ambassadors soon became apparent. When the subject of commerce came to be discussed, they declared, that the trade with Spain being restored to the Dutch, it was expected that all further communi- cation with the Indies should immediately and wholly cease as before the wai-, remarking, that the liberty of commerce to India had neither been ceded to France or England by the late treaties made with those countries. To this the ambassadors of the two powers replied, that a thing lawful in its nature, and not declared unlawful by any express act, was of itself free to every one, without permission asked, or granted. The States rested their right on a similar ground; a right which, they said, the King of Spain could not, even before the war, and while they were his subjects, have sought to restrict with any colour of justice; and as neither party would cede an iota to the other, the question gave rise to long and vehement debates. Richardot angrily asserted, that the king would neither surrender his sovereignty over the provinces, nor permit any traffic with Spain, if this point were insisted on''. The States themselves were not unani- mous on the subject; neither were their pretensions " Neg. de Jean., torn, ii., p. 108. Grot. Hist., lib. xvii., p. 764. " Neg. de Jean., torn, ii., p. 110, 144. 426 MAURICE, ] 608 heartily supported by the French ambassador, both which facts Richardot, probably, either knew or sus- pected. The King of France had given Jeannin instructions to the eifect, that the provinces should be obliged by the proposed treaty to desist from their navigation to India, or to carry it on at their peril in the same manner as his own subjects. He had it much at heart to draw the commerce both of the East and West Indies to France, and even entered into a negotiation with Le Maire, a merchant of Amsterdam, for the establishment of a company in his dominions, in case the Dutch should consent to resign ity. Some of the deputies of those provinces also, which were not immediately interested in the Indian commerce, were of opinion that it would be beneficially exchanged for the shorter and safer traffic with Spain, from whence the returns would be so much more certain and speedy. But the greater number of deputies in the States were determined at all hazards to insist upon the continuation of a commerce which had now become actually necessary to their well-being; which employed 190 ships, and above 8000 men; and of which the annual returns were estimated at 43,000,000 of guilders. The acknowledgment of their independence by the King of Spain would be a mere empty pretence, if he assumed the power of depriving them of a right inalienable from it, that of the free navigation of the seas. The trade with Spain, which was offered in the stead, was of far " inferior value, and the small and defenceless vessels which went thither, were, as experience had often proved, liable to become the prey of the enemy, as often as he found it expedient; whereas those sent to the East Indies, of y Instr. to Jeannin, Neg., torn, i., p. 34; also p. 223, 244: torn, ii., p. 176. STADTHOLDER. 427 superior size, and always equipped for battle, would 1608 form a powerful navy in case of emergency. Neither had the provinces reaped anything like the profits which might be expected from the Indian trade, since Cambaya, Malabar, and Coromandel, were but little known ; and if once the company gained, as they hoped to do, a footing in China, there was every probability of their reaching America by the South Sea, and dis- covering new lands towards the antarctic pole. It was in vain that they had fought during forty years for their liberty, and against the Duke of Alva's tenth, as destructive of commerce, if they were now to endure the slavery of being excluded from the greater portion of the world; and what were those who desired to close up the seas better than pirates ? Nor was it the least consideration, that the hitherto unsullied reputa- tion of the Dutch would suffer foul and everlasting reproach, if they should abandon to the cruelty of the Spaniards the natives of those countries who had reposed confidence in their protection and friendships. Prince Maurice and Barneveldt were both equally zealous for the preservation of the Indian commerce ; the one because he hoped that the conferences would be broken off for this cause, the other deeming it of essential benefit to his country. At length the States, moved by the prayers, not unmingled with tears, of Richardot, that they would not harshly break off the negotiations by their refusal to yield something on so tender a point, proposed, by way of compromise, that their subjects should trade to the Indies for nine years after the conclusion of the peace, except to those places which were actually in the possession of the King of Spain, where they should ' Remonstrance of the East India Company. — Meteren, boek xxix., fol, 626, et seq. 428 MAURICE, 1608 be bound to obtain special permission ; and that, meanwhile, they should come to some amicable under- standing with respect to its continuance. As the Spanish ambassadors had no power to concede any- thing on this subject, it was thought advisable that Neyen should repair to Spain for the purpose of pro- curing further instructions from the king. Shortly after, Jeannin paid a visit to France, with the same object, which arrested for some time the progi-ess of the negotiations ; when the Danish ambassadors, weary of the apparently interminable delays, and of playing the part of mere lookers-on in a game, of which France directed all the movements, took their final departure^ The provinces were the less disposed to make the immense sacrifice required of them by Spain, in conse- quence of the tidings which reached them this spring, of the successes obtained by their countrymen, and the rich prizes they had captured in the Indian seas. A fleet of thirteen vessels, Avhich had been equipped for India in 1605, under the Admiral Maatelief, one of the directors of tlie company, sailing to the peninsula of jSIalaj-, made alliances with the four kings then reigning in Johor, whose ancestors had been deprived of JNIalacca by the Portuguese, and, in concert with them, imdertook the siege of that city. The Indian auxiliaries, however, proved upon trial utterly worth- less, being deficient in experience, discipline, and, above all, in courage. They took flight, not only at every sally, but at every shot fired by the besieged. As his troops were, therefore, not sufiiciently numerous to press forward the siege, ISIaatelief had recourse to a blockade, hoping to reduce the town by famine. He had lain before it four months, when Don Alonzo di Castro, viceroy of India, came to its relief, with a ■ Neg. de Jean., torn, ii., p. 201, 226. Grot. Hist., lib. xvii., p. 769, 774. STADTHOLDEB. 429 fleet of fourteen galleons, and twenty smaller vessels^ 1603 on board of which were 3700 men*. The number of the Dutch amounted to no more than 1200''- At the approach of the enemy, Maatelief broke up the siege, and re-embarked his artillery; when, advancing to meet the Spanish fleet, a sharp contest ensued, in which each side lost three vessels, but the Dutch had no more than eight men killed, while a considerable number perished on the side of the Spaniards. A second engagement, fought not long after, was far more decisive ; two ships of Di Castro's fleet were captured, a third destroyed by fire, and the remainder so entirely disabled, that, retreating into the roads of Malacca, they were burned by the Spaniards themselves. The advantages of this victory were counterbalanced by the loss of Tidor, where the citadel having been destroyed, in compliance with the wishes of the king, the Portuguese regained possession of the island with- out difiiculty ; and from thence invaded Ternate, whose sovereign, a faithful ally of the Dutch, they forced to fly from his capital. On intelligence of these events, Maatelief proceeded to the island of Ternate, where, landing at the southern extremity, he fortified the village of Malaya, thus aiFording a refuge to the fugitive king, whom he promised to defend in case he were attacked anew, and to include him in any treaty which might be made with the Spaniard. Thence Maatelief sailed to Bantam, where having remained some time to refit, he returned to Holland, bringing with him ambassadors and presents from the King of Siam to Prince Maurice, and three vessels richly laden with spices''. ^ Grot. Hist., lib. xvii., p. 792. " Meteren, boek xxix., fol. 620, et seq, * Jeannin, speaking from common report, makes the mimber of Spanish vessels forty, with from 7000 to 8000 men. — Neg., torn, ii., p, 267. 430 MAURICE, 8 Dui-ing the absence of Jeannin in France, events happened which excited deep mistrust and uneasiness in the minds of the States-General, They were in- formed by their residents at the courts of France, England, and Germany, that the King of Spain had declared to all these sovereigns, that it had never been his intention to resign his rights over the United Pro- vinces, whose independence he had recognised for the time only, to enable him to open negotiations; and that he was determined to grant no peace, unless they restored the public exercise of the Catholic religion, and desisted from the navigation to the Indies. Philip had likewise sent ambassadors to the Kings of France and England, proposing to the former a double marriage between the crown-prince of Spain, and the eldest daughter of Henry, and between the Dauphin and the Infanta, at the same time that he offered the Infanta to the eldest son of King James. As both these proposals could not be sincere, the States justly concluded that the sole purpose of the enemy in making them, was to detach these sovereigns from their alliance d. Confirmation of their most sinister suspicions was afforded by the fresh instructions which the Spanish ambassadors received shortly after the return of Jeannin to the Hague. They now required from the deputies of the States, as their ultimatum, in return for the sovereignty which their masters were ready to cede in the most ample terms, an engagement, to desist immediately from the navigation to India, and to estab- lish the public exercise of the Catholic religion in the provinces. The former of these two articles, the States, although the ambassadors of the allied powers urged that it concerned only the interest of some ' Neg. de Jean., torn, ii., p. 396. Meteren, boek xsix., fol. C.50. STADTHOLDEE. 431 private persons, and that it were better to abandon it 1608 altogether, than break for this cause, were, as resolutely as ever, determined not to yield ; and the latter, they considered, would tend to foster so powerful a Spanish faction in the provinces, as greatly to endanger their safety. In this opinion, they were strongly supported by the English ambassadors; and Jeangin himself, upon whose co-operation jn this instance the Spanish ambassadors relied, although, as minister of a Catholic sovereign, and an old leaguer, he could not consistently offer opposition to the demand, declared, that though the measure in itself were commendable, it was a dangerous one to be adopted at the dictation of the enemy". The States, therefore, feeling how detrimental to their affairs was the continued delay and uncer- tainty, and provoked at the artifices and deception of Spain, broke off the negotiation in high displeasure, protesting that they themselves had entered into it with upright intentions; but perceiving, from the inadmissible conditions insisted upon by the archdukes and King of Spain, that they never had any purpose of coming to a conclusion, they would not allow their patience to be abused any longer^. It now appeared inevitable that the war must recommence with redoubled bitterness and fury, when Jeannin, in concert with the English ambassadors — aware that in case of the renewal of hostilities their sovereigns would be bound to afford the provinces effec- tive assistance, which Henry was scarcely able to do to the extent required, and James neither able nor willing to do at all — ventured to propose a truce for a term of years, which Jeannin had long contemplated, in case of a peace proving impracticable, on condition that the sovereignty of the provinces should be acknowledged; ' Neg. de Jean., torn, ii., p. 397, 401, 402. Idem, p. 404, 406, 409. 432 MAUKICE, 1608 that the trade both to India and Spain should remain free during the period; and that each party should retain their present possessions e. This proposition, received by the States with doubt and mistrast, waslieard by the people with undisguised and violent aversion. The deluge of pamphlets, letters, and libels \p-itten against it, was absolutely overwhelm- ing. Some prophesied the desertion of the United Provinces, the increase of dissension among them, and their ultimate subjection to Spanish slavery ; others raked up all the acts of perfidy and cruelty which had been committed by the Spaniards in America, Granada, and the Netherlands; nor did they omit to remark, among other things, that instead of Netherland nobles, a troop of Spaniards, Italians, and priests, were sent by the archduke as negotiators. The States attempted to arrest the course of these publications by an edict, but as they deemed it incompatible with public liberty to inflict any punishment on the authors or printers, this measure proved of no avail. Among the list of authors, indeed, there appeared no less a person than Prince INIaurice himself, who, in a letter addressed to the towns of Holland, strongly dissuaded them from a truce; during which, he said, the enemy would replenish his finances, re-establish his commerce, and redouble his strength to bring them one day under subjection ; while they, on the contrary, by the entire loss of their trade which would ensue, and the large number of troops they must keep on foot for their protection, would, at its expiration, find themselves in a far worse condition than at nresent ; and would be obliged to consent to a disgraceful reconciliation with Spain, which must be followed by total ruin and insup- K Neg. de Jean., torn, ii., p. 413. Winwood's Mem., vol. ii., p. 335, 411, 434. Stautholder. 433 portable slavery h. An answer to this letter was drawn 1608 up with great spirit and ability by Jeannin, and pub- lished in the name of the ambassadors of the allied sovereigns '- Above all others, Barneveldt was generally blamed as the prime mover of this mischievous measure ; and in some of the libels, hints, not obscure, were thrown out that he deserved death ; the allied sovereigns also were not spared, as those who secretly hoped to find their own profit in the misfortunes of the United Provinces. Well knowing from whose quiver these poisoned shafts came, Barneveldt, in a dignified address delivered to the States-General, observed, that the hatred and injuries of the powerful were nothing new to him, and the integrity of his own conscience would support him in the service of his country against the malice and evil reports of his enemies ; but as he perceived that the affair of the truce, unpalatable in itself, was rendered still more obnoxious by the per- sonal dislike borne him, he besought the States to substitute one less unpopular in his room. Having thus spoken, he quitted the assembly. Five of the principal members, deputed by the rest, immediately followed him, beseeching him not to desert his country in its present difficulties. After some hesitation, he con- sented, in compliance with their entreaties, to return to the assembly, and, in the speech which followed, represented so forcibly the favourable dispositions of the allied sovereigns, and their own inability to sustain the burdens of a war carried on in opposition to their wishes; convinced the wavering; and answered the reproaches of his opponents with such unexampled •■ Grot. Hist., lib. xvii., p. 776. Meteren, boek xxx., fol. 663. Neg. de Jeamiin, torn, ii., p. 459. ' " Escrit fait par Jeannin, &c.," Neg. de Jeannin, torn, iii., p. 9. VOL. II. 2 P 434 MAURICE, 1608 temper and forbearance, tliat, leading captive at once the hearts and understandings of his hearers, he ob- tained the unauimous consent of all the deputies to the truce, except those from the province of Zealand, where the influence of Prince Maurice was para- mount i^*. The deputies of this province appealed to the Union of Utrecht, by which it was provided that no cessation of arms could be resolved on, except by the unanimous consent of the provinces. This knotty question was solved by the ambassadors of the allies, who declared their opinion that this provision was made in contemplation of their surrender as subjects to their sovereign, not of a treaty as between equal powers ; and even if such a law existed, it should be laid in abeyance, or abrogated entirely, in considera- tion of the public safety^ Nevertheless, the adoption of the principle of deciding by the majority was, in this instance, highly inexpedient; since Friezland, Groningen, Overyssel, and Guelderland, where the Catholics were numerous, and of which the three former had, in some measure, been forced into the Union, might, if the archdukes refused to comply with the terms offered, insist upon accepting such a tmce as they were disposed to grant, rather than renew the war. It was therefore deemed best to obtain the concurrence of Zealand, which that province at length yielded, though not without immense difficulty, and some threats of being left to carry on the war alone. This obstacle surmounted, the States ' Grot. Hist., lib. xvii., p. 786, 787. Neg. de Jeannin, torn, iii., p. 43. ' Address to Assembly, in Neg. de Jeannin, torn, iii., p. 113. * The prince, being Marq^uis of Veere and Flusliing, represented tlie body of tbe nobility wliich liad one vote in tlie States ; and, of course, had at his command the votes of these towns, two out of the six, which, with the nobility and clergy, composed the assembly of the States. Three votes out of eight, therefore, were virtually lodged in him. STADTnOLDJEB. 435 passed ah ullatiiiilous resolution to enter into the 1608 negotiations for a truce, provided the archdukes should, in the name of the king, acknowledge their independ- ence in the terms of the first truce ; and that no article be admitted in derogation of it, either as regarded civil or religious matters. If the enemy should be found obstinate, the conference was to be broken off after eight days, and hostilities renewed with redoubled energy and vigour™. Meanwhile the time appointed for the stay of the Spanish atobassadors had expired, and they had taken their leave of the States, with expressions of mingled tegret and reproach. Jeannin, however, once more caught up the broken thread of this tedious and diffi- cult negotiation; and the deputies on both sides meet- 1609 ing again at Antwerp, the States-General repaired to Bergen-op-Zoom, in order to facilitate its progress. But they wisely left the matter almost entirely in the hands of the French ambassador*; and as the articles, when proposed by him, no longer appeared in the " Neg, de Jeannin, torn, iii., p. 251. Grot. Hiat., lib. xviii., p. 805, 806. * The English amhassadors had throughout borne only a secondary part in the conduct of the negotiations ; the cause of which was to be found, as well in the unrivalled talents of Jeannin, and the coniidencei felt in his integrity and skill, as in the opinioil geneially entertained Ijy th^ Dutch, and not without good grounds, that James, and still more his queen, Anne of Denmark, were wholly devoted to Spain, and enemies to the States.' — -Neg. de Jean., torn, i., p. 137. Winwood, vol. ii., p. 215. A report had lately become current, and gained universal belief, that the King of England had offered Philip to carry the truce in the provinces without any acknowledgment of independence ; a report which, according to Hume (vol. vi., p. 46, note), " was founded on a lie of President Richardot's.'' But this is too harsh an expression. James did, in fact, give Winwood instructions, that if he could not obtain a truce for seven years witli the acknowledgment, he should propose oHe for twenty years without, between the provinces and the archdukes, so that Spaiu were included. This, having got abroad, gave rise, no doubt, to the rumour in question. — Winwood's Memorial,- vol. ii., p. 48S, 2 F 2 436 MAURICE, 1609 offensive guise of demands from an enemy, but as the decisions of a judicious arbitrator, they were the more easily rendered acceptable". Some debates, however, occurred with respect to the title to be given to the States in the preamble; Jeannin desired, that they should retain that of "High and Mighty Lords" which they had lately assumed; but the Spanish ambassadors, who throughout the negotia- tions manifested their discontent by a peevish cavilling at minutiae, were so earnest on this point, that the mediators consented at length to change it for that of " Illustrious Lords." The remaining articles encoun- tered less difficulty; and within a few weeks the truce -A pi. was concluded for twelve years, under the guarantee of France and England, by which the archdukes declared, that they treated with the provinces as inde- Art. pendent and sovereign States, upon A^hich they had no ^^^ claims*; mutual freedom of trade between the parties Avas established, on the footing of the most favom-ed nations, in so far as regarded the dominions of the King of Spain in Europe; as to other quarters of the globe, the States were not to trade to any port in the actual occupation of the Spaniards, without first obtaining special permission. (The deputies of the States had desired that the freedom of trade to India should be declared in explicit terms, which Richardot refused, on the ground that the same would be required by the subjects of other sovereigns who had hitherto traded thither at their own peril. The ■■ Grot. Hist., lib. viii., p. 806. Neg. de Jean., torn, iii., p. 343 — 374. • It will be observed,^ tbat the acknowledgment by the archdukes of the independence and sovereignty of the States was, after all, not expressed in simple and unconditional terms. The persuasions of the mediating ambassadors induced the States to accept, though with extreme reluctance, tliis article as it stood, and which the former conceived a sufficient renunciation of their sovereignty by the archdukes. STADTHOLDER. 437 express mention of this commerce was of the less 1609 importance, as by a secret article the King of Spain engaged to offer no interruption to it, and the guaran- tees declared, they should consider any such interrup- tion as an infraction of the treaty »*.) The truce was Art. to take effect in Asia, Africa, and America, at the end "^ of a year. Each party was to retain their pi-esent possessions. The property in the United Provinces 20 belonging to churches and religious foundations situated in the dominions of the archdukes to be restored. The time elapsed during the Avar (from 27 1567) was not to reckon in prescriptions against mem- bers of the opposite parties; and all disinheritances or 32 other dispositions made in consequence of political animosities were declared null. No new forts 23 were to be erected on either side; nor were the 12 ships of war of either power to enter the harbours of the other, in such number as to give cause of susjDicion, without special licence, unless driven by stress of wea- ther. Subjects of the States being of the Reformed 7 religion, were to enjoy the same liberty in the domi- nions of the archdukes as had been granted to those of the King of England, by the secret article of the last treaty of peace made with him. The treaty was wholly silent as regarded the restoration of the public exercise of the Catholic religion in the provinces ; the King of Spain contenting himself with recommending to the States the favourable treatment of their Catholic brethren in the ratification, which arrived within two ° Neg. de Jeannin, torn, iii., p. 380, 475, 477; torn, iv., j). 8. * In giving this guarantee, the English ministers went beyond their instructions ; and it was only the wish not to disavow their proceeding, and that the whole affair might not be broken off when so near a conclu- sion, that induced James reluctantly to confirm their act, — Winwood's Memorial, vol, ii., p. 490. 438 MAUEICE, 1609 days only of the expiration of the three montha allotted for its term p. As sovereigns, even the most upright and generous, rarely manifest unusual friendship to their allies without some latent view towards their own interest, so Henry, disappointed in the hope which he formerly entertained of having the sovereignty of the United Provinces offered to him, laboured to raise up a supreme power in that State wholly subservient to himself, by con- ferring extensive obligations on Prince IVIaurice, and at the same time increasing his wealth and authority in his own country. It was with this intent that Jeannin had proposed to the States the ample provisions made for the prince and his whole family on the occasion of the treaty, and which the States, in gratitude for the services rendered by himself and his father, could not refuse''. Philip, prince of Orange, besides his share of his paternal estates, received 1,000,000 of guilders ; an annuity of 25,000 guilders was conferred on Prince Maurice, who was likewise to retain his present offices, at a salary of 80,000 guilders a year, with 80,000 more as an indemnification for the loss he sustained by the cessation of the war*; and proportional pensions were settled on Prince Henry, Count William of Nassau, stadtholder of Friezland, the Princess Dowager, and " Neg. de Jeannin, torn, iy., p. 65, et seq. 9 Instructions to Jeannin, Neg., torn, i., p. 34, also p. 185, et passim. * Of the selfisli rapacity of Maurice, tlie prominent vice of his character, the English ambassador. Sir Ralph Winwood, gives the following testimony : " No one thing hath been of greater trouble to us, than the craving humour of Count Maurice, who, not satisfied with the large treatments granted by the States, demanded satisfaction for certain pretensions, grounded upon grants to his father from the States of Brabant and Flanders, at such time as they were under the goverament of the Duke of Anjou ; which demana he pressed so hard, that he gave a charge to Count William not to sign the treaty unless in this particular he should receive contentment," — Memorial, vol. iii., p. 1. STADTHOLDER. 439 even upon Justin of Nassau, the illegitimate son of 1609 the late Prince of Orange"". The publication of the truce was received in the Spanish Netherlands with unbounded acclamations; but the inhabitants of the United Provinces, in whose naturally" pacific disposition the long war, and the successes attendant on it, had worked a vast change, manifested a joy less lively and universaP. The feel- ings with which it was regarded by foreign nations, were those of unbounded astonishment and admiration. That the powerful and haughty Spaniard should ever have been brought to acknowledge the sovereignty of his rebel subjects ; tacitly to permit them the naviga-- tion to India, of which he regarded the exclusive right as the luost precious jewel of his crown ; and to con- sent to the virtual suppression in the provinces of the Catholic religion, for which such oceans of blood had been shed ; were facts that men could scarce persuade themselves to believe. The powers of Europe now began to form a new estimate of the resources of Holland and the wisdom of her counsels ; and from this time we shall remark them vying with each other in seeking her support and alliance. ' Neg. de Jeannin, torn, iv., p. 17. Meteren, boek xxx., fol. 661. ' Grot. Hist., lib. xviii., p. 812. 440 MAURICE, CHAPTER V. Proposal for an alteration in the Constitution of the United Provinces. Embassies of the States to Foreign Powers. Affairs of Cleves and Juliers. A rminius and Gomarus. Religious Dissensions in the Provitices. " Pive Articles" of the Arminians. Name of Re- monstrants given to the Arminians, and Contra-Remonstrants to the Gomarists. Interference of the King of England. Publica- tions of Lubbertus and Grotius. " Resolution for the Peace of the Church," issued by the States of Holland. Schism at the Hague. Barneveldt solicits the Assistance of Prince Maurice. Animositg of the Prince towards him.. Maurice sides with the Contra -Re- monstrants. Redemption of the Cautionary Towns. Renewed efforts of the States of Holland to restore Peace. Riot at Amster- dam. Levy of " Waardgelders.'' Maurice introduces Troops into Briel. Question of a National Synod. Division among the Pro- vinces. Interference of the English Ambassador. French Am- bassador recommends Toleration. Maurice Prince of Orange changes the Government of Nimeguen. Libels against Barneveldt. His Apology. Letters of Convocation to the Synod at Dordrecht. Prince of Orange disbands the "Waardgelders'' at Utrecht. Arrest of Barneveldt, Grotius, and Hoogerbeets. Maurice changes the Governments of the Towns of Holland. Approbation of his con- duct by the States. Synod of Dordrecht. Commission appointed to examine the State Prisoners. Appointment of Twenty-four Judges by the States-General. Condemnation and Execution of Barneveldt. Grotius and Hoogerbeets condemned to perpetual Imprisonment. Persecution of the Remonstrants and Banish- ment of their Ministers. Treaty between the Dutch and English East India Companies. Foundation of Batavia. War in Ger- many. Escape of Grotius from the Castle of Louvestein. Expi- ration of the Truce. Renewal of Hostilities and Siege of Bergen- op-Zoom. Conspiracy against the Life of the Prince of Orange. Seizure and Execution of the Criminals. Alliances with France and England. Affair of Amboyna. Siege of Breda. Death and Character of Maurice. Invention of the Telescope. Esta- blishment of the Bank of Amsterda/m. Whale Fishery. Dis- coveries. Foundation of the West India Company. 1609 The benefits conferred on the United Provinces by the French Ambassador Jeannin in the accomplish- STADTHOLDER. 441 ment of so advantageous a truce, for which, it might be 1609 said, they were wholly indebted to him, the importance of Henry's alliance, and the high personal consideration which Jeannin himself enjoyed, gave him authority, as it were, to exercise a species of interference in their domestic affairs, which the Dutch at any other time would scarcely have endured, in proposing to them the reform of their internal constitution. This had, since the Union, undergone a gradual but important change; rather, however, as regarded the provinces collectively than individually. At that time the Prince of Orange, with the Council of State, had exercised the more active functions of sovereignty, the authority of the States- General, whose sittings were only periodical, being, if we may so express it, chiefly of a restrictive nature, and limited to the approval or rejection of the measures proposed and executed by the Prince and Council. Under the government of the Earl of Leicester, who had obtained that the Council of State should be so constituted, as to render it wholly subservient to his will, the States had declared their sittings permanent (1585), in order that the representatives of the States of the province in whom the supremacy resided* might be always at hand to control that power which he attempted to render absolute. Hence the authority of the Council of State began gradually to decline, and at length was confined to little more than bringing forward the "petition," or statement of expenses and demand of supplies for the current year, and adminis- * This must he understood only as in relation to the States-General ; since the deputies to the States of the provinces being obliged to defer to the governments of the towns their principals, the sovereignty could not, strictly speaking, be said to vest in them; neither was it in those towns, as their acts were of none effect without the concurrence of the nobility; it is difficult, indeed, to say where the sovereignty did reside; perhaps it was wisely left in uncertainty. 442 MAURICE, 1609 tering the funds of the generality; while the States- General drew to themselves nearly the whole of those functions which should more properly have been ful- filled by the executive. From this cause arose evils of no slight magnitude. As the States-General were not themselves sovereign, but representatives only of the provincial States by whom they were deputed, and they again of the governments of the towns which com- posed them, it was necessary that all measures should be referred to the provincial States, and by them to the towns of which they were the deputies. Hence proceeded interminable delays and discussions; " every resolution," says Jeannin, " depends upon a multitude of persons who mistrust each other, and change their opinions so often that there is the greatest difficulty in keeping them together''." In case of dispute between the provinces, no power existed to which they might appeal; if the matter were between any two, indeed, it might, according to the articles of the Union, be decided by the rest; but if, (as in the instance of the late truce,) one or more provinces should oppose them- selves to the remainder, the very existence of the Union appeared threatened''. With the view of remedying these defects, and giving activity and stability to the government, it was proposed by Jeannin, that a Council of State should be appointed, with power to decide all differences be- tween the provinces or towns, to execute the decrees of the States-General, and to administer all public affairs, except making alliances with foreign powers, war or peace, or raising any extraordinary impositions » Neg. de Jeannin, torn, i., p. 100. i> See " Notes on the Condition of tlie United Provinces" (1590), in Rymer's Foedera (tom.xvi., p. 44, ^ sey.) ; probably from the pen of Peregi-ine Bertie, lord Willoughby, then General of the Queen's troops in the Netherlands. STADTHOI^DER. 44'^ upon the generality, which functions were to be 1609 reserved for the States-General, whose assemblies should be held once a year*". The extension and con- firmation of the authority of Prince Maurice, the policy of which was constantly impressed by the King of France on his minister, was to be amply secured by making him, with his brother Frederic-Henry, and Count William, stadtholder of Friezland, his cousin, members for life of the council, of which the remaining members, one deputed from each province, were to be changed every three years*- It was intended, also, that the ambassadors of France and England should have a sitting and vote therein, and Oldenbarneveldt was to be reconciled to the measure, by the appoint- ment of President of the Council, and Keeper of the Seals of the Generality^. With him in opposition, Jeannin candidly confesses that the design must in- evitably prove abortive"; his commanding talents and long services gave his opinions so great weight with the States of Holland, that they were adopted almost without examination, and as the influence of that pro- vince was paramount in the States-General, he guided public affairs pretty much according to his pleasure. It was therefore scarcely to be expected that he would consent to surrender so large a portion of actual power for the empty title of President of a Council, of which the decisions would be the mere expression of the will ' Neg. de Jeannin, torn, i., p. 63, ■I Neg. de Jean., torn, i., p. 64, 65 ; torn, iv., p. 1 04, 105. ' Idem, p. 65. * As the Council, which would have been little else than the organ of the stadtholder's pleasure, was to he competent to decide all disputes between the provinces, and Prince Maurice would, from the influence he possessed in Zealand, have been always able to excite that province in opposition to the remainder, and then obtain a decision in its favour, it is evident that the erection of suoh a body was, in fact, a vii'tual sur^ render of the sovereign power into his hands. 444 MAURICE, 1609 of Prince Maurice; nor that the deputies to the States- General, however upright and disinterested, would willingly divest themselves of authority to clothe with it a body which, by its permanence, the nature of its functions, and the support it would receive from those princes, whose subjects were to be members of it, would ere long render itself arbitrary in the State. The practical evils, moreover, of a constitution, which, in theory, could hardly be supposed to exist for a single day, were as yet but little felt. Under its influence, the provinces had for the last twenty-five years daily in- creased in strength, wealth, and prosperity*; the nume- rous component parts of the governing body, which it would appear utterly impossible to hold together, were, in fact, strongly united by a community of interests, opinions, and habits, no one privileged class seeking to usurp over or oppress the others; the deputies of the States, chosen usually from the most intelligent mer- chants or gentry of the towns, found their own interest closely bound up in the welfare of their country, and possessing, from their "nealth and integrity, extensive influence with their constituents, often dictated those counsels which they appeared to obey, and were not unfrequeutly entrusted with a general commission to decide all questions for the good of the country, which was in reality to leave their deliberations and resolu- * This is one of the many evidences to convince us of the futility of all endeavours to frame a constitution for any people, and the error of condemning that as had in itself which does not exactly answer to oiu: ideas of regularity or consistency-. The constitution of the United Pro- vinces was perhaps the very last which the ingenuity of man would devise, or his temerity attempt to adopt ; yet, suited to the peculiarities, and modified by the customs and dispositions of those who lived under it, we find religion, morals, commerce, policy, leai-ning, and the arts, flourishing, either by means or in spite of it, with a degree of collective force, and political importance, such as no nation of its size has ever exhibited. STADTHOLDER. 445 tions unfettered. But even wlien this was not the 1609 case, when every point was to be referred and discussed again and again, the tardiness of their measures gave no offence to a people naturally slow and cautious in their movements, while the number and character of those M'ho participated in their adoption gave confi- dence in their wisdom and utility. To these reasons for looking with an unfavourable eye on the proposal of the French ambassador, was added the reluctance to give to foreign princes so great and permanent a con- trol over their affairs, as the sovereigns of France and England would obtain through the medium of their ambassadors in the council; but, not willing to offend the King of France by a direct refusal, they warded off the evil under cover of those very delays which were so much the object of reprobation. The plan was postponed till the beginning of the next year, and before that time Jeannin departed, laden with rich presents, and honoured with the most fervent expres- sions of gratitude and esteem, but without having advanced a step nearer the attainment of his purpose, which was then wholly laid aside, or, to use the ex- pressive idiom of the Dutch, "noted down in the forge t-book^." A spirited remonstrance which he presented in the name of his master in favour of the Catholics, was, for the time, attended with no better success ; they had lately been treated with a severity hitherto unknown in the provinces ; had been denied the exercise of their reli- gion, even in private, and subjected to vexatious domi- ciliary visits ; a mode of proceeding instigated by Prince Maurice, under a mistaken idea of deterring them from forming any connection with Spain ; and for the same ' Neg. de Jeaimin, torn, iv., p. 132, 169. Meteren, boek xxx., fol. 660. Winwood's Memorial, vol. iii., p. 18. 446 MAUKlCE, ] 609 reason he continued to oppose any extension of favour or toleration towards them. The archdukes, on their side, issued an edict, prohibiting their subjects from attending the Reformed service in the neighbouring towns of the United Provinces ; circumstances which, perhaps, tended among many others to prevent any reciprocity of friendly feeling arising during the truce between the inhabitants of the two divisions of the Netherlands; the subjects of the archdukes and States respectively hastened to dispose of the property that each possessed in the dominions of the other, the sale of which the former, from the number of purchasers to be found in the United Provinces, were able to effect with great advantage, while the Dutch were obliged to dispose of their estates in the Spanish Netherlands at an immense sacrifice. It was remarked also, that not a single alliance of marriage vN-as contracted between the nobles or people of the two countries?. The States commenced the exercise of their newly* recognised sovereignty, by sending deputies to the different courts of Europe, invested with the title and dignity of ambassadors, which they had, in fact, given five years before to Schoonwal, their resident in England, and which had been acknowledged by King James, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the arch- duke, that it was in contravention of the treaty of peace then just concluded between them. They now dispatched Cornelius van der Myle, son-in-law of Barneveldt, in that quality to Venice, where, in spite of the efforts to prevent his reception made by the ambassador of Spain and the Pope's nuncio, the latter of whom even promised to surrender for twelve years e Neg. de Jean., torn, iv., p. 110, 144. Winwood's Memorial, p. 18. Brandt, Hist, der Ref., boek xix., bl. 115. Meteren, boek xxxii., fol. 709. STADTIIOLDEE. 447 the tenths he levied on ecclesiastical property in 1609 Venice, if it were refused, he was received Avith due honours, and courteously entertained ; but the dread of displeasing these two powers probably operated so far with the doge and council, as to induce them to decline for the present entering into the treaty of amity and commerce which the provinces desired ^ On his return, Van der Myle was associated with 1610 the Lords van Maldere and Brederode, in an embassy to the King of France, to return him the thanks of the States for the assistance he had afforded them in their late difficulties, as well as to complain of the negli- gent observance of the truce on the part of the arch- dukes, and to take measures in common for securing the succession of Juliers and Cleves'. In England, the States' ambassadors were charged, besides these points, to solicit the restoration of the privilege of herring- fishing on the coasts of England, which, granted by Edward I., and confirmed in 1496 by Henry VII., had, since the accession of James, been abridged by an fedict forbidding any one to fish without having first obtained a licence; to propose the renewal of the attcient treaties of intercourse and commerce, which had been suspended during the war ; and that the new duties which England had imposed upon the mer- chandise and vessels of the United Provinces should be abolished. The representations made by the ambas- sadors, of the vital importance that the liberty of fishing was to the well-being of their country, since no less than sixty thousand persons gained their livelihood either directly or indirectly by means of it, obtained for them their first request ; but on the remaining points they were unsuccessfulJ. h Meteren, boek xxx., fol. 663 ; boek xxxii., fol. 60.'). ' Idem, bpek xxxii., fol. 696. ' Idem, boek xxxii., fol. 697. 448 MAURICE, 1610 The fame of Holland had long since extended to more distant powers, who now courted her alliance with as much assiduity as those of Europe. The restoration without ransom of the Moorish slaves, taken on board the Spanish galleys, in 1604, had so highly gratified Muley Saidan, king of Morocco, that he sent an embassy to the States, proposing a mutual freedom of commerce between their subjects ; and that the States should unite with himself in a war against Spain, or supply him with an aid of eight or ten men- of-war. The treaty of commerce was easily agreed upon, but the States declined affording any succour against Spain, which would involve an infraction of the truce k. This humane and generous action was likewise of advantage to the Dutch in another quarter ; for, being represented to the Grand Seignor, by one Jacob Gys- brecht, a Dutch merchant residing at Constantinople, he commanded the admiral pasha to show every kind of favour and friendship to the vessels of the United Provinces in his ports, and to write a letter to the States, desiring that they would send an ambassador to make an alliance with him, by virtue of which their subjects might trade and navigate in freedom and security to every part of his dominions*. In compli- ance with the requisition it contained, the States com- missioned Cornelius van der Hagen to repair to Constantinople, who, however, on his arrival, found considerable difficulty in effecting the object of his ■^ Meteren, boek xxxii., fol. 708. Aitzema Saaken van Staat, en Oorlog., deel i., bl. 135. * The letter of the Pasha was addressed, " To the people of the powerful and exceUent Christians of the great Messiah ; the good, who are doubly good ; virtuous lords, who renounce the images and bells of the Mass; and to the experienced and wise Count Maurice." StADTHOLDER. 449 mission ; and raised in a quarter from whence the States 1610 were least justified in expecting it. The ambassadors of France and England at the Sublime Porte had, mean- while, disseminated reports, that the Dutch were nothing more than a band of pirates and rebels, the latter alleging that they were subjects of the King of England ; an assertion to which the possession of Briel and Flushing gave a colour of reality. In consequence of these representations, the Grand Seignor refused to admit Van der Hagen in the quality of ambassador, and it was not until the year 1612 that a treaty -was concluded, extending the privileges hitherto enjoyed by the French and English to the Dutch, thereby opening to the latter the trade of tlie Levant, which they had hitherto carried on only under the flags of these two nations^ The succession to the duchy of Cleves and Juliers, an affair which formed the chief subject of the nego- tiations of the States' ambassadors at the courts of France rnd England, had been laid open by the death of the reigning duke, John William, in the last year. Although twice married, he had left no issue; his brother died many years before him, and of his four sisters, the eldest, married to Albert Frederic, duke of Brandenburg and Prussia, was also dead, leaving four daughters. Of these, Anne, the elder, was married to John Sigismund, elector of Brandenburg, who now claimed the duchy in right of his wife ; while Philip, count palatine of Nieuburg, husband of Anne Magdalen, the second sister of the late duke, likewise laid claim to it on her behalf, as the nearest in blood. Both these princes professed the Reformed religion. Of the two Remaining sisters, JVIagdalen was married to John, duke of Deux Ponts, and Sybilla, the youngest, ' Meteren, boek xxxii., fol. 716. Aitzema, deel i., bl. 831. VOL. II. ^ ^ 450 MAURICE, 1610 to Charles of Austria, marquis of Burgaw. These also demanded a share of the inheritance; but as the duchies had been declared indivisible by the treaty of marriage between John duke of Cleves, and Mary heiress of Juliers, in 1496, their pretensions, which they had little power to support, were in themselves compara- tively insignificant. The question therefore lay be- tween the Countesses of Brandenburg and Nieuberg, of whom, if the rule of representative succession were admitted, the former had the best right ; if not, the inheritance belonged to the latter. The right of one or the other was indisputable, since the marriage articles of their parents, John William, duke of Cleves, and Mary of Austria, daughter of the Emperor Ferdi- nand, contained a stipulation, that in default of male issue their dominions should devolve upon their daughters. Though this article had been confirmed by the Emperors Ferdinand, Maximilian, and the present Emperor Rodolph himself, yet the latter, unwilling that such valuable possessions should fall into the hands of a Protestant prince, claimed them as fiefs escheated to the empire in default of male heirs, and subsequently conferred them on the princes of the house of Saxony. The intelligence of this determina- tion on the part of the emperor, induced the rival princes of Brandenburg and Nieuburg to forego in some measure their conflicting claims, and effect a compromise, by which they were to govern the duchy in common, till the question of their right were de- cided. They immediately despatched ambassadors to the courts of England and France, to the United Pro- vinces, and the Protestant princes of Germany, to solicit their assistance against the Archduke Leopold, who had taken possession of Juliers on behalf of the emperor. STADTHOLDER. 451 The position of Cleves and Juliers, and the evils 1610 that the provinces had expei-ienced from that quarter during the late war, rendered it a matter of vital im- portance to them that this duchy should not remain under the power of the house of Austria ; and the States, therefore, readily prepared to support with vigour the cause of the Protestant confederates, and as they had not at the time of the truce cashiered any of their companies of troops, but merely lessened the number of men in each, retaining the officers, they had soon a considerable body of forces on foot"*. Henry IV. of France, under the guidance of his minister the Duke de Sully, beheld in the present juncture of affairs, a prospect of realizing the chime- rical project, long since conceived and passionately cherished by the latter, of forming an union of the dif- ferent Protestant nations of Europe, in the nature of a federal republic, of which the King himself though a Catholic should be the head, and the reduction and dismemberment of the house of Austria the object. To this end, Sully had been for years heaping up vast sums in the royal treasury, raising levies through all parts of the kingdom, and filling the arsenals with artil- lery and ammunition. The States, therefore, found in him a prompt and powerful coadjutor. 20,000 infantry, 4000 cavalry, 6000 Swiss, and 50 pieces of ordnance were in readiness to march under the command of the King in person, to join the States' army in Cleves", when the knife of the assassin Ravailliac cut short at once the mighty designs, and terminated the valuable life of this great monarch. The event, which caused the deepest grief in the provinces, delayed for some time the commencement of the expedition ; but as the " Negi de Jeannin, torn, iv:, p. 133: Mem, de Sully, torn, vii., liv, 27, p. 275. 2 G 2 452 MAURICE, 3610 Queen regent, JMary di Medici, promised to fulfill all the engagements entered into by her husband, the States commanded Prince Maurice to march at the head of 14,000 infantry and 300 horse, to the assist- ance of the Prince of Anhalt, who was then besieging Juliers on the part of the confederate princes. The conduct of the siege being wholly given up to Maurice, he, without waiting for the auxiliaries from France, began his lines on the 29th of July, the day of his arrival, and carried on his approaches with so much vigour, that he forced the town to surrender on the 1st of September; the French troops having appeared on the scene of action about a fortnight previously. Within a few days of the capitulation, the States, fearful of exciting the jealousy of the allies, or of being suspected of a design to \iolate the truce, sent orders to Maurice to break up his camp, which he immediately obeyed, and returned to Holland with the satisfaction of leaving the confederate princes in entire possession of their territories". Little did the nations of Europe imagine when they beheld the imposing attitude in which Holland stood before them, that a poison was even then at Work within her bosom, which, shedding its maddening influence through every vein, would incite her to acts of frenzy, such as to render her an object of con- temptuous pity to her friends, and of sneering triumph to her foes; should enable the latter to point with complacency to the fulfilment of their prophecy, that as soon as the truce should be concluded internal dis- cords would arise, powerful to bring about that ruin which the enemy had failed to effect ; and inspire the former with the disheartening conviction, that she was unworthy to enjoy, and unable to preserve, that liberty • Meteren, boek xxxii., fol. 704; STADTHOLDER. 453 which she had fought during forty years to secure. 1610 f" Religious dissensions, the most difficult of all to recon- cile, because often grounded on subjects which the finite capacity of man is as unable to comprehend, as his imperfect language to express, had for a consider- jable period, prevailed and continued to increase in the Provinces, though the all-absorbing events of the war, and latterly the negotiations for the truce, had hitherto prevented their occupying any great or universal attention. The question of the free-will of man and its com- patibility with Divine prescience, is one, which readily presenting itself to the minds of those who devote themselves to metaphysical speculations, has been debated by philosophers from the earliest ages. The controversy in the fiftli century of the Christian sera, between St. Augustin, bishop of Hippona, and his rival and opponent Pelagius — of whom the former maintained that God had determined from all eternity to bestow a regenerating grace upon some men, which being unable to resist, they are infallibly converted to salvation, — and the latter, that if man is to be capable of virtue and vice his will must be left free, wherefore although the Almighty giver of grace foreknows who will receive it. He does not predestinate, — is familiar to all in the slightest degree conversant on such sub- jects. The doctrine of Pelagius continued to prevail in the East, where it had been generally received before the time of St. Augustin, whose opinions, on the other hand, spread to a considerable extent among the churches of the West. At the Refoimation, Luther, himself a monk of the Augustin order, sup- ported the opinions of his patron on the subject of predestination ; opinions which in after-life he some- what modified, and which, opposed by Erasmus and 454 MAURICE, 1610 Melancthon, were carried out to a greater extent by his rival Calvin, who denied the possibility of falling off from grace. The disputes which arose between the followers of Luther and Calvin upon the subject of the communion, contributed probably in a great degree to induce the former to espouse opinions differing still more widely than those of Luther himself, from such as were held by the disciples of Calvin with regard to predestination. The Dutch Reformed church was from the first Calvinistic as well in its tenets as in the strictness of its government ; and the preaching of the doctrine of free-will had ever been considered as heterodox, and, as we have seen, nearly occasioned a schism at Utrecht, in the year 1586. In 1602 one of the two professorships of theology at the University of Leyden becoming vacant by the death of the cele- brated Francis Junius, Jacob Arminius was recom- mended to the curators by Uytenbogaard, minister of the French Church at the Hague, as a man of pro- found understanding and judgment, of a peaceable temper, learned, pious, and eloquent?. His appoint- ment was opposed by Gomarus, who filled the other chair of theology, on the ground of the orthodoxy of his tenets being suspected on the subject of grace and free-will ; and it was therefore agreed by the curators, that previously to his nomination, a public conference should be held between him and Gomarus, in order that his opinions on this point might be ascertained. Of this conference different accounts are given. By some it is said that Arminius boldly and explicitly declared his opinions; by others, that he expressed himself in terms of condemnation of the Pelagian p Brandt Hist, der Ref., boek sviii., bl. 43; Prefatio ad Acta Synodi Dordrechtis; STADTHOLDER. 455 doctrines, and approved of all that Augustin and other 1610 Fathers of the Church had written against them. It appears probable, that he did not insist very pertinaci- ously on the tenets which he was accused of holding, since Gomarus consented to his admission in the next year, (1603,) and even became his "promoter," as it is called, on his taking his doctor's degree for that purpose*!. His preaching at first was extremely cautious, and so continued till the spring of 1604, when, it being his turn to lecture on the subject of predestination to his pupils, he put forward a thesis at variance with the doctrine of Calvin hitherto received; he now taught, that God being a just judge and kind father, had made a difference in the fallen race of man from all eternity ; that to those who should depart from evil, and put their faith in Christ, he would grant pardon for their sins and eternal life, but punish the obstinate and unbelieving; that it was pleasing to God, that all should be converted, and having come to the knowledge of the truth, continue steadfast therein; but that he constrained no one. The promulgation of this doctrine aroused the animated opposition of Gomarus, who published a thesis in contradiction of it, in which he insisted, " That it was determined by the eternal reso- lution of God, who are to be saved, and who to be given over to condemnation; whence it followed, that some are drawn to the faith by the grace of God, and, being so drawn, are, by the same grace, preserved from falling away from the faith; but that God had left the greater part of mankind in the general corruption of human nature and of their own misdeeds;" the one, thus measuring the rules of infinite justice by the finite standard of man; the other laying it down as an axiom, that the Almighty did not foreknow unless he also ■• Brandt Hist., &c., deel ii., boek xviii., bl, 48 ; Prefatio ad Acta, 456 MAUKICE, ^610 predestined, or, in other words, that he does not exer- cise his omniscience apart from his omnipotence. Arminius reproached Gomarns that he made God the cause of sin, and hardened men's hearts by instilling into them the belief of an unavoidable destiny; while Gomarus accused his opponent of rendering man by his doctrines more arrogant than the Catholics by theirs, since they made him the author of his own salvation; and of refusing to give God the glory, where it was most due, in the conversion of the heart of the sinner''. The ministers of the churches, as well as the pupils of the two professors, soon began to espouse one side or the other, and tended to exasperate disputes of which the subject was, for the most part, above their understanding; far surpassing, as it usually happens in such cases, their principals themselves in zeal and animosity*. Both Arminius and Gomarus, indeed, appear at first to have inclined towards mutual tolera- tion. The curators of the university having instituted an inquiry into the nature and state of the differences between the professors of theology, they delivered a declaration, signed by their own hands, that there were in fact more disputes among the students than could ' Brandt Hist., deel ii., boek xviii., hi. 53, 54. ^ The terms of reprehension in which this controversy, and the mode in which it was carried on, is hereafter spoken of, must not he understood as tending to advance for a moment the position, that men are to regard religious questions with the same cold indifference that they would a philosophical thesis ; or that they are not to feel strongly on subjects on which they are accustomed to think deeply; but to deprecate the indulgence of a spirit of intolerance and bitterness towards those whose opinions do not exactly coincide with their own, concerning the more abstruse dogmas of religion, upon which the great bulk of mankind are incompetent to form any opinion at all, and must be content to receive the impressions (themselves imperfect) of the wiser, more learned, and more reflective portion; and which the Almighty himself has beeit pleased to envelope in obscurity to check our presumptuous desire " to be as gods, knowing good and evil." STADTHOLDER. 457 be wished, and which they employed all their eflforts to 1610 diminish, but that the points of controversy did not involve any fundamental doctrine; and Gomarus was , heard to complain, that though he desired to preserve I peace, the churches (so he termed the ministers) would ; ) not allow him to do so «. In a short time, however, the preservation of peace or moderation was rendered yet more difficult. The controversy, carried on at first in Latin, and confined to the learned, was by degrees brought before the ears i f of the common people, and made the theme of decla- 1 I mation and invective from the pulpit; and thus ques-} tions, which, involving the actions and attributes of the Most High, should be touched upon but with awe and reverence by the holy and the wise, were bandied about in tlie mouths of the ignorant, and became watchwords of vulgar clamour and popular cabal. Besides these difficult and abstruse subjects, new matter of contention now arose with respect to the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Confession of Faith of the Reformed churches, which had been introduced into the Netherlands by a synod held at Dordrecht, in 1574, and were regarded by the Gomarists as indis- pensable formularies of faith, while the Arminians maintained, that their authority Avas infinitely below that of Scripture, and being framed by fallible men, they could not serve as a rule of orthodoxy, for which the Scripture alone was competent. They were of opinion, that it was requisite that both should be revised in a national synod, an assembly, that is, of rei^resenta- tives from all the churches in the provinces; and that all questions arising thereupon should be decided according to the authority of the Holy Scriptures alone. Their opponents, on the contrary, insisted that « Brandt, deel ii., boek xviii., bl. 61 . 458 MAURICE, 1610 these formularies should be received as incontrovertible, and that all candidates for the ministry should be required to sign them previously to their admission*. The States of Holland, finding the divisions daily increasing, and being appealed to for protection by Arminius and his partisans, appointed a conference (1608) between the rival professors, to be held at the Hague, before the supreme council of Holland and four ministers of the church. As the result of this discussion, the supreme council reported to the States, in the presence of the professors and ministers, that the disputants were agreed upon the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and might easily exercise mutual toleration as to the rest; whereupon the advo- cate, Barneveldt, took occasion to recommend them to live in peace with each other, promising that their differences should be reconciled in a national or pro- vincial synod, and that, meanwhile, they should take heed to advance no doctrines contrary to the Scripture or to the Catechism and Confession. But Gomarus evinced at once how little he was now disposed to practise the toleration enjoined by the council, or the forbearance advised by Barneveldt. Having obtained permission to speak, he declared that the opinions of his brother professor were such as he should fear to die in, and appear before the judgment-seat of God; adding (what afterwards proved but too true a prophecy,) that the difference in their doctrine was sufficient, if not prevented, to set province against province, church against church, town against town, and citizen against citizen". But little of beneficial result having been obtained by this conference, the States again summoned Armi- • Brandt Hist., deel ii., boek xviii., bl. 66, et seq. " Idem, bl. 83. J STADTHOLDER. 459 nius to appear before them at the Hague, to explain 1610 by word of mouth, as well as by writing, the real nature of his tenets. He accordingly presented him- self on the 31st of October, (160S,) the day appointed, and, in a long discourse, laid open his sentiments upon free-will, grace, and the other points in dispute, and maintained that the revision of the Catechism and Confession was both jiroper and necessary. Hereupon . Gomarus demanded permission, in like manner, to / deliver his opinions; which being granted, he in a/ vehement oration, brought forward several personal^ accusations against Arminius, comparing him to Arius, and his friend and assistant Uytenbogaard, to Eusebius. He had the misfortune not to please the States, who, conceiving that the doctrine of inevitable necessity would, if adopted by the great bulk of the people, lead to the most mischievous results, were mostly inclined towards the opinions of Arminius. They disapproved also of the invectives of Gomarus against a man who ! had not once during his discourse even mentioned his ^ name, much less offered him any offence; and con- sidered that which he reprehended in his conduct, as too trivial to render any justification necessary on the part of the accuseds While the disputes were thus gradually increasing in virulence, the " class*" of Alkmaar came to a reso- lution to oblige all ministers of the church to sign a declaration, that the Catechism and the Confession, in the XVIth article of which the doctrine of arbitrary ' Brandt, deel ii., boek xviii,, bl. 86 ; Le Clerc Hist, des Prov. Unies, torn, i., p. 273. _^ * A "Class" was a meeting of the ministers, deacons, and elders of the churches of a town or district, those of a single church being termed " Consistories." There were fifteen classes in Holland ; the assembly of deputies from all the classes formed a synod, of which one was held in North, another in South Holland. 460 MAURICE, 1610 election and reprobation is expressly laid down, agreed in every particular with the word of God; and binding themselves to oppose to the utmost all doctrines of a contrary tendency. Five ministers, refusing to sign this declaration, were suspended from their functions, and excluded from the consistories. The dispossessed ministers appealed for protection to the States of Hol- land, v,]io, in answer to their petition, demanded from the class a copy of the act of dismissal, and that, during the time the deliberations were being held on the subject, the ministers should be restored to the exer- cise of their office. The class, in answer, assumed a high and almost insolent tone; affirming that the matter, being purely ecclesiastical, belonged to them alone, nor would they allow the authority placed by God in their hands for the defence and government of the church, to be taken irom them at the will of any man'". In these haughty pretensions they were up- held by the synod of North Holland, which confirmed the dismissal of the recusant ministers ; nor could all the reiterated injunctions of the States effect their re-admission to their churches. The affair, therefore, besides setting an example of successful resistance to the civil power, created a fresh subject of contention, namely, as to whether the temporal sovereign had a right to interfere in ecclesiastical matters ; the Armi- nians, who were favoured by the governments of the towns, and who required the support of the civil power, acknowledging its authority; the Gomarists, who were in a vast majority in the consistories, classes, and synods, insisting that the ecclesiastical government belonged solely and entirely to these bodies^. " Brandt, deel ii., boek xviii., bl. 86. ^ Idem, bl. 90. Le Clerc Hist, des Prov. Unies, torn, i., p. 274. STADTHOLDEE. 461 The obstinacy of the synod of North Holland and 1610 the class of Alkmaar led the States to suspect that they -were secretly encouraged by some higher power ; and feeling convinced, moreover, that a national synod, which both parties had hitherto called for as a means of setting matters at rest, would, composed as it must be chiefly of Gomarists, rather tend to exasperate animosities than reconcile the points in dispute, they made one more attempt to effect a reconciliation between Gomarus and Arminius. The two profes- sors were accordingly summoned to appear before the assembly (1609), supported each by four ministers of the church. Here the same dogmas which had formed the subject of the previous discussion were again debated, and with the more vehemence, as the honour of the disputants was now concerned in car- rying out their opinions to the extreme. The con- ferences were terminated by the sickness of Arminius, who died shortly after, declaring in his last hour, that he had never taught any doctrine but such as, after j) careful examination, he found to be fully consonant to f Scripture^. But the discords to which he had so unfortunately, and perhaps so unwittingly, given rise, were far from being buried with him. The classes and consistories of many of the districts and towns now began to insist upon the signature of the Catechism and Confession by all the ministers ; and the pulpits resounded with invectives against the Arminians, who were accused of introducing novel and heretical opinions into the church; of aiming at a change in tbenationa,! religion, and of labourin g to_excite disturbances. With a view of clearing themselves from these imputations, and of obtaining the protection of the civil authorities, they '' Brandt, desl ii., boek xviii., bl. 103. 462 MAURICE, 1610 presented to the States a remonstrance, drawn up by Uytenbogaard, in whicli, after complaining of the treatment they received from their opponents, and demanding a revision of the Catechism and Confession, they reprobated the opinion that God had, by an eternal decree, predestinated men, not created, much less guilty, some to eternal life and others to ever- lasting destruction, without regard to their virtues or crimes, and merely to evince his mercy and justice, or, as others say, his wisdom and absolute power; and more particularly the supralapsarian doctrine, that man was so predestined not only before his fall, but before his creation ; and that therefore Christ died, not for mankind in general, but only for the elect, who are comparatively few in number. They then proceeded to expose their belief on the five points, afterwards so well known as "the five articles of the Anninians:" first, that God had resolved from the beginning to elect into eternal life those who through his grace believed in Jesus Christ, and continued stedfast in the faith ; aud, on the contrary, had resolved to leave the obstinate and unbelieving to eternal damnation; se- condly, that Christ had died for the whole world, and obtained for all remission of sins and reconciliation with God, of which, nevertheless, the faithful only are made partakers ; thirdly, that man cannot have a saving faith by his own free will, since while in a state of sin he cannot think or do good, but it is necessary that the grace of God, through Christ, should rege- nerate and renew the understanding and affections; fourthly, that this grace is the beginning, continuance, and end of salvation, and that all good works pro- ceed from it, but that it is not irresistible; fifthly, that although the faithful receive by grace sufficient strength to resist Satan, sin, the world, and the flesh. STADTHOLDER. 463 yet man can by his own act fall away from this state 1610 of grace. The presentation of this memorial obtained for the Arminians the name of Remonstrants, by which they were constantly afterwards distinguished; their opponents being, from a remonstrance they presented against the toleration of these five articles, termed Contra-Remonstrants ^. Meanwhile, the curators of Leyden had filled the chair of theology, left vacant by the death of Arminius, with the learned Conrad Vorstius. This appointment, which was preceded by the withdrawal of Gomarus into France, called up a new and powerful athlete into the arena of polemical strife. King James I. of England, to whom Vorstius had given great occasion of scandal by the publication of a treatise " De Deo," in which he introduced some new and extraordinary opinions concerning the nature and essence of the Deity, immediately on hearing of his appointment, jgjj commanded his ambassador, Winwood, to press the States-General not only for his removal from the professorship, but even his banishment from the pro- vinces. He supported the representations of his ambassador by letters to the States, of a similar purport, wherein he spoke of Vorstius as an arch heretic, pest, and monster of blasphemy, whose book deserved the flames, and his person severe chastisement, declaring that he ought to be banished, if not burned. He even more than hinted that Peter Bertius, the author of a treatise called the "Apostasy of the Saints," should be associated with Vorstius in the crown of martyrdom ; affirming that the title of the book alone rendered the author worthy of the flames ^ '■ Brandt Hist., deel ii., boek xix., bl. 126—130. ' Winwood's Memorial, vol. iii., p. 317—820. Brandt Hist., b. xx., bl. 1C6. 464 MAURICE, 1611 But however agreeable such a mode of settling matters might be to the temper of him who advised, it I reminded the States somewhat too strongly of past occurrences to find much favour in their eyes. Win- wood was for some time unable to prevail with them to banish Vorstius, or even to remove him from Leyden, a proof of contumacy which excited the violent indignation of James, and is remarkable as having being the occasion of the first and last ebulli- tion of valour he was ever known to betray. He threatened not only to " write " but to " fight " against the States, rather than Vorstius should be suffered to rest at Leyden ; and that if they persisted in their refusal, it remained for him to choose whether he would in revenge " use the pen or the sword*"." The demand of the king was strongly opposed in the States by Barneveldt, and as earnestly supported by Prince Maurice, whose conduct in this instance, so greatly conciliated James's goodwill, that, forgetting the insult- ing expressions which the prince had used towards him at the time of the truce, when he scrupled not to cast some imputations on the personal courage of the English monarchy he invested him with the order of the Garter, and henceforward sided with his party on all occasions against that of Barneveldt. At length the States, on James's complaining that their pro- tection of Vorstius was an infraction of the truce, which he said was founded solely on the support and preservation of the pure reformed religion, fearful of offending so powerful an ally, consented that Vorstius should retire to the Hague or some other town in Holland, and obtained the appointment of Simon Bishop or Episcopius in his room*. ^ Letter of Sir J. More to Sir R. Winwood, Mem., vol. iii., p. 331, ■^ Winwood's Mem., vol. ii., p. 453, et seq. ^ Idem, vol. iii., p. 339, 3i8. STABTHOLDER. 465 Divisions now began to spread rapidly and widely. 16] 1 At Rotterdam, a Contra-Remonstrant preacher, Corne- lius Geselius, himself refused to partake of the com- munion, and endeavoured to persuade the people from the pulpit, that they could not with a free jconscience partake^ of it, with, those who held the opinions of Arminius. The magistrates, having in vain exhorted him to moderation, and to abstain from creating a schism in the church, forbad him to exercise the ministerial functions within their jurisdiction; upon , which Geselius and his followers, styling themselves i " the persecuted church," began to hold their meetings in the villages of the neighbourhood. This contempt of their authority provoked the magistrates to banish him the city, when, refusing to obey, he was forcibly 1612 expelled by the schout, the Remonstrants thus first using against their opponents the coercive force of the civil power, of which they afterwards so bitterly com- plained when turned against themselves. Nor was this the only instance in which they evinced that it was rather the want of power than of will that pre- vented their displaying a spirit of persecution similar to that which animated their adversaries. A burgher of Rotterdam having observed that he would " as lief i be married by a pig as a Remonstrant minister," he was deprived of his ~Burgess-ship for a year, and for- bidden ever again to exercise his trade, which was that of a broker. Qn one occasion also, a printer of Schiedam put into the lottery a ticket, on which was written some doggrel lines in disparagement of the conduct of the magistrates, in regard to the Contra- Remonstrants ; and, in consequence, his drawing was declared forfeit, and himself condemned to imprison- ment upon bread and water for fourteen days^- ' Le Clerc, torn, i., p. 290. Brandt, deel ii., boek xxi., bl. 245. VOL. II. 2 H 466 MAURICK, 1613 The Remonstrants, who had viewed the course lately adopted by the King of England with feelings of disappointment and dissatisfaction, were somewhat astopished at the contents of a letter which he now wrote to the States-General, advising that the minisr ters should be inhibited from handling the disputed doctrines in the pulpit, or before the common peoplp, and affirming that, having carefully examined the arguments on both sides, he found the tenets of neither party incompatible with the Christian faith or with the salvation of souls. It was generally believed, though without foundation, that the king was in this instance influenced by the representations made to him by the celebrated Hugo de Groot, or Grotius, pensionary of Rotterdam, who was now on an embassy at the court of Great Bi-itain*, for the purpose of arranging some disputes between the English and Dutch East India companies. Following such whole-! some advice, the States redoubled their efforts to restore peace, which were however foiled^bj_a5j2sig- ^ I nificantagent. Sybrand Lnbbertus, professor of / theology at the college of Franeker, published at this time a book against Vorstius, in the dedication of which to George Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury, he anathematized the States of Holland, and the curators of Leyden, as epicureans and libertines, abettors of eiTor and heresy, and followers of the doctrines of Socinus ; an accusation as utterly untrae, as it was ill-timed and malignant. Lubbertus found a mighty antagonist in Grotius, who answered him in a work entitled "The Piety of the States of Holland and "NA'est Friezland," wherein the question of the authority of the civil sovereign in ecclesiastical matters is treated in a style and manner worthy of his highest reputation*. But Leeven van Huig de Groot, tl. 47, 59. Brandt, deel ii.,b.xxi., bl.211,226. 'i e^i ^% ^,' -. ' £ee,isote B. at end of ^'ol. / STADTHOLDER. 467 these iDublications served no other purpose than to 1613 increase the mutual acrimony of the disputants. The Contra-Remonstrants loaded their adversaries with calumnies from the pulpit, accusing them of holding communication with Spaniards and Jesuits, and preached, that it was impossible to preserve Christian peace with them. Not discouraged, however, the 1614 States of Holland issued an ordinance, entitled, " Re- solution for the Peace of the Church," which, franied | with sedulou^3_cai^ebj Grotius (deputy of Rotterdam i to the States), and every word weighed with exactness so as to avoid giving offence to either party, repudiated '■alike the doctrine that God has created men for the mere purpose of delivering them over to damnation, or that man is able of his own free-will, and without previous regeneration by the grace of God, to embrace the faith ; and commanded that both parties should abstain from molesting each other for either of these opinions; a document well calculated certainly to satisfy both, since if some of the articles appeared to tend to the doctrines of the Remonstrants, others might be interpreted wholly in favour of their opponents. It was, in fact, highly approved of by the Archbishop of Canterbury, King James, and other theologians in England; and even by many of the Contra-Remon- strants in Plollands. But this, like all the similar mea- sures which had preceded it, proved ineffectual ; and the seat of government now became a prey to the cabals which agitated the rest of the country. A young preacher, Henry Roseus, formerly inclined to the tenets of Arminius, had of late changed his opi- nions, and begun to inveigh against the preachers of that sect, particularly Uytenbogaard, minister of the French church at the Hague, and to indulge in violent s Letter of Casaubon to Grotius, May, 1614. Leeven van de Groot, Ijl. 63. 2 H 2 4G8 MAURICE, 1614 philippics against some of the principal persons among the Remonstrants^'. It was in vain that Uytenbogaard, instead of retorting accusation for accusation and insult for insult, contented himself with simply giving 1616 an exposition of his opinions; in vain, that the Consistory decided that they should speak on the con- troverted points with discretion, and that those of different sentiments were not to disquiet each other, or violate the rules of Christian charity ; Rosens re- fused to attend the ministry of his colleague or receive / the communion from his hand, and many othere fol- lowed his example by absenting themselves from the church. The States having laid on Roseus repeated injunctions to abstain from thus creating a schism, forbad him th"? pulpit till further orders. This was exactly what he desired. Assuming the air of a per- secuted member of the church, he with his partisans opened a conventicle at Ryswick. His conduct in- duced Barneveldt to adopt the imprudent measure of applying to Prince JNIaurice for his assistance to support the authority of the States ; a false and fatal step, of which he himself was one of the first to expe- rience the deplorable consequences. Hitherto the contest, however virulent, had been wholly ecclesias- tical, the interference of the States being exercised solely with a view to reconcile the adverse parties; personal rivalries and political animosities were yet wanting to give bitterness to polemical dissensions, and rancour to religious hatred. These passions were henceforward called into unrestrained action, and in their struggle shook the constitution of the State to its very foundation. The ill-will which Prince ]\Iaurice had conceived against Barneveldt at the time of the truce with Spam, '■ Letters of Sir Dudley Carleton, p. 14. STADTHOLDER. 469. — a measure carried by the latter in direct opposition 1616 to his wishes and interests, — had been since rather increased than abated by his jealousy of the influence ■which Barneveldt preserved in the States, in the body of representative nobility, among whom were two of his sons-in-law, and in the governments of most of the towns, where, from the personal attachment borne him, the individuals nominated to the principal offices were generally from among his friends and supporters. To these causes of dislike was added another, which though circumstantially adduced by Du Maurier, and repeated by after historians*, appears somewhat doubtful. This author, valuable as throwing much light upon the transactions of this period, and the characters of the principal personages who appear in them, but whose relations are to be received with caution, affirms, that he was told by his father, then ambassador from the court of France to the States, that the Princess Dowager "of Orange had imparted to him in great confidence a scheme formed by Pi-ince Maurice for raising himself to the sovereignty, to which he had gained her consent by representing, that as he himself had no children the succession would devolve on her son Frederic Henry, and had commissioned her to sound Barneveldt on the subject. Barneveldt, protest- ing that he had nothing so much at heart as the aggrandizement of the house of Nassau, yet used such unanswerable arguments to prove that Maurice, even could he obtain the sovereignty he desired, would thereby only prepare the way for his own ruin, that she entirely changed her opinion. She accordingly conjured her step-son not to persist in a design which * See Le Clerc, Hist, des Provinces Unies, torn, i., p. 297. Wagenaar, Vaterlandsche Historic, deel x., bl. 248. Cerisier, Tableau Generale des Provinces Unies, torn, v., p. 199. 470 MAURICE, 1616 would ultimately prove of infinite prejudice to him; a remonstrance which he received with undisguised coldness and displeasure*. Du ]\Iaurier savs, in another place, (p. 296,) that this proposal was made subse- quently to the negotiations for the truce; but it seems hardly probable that Maurice, being then at open variance with Barneveldt, should have so far committed himself as to disclose to him a purpose, of which the slightest hint would, if published, have been sufficient to ruin his authority in the Provinces, and to deprive -him of the friendship of the allies, who would be dis- gusted at beholding the monarchical power -wrested from the legitimate sovereign to be usurped by his rebellious subject; besides the umbrage they might take at beholding such an one assume to rank M'ith themselves. It is scarcely to be supposed either that Barneveldt, at his subsequent trial, when his imputing to Prince Maurice the design of usurping the sove- reignty was made one of the principal articles of accusation against him, should, from an overstrained delicacy towards the princess dowager, have forborne to plead so strong an argument in his own justification. The supposition that Du INIaurier is in error in this particular is confirmed by the fact, that neither before the death of Barneveldt, nor after, when, by that event, and the banishment of the heads of the Remonstrant party every obstacle to his purpose was removed, did Prince iSIaurice make any attempt, either secret or overt, to possess himself of the sovereignty at which he was accused of aiming. However this may be, many reasons besides per- sonal animosity prompted ISIaurice to espouse with eagerness the party opposed to Barneveldt, among which, not the least was the circumstance that all^ ' Mem. de Du Maurier, p. 203, et seq. STADTHOLDER. 471 except a comparatively small number, of the miriistel-s 16l6 of the Reformed church, M'ho had from the first been his most zealous partisans, were hostile to the tenets of Arminius, which were favoured generally by the governments of the towns*- He had as yet, however^ taken no ostensible share in the proceedings. His real opinions, indeed, were, as it was supposed, rendered sufficiently evident by his co-operation with the King of England, in the persecution of Vorstius, — by an appointment he made of magistrates upon a change of the government at Alkmaar, when he had nominated all the new members from among the Contra-Remon- strant party, — and by the open defiance of the authority of the States, on the part of the consistories and classes, which it was suspected they would scarcely have ventured to offer, without a confidence in his secret support; but he had continued to attend the ministry of the Remonstrant preacher Uytenbogaard, who had been for many years on terms of intimate friendship with him, and openly and constantly professed neutrality between the parties, declaring on all occasions that he had nothing to do with such subjects. He made a similar answer to the present application of Barneveldt^ but a short time after, being solicited by the Councils of State and Finance of Holland to afford his advice in the present exigencies, he fully discovered his favourable feelings towards the Contra-Remonstrants by reading * The clergy of tlie Provinces, composed chiefly of persons from the poorer and inferior classes of the people, were yet, from the wide exten- sion of education, often possessed of admirable learning and eloquence, and their influence with the people was proportionably great. Envious of the wealth and consideration enjoyed by the gentry and merchants, from whose society tliey were, to a certain extent, excluded by their bu-th and poverty, and jealous that no share of political power was allowed to them, they placed themselves in perpetual and active oppor sition to the States and municipal governments, and were zealous partisans of the stadtholders, from whom they received, on all occa- sions, countenance and support. 472 MAURICE, 1616 out of the register-book the oath he had taken in 1586, -whereby he and the States mutually bound themselves to defend to the last drop of their blood the Reformed religion (which the Contra-Remonstrants continually protested was in danger, from the doctrines preached by the Arminians), the first ground of revolt from Spain, and for which his father lost his life ; and this oath, he said, he was determined to keep whilst he lived. This act appears to have been the result of a conference with the English ambassador, Sir Dudley Carleton*, who had now replaced Winwood at the Hague, and who following but too closely the instructions he had received from his sovereign to watch over the interests of the Reformed religion in the Provinces, espoused the party of the Contra-Remonstrants, with a zeal and passion better befitting a disputant of the schools, than the minister of a great and enlightened nation"^. As Barneveldt had, by this error, roused into activity one powerful foe, so did he, by his dexterity and zeal in the service of his country, unconsciously embitter the animosity of another. A negotiation of marriage at this time pending between Charles, eldest surviving son of the King of England, and the Infanta of Spain, of which Barneveldt had obtained the know- ledge, inspired the States with a vivid anxiety lest James should purchase an alliance he had so long and so ardently coveted by the surrender of the cautionary towns, Briel, Flushing, and Rammekens ; and it became, therefore, highly desirable to satisfy the king, if possible, and deliver these towns from their perilous dependence on a foreign power. The debt for which they had been •■ Sir Dudley Carleton's Letters, p. 87, 88. * According to Carleton's own expression, he had " speech of him durmg the debate, and gave him the test comfort he could, in support of the good cause, which he found needful in so strong an opposition." — Ubi sup. STADTHOLDEK. 473 originally pledged had been settled in 1608* at some- 1616 thing more than 800,000?., and of this about 600,000/. now remained ; a sum which the States, at the present time, would have found great difficulty in raising. Their object was, therefore, that the advances should appear to be made principally on the king's side, and that the States, by affecting indifference to that which they most desired, might be enabled to bring him to more moderate terms. Circumstances were at this juncture especially favourable ; the garrisons of the towns, being left unpaid, were clamorous for their arrears, and James, having to supply his own lavish expenditure, and the rapacity of his new and needy favourite Villiers, was reduced, by the refusal of his parliament to grant supplies, to a state of extreme necessity. His situation, as well as every transaction that occurred at his court, was perfectly well known at the Hague, and Caron, the States' resident in London, was instructed by Barneveldt to suggest, as if from himself, that he had no doubt the States would use their utmost endeavours to liquidate the debt, if his Majesty should be desirous of relieving himself of the charge of the cautionary towns. The bait was eagerly seized by the greedy monarch. He appointed some members of the Privy Council to treat of the surrender, for which Caron offered an immediate payment of 250,000/., which after some discussion was accepted. The money was paid without delay, and in the June of this year, the garrisons were withdrawn from Briel, Flushing, and Rammekens, the troops with their com- mander. Lord Lisle, being incorporated with the States' army^ ' Winwood's Memorial, torn, ii., p. 361. Carleton's Letters, p. 28 — 31. Aitzema, Saaken van Staat en Oorlog, deel i., bl. 24. * Vid. chap, iv., p. 416. 474 MAURICE, 1616 This transaction, which excited deep murmurs among all classes of men in England, was looked upon by foreign nations with astonishment, not unmingled with contempt ; in the French court particularly, it was observed that the King of France had for years lavished vast sums, without success, to bring the Pro- vinces to a state of dependence similar to that which the cautionary towns created, and which England now voluntarily relinquished™- The effect of such observa- tions was to inspire James with a notion that he had been outwitted in this instance by Barneveldt, and, destitute of sufficient magnanimity to appreciate the patriotic motives of that great statesman, he ever afterwards harboured a dislike towards him, which he scrupled not to display in acts of vindictive hos- tility". Notwithstanding that the open avowal of Prince JNIaurice's sentiments, rendered obedience to any decree promulgated by the States of Holland less probable than before, they issued another, similar to the former in its conciliatory tendency, purporting that thd different opinions on the five points should be tolerated, and that the two parties should continue in communion with each other, under pain of being treated as dis- turbers of the public peace. But this beneficial reso- lution, not having passed unanimously in the States, was not invested with the force of a legal measure, and several towns, Amsterdam especially, refused to publish it. The majority of the States, therefore, sent thither an embassy, headed by Grotius, who, in a Idng and eloquent oration to the Great Council, strenuously urged its adoption. It was, hoMever, rejected by a majority of two or three votes only, and thus this important city threw its decisive weight into the scale "■ Carleton's Letters, p. 37. " Mem. de Da Maurier, p. 319. STADTHOLDER. 475 of the Contra- Remonstrants". From this period the 1616 Remonstrants in those towns where they were weakest, and the Contra-Remonstrants where they were in a like situation, began universally to secede from the churches, and to liold separate conventicles ; the latter presenting complaints to the States, as from the "^afflicted church,'' ' and alleging that their consciences were not in peace by reason of the doctrines ]jreached by the Remon- strants. At the Hague, those persons who were accustomed to attend the ministry of Rosens, declared themselves deprived of the word of God ; and though there were two Contra-Remonstrant preachers still remaining, demanded that the great church should be surrendered to them. On the refusal of the States to I6I7 comply with their request, they seized on a building- called the cloister church, and established a separate service therein ; a proceeding of which Prince Maurice testified his approbation, by repairing thither on the second Sunday after, with William of Nassau, stadt- holder of Friezland, and a long retinue. The Princess Dowager, and Prince Frederic Henry, however, con- tinued to attend the ministry of UytenbogaardP. But the Remonstrants at Amsterdam, less ably supported, were not quite so fortunate in the issue of a similar attempt. They had jiired a large warehouse, wJiere they assembled for the performance of divine service, to the number of 1800 ; but scarcely had the minister commenced his sermon, when an Englishman, a Con- tra-Remonstrant, rose and exclaimed with a loud voice, " O Amsterdam, Amsterdam ! you who used to Avear the crown, to what are you come!" At this signal, the populace, who had collected in a mob outside, began to throw stones, and soon demolished the win- dows ; they then rushed towards the preacher, with ° Leeven van de Groot, h\, 71, et seq. ' Le Clerc, torn, i., p. 315, 476 MAUEICE, 1617 the design of dragging him from the pulpit, and aimed at him some heavy blows, which were warded off by the women, who surrounded and defended him with their stools. The door, which foi-med the only entrance, was then nailed together as if for the purpose of setting fire to the building ; but the Remonstrants within, being in sufficient force to break it down, effected their escape. The preacher was escorted from the pulpit by his wife and some of his friends, but was no sooner recognised by the mob, than he was assailed with showers of mud, stones, and dirty water. He at length took refiige in the house of a brewer, and thus escaped the fury of his pursuers, who had resolved upon stoning him to death. They then plundered the building of every article it contained, and even stripped the tiles and lead from the roof. On a complaint being made of this outrage to the magistrates, tliey refused to punish the rioters, observing, that the fault lay with the Remonstrants, who had no business to assemble. Finding that they might carry on their doings with impunity, the populace, on the next Sunday, collected in troops of from 50 to 200 toge- ther, beating upon half barrels by way of kettle-drums, and after parading the streets in this manner for some time, stopped before the house of Rembert Bishop, a wealthy merchant of the city, a zealous Remonstrant, and the brother of the Simon Bishop, or Episcopius, who will shortly come under our notice. Upon a cry being given of " Here the Remonstrants preach," the mob began instantly to tear down the bell, batter the door with large beams, and break the windows. Bishop in vain reiterated his assertions that none but his own family were within, and offered to admit two or three of the ringleaders to satisfy themselves of the fact. They persisted in forcing their way in, when Bishop, STADTHOLDEE. 477 snatching up a warming-pan, the only weapon at hand, 16I7 dealt about him some sturdy blows, and thus kept the multitude at bay while he sent to the schout for assist- ance, which there was some difficulty in procuring. At length the schout aj)peared, when the violence in some measure decreased ; but at the end of about half an hour he went away, alleging that he had no orders to remain there all day. The house, thus delivered a prey to the fury of the mob, was ransacked from garret to cellar, the value of the plunder being estimated at 5000 guilders. Rembert and his family happily escaped in safety through the back entrance. The next day the rioters showed some disposition for further violence, having pointed out two or three of the best houses as belonging to Arminians ; but on the threat of some of the merchants that they would leave the city unless measures were taken for their protection, a trooj) of soldiers was stationed to guard the dwellings of the principal Remonstrants, which soon restored quiet. It j^s^^reniarkable that_ the clergyj^^^iough continually . iaveighiDg. agaiust the dances, dress, and festiyals„of the, youth of both sexes, expressed not the slightest disapprobation of these o utrag es. Similar disorders occurred in other places ; but Prince Maurice, notwithstanding that he took so active a part on the side of the Contra-Remonstrants, whom, as he said, he looked upon as the old Reformers, and the people who had raised his father to his dignity, scrupled not to reply to the repeated entreaties of Barneveldt, that he would support the States in their endeavours to suppress these tumults, that he was resolved to remain neutral in the quarrel ; he even forbad the troops to assist the magistrates in quelling any disturbance arising from religious causes q. 1 Brandt, Hist., deel ii., boek xxvi., bl. 484 — 486, 496—499. Waar- acMige Historie ran J, Oldenbarneveldt, p. 250. 478 MAURICE, 1617 This prohibition gave rise to a suspicion in the minds of the chiefs of the Remonstrant party, Barne- veldt, Grotius, and Rombold Hoogerbeets, pensionary of Leyden, that a design existed, under cover of these popular tumults, to change the governments of the towns ; in which case the schuttery or burgher guards, many of whom favoured the Contra-Remonstrants, were not to be depended on for their defence. A decree was therefore issued by the majority in the States of Holland, for the levy of " Waardgelders ;" troops, namely, who were paid a small sum by the municipal government of a town, to hold themselves in readiness to defend that town when called on. This resolution, which M'as termed by the Contra-Remonstrants the " Severe Edict," and was protested against by the five towns of Amsterdam, Enkhuyzen, Edam, Purmerend, and Dordrecht, has been lauded by the writers of the Remonstrant party as a measure equally politic, justifi- able, and necessary. It scarcely deserves, however, to be spoken of in such terms of commendation^ The right of the municipal governments, indeed, to raise Waardgelders for the defence and protection of the towns when occasion required, was indubitable ; that of Amsterdam had done so at the time of the Anabaptist riots, as well as others in frequent in- stances ; but whether this right were now exercised in a manner either judicious or patriotic, is a wholly different question. It was a display, or rather an attempt at a display, of force, such as to justify the adoption of the like measures on the part of their adversaries, in which case, as immeasurably inferior in numbers and strength, they must inevitably succumb ; the Waardgelders, moreover, were accustomed to be raised in times of tumult, or danger from foreign inva- ' Grotius Verantwoordinge, cap. 9. Leeven van J. Oldenli., p. CO. STADTHOLDER. 479 sion, to assist the scliuttery when insufficient; but it 1617 was never contemplated by the spirit of the constitu- tion, that the former should be levied either to super- sede or act in opposition to the latter ; if the two parties were not to come to a trial of strength, their levy was worse than useless ; if they were, the different bodies of municipal troops must be arrayed in hos- tility against each other, the arm of citizen must be lifted against citizen, of brother against brother, and civil war must have been the result. But the errors of the Remonstrant party sink into insignificance, when compared with the excesses and outrages committed by their more powerful opponents. Prince Maurice either was, or affected to be, fully per- suaded that the levy of the new troops was proposed for no other purpose than to annihilate his authority both with the army and in the state, and constantly spoke of it in public as an act of open rebellion. He now only waited for a favourable opportunity for bringing matters to an issue by force; an occa- sion for whicli soon presented itself. The consistory of Briel, having presented a requisition to the Court of Holland, in which they made use of the inde- cent menace, that " it would soon be seen who had the strongest arm," inspired the magistrates (Remonstrants) with the fear that some violence was intended, and they accordingly determined upon taking active measures to preserve the peace. But while the question was debated, as to whether it were most advisable to raise fresh troops for this purpose, or to receive some companies from the States, who should take an oath of fidelity to themselves, Maurice pre- vented their design by setting out from the Hague by night, and without informing the Council of State, at the head of two regiments of infantry, whom he intro- 480 MAURICE, 1617duced into the town in spite of the remonstrances of the magistrates, and even refused to permit the soldiers to take the usual oath of fidelity to them. The Council of State, though favourably inclined to Prince Mau- rice, learnt the news of his departure with extreme dissatisfaction; since it had never been the custom of the stadtholders to quit the Hague without taking leave of the Council, or the States, or to change the garrisons of the towns without their permission. As a cover to this unprecedented act, a report was indus- triously spread, that Barneveldt was engaged in a con- spiracy to deliver Briel into the hands of the Spaniards; and that a part of the town of Flushing also was left exposed for the purpose of affording them admittance. This report, though instantly rejected as absurd by all men of discrimination, served to exasperate not a little the popular clamour against the advocate, who was at this time at Utrecht, detained by sickness, or, as it is said, employed in forwarding the levy of the Waard- gelderss. ^ From the period of the open accession of Prince ! Maurice, the party of the Contra-Remonstrants had been j I daily gaining ground; libels upon the nobles. States, i and municipal governments of the province of Holland / poured in on all sides; Barneveldt in particular was cruelly attacked; and the wide-spread mischief was still further inflamed by the officious intermeddling of King James. The question of assembling a national synod had now, to a great degree, superseded the other points in dispute, the Contra-Remonstrants pertina- ciously insisting on the assembly, their adversaries as earnestly opposing it. With this fact James was fully acquainted; and he now sent a letter to the States- General, couched in terms of strong recommendation ' Le Clerc, torn, i., p. 324. Carleton's Letters, p. 96. STADTHOLDER. 481 of the measure, upon which that body was no less 1617 divided than the country in general'- Of the pro- vinces, Zealand, Friezland, and Groningen were en- tirely Contra-Remonstrant; in Guelderland and Overys- sel the number of Remonstrants was estimated in the proportion of one-third, and in Holland about two- thirds, the province of Utrecht being entirely favour- able to them». The three first accordingly insisted upon the convocation of a national synod, to which they urged the States of Holland, as the only means of healing the present dissensions. But the latter, well aware that the majority in such, a synod must necessarily be Contra-Remonstrant, expressed their unwillingness that any law should be prescribed to them in religious matters; a proceeding which they conceived derogatory to the dignity of the province, it having been established as well by the Pacification of Ghent in 1576, as by the Union of Utrecht, that each province should have the entire regulation of its own affairs as concerned religion. They were, therefore, equally urgent for the holding of either a provincial or general synod, the latter of which should represent the whole of the Reformed church of Europe; and pro- tested that a national synod would be illegal unless agreed upon unanimously by the States-General^. Regardless of this protest, however, in which Utrecht and Overyssel joined, the remaining five pro- vinces came to a decision that a national synod should be convoked, and even began to arrange preliminaries to that effect. They would scarcely have ventured to act thus in open hostility to Holland, had that province been at unity within itself; but the towns of Amster- dam, Edam, Enkhuyzen, and Purmerend, not only ' Caiieton's Letters, p. 123. " Idem, p. 89. ' Leeven van J. Oldenb., p, 231. VOL. II, 2 I 482 MAURICE, 1617 opposed every resolution adopted bj the majority, but even went so far on this occasion as to enter a counter- protest; a proceeding wholly unconstitutional and, as yet, unexampled in the States-General, where indivi- dual members had no right to deliver their opinions, the vote of the whole province only being given. In fine, a national synod was appointed to be held at Dordrecht, and letters were drawn up to the Kings of England and France, to the Count Palatine, and other princes, requesting them to send delegates thither from the churches in their dominions. At the reading of these letters, the deputies of the three opposing pro- vinces rose and left the assembly. The sending them was, however, delayed till the January of the next year, in the hope of bringing over the recusant mem- bers to give their consent"^. The arguments of the King of England in favour of a national synod, were powerfully supported by his ambassador Carleton, Mho, in a long oration to the States-General, reprobated, in no very measured terms, the means adopted by the States of Holland to procure a toleration of the Remonstrants. This called forth a defence of the States by one Taurinus, in the shape of a pamphlet, entitled the "Balance," in which the am- bassador and his harangue were so roughly handled, as to excite the anger of Carleton to an incontrollable degree; his complaints to his omti court of the insults offered him therein were unceasing; and by his reite- rated and vehement importunities, he at length induced the four Contra-Remonstrant provinces to condemn the publication as a libel, and to offer a reward of 1000 livres for the discovery of the author, Avho had pub- lished it without his name. As this edict was opposed by the other three, it served to add fresh fiiel to the " Le Clerc, torn, i., p. 324. / STADTHOLDEE. 483 fire of discord". The French ambassador Du Maurier, 1617 on the contrary, whom his affection towards Barne- veldt, no less than the instructions of his master, prompted to espouse the side of the Remonstrants, delivered an address to the States-General, earnestly exhorting them to the immediate adoption of measures of pacification and toleration^; measures which the weaker party always so strongly insist on, and which they are so seldom found to practise when by a change of circumstances they become the stronger. But the words of reconciliation and peace in the present infuriated state of men's passions were as the ' dripping of the rock upon the foaming torrent. Every town, every village, nearly every house, was in a state of distraction. The burghers of Leyden, hearing that Prince Siaurice had again quitted the Hague by night, with the purpose of visiting their town among others of the Remonstrant party, made preparations of hos- tility, as if against the invasion of a foreign enemy. Without attempting an entry, however, he passed on to Delft and Schiedam, where he effected the disper- sion of the new levies. Maurice had now come to the conviction, confirmed by the ill success he had met with in a tour he made through the towns of Holland, for the purpose of obtaining their consent to the assembly of the national synod, (a measure which he affected warmly to advo- cate in order to gain the favour of the clergy,) that the destruction, of Barneveldt, which since the levy of the Waardgelders he had resolved on accomplishing, could not be effected so long as he was supported by the municipal governments. He had lately become 1618 Prince of Orange by the death of his elder brother, \ Carleton% Letters, passim. Le Clerc, torn, i., p. 32G. y Brandt, Hist., deel ii., boek xxviii., bl, 643. 2 12 484 MAURICE, 1618 who left him heir to all his rich possessions, and the augmentation of wealth and influence he thus obtained gave him additional courage to venture upon the extraordinary measure of changing the members of these bodies; a measure which had ever been regarded as an unwarrantable stretch of power even in the most arbitrary counts ; but which, in a mere dependant and minister of the deputies of those very governments, was an act of such lawless usurpation as few suspected he could possibly have contemplated. Not bold enough, however, to commence the execution of his scheme in Holland, where the iniluence of Barneveldt was still very great, he made trial of his strength first at Nimeguen, at which town he had reserved to him- self the right of changing the senate during the war. Of this right, though it was objected that it did not hold good while in a state of truce, he now availed himself to depose three members who favoured the Remonstrants. The dispossessed magistrates, deeming probably the States of their own province not suffici- ently powerful to protect them, "threw themselves into the arms of the States of Holland," whose inter- cession they besought, that they might be restored to their rights. In compliance with their request, the States of Holland wrote to this eifect to those of Guelderland, but found their application forestalled by the Prince of Orange, who had already presented him- self before the States of Guelderland and obtained their thanks for his acts at Nimeguen. After this propitious commencement Maurice proceeded to De- venter, where the States of Overyssel were assembled, to whom he artfully represented, that the proposed national synod might be of great benefit in healing the present dissensions, and could not by any possibility be productive of evil, since its decrees would be of STA0THOLDEE. 485 none effect, till ratiiied by the States of each province. 16J8 The deputies fell into the snare, and gave their con- sent to the synod under certain restrictions. Thus Utrecht and Holland were left alone in their opposi- tion, and of the latter, the town of Schiedam had now fallen off to the party of the Contra-Remonstrants^. Meanwhile, libels, lampoons, and pasquinades, each one more malignant and scurrilous than the foregoing, \ continued to pour on the devoted head of Barneveldt. Nor was the Prince of Orange himself less active than his partisans in heaping him with obloquy. He en- deavoured to impress the Count of Culemburg with the belief that Barneveldt's party was endeavouring to bring the provinces again under the dominion of Spain ; and on the count's demanding some proof of his assertion, he replied, that it was not yet time, since it was necessary first to make an example of some of the traitors. It is probable that Barneveldt might, as he had hitherto done, have treated these unworthy insinuations against him with silent contempt, had not the Princess Dowager of Orange, by whom he was highly esteemed, communicated to him, that he was suspected by many persons of having received money from Spain, in consequence of the reiterated asseve- rations of the prince that such was the fact, and that proofs of it existed in Brussels. By her advice, the advocate published a letter addressed to the Prince of Orange, in which he entered into a long and able justification of his conduct and motives. He likewise presented a remonstrance to the same effect to the States of Holland, who manifested their approbation of its contents, and subsequently declared an answer to it, which was published anonymously, a calumnious and defamatory libel, offering 500 guilders for the dis- ' Prandt, Hist,, boek xxviii., W. C66, 709, 71P. 486 MAURICE, 1618 covery of the author. They likewise took Bameveldt urider their special protection ; a resolution which was occasioned probably by a report now current of a threat used by the Prince of Orange, that he " would crush Bameveldt and his party to the dust**." The States followed up this resolution by a remon- strance to the prince, calling upon him as stadtholder of the province to assist in defending its privileges ; which, however, remained unheeded, or served but to exasperate his already bitter animosity against them. Still less did it contribute to deter the States-General from issuing the letters of convocation to the national synod at Dordrecht, which town, as the States of Holland justly objected, lay wholly under their juris- diction, and the summoning a synod there without their permission, was a direct violation of the rights of sovereignty of the province. They returned unopened the summons of the States-General, and sent a letter to those foreign princes who had received a similar missive, representing to them the state of the casei". It soon became evident how useless, as Avell as impolitic, had been the levy of the Waardgelders, of whom, indeed, the number amounted altogether to no more than 1800. The prince, and deputies of the Contra-Remonstrant provinces in the States-General, having received information that a party in the States of Utrecht were become somewhat weary of the expense of maintaining these troops, dispatched depu- ties thither, commissioned to propose to the States that they should be disbanded. Hereupon, the States of Holland on their part sent deputies to recommend the States of Utrecht on no account to consent to • Brandt, Hist., deel ii., boek xxix., bl. 744—750, Waaraclitige Hist., &e., p. 130, et seq. 211. . ^ Brandt, deel ii., boek xxx., bl. 802, 803. STADTHOLDER. 487' the dismissal of the Waardgelders, and to promise] 618- them their assistance in case of need ; they likewise commanded Sir John Ogle, governor of the garrison of Utrecht, and the trooj^s stationed there, who formed part of the quota furnished by Holland, to obey no orders but those of the States of Utrecht, or of the deputies of the States of Holland, their paymasters, under pain of cassation". Desirous, how- ever, of coming if possible to an amicable arrangement, the Holland deputies, before their departure from the Hague, proposed to the States-General to procure the dismissal of the Waardgelders, upon a promise from them to protect the governments of the towns of Holland and Utrecht against any tumult arising from what cause soever. The States declined enter-, ing into any positive engagement of the sort, and the deputies therefore proceeded to Utrecht, whither they were immediately followed by the Prince of Orange with the Lord of Vooght, as deputy from Guelderland, Mannemaker from Zealand, and Zwartzemburg from Friezland. On his arrival, Maurice demanded of the States that they should disband the Waardgelders, and give their consent to a national synod, declaring fit the same time, that he would as little permit the Remonstrants to be oppressed as their opponents^ and that he v/ould be a father and protector of the oiie sect as well as the other. But the States of Utrecht, little inclined to trust to professions, of the hollow nature of which they were well aware, answered, that in the matter of the levy of Waardgelders, they had done nothing but what they had a perfect right to do, and what was necessary for their own security ; aiid with regard to the synod, they were, by the Union of Utrecht, spvereigns in their own province in religious = Leeven van J. Oldenb., p. 89, 488 MAURICE, 1618 matters, nor could any national synod be legal without the unanimous consent of the provinces'*. They de- livered their sentiments thus boldly, in the full confi- dence, entertained by Barneveldt and Grotius as ■well as themselves, that the Prince of Orange would not venture to resort to actual force, well knowing that he had no authority from the States to that effect. But they soon discovered the error they had fallen into, in supposing that the prince would stop short of anything necessary to accomplish his object. While these useless negotiations were pending, INIaurice had occupied the principal avenues of the town with the garrisons drav n from the places in the vicinity, and some companies of troops entirely at his devotion. He then, with the deputies of the States-General and a long train of officers, repaired to the market-place, where half a company of Waardgelders were keeping guard, and desired them to summon the remainder. Oji their appearance he ordered them to lay down their arms, and released them from their oath and service, a command which they instantly obeyed. Five more companies were then assembled by beat of drum and disbanded in a similar manner ; the whole of this singular transaction being carried on in pro- found quiet. At the conclusion, some members of the States of Utrecht, who either secretly favoured the prince, or who, seeing the turn affairs were taking, thought it best to provide for their own welfare by a timely submission, addressed to him a vote of thanks, and besought him to take such measures as he should think advisable for the security of the town and pro- vince. The rest, either overwhelmed with dismay, or, perceiving the uselessness of resistance, allowed him, ^ Leeven van de Groot, bl. 122, 123. Brandt, deel ii., boek xxx., bl, 810, 811. STADTHOLDER. 489 without opposition, to make an entire change in the 1618 constitution of the town. The members of the govern- ment, whose offices were hitherto annual and elective, he now appointed for life ; retaining those only, who had signalized themselves by their zeal as Contra- Eemonstrants. This was followed by the dismissal of Ledemburg, secretary to the States of the province, and by alterations in the bodies of the ecclee-iastics and nobility as members of the States ; the Remon- strants also were obliged by the new government of the town to surrender the cathedral to their adver- saries^. Having thus arranged the affairs of Utrecht, both ecclesiastical and civil, entirely according to his plea- sure, Maurice returned to the Hague, when the Contra- Remonstrant deputies in the States-General, carried away by the heat of religious fanaticism and political contest, so far lost sight of all principles of prudence and patriotism, as to present their thanks to him, for an act of arbitrary violence, such as Alva himself had never dared to commit, and by which their constitution I and privileges became, in fact, dependent on his will. The councils of the towns of Holland, also, warned by the example of Utrecht, upon receiving an ordinance from the States-General, commanding the officers and troops of the new levies to renounce the oath they had taken to the municipal governments, and to lay dowa their arms under pain of being treated as rebels, one and all consented to disband the obnoxious troops; some slight difficulties only occurring at Leyden. The council of Rotterdam, following the advice of their pensionary Grotius, had anticipated the ordinance by a few days^. - Brandt, deel ii., boek xxx., bl. 809, 820. Carleton's Letters, p. 274. ' Brandt, deel ii., boek xxx., bl. 826. Leeven van de Groot, bl. 183, 490 MAUKICE, 1618 After the dismissal of the Waardgelders, the ques- tion of the national s}Tiod was once more agitated in the States-General. The deputies of the Remonstrant towns of Holland, finding further opposition hopeless, and fearful lest the example of such a measure being adopted by the majority, should be drawn into a pre- cedent, had, with the exception of Gouda, resolved upon no longer withholding their consent?, when an event happened, which struck most men with astonish- ment, and overwhelmed the unfortunate Remonstrants with confusion and dismay. This was the arrest and j imprisonment of Barneveldt, Grotius, and Hoogerbeets, i ! pensionary of Leyden. The bitter enmity existing / i between Barneveldt and the Prince of Orange, ren- dered this measure, as regarded him, not difficult to account for; but with respect to Grotius and Hooger- beets it was totally inexplicable, since the former had been but a few months employed in public affairs, and the latter had not made himself by any means con- spicuous in the late transactions; nor did there appear any reason why the penalty of acts in which so many had participated should be visited upon them alone, unless, indeed, it were to be found in the envy, which their superior talents and eloquence, and the favour they enjoyed with the governments of the towns, excited. It is said, that Barneveldt had already received warning of the existence of a design of this nature, but had contented himself with thanking those who gave him the information, without taking any precautions for his own security; and had firmly resisted the entreaties of his friends, that he would withdraw to some fortified place on which he might depend, declaring that he would abide the issue of events at the Hague, where he had so long faithfully s Leeven van de Groot, bl. 236. Waarachtige Historie, &c., bl. 219, 221. STADTHOLDER. 491 served his masters, rather than bring any town into 1618 trouble on his account. Early on the morning of his 2*9"" arrest, Uytembogaart, going into his cabinet, found him, instead of being occupied as usual in writing or giving directions, seated with his back towards the table in an attitude of deep dejection. He endea- I voured to console him by recalling to his mind the \ example of the many eminent men of all ages, who \ having done the greatest services to their country had \ met with no other reward than ingratitude. At the conclusion of this interview, he pressed the hand of his aged friend, with a presentiment of evil for which he was unable to account. It was for the last time. Within an hour after his departure, Barneveldt pro- ceeded to the Assembly of the States of Holland, when, as he was about to enter, a messenger informed him that the prince desired to speak with him. He accord- ingly went into the chamber where they were accus- tomed to hold their conferences, and was immediately arrested by Nythof, lieutenant of the prince's body- guard, in the name of the States-General. The same pretence was used towards Grotius and Hoogerbeets, who were in like manner seized and conducted to separate apartments, each in ignorance of what had happened to the others. To these was afterwards added Ledemburg, secretary of the States of Utrecht*. Uytembogaart fortunately effected his escape to Antwerp, where he continued during the remainder of the truce\ Although the arrest had been made in the name of the States-General, it had never been ^ Brandt, boek xxxi., bl. 841, 842. Soeven van J. Olbenbar., p. 92. * It was supposed by many persons, that the ambassador Carleton was a party to this transaction, from the circumstance of his having arrived at the Hague the evening before from England, and having continued till a late hour of the night in convergatioii vsdth the Prince of Orange. 492 MAURICE, 1618 proposed in that assembly, but was resolved on by those members only who had accompanied Maurice to Utrecht, and executed by order of the prince himself; and thus a measure of such vital importance to the liberty and security of the subject, was carried into effect by private persons,, wholly destitute of the requi- site authority, and who had themselves become amen- able to the laws by disbanding the Waardgelders at Utrecht, in opposition to the authority, and in violation of the sovereignty of the States of that province. Barneveldt, moreover, was under the especial protec- tion of the States of Holland; and the two others as pensionaries of Rotterdam and Leyden were under the jurisdiction of those towns, or the court of Holland only; nor could they be legally arrested at all, unless " flagrante delicto," without a previous complaint made to the municipal governments'. Violent and arbitrary as the arrest was, however, the States-General signified their approval of it, the deputies of Holland alone remaining mute with grief and amazement, — and made the report in corresponding terms to the States of Holland. These unhesitatingly expressed their sur- prise that a matter of such importance should have been resolved on, and executed without their consent, or even knowledge; demanded in strong terms satisfac- tion for the injury they had sustained by a proceeding so derogatory to the privileges and liberty of the pro- vince; and adopting a political fiction, under cover of which they hoped, perhaps, that the Prince of Orange might be induced to retrace with honour the unjustifi- able steps he had taken, they petitioned him to unite with them in defence of the rights of the province, which he had been the foremost to violate, and to pro- cure the release of the prisoners, who had been arrested ' Vid. vol. i., chap, ii., p, 93. STADTHOLDER. 493 for no other cause than to gratify his personal jealousy 1618 and revenge. But again was the resolution of the States rendered destitute of force by disunion among themselves. The deputies of the six Contra-Remon- strant towns, although they avoided the invidious course of opposing it, protested that they had no authority from their principals to decide on so imporb- ant a question. The remonstrance of the majority, accordingly, had but little weight with the prince, who replied, that what had been done was by the command of the States-(jreneral, with whom the province of Holland must arrange the matter of their jurisdiction. Similar applications from Rotterdam and Leyden met with a like reception. The sons-in-law of Barneveldt, the Lords of Van der Myle, and Veenhuyzen, with his son, the Sieur de Groeneveldt, having besought the prince, that their father, in consideration of his age and infirmity, might be allowed his own house as a prison, he threw this likewise upon the States-General, saying, that it was their business alone. He added, that their father should suffer no more harm than himself; but Veenhuyzen attempting to excuse the prisoner for having opposed the occupation of the clois- ter-church at the Hague by the Contra-Remonstrants, Maurice fell into a transport of passion, exclaiming, "that if any one would say a word against the cloister- church, his own feet should not carry him from thence." On the same evening an attempt was made to rescue the prisoners by the Lords of Schagen and Asperen, the principal members of the body of nobility; they were seized and disarmed, but released with a reprimand upon finding suretiesJ. Notwithstanding the ill success of their last remon- strance, the majority of the States of Holland were > Brandt, deel ii., boek xxxi., bl. 844, 845. Caileton's Letters, p. 279. 494 MAURICE, 1618 none the less firm in the protection of their ministers. " If," they said, " the prisoners are accused of creating domestic disturbances, the cognizance of the crime belongs solely to Holland ; if of a treasonable corre- spondence with Spain, the offence is committed equally against the allies. Let them then be tried before all the provinces, with the ambassadors of France and England ; and, should they be found guilty, punished without mercy''." Their pertinacity convinced the enemies of Barneveldt, that so long as the deputies chosen by the present municipal governments remained in the States, their projects of vengeance would be, if not wholly defeated, perpetually thwarted and delayed. They therefore urged the Prince of Orange to employ the time afforded by the prorogation of the States in the completion of the desirable and necessary work he had begun in Guelderland and Utrecht, by deposing all the magistrates in the towns of Holland who were sus- pected of attachment to the advocate, and substituting such persons as would prove subservient to the ruling party'*- In pursuance of their advice, he repaired at the head of his body-guard of 300 troops, first to Schoonhaven, where he discharged the magistrates from their oaths, and deposed all those members of the Great Council who had recommended toleration in religious matters, filling their places with the most violent of the Contra-Remonstrants ; admitting at '' Brandt, deel ii., boek xxxi., bl. 847. ' Carleton's Letters, p. 189. * It is evident from the letters of this period, that considerable per- suasion, and even importunity, was necessary to engage Maui'ice to adopt the unconstitutional measures he was hurried into ; the ministers ■ of the church, and the English ambassador, Carleton, made themselves particularly active in this business. — See Lett, of Arnold van der Linde, in Brandt, deel ii., boek xxxi., bl, 848, Grotius Verantwoordinge, cap, 96, Carleton's Letters, p, 187. STADTHOLDER, 495 the same time the illegality of the act, by a protesta- 1618 tion he thought it necessary to make, that it was done ■without prejudice to the privileges of the town. From thence he proceeded to eiFect a similar change in Briel, Delft, and other places, which, the garrisons being favourable to him, offered not the slightest resistance. At Hoorn, however, a town remarkable at all times for the strenuous defence of its privileges, and where, on the present occasion, the government and schuttery were united in sentiment, Maurice encountered con- siderable difficulty, and even no slight danger. On intelligence of his approach, the Great Council, after some debates as to what course "was to be taken in this emergency, determined upon sending deputies to request the prince that, in order to avoid tumults, he would not enter the gates with such a number of troops as to give umbrage to the inhabitants. But, unfortu- nately, so much time had been lost in the previous discussions, that Maurice had already arrived close to the gates, when he was met by the deputies of the council. He affected, therefore, to regard their appli- cation as ill-judged, and unseasonable in the highest degree, and replied, that if the people of Hoorn would not admit him, he would go another way, and see what was to be done afterwards ; but that, as to his retinue, he would not diminish it by a single page. After some demur, it was resolved to allow him to enter with all his followers. The gate being opened, he advanced between two lines of schuttery, drawn up in arms on each side of the street, and was conducted to his hotel, where he was feasted with great magnificence, and an appearance of friendly feeling maintained on both sides. The schuttery, however, continued under arms the whole night, in the different stations of the town, 496 MAURICE, 1618 and in sucTi a state of excitement, that a single word from the burgomaster, or a stroke of the town bell, Avould have proved the signal for the attack of the prince's troops ; a result greatly dreaded by Maurice himself, who refused to retire to rest, and manifested the most unequivocal symptoms of alarm. The next morning he asked the captains of the schuttery why they kept such strict watch, since he had given them no cause of mistrust. They appealed to the burgo- masters, and they again to the Great Council, which, having assembled, addressed to the prince a petition, that he Avould not violate the privileges of the town by displacing the present government, a measure which must inevitably occasion great contention and dis- orders ; but rather, if he were determined to make a change, to add to their number some persons who should be agreeable to him. To this proposal Maurice gave a seeming consent, desiring that the council would first gratify him by disarming the schuttery. His request was complied with ; but, on a renewal of the ;petition, he refused to perform his part of the agree- ment, alleging that he had not yet made up his mind on the subject. It soon appeared with what view he took so much time for consideration. During the three days' delay he thus obtained, he introduced several companies of troops from Friezland within the walls, and then sent to inform the council that he would give them an answer at the guildhall. Repairing thither, accompanied by a large body of troops, who drew up in the form of a crescent in the market-place, he at once deposed the whole council, eight of whom he re-appointed, and filled the places of the rest with persons of no account, some of whom were not even burghers, and all held in such contempt that he was STADTHOLDER. 497 obliged to leave a garrison of 900 soldiers to protect 1618 them from the indignation of the people ""- On the re-assembling of the States of Holland, it appeared how powerfully the party of the prince was augmented by the appointment of new deputies from those towns in which the governments had been changed. The report of his doings was received with immediate and unanimous approbation, except by Gouda, Leyden, Haarlem, and Rotterdam, which had not yet undergone a similar revolution; and it was left to liis discretion as to what measures were to be pursued in regard to those towns, the States promising to support him in eflfecting any change which he might think necessary. They likewise consented to place on their records, that all his acts had been done in no other view than to procure peace and repose to the country, and without consideration of his private interests, or prejudice to the privileges of the provinces and towns". The governments of Haarlem, Leyden, and Rotterdam, soon after shared a like fate with the rest, and Amsterdam itself, which, though conspicuous on the side of the Contra-Remonstrants, had only been so in consequence of a small majority in the council, underwent a similar change. One of the deposed members, Cornelius Hooft, who had been thirty-six years in the council, ventured to represent that a difference of opinion between two parties had never yet been considered a valid reason for effecting the ruin of the weaker ; to which argument the prince satisfied himself with replying, " Grandsire (a term of endearment common in Holland), it must be so for the present; the good of the country requires it." He re-established twenty-nine persons in the government, " Velius Hoorn, boek v., M. 30C— 307. " Resol. der Staat., Oct. 19, 1618. VOL. II. 2 K 498 MAURICE, 1618 most of whom were favourable to Mm, appointing seven new ones in the place of the most obnoxious Remonstrant members. The States afterwards passed a resolution, that the deposition of the magistrates and councillors was without prejudice to their honour or reputation ; thus tacitly condemning this arbitmry and oppressive proceeding against men who had filled their offices for so long a period without having done any act derogatory to either". On intelligence of the arrest of Barneveldt, Louis XIII. of France commanded Boisisse, his ambassador extraordinary to the States-General, in conjunction with Du Maurier, to use his utmost effijrts towards preventing them, if possible, from proceeding to extre- mities against the prisoners, and to offer his mediation in appeasing the present discontents. The States made answer, that the country was in no such danger as had been falsely represented to the king; that the Prince of Orange had, by mild measures, and Avithout tumult or bloodshed, remedied the disorders that had arisen in the civil constitution, and that those which infected the church would be appeased by the synod which was shortly to be held at Dordrecht p. This measure had since the consent of Holland encountered no further difficulty. As a preliminary, it was necessary that provincial sjTiods should be held, for the purpose of appointing delegates to the as- sembly, which was fixed for the 8th of November. To secure the majority in these synods, was a measure of vital importance to the Contra-Remonstrants, and they accordingly employed every means they could devise to this end. In the classes (from Avhich the / delegates to the provincial synods are chosen) where I they were inferior in number to their opponents, they ° Brandt, deel ii., boek xxxi., bl. 868, 869, >■ Idem, U. 877—879. STADTHOLDER. 499 declared that their consciences would not permit the 1618 continuance of communion with them, and, forming a I separate class, sent their own delegates, by which means the number on both sides was equal; but in those classes where they had a majority, they continued united with the Remonstrants, whom they outvoted, and were thus enabled to nominate all the delegates from their own party. The result of this contrivance was, that, in the provincial synods, none but Contra-Remonstrants were chosen as delegates to the national synod, except in that of Utrecht, which being chiefly Remonstrant, the Contra-Remonstrants pursued the same plan of separation as in the classes of the other provinces, each party sending two ministers and one elder q. The foreign churches who had been invited to commission delegates to the synod, all complied with the request, except the Reformed church of France, whose delegates were forbidden by the king to repair thither. At the head of those ajipointed by King James, was George Carleton, bishop of LlandafF; with him were associated Joseph Hall, dean of Worcester, John Davenant, pro- fessor of theology at Queen's College, Cambridge, Samuel Ward, archdeacon of Taunton, and Walter Balcancall, sent by the king in the name of the Scot- tish church. On their arrival, they declared that their sovereign had commanded them what to do, and how to act in the synod. Though as yet it had been unheard of in the provinces, that ecclesiastics were to appear in a synod, charged with instructions from the civil power, the native delegates passed over the cir- cumstance without remark, either in deference to James's qualifications as a theologian, or convinced that 4 Brandt, deel ii., boek xxxi., bl. 894. Prsefatio ad Acta Syn. Dord. See also Address of Episcopius to the Synod, Brandt, deel iii., boek xxxiv., bl, 121 , 2 K 2 SCO MAURICE, 1618 his ministers would not fail to favour on all occasions the Contra-Remonstrants "■. On the 13th of November, this renowned assembly- held its first meeting at Dordrecht, in the house called the " Doel," a building and yard set apart in the Dutch towns for the military exercises of the schuttery. The number of ecclesiastical delegates from the provinces amounted to thirty-eight ministers, twenty elders, and five professors of theology; to these were added eighteen "political commissioners!," or deputies from the States- General. The whole number of delegates sent by the different foreign churches Avere twenty-eight, so that the native members, being in considerable majority, were enabled to outvote them whenever it might be found expedient. The head of the room on the right was occupied by the political commissioners, opposite to whom sat the English delegates, the next place, appropriated to the delegates of the French Reformed church, being left vacant ; the third place was occupied by the ministers from the Palatinate; after whom came those from Hesse, Switzerland, Geneva, Bremen, and Emden, in succession; next to the political commis- sioners sate the native professors of theology, and the ministers and elders delegated from the provincial synods, each taking precedence according to the rank of their province. The sessions were held in public, unless when the doors were closed by the express com- mand of the president, and usually attended by a vast concourse of spectators; latterly, even women, attracted by motives of curiosity, resorted thither in great num- bers. The proceedings commenced with a prayer in Latin, in which language only they were carried on, for the benefit of the foreign members, but very little to the edification of the political commissioners, some of ' Bran It, detl iii., bcek xxxii ., p. 5, 0. STADTHOLDER. 501' ■whom understood little or nothing of what passed*; 1618 their secretary, Daniel Heinsius, on the other hand, though a renowned and elegant scholar, was profoundly ignorant on theological subjects. He was, however, as well as the president, John Bogerman, a zealous Contra-Remonstrant. The first three sittings were occupied with reading the credentials of the different m embers ^ The Remonstrants, on the opening of the synod, demanded that they might send deputies under a safe conduct, to be present as parties, who should be per- mitted to defend their opinions in any manner they thought best. The political commissioners, however, determined that they could not recognise any other body in the Netherland church than that which was represented by the synod, and that the Remonstrants were to be heard in no other way than in answer to a citation issued to those among them whom the as- sembly itself should choose. The synod accordingly issued citations to thirteen ministers of that party'. During the time that intervened before the cited parties could appear, the question was discussed of a new and accurate translation of the Bible into the Dutch lan- guage; work begun in pursuance of an order of the States in 1594, by Philip van Marnix, lord of St. Aldegonde, gess. who died before it was finished. Six theologians of ^ t o eminent learning were now appointed to this task, who ' Brandt, deel iii., boek xxxiii., bl. 11, 14—16, 23, 27. Acta Synodi, pa. i., p. 14. • Idem, p. 19. Brandt, deel iii., boek xxxiii., bl. 37,41. * One of them, William van Herteveldt, of Utrecbt, being asked how he managed, replied, that he learned a little as he went on ; sometimes understood a word from hearing it frequently repeated, sometimes looked for a word or two in a dictionary he carried with him. Brandt, deel iii., Boek xxxiii., bl. 24, Others, however, were men of talent and extensive learninar. 502 MAURICE, 1618 applied theinselves to its execution with sedulous care and diligence, and their version has accordingly been held in high esteem by posterity. The instruction of youth in the catechism, the baptism of children born in the Indian settlements of Pagan parents, which it was decided should not be administered to infants; the preparation of candidates for the ministry; and the means of correcting the abuses of the press, were the subjects which afterwards occupied the attention of the synod, till the appearance of the Remonstrants in the twenty-second session^. Their leader Avas the learned Simon Bishop or Episcopius, who in a long and Sess. eloquent harangue, delivered in Latin, and, it is said, 23 vrith such admirable expression of gesture and lan- guage, as to draw tears from the eyes of his bitterest opponents, imputed the dissensions that had arisen in the church to three principal causes; firet, that the Remonstrants had openly opposed those theologians who put forth their abominable opinions on the sub- ject of predestination as the doctrines of the church; secondly, that they had disapproved of the schisms that were made on account of these subjects; and thirdly, that they had blamed the intolerance of those who anathematized as heresy the smallest difference of opi- nion on doctrines not essential to salvation. The president, having sharply reprimanded Episcopius for presuming to speak without waiting for the ])ermission of the assembly, then read aloud the form of the oath to be administered to the members, to the effect that they would follow the word of God as the only rule whereby to judge of the five disputed articles and other matters; and would propose nothing but what was conducive to the glory of God, the tranquillity of the church, and the conservation of the pure doctrine. ' Acta Synodi, pa. i., p. 21, 31, 48, 51, 62, 63. STADTHOLDEE. 503 This oath was strongly suspected by the Remonstrants 1618 to have been purposely delayed till so late a period of the proceedings, in order, by means of it, to get rid of the two Remonstrant delegates of Utrecht, whom it would have been invidious to expel at the commence- ment; a suspicion the justice of which vi'as confirmed by the fact, that the oath was not administered to these members, who were constrained to relinquish their place as judges, and appear among those cited w. Though protesting against the competency of the synod Sess. to judge them, as composed entirely of their adver- ^^ saries, by whom they had already been condemned, the Remonstrants delivered their opinions on the first of,Sess. the five articles, and subsequently on the other four. ^^ *° The synod then demanded a like declaration on the subject of the Heidelberg Catechism and the Nether- land Confession of Faith, which a term of four days was given them to prepare. This being delivered, the Sess. synod, before proceeding to the discussion of the five ^^ articles, required the Remonstrants to engage that they would remain satisfied with the explicit delivery of the opinions they held, without any observation on such as they rejected, particularly on the doctrine of reproba- tion; and that they would be silent on this subject when the synod was of opinion that sufficient had been said. But to this restriction they positively declined to submit; justly objecting, that the synod would be thus enabled to impose silence upon them, to the ii'reparable prejudice of their cause, whenever their arguments were found unanswerable. They refused with equal pertinacity to confine themselves to simple and categorical answers to such questions as the synod might propose to them individually; or to give them " Brandt, deel iii., boek Jvxxiv., bl, 123 — 133, Acta Synodi, pa. i., p. 64. 504 MAURICE, 16J8in any other mode thau by writing, or by the mouth of the most able of their members, after having been duly submitted to the approbation of the whole; alleging as a reason (and not an unfounded one), that nothing would be easier than to entangle them by subtle questions in apparent contradictions, or into a supposed admission of opinions very different from those they really held. After many discussions, carried on with more vehemence and acrimony than was well befitting so reverend an assembly, the matters were referred to the States-General, who passed a resolution, approving of all the acts of the synod, and commanding the cited to submit to its decrees, and to answer all sucb questions as it should propose, on pain of ecclesiastical and civil punishment ; and if they persisted in their disobedience, they should be judged of by their writings, and the explanations they had given of them, Avhether, by word of mouth, or otherMise, in this and the pro- vincial synods; they were likemse forbidden to leave Dordrecht without permission from the political com- missioners. This resolution was accordingly read to gess. the Remonstrants^- But, undismayed by finding the 46 States-General, as well as every member of the august assembly before which they appeared, arrayed against them, Episcopius and his brethren continued to defend their cause with that undaunted resolution and energy which in no single instance deserted them during the whole of these disheartening proceedings*. To the - Acta Synodi, pa. i., p. 113, 116, 123, 124, 125, 129, 132, 163.. Brandt, deel iii., boek xxxv., U. 169,203, 220; boek xxxvi., 1)1.233—244. * It was not only the ill wiU of the Statas and synod they had to endure. The popular feeling in Dordrecht, excited by the sermons preached every Sunday and Thursday by one of the members of the synod, was so virulent against them, that they could scarcely appeal- in STADTHOLDER. 505 admonitions of the president, tliat they shouki submit 1618 to the ordinance of the States, Episcopius answered, that having duly examined the subject in the fear of the Lord, and prayed earnestly to him, he could not resolve to act in any other manner than he had done. Each individual replied to the same purporf. The leig discussions on these points were prolonged from the forty-sixth to the fifty-seventh session, when the Remon- strants delivered in writing an exposition of their opinions, and those of their adversaries, on the first of the five articles, and a declaration of the continuance of their determination to give their answers in no other manner than that which they had originally pro- posed. This document having been read, in the assembly, the Remonstrants were asked singly whether they were resolved to persist in adhering to its contents, and on their replying in the aflSrmative, the president Bogerman commenced an oration, in the course of which he animadverted with more heat than dignity on the artifices, subterfuges, and falsehoods exhibited by the Remonstrants in return for the equity, forbearance, and patience with which they had been treated by the assembly ; he declared, that as they had begun in the spirit of fraud and obstinacy, so they had ended; that they were unworthy to hold conference with the vener- able synod, Avhich, as soon as it was relieved of their presence, would proceed to the examination of their doctrine by their writings; and would make known to the whole world their stubbornness and arrogance; nor would the synod be found wanting in spiritual arms y Acta Synodi, pa. i., p. 165. the streets without heing insulted by ribald jests and opprobrious epithets. ^Brandt, deel iii., boek xxxiv., bl. 151. Before the conclusion of the synod, howeverj this disposition was much changed. — Idem, boekxxxviii., bl. 420. 506 MAURICE, 1619 "wherewith to chastise them with due severity. He concluded his harangue by paying to them in an impe- rious tone, " You are dismissed, go out." " On these matters," rei^lied Episcopius, "we shall keep silence before our Redeemer; and God be judge between the synod and us, of the artifices, subterfuges, and false- hoods wherewith we stand accused.*' As they departed, they were commanded anew, not to quit the city with- out tlie permission of the political commissioners^. The expulsion of the Remonstrants, in which act not a third of the syno.d had participated, was approved of by a decree of the States-General; but to the foreign members, most of whom had voted in favour of the delivery of the answers in writing and in regular order, as proposed by Episcopius, it appeared a mode of getting rid of them anything rather than judicious or dignified. Carleton, who on this point possesses all the weight of an unwilling witness, was of opinion, that although the Remonstrants had well deserved the affi-ont, the place and institution of the assembly required a different course of conduct; while Hales, from whom he received the account of the transaction,^ spoke of it in terms of unqualified disapprobation*. The conferences, which had every appearance of being interminable, thus abruptly ended, the synod proceeded to the examination of the five articles, when it soon appeared how little the theologians themselves were agreed on those abstruse and unfathomable sub- jects, on which they condemned their brethren for not entertaining an exact correspondence in opinion, When the second article of the Remonstrants was brought under consideration, a discussion arose between ' Brandt, deel iil., boek xxxvi., bl. 296 — 299. Acta Synodi, pa. i., p. 186—188. V " Idem, p. 191. Brandt, deel iii., boek xxxvi., bl. 300. Carleton's Letters, STADTHOLDEB. 507 Matthew Martinius, delegate of the church of Bremen, 1619 and Gomarus, upon the question, in what manner Christ was the foundation of salvation; the former maintain- ing that he was the original cause; the latter, that the Father, having resolved on the salvation of a portion of mankind, had chosen the Son as the atonement; and that therefore the Son was the effector only and not the author of salvation. This controversy was carried on with such indecent violence by Gomarus, as to provoke the Bishop of Llandaff, who had throughout distin- guished himself by his impartial and conciliatory conduct, to complain, that an assembly destined for edification was made a scene of discord; an observation which called forth a sharp and somewhat insulting rejDly from Gomarus. To this the bishop returned no answer, when the president declared, that Gomarus had spoken, not against persons, but opinions, and did not deserve censure. A letter from Carleton, how- ever, testifying his displeasure at the manner in which the bishop had been treated, caused Bogermans to adopt a milder tone, and to exhort the members from giving any offence to each other. Martinius was induced to give such an explanation of his opinions as should render them more palatable to Gomarus and his party; yet he was heard to observe, that " he had seen in that synod some things divine, some things human, and some things diabolical b." The synod, in order to appease the dissatisfaction of the foreign members at the manner in which the Remonstrants had been treated, gave the latter per- mission to transmit in writing any explanations of their opinions or answers to those of their opponents they might choose; a liberty of which, though the time granted them was extremely short, they availed " Brandt, deel iii., boek xxxviii,, bl. 409, 4-36, 453, 459. 508 MAURICE, 1619 themselves to such an unlimited extent, as to draw forth grievous complaints from the political commis- sioners, who observed, that if they were to examine all the wi-itings of the Remonstrants, the synod must sit for twelve years. The perusal of these writings aud the discussions thereupon, occupied the synod till the 102nd session, M'hen the judgments of the different members were delivered with closed doors, the dele- gates of the foreign churches first, and afterwards those of the native churches in succession. The president Srsp. then returned thanks for the conformity of all the 125 members, (though such was not strictly the fact, many excepting against the supralapsarian doctrines of Gomarus,) and proposed that the canons which he himself had drawn up should be examined by the synod, and either rejected or approved of categorically; a proposition which excited some murmurs in the assembly, the majority of the members being displeased that the whole direction of the matter should rest in the hands of the president, and some of the provincial theologians who were devoted to him, while the foreign members appeared to have been summoned for no other purpose than to approve of their acts. After an angry and bitter contestation, in which Gomarus and Sibrand Lubbertus (the same Avhose calumnies against the States of Holland Grotius had answered in his work "De Pietate, &;c.") rendered themselves peculiarly consjiicuous, it was resolved, that some foreign as well as native theologians should be appointed to draw up the canons; which were accord- ingly completed by the Bishop of Llandaff, with two more foreign and six provincial members, joined to the president and his assessors'^. <= Acta Spiodi, pa. i., p. 232, 233, 239. Brandt, deel iii., boek xxxviii., bl. 41 J, 433, 441; boekxxxix., bl. 539; boek xl., bl. 542, etscq. STADTHOLDER. 609 The canons, consisting of the refutation and con- 1<519 demnation of the opinions of the Remonstrants on the five articles, and an exposition of the doctrines held to be orthodox by the synod, laid down, " that God has pre-ordained, by an eternal and immutable decree, before the creation of the world, upon whom lie will bestow the free gift of his grace ; that the atonement of Christ, though sufficient for all the world, is effica- cious only for the elect ; that conversion is not effected by any effort of man, but by the free grace of God given to those only whom he has chosen from all eternity; and that it is impossible for the elect to fall aM'ay from this grace''." The canons having been read and approved of, the 137th and 138th sessions were occupied in passing judgment on the persons of the Remonstrants who had been cited. They were pronounced innovators, and disturbers of the church and nation ; obstinate and rebellious; leaders of faction, teachers of false doc- trine, and workers of schism ; and deprived of their offices, both ecclesiastical and academical, till such time as they had satisfied the churches with evident signs of repentance ; which sentence was subsequently confirmed by a decree of the States-General. " God will require of you," was the striking apostrophe of Episcopius, when the sentence was read to them by the political commissioners, "an account of your con- duct at the great day of his judgment. There you and the whole synod will appear. May you never meet with a judge such as the synod has been to us^" The synod next proceeded to the examination of the Heidelberg Catechism, and Confession of Faith oi i Acta Synodi, pa. i.,p. 241, 251, 256, 205. ' Idem, 27C. Brandt, dejl iii., boek xl., bl, 6C0, boek %u., 608. 510 MAURICE, 1619 the Netherland church, which were approved and rati- fied in every particular ; after which, sentence of con- demnation was passed upon Vorstius and his doctrine : the former being declared unfit to serve the office of preacher and minister in the Reformed church; the latter, impious, blasphemous, and such as should be rooted out with abhorrence. He was banished from the United Provinces on pain of death. The business Sess. of the synod being thus ended, the canons and the 1°3 sentence against the Remonstrants were read aloud in the principal church of Dordrecht, amid an immense confluence of spectators; after which a thanksgiving was delivered by Bogerman, with a benediction on the several members of the synod, the civil authorities, especially the Prince of Orange, whom he termed the defender of liberty and the true religion, the King of Great Britain, and the other princes who had sent their delegates. In the 154th session, the president of the political commissioners and the president Boger- man returned thanks in the name of the synod and States-General to the foreign members, who took leave of the assembly, with mutual embraces, and, it is said, not without tears f*. After their departure, the provincial members proceeded to arrange the affairs of the churches in the United Provinces, when it was decreed, that those ministers who would not renounce f Acta Synodi, pa. i., p. 320, 827. Brandt, deel iii., boek xii., bl. 600—602, 610—614. * It was to the no small amusement of the populace of Dordrecht that the reverend doctors celebrated the happy termination of the assembly, by a sumptuous feast, enlivened by the music of violins and voices ; a chorus of women singing behind a curtain. The Remonstrants even go so far as to add, that the effects of the copious libations of Rhenish poured out on the occasion were visible in the unsteady steps of some of the gravest theologians on theii- return home at night.— Brandt, deel iii., boek xii., bl. 613. STADTHOLDEE. 511 the opinions of the Remonstrants should be deprived of 1619 their office, and that all candidates for the ministry, and schoolmasters, should be required to subscribe to the Catechism, Confession of Faith, and the canons of the synod g*. Thus terminated this celebrated synod with the , 180th session, after having been assembled more than seven months, at a cost to the state of 1,000,000 of guilders''^; and which, by some, has been looked up to with reverence as an assembly of learned and pious divines, whose decrees were inferior in purity and ( excellence of doctrine only to Scripture itself; while by others it has been regarded as a meeting of bigoted \ polemics, whose proceedings aimed rather at the dis- i comfiture and mortification of their antagonists than ' the discovery and promulgation of truth. Without I subscribing to either of these opinions, we may observe that, exhibiting little of the Christian spirit of forbear- \ ance, the synod proposed no one single measure of toleration or of conciliation, nor devised any other \ mode of putting an end to the divisions of the church, than the entire oppression of the weaker party ; and that, instead of tending to unite the different sects upon the common doctrines of the Reformation, it promul- gated opinions of such an extreme tendency, as to cause a still wider alienation between the Lutherans B Brandt, deel iii., boek xlu., bl. 626—642. '' Idem, 662. * It is a source of extreme regret to me, that all my efforts to procure ^Baiidart's " Memorise Ecclesiasticarum, &c.," or Uytenbogaard's " Origo et Pi-ogressus Controversiarum, &c.," have been unavailmg. If anything could compensate for the loss of a contemporary historian, it would be the judgment and liberality with which Brandt has drawn from both these sources. t The Bishop of LlandafF received eighty guilders, or about 81., per day ; the other English theologians twenty guilders each, and the native theologians only four.— Brandt, deel iii., boek xiii., bl. 660.. 512 MAURICE, 1619 and Calvinists ; an alienation of which the conseqiiences were, perhaps, more severely felt in the course of after events than is commonly supposed. The resolute spirit displayed by the Remonstrants at the synod contributed, with some disturbances which occurred at Alkmaar and Hoorn, to exercise a sinister influence on the destiny of the prisoners of state, the career of one of whom was now drawing fast to a close'. From the period of their arrest they had, contrary to the provisions of the law of Holland, Avhereby persons accused of a capital crime are to be tried within six weeks of their arrest, been detained three months without examination, in order that the change of the deputies of Holland, both in the States of that province and the States-General, might ensm-e an appointment of judges by the latter entirely adverse to them. During this time Barneveldt, now past seventy years of iige, had been closely confined in the room which had served as a prison for the Spanish commander, Men- doza, after the battle of Nieuport ; and, besides being subjected to every petty indignity that malice could invent, was debarred the sight of his wife and children, and deprived of the use of pen, ink, and paper, as were also the other two captives. Their friends, how- ever, found means to supply them secretly with these materials, and by various ingenious devices to transmit to them constant intelligence of everything that occurred''. On the assembly of the newly-organized States of Holland, they allowed the States-General and Prince of Orange to usurp, without opposition, that authority over the prisoners which belonged to themselves alone ; and these, with equally little scruple, superseded the ' Carleton's Letters, p. 357. ■■ Leeven van J. Olden., bl. 106, 109. Leeven van de Groot, bl. IGC. . STADTHOLDER. 613 ordinary courts of justice by the institution of a com- 1619 mission of inquiry, of wliicli, besides the attorneys- general of Utrecht and Guelderland, Peter Leeuwen and Lawrence Sylla, most of the members had been deputies to Utrecht on the occasion of tlie disbanding of the Waardgelders, and the "whole had rendered themselves conspicuous by their implacable hostility to Barneveldt in particular. These persons exercised their functions with an injustice and severity unequalled even in the trials of the Counts of Egmoud and Hoorn, under the government of Alva. Barneveldt was subjected to twenty-three examinations, during which he was neither allowed to take down the questions in writing, to make memoranda of his answers, or to refer to notes; the interrogatories were not confined to any definite period, but extended over his whole public life, no effort being spared to involve him in those contra- dictions which, from decay of memory, or confusion of dates, might easily occur. Ledemberg, secretary of the States of Utrecht, was so terrified by the menaces of torture which they used, that, dreading lest he might be forced by such means to make any admission detri- mental to his friends, he committed suicide in prison^. As the commission was not invested with judicial powers, the States-General, after the conclusion of the examinations, appointed twenty-four judges, half the number only being Hollanders, an appointment illegal alike in its origin and constitution. It was made by the States-General, who had no jurisdiction in the province of Holland,— -a fact which they themselves admitted, by declaring that it was without prejudice to the rights of the province in future : it was in direct contravention of the privileges of Rotterdam and 1 Leeven van J. Olden., bl. 107. Leeven van de Groot, bl. 161. Brandt, deel ii., boek xxxi., bl. 875. VOL. II. 2 L 514 MAXIEICE, 1619 Leyden, both of which towns possessed the high juris- diction by virtue of ancient charters, and before whose courts alone Grotius and Hoogerbeets, their pension- aries, were amenable. The court was illegal in its constitution, because half of the number not being Hollanders, were incapable of sitting in judgment upon a Hollander ; because the crime of the prisoners being the defence of the rights of the province of Holland against the States-General, the latter had become judges and parties in their own cause ; because the judges had already, in fact, condemned the prisoners, most of them having taken an active part in the ante- rior proceedings against them ; and lastly, because a bitter personal animosity existed between Barneveldt and three among them, Francis Aersens, lord of Sommelsdyk, Hugh Muys, sheriff of Dordrecht, and Regnier Pauw, burgomaster of Amsterdam, two of them having likewise been members of the commission of inquiry, an employment utterly incompatible with that of judge. The competency of the court to try them was, of course, denied by the three prisoners ; but, as one of the judges, Lawrence Sylla, observed, it was but lost labour™. By this coiirt, Barneveldt was, after forty-eight interrogatories, found guilty, and condemned to death upon the following accusations : — that he had disturbed the peace of religion, and maintained the exorbitant and pernicious maxim, that the sovereignty belonged to each province over its own ecclesiastical matters ; that he had dictated the protest of Holland, Utrecht, and Overyssel against the acts of the States-General; that he had opposed the application of any remedies to the disorders in the Church and State ; that he had Verantwoordinge van H. de Groot, cap, 1, 12 et seq. Leeven van deGroot,bl.l77. STADTHOLDEE. 515 given instructions to tlie foreign ambassadors, without 1619 the sanction or knowledge of the Generality ; that he had written, in the name of the States of Holland, to the King of France, asserting that the title of States- General had been usurped by the majority of that body in the summons to the national synod, and requesting that his Majesty would be pleased not to permit any of his subjects to be present at that assembly ; that he had surreptitiously obtained a letter from the King of England*, which he delivered to the States-General ; that he had intruded into the church heterodox preachers, and into the governments of the towns those persons who, he conceived, would be likely to forward the views of his own faction ; that he had fomented divisions in the church by the encourage- ment he had given to separate assemblies and conven- ticles, and had never endeavoured to prevent the exe- cution of the rigorous edicts against the followers of the true religion; that he had encouraged disunion and disorders in the provinces, placing himself at the head of a faction, and had held separate assemblies of deputies from eight of the towns of Holland devoted to his interests ; that in these assemblies the " severe edict" was resolved on, whereby the authority of the ordinary courts of justice was suspended, and the governments of the towns encouraged in their disobe- dience towards them : and that by them, also, the order was given to the troops in the pay of Holland at Utrecht, to obey the States of Holland, to the exclusion of the States-General and the Prince of Orange ; that he was one of the principal promoters of the levy of the Waardgelders, and that the States of * Alluding to that which James had addressed to the States in 1613, wherein, he advised that the ministers should be prevented from touching on the dispiited doctrines in the pulpit. 2 L 2 516 MAURICE, 1619 Utrecht had acted by his advice in refusing to disbaud these troops at the desire of the States-General ; that he had degraded the character of the Prince of Orange by his calumnies, accusing him of aiming at the sove- reignty of the provinces, and had warned the inha- bitants of Leyden to be on their guard at the approach of his excellency, in consequence of which the Waard- gelders and schuttery were placed under arms as if to repel the invasion of an enemy ; that he had attempted to seduce the regular troops from their allegiance to the States-General ; that he had revealed secrets of state, and rejected, without the knowledge of the States-General, a certain notable alliance proposed, which was of the greatest importance to the republic*; that he had received divers large sums of money from foreign princes, without giving due information thereof; that by his plots and machinations he had well-nigh caused a massacre in Utrecht, and had placed the person of the prince in danger; and that he had squandered the finances of the country, and created general distrust among the inhabitants and allies of the provinces". With respect to some of these charges, such as placing himself at the head of a faction, introducing his friends into publicoffices and the like, it will be observed, that similar imputations may be made at any time against any distinguished member of a party in a free state, and certainly could never form the ground of a criminal accusation. The " exorbitant and pernicious maxim," that each province retained its sovereignty with regard to religious matters, was a principle acted ° Leeven van J. Olden., bl. 263—280. * It was never ascertained what alliance was alluded to in tliis accusation. STADTHOLDER. 517 upon from the commencement of the revolt of Hoi- 1619 land, without which the Pacification of Ghent, in 1576, between the Reformed provinces of Holland and Zea- land, and the Catholic ones of Brabant and Flanders, never could have been effected, and which was ex- pressly laid down in the exposition of the thirteenth article of the Union of Utrecht. The charge of ac- cepting presents from foreign princes, was borne out only by the circumstance of Barneveldt having received, from the King of France, at the time of the truce, the sum of 20,000 guilders, in fulfilment of an engagement made by Henry IV., in the year 1591, for some service which he had done during his embassy at Nantes, in improving the king's finances". The levy of Waardgelders and other acts complained of, had been done under the authority and sanction of the States of Holland, whose interests Barneveldt, as their advocate, was bound to defend against all the world, and even against the States-General themselves. If it could be proved that he had, by his pernicious advice, misled the States of Holland, it was for them to dis- miss him from his office, and punish him in any manner they thought fit ; but if the States-General had a right to interfere at all, they should have pro- ceeded against the States of Holland, and not against their minister, M'ho was bound to obey their orders. The only capital chai-ge, that of entertaining a cor- respondence with Spain, which before his trial had been so long and so vehemently insisted on by his enemies, was entirely abandoned. This accusation the Court of Inquiry had taken the utmost pains to prove, even go so far as to use alternate threats and pro- mises to Grotius, in order to force him to say some- thing in confirmation of it, but had wholly failed. ° Waarachtige Historic, bl. 346. 518 MAURICE, 1619 The States-General, aware of the doubt that the entire innocence of the prisoner on the principal charge would tend to throw on his guilt with respect to the whole — which, moreover, had he been guilty and respon- sible for all the acts contained therein, would, neither separately nor together, have constituted treason — issued a manifesto to the several provinces, declaring that many other crimes were laid to his charge, which could not be proved without stricter examination, such as the great age of the prisoner rendered unadvisable ; by which was understood the application of the tor- turer. It is somewhat difficult to imagine why the same consideration for his age, which prevented the judges from adopting measures to prove his crime, should not have pi-evailed to deter them from condemn- ing him without proof. But it is not on the narrow ground of legal techni- calities that we should judge of the guilt or innocence of the illustrious accused. As laws are enacted rather to hold in check the governed than the governors, and, providing against the delinquencies of subjects towards their rulers, rarely contemplate those of rulers towards their subjects, it is very possible for a sovereign or a minister to effect the entire destruction of the liberties, to ruin the happiness, nay, even to endanger the very existence of the nation he governs, without transgress- ing in a single instance the letter of the law. But if he pervert the authority and resources which are entrusted to him for the protection and advantage of his country, to carry measures subversive of her con- stitution, or detrimental to her prosperity; if, instead of her welfare, he make the gratification of his own interest or ambition the guide of his conduct, an irritated and injured people may be well excused for ■■ Waarachtige Historie, bl. 466, 467. STADTHOLDER. 519 resorting to extraordinary measures, in order to secure 1619 to him a just retribution. Had Barneveldt been thus guilty, however we might have reprobated the infliction of death, our commiseration for his fate had been greatly lessened, and his banishment or degra- dation from office would have appeared a punishment scarcely proportioned to his crimes. The historian, therefore, mistrustful of himself — fearing lest he be led away by the eloquencd of the ablest writers of the time, nearly all his powerful advocates, or by the force of popular opinion, often only another word for popular error — scrutinizes jealously every transaction of his life — sifts with suspicious exactness every point of accusation brought against him — examines with care even the slanders of his enemies, to discover if there be not some foundation of truth in them — and, having so done, he arrives at the conclusion, that never states- i man more upright, never patriot purer, fell a victim i to the fury of party rage, and the machinations of unprincipled ambition. On the evening of Sunday, the 12th of May, Peter van Leeuwen, and Lawrence Sylla, two of the judges, entered the prison of Barneveldt, for the purpose of summoning him the next morning to receive sentence of death. " Sentence of death," exclaimed the aged patriot ; " sentence of death ! I did not expect that." He then asked permission to write a farewell letter to his wife. While Leeuwen was gone to make his request known to the States, he said to the attorney- general of Guelderland, " Sylla, Sylla, could your father but see that you have allowed yourself to be employed in this business!" the only expression of anger or impatience which the heroic old man per- mitted to escape him during the whole of this trying period. 520 MAURICE, 1619 The materials being brought him, he began to write with the utmost composure, ■when Sylla observed to him to be careful what he said, lest it might pre- vent the delivery of the letter. "What, Sylla," he answered, half smiling, " are you come to dictate to me what I shall write in my last hour ?" While thus employed, Anthony Waleus and two other ministers came to prepare him for death ; to whom he observed that he had lived to a great age and had long ago prepared himself to die. When he had finished, how- ever, he entered freely into conversation with them, and detained them to supper, at which Barneveldt ate with his usual appetite, discoursing on the proceedings of the synod and various other subjects. He then sent Waleus to the Prince of Orange, to ask his forgiveness if he had offended him, and to entreat him to be gracious to his children. Maurice, whether from an excess of dissimulation, or that he in fact repented of having pushed matters so far, received the minister with tears; he professed that he had always loved the advocate, but that two things had vexed him : first, that he had accused him of aiming at the sovereignty, and next, that he had exposed him to danger at Utrecht; adding that, nevertheless, he freely forgave him, and would protect his children so long as they deserved it. As Waleus left the room the prince, calling him back, asked him if the prisoner had made no mention of pardon? " No," he answered, " he spoke not a word of it." On the report of this conversation to Barneveldt, he said, that the prince was deceived concerning the transactions at Utrecht, but that it was true he entertained apprehensions, so far back as the year 1600, that he aimed at the sovereignty. He constantly refused to acknowledge himself in the slightest degree guilty of any of tlie accusations STADTHOLDER. 521 brought against him, except in so far as that, some- 1619 times, provoked at the insults and libels directed against the States of Holland, his masters, he had expressed himself with too much haste and acrimony : " I governed," said he, " when I was in authority, according to the maxims of that time, and now I am condemned to die according to the maxims of thisi." The discourse afterwards turned on the subject of pre- destination, when some discussions arising, Barneveldt used such powerful arguments in defence of his opinions, and evinced so deep a knowledge of the subject, that the ministers remained silent with asto- nishment. They concluded their visit with a prayer, when Barneveldt laid down to rest ; but, being unable to sleep, one of them, Hugh Beyerus, returned, and at his own request read to him the prayers for the sick. When they were ended, he asked where the place was prepared for him to be executed, and whether Grotius and Hoogerbeets were to suffer the same fate, ob- serving that it would grieve him deeply. " They," , said he, " are young, and may yet do great service to , their country ; as for me, I am an old and worn-out 1 man." The remainder of the night he passed in read- ing a French book of Psalms. Early in the morning, the ministers repairing to his bedside, asked him if he were prepared to die. He answered that he was well resolved, but could not understand for what he was to suffer. "Would," he added, "that by my blood all disunion and strife might cease in the land!" Waleus then gave the morning prayer, dui-ing -which time Barneveldt remained in an attitude of deep devotion, though he uttered no sound. At the conclusion, one of the ministers, John Lamotius, observed, with some- what of importunate zeal, "Will not my lord say 1 Carletou's Letters, p. 363. 522 MAURICE, 1619 Amen?" The prisoner continued silent, as though he heard him not. On the question being repeated, — . " Yes, Lamotius," he answered gently, " Amen." He then inquired if any one had a prayer ready for the scaffold: when Waleus, answering in the afiBrmative, he seemed satisfied, and listened attentively to some chapters fi-om Isaiah"". The grief which the intelligence of his sentence had spread amongst the family and friends of Barne- veldt, by whom he was beloved almost to adoration, was such as to baffle aU description. His wife and children had presented numerous remonstrances in his favour to the States-General, and, though they re- mained unheeded, had continued to indulge the hope that the slender remnant of his life might yet be spared. When the report of his condemnation became known, they were given to understand, through the princess-dowager, that the prince would consent to a remission of the sentence of death, if the friends of the prisoner would solicit a pardon. But, either reluctant to incur the risk of such an admission of his guilt, or to preserve his life at the expense of his honour, they unanimously determined to take no step of this nature, be the consequence what it might. His family now petitioned the judges to be allowed a last interview; a request which Avas evaded in a manner equally mean and cruel. Waleus was deputed to ask him whether he wished to see his wife and children, or any of his friends. In utter ignorance of their ardent desire to behold him once more, and suspecting, perhaps, that it was the purpose of his enemies to betray him into some weakness, he replied, that the time was now too short, and it would cause too great ' Leeven van J. Oldenliarneveldt, bU 239— 249. Carleton's Letters, p. 303, ct seq. STADTHOLDEE. 523 agitation. The judges, therefore, in answer to the 1619 petition, declared, that the husband and father of the supplicants, being asked if he would wish to see any one of them, replied, that he did not think it advisable^ The tidings of Barneveldt's condemnation did not reach the ears of the French ambassador, Du Maurier, till four o'clock of the morning of his execution. He immediately sent to request an audience of the States- General, which was refused on the plea of the unsea- sonableness of the hour. Not discouraged, however, he sent a letter to that assembly filled with the most earnest and touching entreaties, that they would spare the life of their ancient and long-tried servant, the esteemed ally of the King of France, and who, in the course of nature, must so soon sink into the tomb. His prayer was unavailing; and the request of the princess- dowager, that she might be allowed an interview with the Prince of Orange to intercede for him, was alike refused*. Even at this last hour, one word from the English ambassador would have saved this distin- ' - guished patriot and statesman from a death of shame ; but that word the icy-hearted pedant whom he repre- ; sented, though aware long before of the probable issue of the trial", had never commissioned him to speak. Before he left his prison, Barneveldt wrote his ^ last letter to his family, recommending his servant, 13th John Franken, who had attended him throughout with affectionate fidelity, to their care. He was shortly after led into a lower room of the court-house to hear his sentence. During the reading, he turned round quickly several times, and rose from his seat, as if about to speak. When it was concluded, he ob- served, that there were many things in it which were » Waarachtige Historie, bl. 420, 421. • Leeven van J. Oldenb. bl, 261—263. » Carleton's Letters, p. 357. 524 MAURICE, 1619 not in tlie examinations; and added, "I thought the States-General would have been satisfied with my blood, and would have allowed my wife and children to keep what is their own." " Your sentence is read," replied Leonard Vooght, one of the judges, "away, away." Leaning on his staff, and Aiith his servant on the other side to support his steps, grown feeble with age, Barneveldt walked composedly to the place of execution, prepared before the great saloon of the court-house. If, as it is not improbable, at the ap- proach of death in the midst of life and health, when the intellect is in full vigour, and every nerve, sense, and fibre is strung to the highest pitch of tension, a foretaste of that which is to come is some- times given to man, and his over-wrought mind is enabled to grasp at one single effort the events of his whole past life — if, at this moment and on this spot, where Barneveldt was now to suffer a felon's death,— where he had first held out his fostering hand to the infant republic, and infused into it strength and vigour to conquer the giant of Europe, — where he had been humbly sued for peace by the oppressor of his country, — where the ambassadors of the most power- ful sovereigns had vied with each other in soliciting his favour and support, — where the wise, the eloquent, and the learned, had bowed in deference to his master- spirit ; — if, at this moment, the memory of all his long and glorious career on earth flashed upon his mind in fearful contrast to the present reality, with how deep feeling must he have uttered the exclamation as he ascended the scaffold, "Oh God! what then is man?" Here he was compelled to suffer the last petty in- dignity that man could heap upon him. Aged and infirm as he was, neither stool nor cushion had been provided to mitigate the sense of bodily weakness as STADTHOLDER. 525 he performed the last duties of mortal life ; and 1619 kneeling down on the bare boards, he was supported by his servant, while the minister, John Lamotius, delivered a prayer. When prepared for the block, he turned to the spectators and said, with a loud and firm voice, " My friends, believe not that I am a traitor. I have lived a good patriot, and such I die." He then, with his own hands, drew his cap over his eyes, and bidding the executioner " be quick," boAved his venerable head to the stroke. The populace, from various feelings, some inspired by hatred, some by affection, dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood, or carried away mor- sels of the blood-stained wood and sand ; a few were even found to sell these as relics. The body and head were laid in a coflSn and buried decently, but with little ceremony, at the court church of the Hague^ The States of Holland rendered to his memory that justice which he had been denied while living, by the words in which they recorded his death. After stating the time and manner of it, and his long period of service to his country, the resolution concludes, " a man of great activity, diligence, memory, and conduct ; yea, remarkable in every respect. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall ; and may God be merciful to his soul"^." The scaffold upon which the advocate had been beheaded was left standing for fifteen days after his death, with the view, as the two remaining prisoners, Grotius and Hoogerbeets, supposed, of compelling their wives and friends by, fear into an acknowledg- ment of their guilt, by soliciting their pardon. The wife of Grotius, especially, was strongly urged to this course, and promises were held out to her of a favour- ' Leeven van J. Oldenb., bl. 257—259, 262. " Resol. HolL, May 13th, 1619. 5'2Q MAURICE, 1619 able hearing on the part of the Prince of Orange. But she refused to cast this dishonour on her hus- band with an almost terrific resolution : " I will not do it," she said; " if he have deserved it, let them strike off his head." The more to alarm the prisoners, sentence was executed on the dead body of Ledem- berg, which was hanged in the coffin to a gallows. The accusations against Grotius and Hoogerbeets were nearly similar to those against Bameveldt, the prin- cipal being their participation in the promulgation of the " severe edict," and the levy of the Waardgelders ; maintaining the separate sovereignty of the provinces in religious matters, and their resistance to the convo- cation of the national synod. Upon these they were found guilty; but the Prince of Orange, dreading probably, if he sacrificed Grotius to his vengeance, that the execrations of Europe — through the greater part of which the immortal works and fame of his wonderful genius had already spread — would fall upon him, forbore to shed their blood. They were con- demned to perpetual imprisonment in the castle of Louvestein. Hoogerbeets bore his calamity with ad- mirable firmness ; but Grotius, alas ! was wanting to himself in this crisis ; and (such is the inconsistency of human nature) with a meanness, of which it is scarcely possible to believe so great a mind capable, he now offered his services to tlie prince in his private affairs. The proposal was, as may well be supposed, rejected^. From the circumstance of their imprisonment in the castle of Louvestein, which was afterwards frequently used as a state prison, the party in the provinces op- posed to the house of Oi-ange received the name of the Louvestein faction. The conduct of the dominant party from the con- " Sententie van Hoogerbeets. Leeren ran de Groot, bl. 19G, et seg. STADTHOLDER. 527 elusion of the synod, strongly evinced how much that 1619 assembly had tended to exasperate rather than allay the spirit of persecution ; and that, had not the feel- ing of the times been abhorrent of bloodshed, this spirit would have displayed itself in as relentless a manner as it had ever done amongst the Catholics. Were it not indeed for the change of names, we might imagine ourselves to have turned some pages back, and to be reading again the penal edicts of the Emperor Charles and Philip III. All assem- blies of the Remonstrants were strictly prohibited ; and every one who attended them was condemned to pay a fine of twenty-five guilders, and to give infor- mation of who had gone with him under pain of a similar fine. Any one who filled the office of deacon or elder, or who lent a building to serve as a church for the Remonstrants, was amerced in the sum of 200 guilders in addition to the forfeiture of any office or dignity of which he might be in the enjoyment. This proving ineffectual to prevent the Remonstrants from assembling, a second edict was promulgated, offering a reward of 500 guilders to whoever should arrest a Remonstrant minister, and 300 for a student in theology; contumacious ministers and students were condemned, as disturbers of the public peace, to per- petual imprisonment, or to a more severe punishment if the case required ; and a fine of 300 guilders was decreed against all who harboured or concealed them^. This system of severity was adopted against the Re- monstrants alone, since the Lutherans and Anabap- tists were permitted to enjoy their respective places of worship in public, and on equal terms with the Cal- vinists ; and the Catholics and Jews had the liberty of ' Brandt, deel iii., boek xiiv., bl. 787 ; deel iv., boek l., bl. 199—201. 528 MAURICE, 1619 holding their private assemblies. In excuse for this manifest injustice it was pleaded, that the Lutherans and Anabaptists were no innovators, but had begun and continued with the Reformation ; whereas the Remonstrants sought to effect a change in the church as established^; an argument which, but for its utter unsoundness, was of irresistible force as applied by the Catholics against those by whom it was now used. The ministers who had appeared before the synod, and had been deprived of their functions by that assembly, were afterwards offered a competent main- tenance by the States-General if they would bind themselves to abstain entirely from preaching ; a con- dition with which all except one, Henry Leo, steadily and repeatedly refused compliance. Sentence of banishment was, in consequence, pronounced against them after they had, in violation of the safe-conduct they had received, been many months under arrest, and immediately carried into effect. AVithout being allowed time to arrange their affairs, or to take leave of their families, they were conveyed in carriages pro- vided for them by the States-General, from the Hague to Waalwyk, amid the benedictions and tears of a mul- titude of persons who had assembled to bid them fare- well ; a mournful spectacle for those patriots who had contributed to shed a deluge of blood for a liberty of conscience, which, if it were not a right inherent in man, themselves had formerly been far less entitled to claim, than the sufferers now before them. It was some sparkle of the better feeling of the States, that they did not allow the unhappy exiles to quit their fatherland in poverty; they received at their hands the full amount of their stipend, with ample funds to " Carleton's Letters, p. 372. STADTHOLDER. 529 defray the expenses of their voyage*. During their 1619 residence at Waalwyk, the concourse of persons who came to visit and administer consolation and assistance to them was so great, that they were accustomed to observe, they knew not how many friends they had, till their adversity called them forth ^ The Remonstrant clergy in the provinces, to the number of two hundred, were dispossessed of their benefices, and eighty, who refused to enter into a promise to abstain from preaching, banished their country ; the edict of the States being enforced with the utmost severity against those who remained. Even the organists of the churches were required to subscribe to the canons of the synod, and deprived of their places if they refused. The professors at the University of Leyden, not only of theology but of other sciences, were displaced, and their offices filled with Contra-Remonstrants, and all the pupils who refused to subscribe to the canons were expelled *". Notwithstanding fines, imprisonment, and banish- ment, however, the Remonstrants persisted in holding , their assemblies. The scenes of 1565 were acted over ' again. In some of the towns, the soldiers of the / garrison, at the command of the magistrates, rushed in » Caiieton's Letters, p. 375. Brandt, deel iii., boek XLii., U. 687— 698 ; deel iv., boek XLVii., bl. 29. " Idem, deel iii., boek xLvi., bl. 919—923, 939 ; deel iv., bl. 16. * An occurrence of so singular a nature happened to Episcopius on this occasion, that, at the risk of appearing trivial, I cannot resolve to pass it over. The money was paid to the exiles in rix dollars, and among those given to Episcopius was one, coined apparently in the duchy of Brunswick, bearing on the one side the figure of Truth, with the motto, " Truth overcomes all things ;" and on the reverse, " In well-doing fear no one." Episcopius was so struck with the coincidence, that he had the coin set in gold and carefully preserved. — Le Clerc, tom. ii., p. 47. He was some years after restored to his country, where he ended his days in 1643, an honoured and esteemed professor of the Remonstrant College, founded at Amsterdam, VOL. II. ^ 2 M f n-'-vv- -■-t^^l!,-- it-% .-Ci^" ■*-'- 536 MAURICE, 1619 among the defenceless multitude while engaged in their devotions, and bloodshed and massacre were the consequence. The schouts and bailiifs who were sus- pected of secretly favouring the Remonstrants, or who showed themselves remiss in dispersing their meetings, were dispossessed of their offices. Again the people were forced to take refuge in the woods and fields, to worship God according to their conscience ; and some- times, on their return to the towns, they found the gates shut against them, which they were not permitted to pass till they had paid the full amount of the fine"^. Many voluntarily quitted their country, and retired to Antwerp ; and thus, by a singular revolution in human affairs, the dominions of the archdukes, formerly the stronghold of religious persecution, now became an asylum for the persecuted refugees of a nation, whose very existence was founded on religious liberty*. The Duke of Holstein also, adopting the same course of policy which the provinces themselves had, in their wiser and happier days, pursued with such beneficial effect, invited the exiles, by proraises of freedom of religion and other privileges, to his territories, where, a number of them resorting, they founded the town of Fredericstadt on the Eyder^f . " Brandt, deel iv., boek li., bl. 295, 296. Carleton's Letters, p. 376 —381. ^ Brandt, deel iv., boek i^-i,, bl. 656, * It was not, bowever, in tbe spirit of disinterested charity that they were protected by the archduke's government, but in the hope of their being made useM to cause some embarrassment to the United Provinces. Neither bribes nor promises were spared to induce them to espouse measures hostUe to their country, but in vain. To such proposals their leader, TJytenbogaard, replied, with true Dutch frankness, " Let not the King of Spain trust to any revolt excited in our fatherland by the Remonstrants ; it will never happen."— Brandt, deel iy., boek liii.. bl. 434. ? > . t England was now shut out from the fugitives, •syhp had jEbrmed the STADTHOLDKR. 531 It will be a relief to tlie reader, as well as the 1619 historian, to contemplate Holland in the more favour- able point of view of her political and commercial relations, from which the desire to avoid breaking the thread of the singular events we have been relating, has for some time withdrawn our attention. Almost from the period of the establishment of the Dutch East India Company, feelings of jealousy and commercial rivalry had sprung up between its subjects and those of the English company in India, who were accused by the former of inciting the ani- mosity of the natives against them, and of supplying them with arms and ammunition in the hostilities they committed against the Dutch merchants: while they hesitated not to speak of the provinces in the most disparaging terms, representing them on all occasions to the Indian sovereigns as a dependency of England. In the year 1615, Grotius had unsuccessfully endea- voured to arrange some differences between the com^ panics, the exact nature of which is not stated, but which will best appear, perhaps, by the terms of the treaty now concluded. These were, that the trade was to remain free to both companies, neither one of whom was to embarrass the other by making treaties with the native sovereigns, building forts, or the like ; each was to remain in possession of the forts they at 'present occupied, those of Molucca, Banda, and Amboyna, to be maintained at the common expense ; and each company was likewise bound to keep ten ships of war for the protection of their trade ; a fixed price was to be agreed on at which the merchandise should be sold most exaggerated idea of tlie persecuting spirit of the govemraent of that country. The Remonstrant preachers were not unfreguently in dread of being seized and sent thitlier, where they conceived that the stake and the tar-harirel awaited them, — Brandt, deel iii., boek xxxvii., W. 372. 2 M 2 532 MAUfilCE, 1619 in India as well as in Europe, and also for the pepper bought by the English from the Dutch in Java. The English were to enjoy the third part of the trade at Banda and Amboyna*^. While the agreement was yet pending, the mutual distrust of the two nations had given occasion to the foundation by the Dutch of the strong: town of Batavia, in the island of Java, the principal seat of the commerce of this people in the East. In the last year, the governor of the Dutch settlements in India, John Keen, had added considerably to the strength and fortifications of the company's residence near Jacatra, a circumstance which excited suspicion in the minds as well of the Javanese as the English, that they purposed making themselves masters of the whole country ; and hostilities were, in consequence, soon after commenced with the siege of the new fort by the troops of both these nations. A treaty was then made, whereby the King of Jacatra was to receive 6000 rix dollars, and the residence of the company was to be no further fortified. Tranquillity was thus apparently restored, when, shortly after. Van den Broek, whom Koen had left governor in his absence, was invited by the king to a feast, and himself with all his companions seized and put into irons. This act was generally supposed to have been done at the instigation of the English, of which suspicion the strongest proof was afforded by their taking advantage of the opportunity to force the Dutch to a treaty, consenting to surrender their fortress to the King of Jacatra. But the very day after its conclusion, the sovereign of the neighbouring kingdom of Bantam, either incited by the Dutch, or jealous that his rival should enjoy at once their fortress and their « Aitzema Saaken van Staat en Oorlog, deel i., bl. 206. Rym. Feed., torn, xvii., p. 170. STADTHOLDER. 533 "Wealth unmolested, invaded Jacatra, and, in a short 1619 time, deprived the king of his authority, and drove him into exile. The prisoners. Van den Broek and his companions, were carried to Bantam, the sovereign of which proved no more favourable to the Dutch than the deposed king had been. He had even raised a bulwark opposite the fort, which still remained in their hands, with a view to its' conquest, when the appear- ance of John Keen, with a fleet of eighteen ships, changed the face of affairs. The English vessels, which had hitherto cruised in the Straits of Sunda, and had lent powerful support to the movements of the Indians, were obliged to retire, and Koen, attacking the town of Jacatra, carried it by assault within a few hours. He forced the King of Bantam to deliver the captives, and, not long after, the English evacuated that town. By this conquest the possession of the fortress, to which the name of Batavia was given, was secured to the Dutch, and finally became the capital of the company's settlements in the East, and one of the richest and most magnificent commercial cities of the worlds The Princes of Brandenburg and Nieuburg, after having been put in possession of the duchy of Cleves and Juliers by the arms of Prince Maurice, had governed these states in common and with a mutual good understanding, which, however, did not long continue. Jealousy of the increase of their mutual authority, soon gave rise to suspicion, and at last increased to open rupture; each party seeking to strengthen himself against the other by foreign alli- ances. The Elector of Brandenburg, a professor of the doctrines of Calvin, was strongly supported by the States-General, which determined the Duke of Nieu- burg, a Lutheran, to have recourse to the Catholic ' Valentyn Oostindische Saaken, deel iv., stuk. i., bl. 436, ej sea. 534 MAURICE, 1619 princes of Germany, and, in order to conciliate their favour, he contracted a marriage (1614) with the sister of the Duke of Bavaria. Shortly after, he made a public profession of the Catholic religion. These circumstances, and the negotiations which the Duke of Nieuburg carried on with their neighbour, the Arch- bishop of Cologne, inspired the Elector of Brandenburg with strong suspicions, that a design existed to deprive him wholly of his share in the government; and he, therefore, with the secret encouragement of the States- General, made an attempt to secure Dusseldorp, which proved abortive. With the strong town of Juliers, however, he had better success; which, having driven out the portion of the garrison placed by the Duke of Nieubutg, he filled with troops belonging to the United Provinces g. On the other hand, the Count Palatine of Nieuburg, son of the duke, took forcible possession of Dusseldorp. Upon this outbreak of hosti- lities, the archdukes and King of Spain prepared themselves to take up arms in defence of the latter, who was likewise assisted with funds by the Catholic League of the German princes, by the Duke of Bavaria and the Pope. Two several negotiations for an accommodation proving ineffectual, Spinola marched with an army into Juliers, garrisoned the strong town of Duuren without opposition, and occupied Wesel. The Prince of Orange likewise entered the duchy of Juliers with an army of 14,000 infantry and 3000 cavalry, and possessed himself of Emmerich and Rees. Thus the two armies were stationed close to each other; but the generals having received strict orders that the truce should be carefully observed, not a single act of hostility occurred; the towns which the one party had garrisoned were left unmolested by the other, and « Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiamlea, lib. i., p. 132, 137. STADTHOLDER. 535 the soldiers met together on the most friendly terms; jgig the only sufferers in this mimic warfare being the unfortunate inhabitants, whose country they invaded under cover of preserving peaces. In this state of affairs a conference was held at Zante (1614) between the ambassadors of the Kings of France and England, the archdukes, and the States^ General, with a view to effect a compromise between the princes. The treaty then made was broken off at the moment of its conclusion by the refusal of the King of Spain to consent to its provisions, as agreed upon without his concurrence, or to the surrender of Wesel, which was one of the articles stipulated. The garrisons, therefore, of the archdukes and States-General remained in possession of the places they occupied in Cleves and Juliers, the Princes of Brandenburg and Nieuburg still sharing, as before, the nominal sove- reignty of the duchy J. But the struggle, carried on ostensibly for the possession of these comparatively insignificant states, was, in fact, one for supremacy between the now nearly equal parties of Protestants and Catholics in Europe. The Protestants of Germany, who had been treated with far less consideration by the Emperor Rodolph than by his predecessors Ferdinand and Maximilian, and who had many vexations to complain of both from the Imperial chamber and the Aulic Council, had at the commencement of the disjaute seized with avidity on the ojDportunity afforded them of forming a confederacy, which they termed the Evangelical Union. This confederacy, of which Fred^ eric v.. Elector Palatine, was the head, numbered among its allies or supporters, Henry IV. of France, '■ Bentivoglio, p. 177—183. ' Idem, 208. Carleton's Letters, p. 7C, et seq. 536 MAURICE, 1619 who was then alive, the Kings of England, Denmark, and Sweden, and the United Provinces. The Catho- lics, on their part, alarmed for the result of such an association, had, in like manner, entered into a con- federacy, under the name of the Cathohc League, which was supported by the Pope, the Emperor, the King of Spain, and the archdukes. The deep passions which this contest excited, and the mighty interests it involved, now found a far more extensive and suitable field of action in the German empire. In the kingdom of Bohemia, the cradle of religious liberty, the inhabitants had, about a century before, wrested from their sovereign, Sigismond, empe- ror of Germany, a full toleration of the Reformed religion as professed by its renowned patriarch John Huss. By degrees, however, the compact made on that occasion came to be violated in many of its pro- visions. The Catholics being thrust into offices in contravention of it, and supported and countenanced on all occasions by the court, began gradually and steadily to increase in numbers and influence, and were, in their turn, enabled, on the one hand, to oppress the Protestants, and on the other, to lend effective assistance to the emperors in carrying their arbitrary measures into execution. The States of Bohemia, therefore, perceiving the destruction which threatened their religion, and, with it, their civil liberties, had revolted against the Emperor Matthias, and positively refused to acknowledge Ferdinand II., successor to the empire on his death; when declaring the throne vacant, they elected Frederic, count palatine of the Rhine, as their sovereign. As this prince was the husband of Elizabeth, daughter of James I., and the nephew of Maurice, his father having married Louisa of Nassau, sister of the prince, they imagined that the StADTHOLDER. 537 ties of affinity, no less than zeal for the Reformed 1619 religion, would prompt both England and the United Provinces to espouse his cause with energy and fervour. But the pacific and indolent temper of James, his needy condition, the ardent desire he had for the marriage of his son with the Infanta of Spain, which was at this time in negotiation, and his high-strained notions of royal prerogative, which did not admit of the possibility of resistance to the sovereign authority under any circumstances whatsoever, rendered him deaf to the entreaties of the States-General, that he would strike a fatal blow at the Catholic religion and the power of the house of Austria, by rendering his son-in-law timely and effectual assistance in maintain- ing himself in his new kingdom. The States themselves, however friendly their disposition, were scarcely in a condition to act with vigour. The protection of their frontier against any infraction of the truce, the posses- sion of the towns in Cleves and Juliers, and the garri- sons required to keep the Remonstrant towns in sub- jection, employed the greater portion of their troops; while their finances had been drained by the expenses attendant on the transactions in Cleves, by the synod, and the trials of the state prisoners. The only aid, therefore, which Frederic received for some time after his coronation, was a supply of 50,000 florins monthly, from the States-General ''. Of a far different temperature was the zeal exhi- bited by the members of the Catholic League. No sooner did the emperor signify his intention of taking the field, than the Catholic princes of Germany began to make powerful levies; the Pope sent him a liberal supply of money, and the King of Spain a large body of troops from Naples and Milan; while the '' Carleton's Letters, p. 425. 638 MAURICE, 1620 archdukes had on foot early in the following spring an army of thirty thousand strong, ready to act on his behalf. With these, Spinola marched into the Lower Palatinate, the whole of which, with the exception of the towns of Heidelberg, Frankendal, and Manheim, he conquered before the arrival of Prince Frederic-Henry, who had been invested by his brother with the command of the States' army, joined to a body of 2400 English volunteers under Sir Horace "V^ere. The disunion between the prince and the Margrave of Anspach, commander of the forces of the Protestant princes, rendered every hope of checking the progress of Spinola utterly vain; and the severity of the season soon obliged the troops to retire into winter quarters. Ere he was thus stripped of his hereditary states, the disastrous battle of Prague had deprived the unfortunate elector of his newly acquired kingdom, and forced him, T\ith his family, to take refuge in the United Provinces. While Prince Frederic-Henry was in the palatinate, his mother, Louise de Coligny, a princess of rare virtues and endowments, died at an advanced age. In her the Remonstrants lost a firm and courageous, though nearly powerless protector. The persecutions against these unhappy sectarians had increased rather than abated, within the last year, notwithstanding that the approach of the termination of the truce rendered it a matter of the first moment to conciliate all parties in the nation. Many of the members of their communion, who were found to have made charitable collections for the banished ministers, were punished by fine and imprisonment; and such of the ministers themselves, as ventured to return to their country, were seized and immured, some in miserable dungeons, some in the common gaols, from whence, however, they were not STADTHOLDER. 539 Tlnfrequently enabled by the aid of their friends to 1^20 effect their deliverance. This induced the States of Holland to determine, that the banished preachers who returned should henceforward be confined in the castle of Louvestein; yet the singular escape of Gro- tius proved that even this prison was not quite so secure as they imagined'. The imprisonment of this illustrious captive had from the first been shared, at her own desire, by his wife Maria van Reigersbergen, who was permitted to go out occasionally to purchase necessaries, and procure from his friends the loan of an immense number of books, which he required in the course of his works, " The Truth of the Christian Religion," and the " Com- mentaries on the Evangelists," on which he was then engaged. These books were usually transmitted to the castle in large chests, which were at first carefully searched, but in course of time, as they were found to contain nothing but books and linen, were suf- fered to pass to and fro almost without notice. Ob- serving this, the wife of Grotius was struck with the Idea that she might by this means achieve the libera- tion of her husband. She therefore made him get 1621 into the chest scarcely four feet in length, and try how long he could remain there without moving. Having made several experiments of this kind, when she thought he was able to undergo the necessary confine- ment, she addressed herself to the governor's wife, expressing a wish to have a chest of Arminian books removed, "because," she said, "her husband studied them so much that she was weary of seeing him." The woman, whom she had before conciliated by small presents, readily granted her request. She then ' Brandt, deel iv., boek xtix., bl. 179, 235 ; boek Lii., bl. 396, 476, 656, 584. 540 MAURICE, 1621 communicated her secret to her maid-servant, Elsje van Houweningen, who, regardless of the danger she incurred, readily consented to take charge of the chest during its conveyance out of the castle. On a day when the governor Avas absent, Grotius having entered his hiding-place, his wife drew the curtains close around the bed pretending that he lay sick, placed his garments on a chair, and calling in the soldiers, desired them to carry away the chest. Feel- ing the unwonted weight, one of them exclaimed in lifting it, " How comes it so heavy? Is there an Armi- nian in it ?" " No," exclaimed the wife, retaining her presence of mind, " only Arminian books." The governor's wife allowed it to pass without inspection, and after numerous difficulties and anxious escapes, it was conveyed in a boat to Gorineham. Here another peril awaited the prisoner. Elsje having with diffi- culty persuaded the skipper and his son to carry the chest from the shore to its destination, instead of drawing it on a sledge, the latter observed to his father, that there was something alive in it. The skipper asked Elsje if she heard what his son said? " Yes," answered the girl with ready wit, " books have life and spirit too." At length they lodged their precious burden in safety at the house of a flax- merchant, Abraham Datselaer, where Grotius ob- tained the dress of a mason, in which dissruise, and carrying a rule in his hand, he was taken to Waalwyk by a master-mason, John Lambertson, as his work- man. From thence he proceeded undiscovered to Antwerp*, where he remained a short time, and at * On his journey thither a whimsical incident occurred. Lamhert- son had hired a cart for his conveyance, and fearful lest the carter might become suspicious, at discovering from his conversation and the delicacy of his hands, that he was not a mason, told him, that the person he was to take was a bankrupt escaping from his creditors. Having to defray STADTHOLDEE. 541 the expiration of the truce withdrew into France. 1621 The wife of Grotius was detained by the governor of the castle a fortnight in prison ; but the better and kinder feelings of human nature obtained the victory on this occasion over personal envy and party hatred; on a petition to the States she was immediately released, both friends and enemies combining to lavish on her the praises due to her ingenuity, tenderness, and courage""*. The honourable reception which Grotius met with at Paris, and a pension of 3600 guilders granted him by Louis XIII., induced him to fix his residence in that city, where, in the next year, he published his celebrated "Justification of the Lawful Government of Holland and West Friezland." The States-General, who felt themselves aggrieved by it, as representing them to have transgressed the limits of their autho- rity, in the punishment of Barneveldt and his adherents, actually committed the fault, the imputation of which so offended them, by issuing an edict, strictly pro- " Leeven van de Groot, bl. 242 — 251, 270. some expenses on the road, Grotius, who was gifted in full proportion with the simplicity in worldly matters peculiar to his caste, oflFered a piece of money in payment of the yalue of which he was utterly igno- rant. Struck by this apparent stupidity, the carter being asked while he stopped to bait, who he had in his vehicle, replied, that he was told he was a runaway bankrupt, but he verily believed him to be a fool, for he did not even know what money was. — Leeven van de Groot, p. 250. * Mr. Grattan, in his " History of the Netherlands," (p. 242, note,) observes, that the only parallel to this action is that of Madame Lava- lette ; this is, however, not so. He has overlooked the mention by Brandt (whom he often quotes) of a similar circumstance as having occurred in the case of Dominicus Sapma, a zealous and exemplary Remonstrant minister confined in the gaol at Amsterdam, whose wife being permitted to visit him, she one evening dressed him in her clothes, and tying up his face as though he had the tooth-ache, enabled him in this manner to effect his escape. She remained prisoner in his stead, but was released at the expiration of a week. — Brandt, deel iv., boek Lv., bl. 575, 676. 542 MAURICE, 1621 hibiting the printing, publishing, and reading of this work in the provinces. This attempt at suppression was attended with the usual effect ; numbers who would otherwise have concerned themselves little about the matter, now felt their curiosity excited, which the prmters finding it more profitable to gratify, than to obey the decree of the States, the book passed rapidly into the hands of all ranks of men, and was read with general interest and admiration". The state of weakness to which it appeared the provinces must necessarily be reduced by their internal dissensions, inspired the archdukes with the idea, that they would gladly renew, on any terms, the truce for twelve years, which was now drawing to a close. They therefore commissioned their chancellor, Peter Bek- kius, to represent to the States of what advantage it would be to the Netherlands, if they were once more united under their natural sovereign, by means of a pacification which should include the King of Spain, as well as the archdukes. But besides many other causes which rendered the States-General and the Prince of Orange, by whom they were now entirely governed, averse to any peace, they were little inclined to abandon the sovereignty which they had so long sus- tained by arms, 3,iid which had been acknowledged by most of the great powers of Europe. They refused, therefore, to listen to any mention of a truce, and declared that those who attempted, in any manner, to call their independence or sovereignty in question, should be deemed incapable of being admitted to any negotiation with their High Mightinesses °- But though the States recommenced the war with " Leeven yan de Groot, bl. 302, 305. ° Aitzema Saaken van Staat en Ooiiog, deel i., bl. 36. Vredelandeling, p. 4, 6. STADTHOLDER. 643 the appearance of such vigorous determination, they 1621 were in a far different condition to what they had been at the time of the conclusion of the truce, as well in relation to thieir domestic affairs, as their foreign alliances. France, their principal stay on that occa- sion, was now alienated to a considerable extent by the small respect which the States had shown for the king's intercession on behalf of Barneveldt ; and was, moreover, embarrassed by a war with the Hugunots in her own boundaries. The close alliance of the King of England with Spain precluded all hope of favour, much less assistance, from that quarter ; the German Protestant princes, terrified by the fate of the Count Palatine, had many of them made a reconciliation with the Emperor, and being generally of the Lutheran persuasion, were not disposed to make any sacrifices in the cause of the Calvinist United Provinces ; and Christian IV., king of Denmark, though favourably inclined towards them, could not resolve, by rendering them active aid, to engage himself in a war of so much moment, without some allies on whose support he could depend. The provinces were, therefore, left almost alone to contend with the united power of the house of Austria, augmented as it was by the reduction of Bohemia and the conquest of the palatinate. The intervention of England and France, however, pro- longed the truce for a few months, within which time the death of the King of Spain occurred, and was fol- lowed by that of the Archduke Albert. Oil this event, his wife Isabella, though she continued the government of the Netherlands, abandoned the title of Archduchess, and styling herself Governess merely, took the vows of a novice. In the month of August, hostilities commenced with an unsuccessful attempt to master Casand by a 644 MAURICE, 1621 portion of the Spanish army; while the remainder, under the Count Van den Berg and Spinola, blockaded Juliers, which, as Maurice was unable to relieve it, 1622 surrendered in the beginning of the subsequent year p. After its reduction, Spinola, adhering to the maxim he had constantly adopted in the last war, of carrying hos- tilities into the enemy's country, resolved upon under- taking the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom, which would open to him a passage into Zealand. As soon as he became aware of this design, the Prince of Orange threw a reinforcement of fourteen companies of English and Scotch, under Colonel Henderson, into the town, and arrived shortly after in person with supplies of ammunition and provisions, the entrance of which, as the Scheldt lay open, Spinola was unable to prevent. While the siege continued, the elector palatine having failed in an attempt to recover his hereditary states, was induced by his father-in-law to dismiss his principal general, Ernest, count of Mansfeld, in the hope of conciliating the Emperor, with whom James was engaged in futile negotiations for his restoration. Mansfeld was immediately taken into the pay of the States-General ; and after a skilful but disastrous march from Alsace, in the course of which he was obliged to come to a general engagement with the Spanish commander, Gonsalvo di Cordova, who had taken up a strong position at Fleury, near Brussels, he joined the prince's camp at Rosendal, three miles from Bergen-op-Zoom. On his arrival, Spinola, dreading that the enemy might now cut off his communication with Antwerp, hastily raised the siege, and retired to Brecht near that cityq. The relief of Bergen-op-Zoom was the only gratifi- cation, the single gleam of prosperous fortune, which r Mdmoires du Piince Frederic-Henri, p. 5. i Idem, p. 10—10. STADTHOLDER. 645 the Prince of Orange enjoyed after the death of Bar- 1622 neveldt. From this time his military talents appeared obscured, his reputation declined, and the consequences of an event which now occurred, were to alienate from him the minds of some of his most ardent admirers, and to fill his own with mistrust and suspicion, such as to embitter the remainder of his days. He, who had before stood so high in the affections of the people, that his most determined opponents ventured not to speak of him except in terms of eulogy, was now be- come an object of vengeful hatred, a mark for the blow of the assassin. The promise he had made to Barneveldt, in his last moments, to protect his chil- dren, he had violated in every possible manner. Their estates had been confiscated, notwithstanding an ordi- nance of the States-General, issued in 1593, decreeing that no noble should forfeit more than eighty guilders, except for treason, in addition to tlie penalty of death; to evade which, the judges had been re-assembled a year after the delivery of the sentence, when their commission had been for some time expired, to declare that their meaning was to condemn the pi-isoners as guilty of high treason, of which not a word had been mentioned in the sentence ^ The eldest son of the advocate, Regnier, lord of Groeneveldt, had been de- prived, for no cause whatever, except the personal animosity of the prince, of the office of Deputy Grand Master of the rivers and forests, which Maurice had some years before bestowed on him ; and William Barneveldt, lord of Stoutenberg, the younger son, was in like manner stripped of the government of Bergen- op-Zoom. The latter, a youth of a reckless and violent character, impatient under the state of poverty to which -he was reduced, and the studied insults and ' Lseven van J. Oldenb, bl. 200. VOL. 11. 2 N 546 MAURICE, 1622 neglect -with which himself and his brother were treated by all who hoped for faTOur or oflSce from the Prince of Orange, and burning Avith desire to revenge his father's death, constantly represented to Groene- veldt, that if the prince were removed, it would be easy to restore the government to the same condition as before the year 1618. By dint of his importunities, he at length persuaded his brother to become a party to a scheme he had formed for the assassination of Maurice. Stoutenberg likewise communicated his design to one Adrian van Dyk, Henry Slatius, a Remonstrant preacher, whose greedy and contentious temper had brought him into disgrace with his bre- thren, and to some others. Not one of the conspi- rators, however, being found willing to strike with his o\ra hand the fatal blow, they subscribed a sum of money among them to hire assassins for the purpose, and by the offer of a large reward, and a considerable present, Slatius and Cornelius Gerardson, another of the conspirators, induced three seamen to undertake the enterprise. With these, they afterwards joined four more, from whom, however, they concealed the real nature of the design, engaging them only to assist in a work which would, they said, prove highly bene- ficial to their country, and acceptable to Prince Fre- deric-Henry. The day appointed for the execution 1623 was the 6th of February-, while ]Maurice wa^ oroinw from the Hague to Eyswick, whither he often rode almost unattended. A portion of the conspirators un- dertook to seize, and put him to death, while others, ignorant of the piu-pose, were to be so stationed as to favour their escape, and the rest should rouse the in- habitants of Leyden, Rotterdam, and other towns, to revolt, and change their governments. All things were at length prepared, and no obstacle seemed to STADTHOLDER. 547 oppose itself to their success. But the truth of an 1623 observation of Macchiavelli, that to prevent the dis- covery of a conspiracy, a rare combination of consum- mate prudence with the most extraordinary good fortune is necessary ^ was in this instance fully exemplified. The four seamen to whom the entire purpose had not been revealed, conceiving that if it were lawful the Prince of Orange would be sure to have been made acquainted with it, and if not, they should obtain the reward of its discovery, repaired the evening before the day appointed to the prince, and informed him that they had been hired for the sum of 300 guilders each, to do a certain service to their country, asking him if he had any knowledge of what it was? Alarmed at the intelligence, Maurice immediately imparted it to the president and councillors of the supreme court, who dispatched the attorney-general and provost to the inn, where, according to the information given by the seamen, some of the conspirators were staying. Here four were seized, together with a large coffer filled with arms and ammunition; and on their examination, made a full confession of the whole plot. They were after- wards condemned and executed for high treason. The others, having received timely notice, succeeded in effecting their escape, but were subsequently arrested under various disguises. Groeneveldt fled to Scheven- ingen, purposing to pass over to England, or Hamburg; but, terrified at the dangers of the wide and rough sea in the frail bark that was to carry him, he took refuge in Vlielandt, where he was discovered dressed in a fisherman's frock, boots, and hat, seized and brought back to the Hague*. When put upon his trial, he » Disc. Pol., lib. iii., cap. 6. ' Brandt, deel iv., boek lIx., bl. 901—935, 956, 957. 2 N 2 548 MAURICE, 1623 voluntarily confessed his guilt, and was condemned to death. Before the delivery of the sentence, the aged widovs' of Barneveldt, accompanied by Groeneveldt's vi'ife and child, presented herself before the Prince of Orange to beseech his jjardon for the prisoner. Sur- prised to see her who had so resolutely refused to take this step to save the life of her husband, now humiliate herself to intercede for her son, Maurice asked her the reason of her conduct. " It is," she replied with mild dignity, " because my son is guilty, and my husband was not." Maurice had not sufficient power over him- self to shed a lasting lustre on his fame, and repair in some measure the injustice he had done the father by showing a generous clemency in favour of the son. The sentence was carried into execution. Groeneveldt, though of a gentle and somewhat timid disposition, shewed himself by the courage and magnanimity he evinced at the hour of death, worthy of the noble stock from whence he sprang. During his last prayer on the scaiFold, he kept his eyes constantly turned towards the house where his father had dwelt". The arrest of the minister, Henry Slatius, the con- sequence entirely of his own want of presence of mind, was effected in a singular manner. Disguised in a peasant's frock, and a large flapped hat, he had reached in safety the village of Rolde, near Coevoerden, where he stopped at a small inn to refresh himself. It hap- pened that same soldiers were sitting in the room, waiting for a convoy of money from Groningen. While they were conversing as to the chances of its being discovered by spies or captured, Slatius, not knowing to what they alluded, was seized with such terror, that, hastily discharging his reckoning, he left the house. The host soon after entered the room, and observed " Brandt, decl iv., boek lx., bl. 1045. STADTHOLDER. 549 the can of beer, for which the man in the frock had 1623 called, still untasted. So unusual a circumstance arousing in his mind the strongest susjiicions as to the real character of his guest, he set out, accompanied by two soldiers, in pursuit, and soon overtook him. Being asked why he left the inn so suddenly, Slatius, with a confusion that betrayed his guilt, declared himself to be an oculist of Amsterdam, and that he had acciden- tally killed a man. This imprudent confession caused him to be the more closely guarded ; and, as it was afterM'ards discovered to be untrue, gave rise to the conclusion that he was the very Slatius for whom a reward of 4000 guilders had been offered shortly before. He was accordingly sent to the Hague, where he suf- fered the punishment he so well merited^*. The most guilty of the criminals, Stoutenberg, with Adrian van der Dussen, a son-in-law of Barneveldt, escaped in safety to Brussels ; the former of whom subsequently embraced the Catholic religion, and entering the service of the Archduchess Isabella, bore arms against his country in the ranks of her enemies. Fifteen persons perished on the scaffold as engaged in this conspiracy, of whom three were condemned for a previous knowledge of it, which, deeming the whole affair mere idle talk, they had not revealed. The circumstance of all the conspirators being Remonstrants, except two who were Catholics, gave a handle to their enemies to implicate the whole body as concerned in it ; in consequence of which these unfortunate sectarians fell still further into disrepute, and many who were weary of the con- tempt and persecution they endured, made it a pre- ' Brandt, deel iv., boek Lix., bl. 993—995. * From this circumstance a proverb became common among drinliers in Holland, who, when desirous of prolonging their carouse, are wont to say they will not, like Slatius, run away from a full cup. 550 MAURICE, 1623 text for quitting their communion. On the other hand, the numher of suiferers gave to the executions the appearance rather of acts of vengeance than just retribution. Notwithstanding the universal abhorrence entertained for the crime, the fate of Groeneveldt, who had been led into it entirely by affection for his brother excited the deepest sympathy; nor did the reflection that the crime of high treason, which till within the last three years had not been heard of since the separation of the Provinces from Spain, Avas a crime hitherto unknown as committed against a person not invested with sovereign authority, tend to lessen the general dissatisfaction^. The waste of money and troops that the Spaniards had incurred before Bergen, had prevented them from attempting any enterprise during the last campaign, and the Dutch, whose plan of warfare was now of necessity become entirely defensive, had remained equally passive. JNleanwhile they sought to strengthen themselves by fresh alliances with France and England. In the former country the great Richelieu, who had been lately placed at the head of affairs, entertained a conviction no less strong than that of his enlightened predecessor Sully, of the necessity of sustaining the United Provinces as a barrier against the increasing 1624 power of the house of Austria. Under his auspices, therefore, a treaty was easily concluded, whereby Louis engaged to supply them with 1,200,000 florins for the present year, and 1,000,000 for the two years ensuing, to be repaid three years after the commencement of a truce or peace, which the States bound themselves not to conclude without his intervention^. Between the " Bi-andt, deel ir., boek lLx., bl. 9^, 945, 957—960. Boek Lxi., bl. 1108, 1115. Aitzema Saaken van Staat en Oorlog, deeli., bl.l67— 180. " Eeceuil des Traites, torn, v., p. 25. STADTHOLDEE. 551 King of England and the Dutch many causes of dis- 1624 satisfaction had for some time existed. The inter- ference of James in their religious and domestic affairs had laid him open to numerous animadversions and libels, particularly from those who favoured the Armi- nian party; and he had frequently urged the States to put a stop to this annoyance by laying restrictions on the liberty of the press, a request they had as con- stantly refuseds". Added to this cause of offence, he accused the Dutch of commencing the disputes between the two East India Companies ; of representing him to the Indian sovereigns as the chief of a petty nation ; of despoiling, slaying, and ill-treating his subjects ; of preventing their exercising the herring-fishery; of en- deavouring to deprive them of the right to the whale- fishery in Greenland ; and proving themselves, he said, the blood-suckers of his kingdom^- On the other hand, the indifference of James to the fate of his son- in-law, and the eagerness he had always manifested for the friendship of the Spanish monarch, had rendered the Dutch in the highest degree mistrustful and sus- picious of him as an ally. Now, however, the rupture of the negotiations of marriage between the Prince of Wales and the Infanta, for which the refusal of Spain to consent to the restoration of the Palatinate formed the pretext, removing the main cause of umbrage, inclined both parties to the formation of a new defen- sive alliance for two years ; the States being permitted to levy 6000 troops in England at the king's cost, the expenses of which were to be repaid at the conclusion of a peace or truce^. Scarcely was this treaty effected, when intelligence arrived of transactions in India which would have been 1 Carleton's Letters, p. 390. " Aitzema, deel i., bl. 196. " Idem, 1)1. 178. 552 MAURICE, 1624 sufficient to arrest its progress, and which excited feel- ings of vehement indignation and animosity in the minds of the English against the Dutch, — feelings which it was found difficult to appease, though they were not, as a French author would have us believe, of a century and a half's duration, nor did they form the ground-work of the wars which afterwards unhap- pily sprung up between them''. The transactions at Amboyna have been so differently represented by the writers of the two nations, and the narratives of each so highly coloured, according as their passions or cre- dulity dictated, that it is scarcely possible to discover the exact truth. The Dutch asserted, that the un- friendly disposition of the English towards them was rendered manifest, by their making a tmce with the Spaniards in contravention of the treaty of 1619, and by their neglecting to maintain the stipulated number of vessels; in consequence of which the Spaniards had become masters of the channels of the Moluccas. That the Indians, particularly those of Ternate, who, after the treaty made with them in 1609, had effected a reconciliation with the Kings of Tidor and Spain, Avere constantly encouraged by the English in the various acts of hostility they had for several years committed; and that these people had, in consequence, become so bold, as openly to boast that they were pre- pared to drive out the Dutch from Amboyna. These circumstances, arousing the suspicion of the governor, and Council of State of Amboyna, they caused a Javanese, who was observed to have been making in- quiries as to the state of the citadel, to be arrested; when he confessed that the Javanese soldiers in the service of the Dutch had been for some time in cor- respondence with Gabriel Towerson, chief of the Eng- '■ Cerisier, Tableau des Prov. Unies, torn, v., p. 505. STADTHOLDER. 553 lish factory, and others of that nation, to deliver the 1624 citadel into their hands, and put the governor to death. Upon this information the Javanese soldiers were dis- armed and examined, when the confession of the prisoner was confirmed in every particular by them, as well as by one Abel Price, a surgeon, who had been arrested for arson. Towerson himself, with twelve other English, were then apprehended, and being put to the torture, made a similar confession. To the accusation of extreme severity exercised in the legal proceedings, the Dutch answered, that though differing from those in use in England, they were in strict con- formity with the laws of their country; and that the tortures to which the prisoners were subjected were far less cruel than those commonly applied in England, to such persons as, after refusing to answer two inter- rogatories, were judged wilfully mute''. On the other hand, the English affirmed that the Dutch had evinced their hostility towards them, by the invasion of the Islands of Lautore and Poularone, the undoubted possessions of the King of Great Britain, and by the cruel manner in which they were accus- tomed to treat their countrymen, whom they often subjected to imprisonment, fines, and tortures, though they had no right to exercise any jurisdiction over them. The accusation of a conspiracy, they protested, was a pure invention on the part of the Dutch, framed as a pretext for depriving them of the third of the trade which they enjoyed, in order to get the whole into their own hands. The confessions of the English, as well as the Javanese, had been wrung from them by the sufferings they endured while under torture, and many of them had taken a subsequent opportunity of recording their falsehood; nor did it seem probable ' Aitzema, deel i., bl. 361—364. 554 MAURICE, 1624 that twenty English should undertake to deprive the Dutch of their possessions, who, besides being from two to three hundred in number, had eight ships in the roads, and were masters of three strong forts in the island; whereas the nearest place from whence they themselves could receive assistance was Banda, a distance of forty miles. Ten English and as many Javanese were executed for this crime, solemnly assert- ing their innocence on the scaffold. A hurricane which occurred at the time, and a pestilential sickness which shortly after carried off 1000 of the inhabitants of Amboyna, were interpreted by the English as the effects of the divine vengeance, (directed, as they would have it, equally against the innocent and the guilty,) for the injustice and barbarity committed upon their countrymen*. Three of the prisoners receiving a pardon, carried home the news of these proceedings; and it is from their accounts chiefly that the relations of the English historians are drawn. That the whole story of the plot was a fabrication is highly impro- bable; and there seems no doubt that the Javanese soldiers did, in fact, entertain a design of the nature imputed to them, either in concurrence with, or relj'ing on, the co-operation of the English; but if the latter cannot be exonerated from the accusation of treachery, the conduct of the Dutch was no less disgraced by an excess of vindictiveness and cruelty. The return to Spain of the West India fleet laden with specie enabled the king to make vigorous pre- parations for the ensuing campaign; an advantage of which Spinola was not slow to avail himself. He now formed the design of besieging Breda, a town of great strength, belonging to the family of Nassau; of which JVIaurice was no sooner aware, than he reinforced the ■■ Aitzema, deel i., bl. 367 — 372. STADTHOLDER. 555 garrison, consisting of 1600 men, under Justin of 1624 Nassau, with 6000 French and English troops, com^ manded by the Colonels Hauterive and Morgan. ThQ slowness with which Spinola commenced his opera- tions, occasioned by the marshy nature of the ground, and the difficulty of obtaining supplies of water and provisions, led the Prince of Orange into the vulgar, and, in this case, tmaccountable error of despising his enemy; a feeling which he testified as well by the use of disparaging expressions concerning him, as by re- maining inactive at the Hague, long after he ought to have taken the field. He at length led his army to the siege of the comparatively unimportant towns of Gennep, Mondelberg, and Cleves, giving Spinola time to complete very nearly a double line of circnmvalla- tion about Breda. After the surrender of Cleves, Maurice marched to the relief of Breda, when Spinola drew out his forces in order to give him battle. He avoided the engagement, thougb, as the principal portion of the enemy's cavalry was gone to escort the Prince * of Poland to Antwerp, he would, in all probability, have obtained a signal victory^. Maurice was at this time engrossed with the design of surprising Antwerp, where only a small garrison of disabled soldiers was stationed. An attempt to escalade the walls by night was, how- ever, discovered and defeated; and the prince, whose force was infinitely too weak to force Spinola's lines, found himself obliged to retreat; when, dividing his army into two parts, he stationed one under Prince Henry at Sprang, and retired with the other to Rosen- daal, whence he shortly after proceeded to the Hague, leaving Spinola to pursue the siege unmolested^. Chagrined at his ill-success, Maurice discovered too ' Aitzema, deel i., bl. 327. Mem. de Fre'd.-Hen., p. 26. f Idem, 27, 28. 556 SIAURICE, 1624 late, that in grasping at the sole authority by the destruction of his ilhistrious rival, he had, in fact, annihilated the source of his own prosperity. With the advocate, the stay and support of his fortunes was gone; the head which had planned his most brilliant achievements, the hand that had always been able to place money and troops at his disposal the instant he required them, he himself had la.id in the dust; he experienced in full measm-e the disappointment and repentance which rarely fail to attend, in some degree, the gratification of even the most innocent passion; and in the bitterness of his heart, he was heard to exclaim that " God had abandoned him." His present coad- jutor, Adrian Duyk, who had succeeded Barneveldt, under the title of Pensionary, (that of Advocate being ever after dropped by tacit consent,) was immeasurably inferior to him in talents, diligence, and resources; the ablest, most upright, and most enlightened men of the nation were either banished or deprived of their offices and cast into oblivion; public affairs, conducted by persons whose chief recommendation had been their subserviency to the dominant party, fell into confusion ; the army, small and ill-equipped, was insufficient for any enterprise of importance; and Maurice was not far wrong when, in the coarse language to which his education in the camp had accustomed him, he observed, that "as long as the old rascal was alive we had coimsels and money, now there is no finding either the one or the others." The disappointments and vexations he suffered were supposed to have contributed greatly to increase the disease (obstruction of the liver) under 1625 which he had for some time laboured, and which now began to manifest alarming symptoms. Finding his strength rapidly declining, he summoned from the camp s Le Clerc, torn, ii., p. 97, STADTHOLDER. 557 at Sprang, his brother Frederic-Henry, between whom 1625 and himself there had long existed a coldness, arising from the favour which the former had openly testified, and the still greater degree which he was suspected of secretly entertaining towards the Remonstrants. He now induced him to gratify his last wish by consenting to an union with Amelie, Princess of Solmes. Three weeks after the marriage, the Prince of Orange died, aged fifty-seven years and five months, having filled the office of stadtholder for nearly forty years. As he never married, he left Prince Frederic-Henry heir to all his possessions, with the exception of legacies to his sister, the Princess of Portugal, his mistress, Anne van Mechelen, and her two sons''- The character of Maurice has been often produced in bold and marked features, in the transactions in which he bore so conspicuous a share. In military talent he equalled the most celebrated captains of any age or nation. War, which before his era was a desul- tory art, he raised to the dignity of a regular and ' systematic science. Whether in the attack and de- fence of cities, in the enforcement of discipline, or the conduct of an army in rapid and difficult marches, his reputation is yet unsurpassed; nor was he less distin- guished by his profound knowledge of mathematics, and his skill in the invention of military engines, and contrivances for passing rivers and marshes ^ The Fabius of his country, he, with a handful of soldiers, not only defended her frontiers against numerous armies of veteran troops, commanded by (next to him- self) the ablest generals in Europe, but carried the war with success into the enemy's territory. If he seem to be deficient in that ardent and daring valour, -which '' Mem. de Du Maurier, p. 331 . Aitzema, deel i., bl. 303, et seq. Mem. de Fred.-IIen., p. 30, 31. ' Du Mauiier, p. 275. 558 MAURICE, 1625 is so attractive a quality in the eyes of the multitude, but one, nevertheless, more valuable in a soldier than a commander, it must be remembered, that to him the dangers of failure in a hazardous enterprise were in ten- fold proportion to the advantages of success. A battle lost on the side of the enemy was but the signal for the appearance of fresh hosts in the field; to him, whose small army was his single stake, a defeat was certain, and perhaps irretrievable ruin. That his habitual caution proceeded neither from timidity nor irresolu- tion, is fully proved by the erents of the battle of Nieuport. In his political capacity he appears to far less advantage. Ignorant or careless of the true interests of his country, he made his arbitrary will the sole rule of his actions, and hesitated not to violate the priireiples of law and justice, and to conyert the best feelings of the people, their gratitude to himself, and their veneration for the memory of his father, into an engine to overthrow their liberties, and to crush their most sacred rights, for the purpose of gratifiying his personal vengeance, or promoting his private in- terests. His ambition, unlike the pure and noble passion which swayed his father, — seeking his own greatness only as inseparably linked with that of his country, — was wholly selfish, devoted to his individual advancement, and directed quite as much to the emolu- ments, as to the dignity of his offices. In domestic life, he was in youth gay, frank, and generous; and, though harsh and choleric, forgiving; but as he advanced in years, particularly after the death of Barneveldt, he was observed to become suspicious, morose, and dissembling. The extreme selfishness of his disposition rendered him alike implacable towards his enemies, and incapable of a constant or devoted friendship ; a fact exemplified by his conduct towards STADTHOLDEE. 559 Hohenlohe, Barneveldt, and the minister Uytenbo- 1625 gaard. The former, the guardian and protector of his youth, he cast aside when no longer necessary to serve his interests ; and the latter, the one for many years the chief promoter and supporter of his elevation, the other his intimate friend and spiritual adviser, he per- secuted to death and banishment as soon as they thwarted his ambitious views, or the gratification of his most unreasonable desires. Unable, from his im- perious temper, to endure the restraints of marriage'', his conduct was licentious, though he kept his irre- gularities studiously secret, in deference to the strict ideas of propriety of the Dutch people ; and it is said, that some sharp reproofs which Uytenbogaard ventured to administer on this subject, were the cause of the bitter animosity he conceived against him. Destitute of the acquirements of elegant literature, his manners and conversation partook considerably of the rudeness of the camp, and his principal relaxation from his military studies was in the enjoyment of coarse jests, or in the game of chess, at which he often manifested extreme ill-humour when beaten^. In spite of his vivacity of temper, however, he possessed a large por- tion of that tranquillity and firmness of mind peculiar to the Dutch people. Amid all the anxieties and reverses he had to sustain, his composure never forsook him : the most difiScult emergencies found him always calm and collected ; and, undisturbed by the cares of the day, he was accustomed to sleep so soundly, the instant he laid his head on the pillow, that he was in the habit of keeping persons constantly on the watch to awaken him in case of necessity"- Though he main- tained his court on a footing of due magnificence, it was '' Neg. de Jeannin, torn, iv., p. 26. ' Du Maui-ier,p. 271. ■^ Idem, 281. 580 MAUKICE, 1 025 combined with a pnident economy; he incurred no debts; and constantly adhered to a simplicity of dress greater than that usual among the higher classes of persons in the country; his garments, except upon state occasions, being made of common brown frieze and woollen, and the only ornament, a magnificent chajjlet of diamonds, which he occasionally wore round his hat. His figure, full and stout, appeared much shorter than it was in reality, and gave token of the robust constitution, and insensibility to fatigue which he enjoyed ; and his countenance, rendered striking by large, brilliant, and penetrating blue eyes, was, though somewhat severe, agreeable ; with a fair beard, which he loved to carry long, and cut in the square fashion". The escutcheon of Maurice is bright with the record of many a deed of glory; the fabric of his country's greatness raised by his father, strengthened and beautified by himself; her armies created the masters of military science to the civilized world ; her States the centre and mainspring of its negotiations ; her proud foe reduced to sue humbly at her feet. But there is one dark deep stain on which the eye of posterity, unheeding the surrounding radiance, is con- stantly fixed : it is the blood of Barneveldt. The truce which, as the foundation of the dissen- sions between the heads of the government, Avas pro- ductive of so many evils to the provinces, opened on the other hand a new field for the rapid advancement of commerce and navigation. The year preceding it (1608) was signalized by the invention of the telescope, by one Zachary Jansen, an optician of ISIiddleburg. The first ever sent out of the provinces were two ordered by the States-General, one to be presented to Henry " Du Maurier, p. 2C9. STADTHOLDER. 561 IV. of France, the other to the Duke of Sully. The inventor, or any other person, was forbidden to make them for foreigners, without permission of the States "- In the year 1609 was established the celebrated bank of Amsterdam, which for a long series of years afforded such immense facilities to commerce, and maintained its credit so high, that a large portion of the wealth of Europe was by degrees drawn into its coffers. The first idea of a similar institution had been projected so far back as 1593, when one Henry Wissel, in consequence of the bankruptcies occasioned among the merchants by the destruction, in a storm, of 40 vessels laden with corn, proposed, that in order to relieve the sufferers, public chambers should be ap- pointed in all the principal towns, for the purposes of a bank of exchange ; one of loan ; one of pledge ; one of deposit ; and one of public sale. A portion only of this project was realized by the bank of Amsterdam, which was one of exchange and deposit merely; it never engaged in mercantile speculations, nor in any dealings with the government of the country, whether by way of loan or otherwise^. Alliances of commerce and amity with Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and the Hanse towns, secured to the Dutch an easy and profitable trade in the Northern seas ; and their frequent voyages thither gave occasion to the establishment of a company at Amsterdam (1614), for carrying on the whale-fishery from the coasts of Nova Zembla to Davis' Straits, Spitzbergen, and the surrounding islands. The fishery, notwith- standing the opposition of the English, who sometimes attacked and rifled the vessels on their return, was for " Neg. de Jeannin, torn, iii., p. 222. p Bov, 1)0815; XXX., bl. 771 — 776. Reclierches suv le Commerce, pa. 2, torn, i., p. 37, 63. VOL. II. 2 562 MAUEICE, several years a source of considerable reyenue to the proprietors. The charter, granted at first but for three years, Mas renewed for four more in 1617 ; and the company uniting in 1622 Avith another fonned in Zealand, obtained a fresh charter for twelve years, "which was renewed in 1633. After its expiration in 1645, the whales having become scarce, and the profits of the fishery no longer sufficing for the support of a company, it dissolved itself) and the fishery again became freeq. Shortly after the erection of this com- pany, the States, in order to encourage their subjects to undertake distant voyages, granted to the discoverer of a new territory, the privilege of making four voyages before any one else was permitted to trade thither, provided he gave information of such discovery to the government, within fourteen days of his retum'. The first who entitled himself to the benefit of this regulation was the famous Jacob le JNIaire, a merchant of Amsterdam, who, in the beginning of the year 1616, sailed through the Straits to which he gave his name, and completed his voyage round the "world, having discovered on his route, the islands of Stateu, Prince's island, and Barneveldt, of "which he took possession in the name of the States. Cape Hoorn, which received its name from William Schouten the pilot, a native of that city, "was discovered at the same time. In the year 1609, Henry Hudson, an English pilot in the employ of the East India Company of Holland, being sent "with a single vlieboat and twenty men to find a north-"west passage to China, discovered the river and bay so called. Instead, however, of returning to Holland, he went to England, which he was not permitted to leave. The Dutch afterwards planted a colony on that tract of country to which they 1 Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 356, et passim. ' Idem, bl. 255 STADTHOLDER. 563 gave the name of New Holland, and about 1624 built the town of New Amsterdam s. The character of the Dutch people, at once ener- getic and patient, enterprising and steady, renders them peculiarly adapted for the formation of flourish- ing and successful colonies. In planting them it is to be remarked that they never sought an extension of empire, but merely an acquisition of trade and com- merce ; and consequently they were always either commercial or agricultural, never military. Desirous only of pursuing in security the avocations of their peaceful industry, they were contented to trade, if possible, under the protection of the sovereigns of the countries where they fixed their domicile, and at- tempted conquest only when forced by the pressure of exterior circumstances; such for instance as the hostili- ties of the Portuguese in the East Indies. To this general rule the formation of the West India Com- pany formed a singular exception. The project had been agitated before the commencement of the truce, but steadily opposed by Barneveldt, after whose death the States gave permission for the establishment of a company, which was not however effected till 1621, when a charter was granted for the term of twenty- four years, on conditions nearly similar to that of the East India Company, with the sole privilege of trade from the tropic of Cancer to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, and in America from the South boundary of Newfoundland and the Anian or Behring's Straits, to those of Magellan and Le Maire*. As Spain claimed the sovereignty of a vast portion of this tract in America, and was in actual possession of the places where the Company purposed forming their settle- ' Meteren, boek 2£xxi., fol, 674. ' Aitzema, deel i., bl, 62. 2 2 664 MAURICE, ments, conquest must be a necessary preliminary ; and the colonists, maintaining a hostile possession, must be constantly prepared with arms in their hands, if not engaged in actual warfare. Accordingly, at the very outset, the Company were obliged to incur the cost of equipping a large fleet of men-of-war, instead of making an essay at first with a few vessels as the pro- jectors of the East India trade had done. In the early part of the year 1624, a fleet of thirty-six ships sailed under sealed orders to the bay of All Saints, where they attacked the town of St. Salvador, with such impetuosity, that they obliged the Portuguese to evacuate it the same night, and made several prizes of Spanish vessels, richly laden with silver, tobacco, and other valuable wares. But, shortly after, the colonel of the expedition. Van Dorth, being slain in an ambush by the enemy, the government fell succes- sively into the hands of two brothers, Albert and William Schouten, who, intent on the pursuit of gain, neglected the fortifications and excited the discontent of the soldiers by withholding their pay. On intelli- gence of the conquest of St. Salvador, the Company, knowing that the King of Spain would spare no efforts to re-possess himself of so important a city, prepared in a short time a fleet of eighteen ships and seven yachts, having on board nearly 7000 seamen, and 1350 soldiers ; to which they afterwards added another of sixteen vessels in the next year. But, being detained by contrary winds, their arrival in the bay of All Saints was anticipated by that of the Spanish vessels, thirty-seven in number. The garrison of St. Salvador consisted of no more than 2000 men besides Portuguese and natives ; nevertheless, the town, being strongly fortified and amply provided, might have held out till the arrival of succours, had not the soldiers. STADTHOLDEE. 665 mutinous, and at variance with their incapable com- mander, surrendered at the first summons. On the arri- val of theAdniira],BaldrickHendrickson,\viththeDutch fleet, he had the mortification of beholding- the Spanish flag already waving on the walls of St. Salvador, when, bending his course to Porto Rico, he captured that city, and, after a vain attempt to master the citadel, fired and abandoned it. The garrison of St. Salvador were afterwards punished by the forfeiture of the whole of their pay; the members of the council of war and privy council of the town were tried and condemned to death, but their lives were spared at the intercession of the Princess of Orange^ Such were the commencements of the career of the Dutch West India Company; a scheme, the results of which, though for a time brilliantly prosperous, were ulti- mately such as to vindicate to the full extent the prudent and patriotic motives of Barneveldt, in the strenuous opposition to it, which he had constantly offered. " Aitzema, deel i., bl. 339, et seq., 419—422, 681, 582. 566 FKEDERIC-HENRY, CHAPTER VI. Frederic-Henry created Stadtholder. Alliance with England. Siege of Bochelle. Loss of Breda. Conquest of Grol. Capture of the "Silver Fleet." War between France and England. Proposals of Truce between Spain and the United Provinces. Reduction of Bois-le-Duc. Design upon Diwlirk. Rercrsioji of the Stadt- holdership granted to the Son of Frederic-Henry. Toleration of the Remonstrants. Groiiiis. Redtiction of Maesirieht. Renewed Offers of Peace. Death of the Archduchess Isabella. Partition Treaty with France. Unprosperous Campaign of the Allies. Affairs of Frie~land. Relations with England. Breda retaken. Conquests of the West India Company. The ^ Tulipomania." Design upon Antwerp. Xaval Battle in the Downs. Rank and Title of the States-General. Campaign. Frederic-Henry chosen Stadtholder of Friezland. Marriage of his Son with the Princess of England. Inactim Campaign. Truce icith Portugal. Affairs of England. Reform of the Constitution of the Provinces at- tempted. French Ambassadors at the Hague. Offer of Mediation to England. Campaign. Mediation between Sweden and Den- mark. Negotiations at Munstcr and Osnaburg. Peace betw£<;ii Spain and the United Provinces. 1625 Immediately on the death of the Prince of Orange, the States-General, pui'suing the same system of en- croachment, in which they had been supported and encouraged by him, conferred upon his brother Frederic- Henry the ofiices of Captain and Admiral-General; and within a short time he was invested with the dignity of Stadtholder by the States of all the Pro- vinces, except Groningen and Friezland, which were under the government of Ernest Casimir of Nassau. Notwithstanding the discouraging circumstances under which Prince Frederic-Henry entered upon the administration of affairs, harbingers might yet be dis- covered in the political horizon giving promise of a speedy return of brighter days. The prince himself STADTHOLDER. 567 was now above forty years of age, of sound judgment, 1625 equal to his brother in military knowledge and expe- rience, and far surpassing him in capacity for govern- ment, in prudence and moderation. The severity of the executions folloM'ing the conspiracy against the late stadtholder, and the arbitrary conduct of that prince, had alarmed even the most zealous Contra- Remonstrants, at the extent of power that they had been induced by their hostility to the Arminians to throw into his hands; a healthy reaction was accord- ingly beginning to take place in men's minds; the fury of religious persecution was henceforward restrained to the precincts of the consistories; the Remonstrants, whom Frederic-Henry had always favoured, were now soothed with the hope of milder treatment; and the voice of patriotism, unheard for a while amidst the clamour of polemical dissension, and the war-hoop of party spirit, once more aroused men of all sects and opinions to unite in defence of their fatherland. The M'ar in Germany, though carried on with adverse for- tune on the side of the Protestant Confederacy, created, nevertheless, a powerful diversion of the arms of the house of Austria, which the provinces would scarce have been able to sustain had their united strength been turned against them alone; and the death of the pacific monarch of England led the States to hope, that the hostilities which had commenced in the last year between that country and Spain, would be carried on with vigour under his successor. The rupture of the Spanish match at the time of the Prince of Wales's ill-judged visit to Madrid, had been attended with circumstances oifensive to the pride of the Duke of Buckingham, the weak and pro- fligate favourite, by whose counsels the late king had been entirely governed, and who exercised a like 568 FREDERIC-HENRY, 1625 unlimited influence over the mind of his son; and it was to gratify his personal pique, rather than from any other cause, that this minister hurried his sovereign into a war, rendered, by the peculiar circumstances wherein Charles was now placed, highly prejudicial to his interests. It was, nevertheless, from the ostensible objects for which it was undertaken, — the recovery of the palatinate, and the support of the Protestant Con- federacy, — popular in the extreme with the great body of the nation. In spite, therefore, of the animosity with which the proceedings at Amboyna had inspired the minds of the English, community of religious feel- ing, and their mutual hatred of Spain, prompted them to enter readily into an offensive and defensive alliance with the United Provinces against that power, to con- tinue so long as the King of Spain or his adherents should occupy any portion of the palatinate. The treaty was, however, accompanied by a protest on the part of the King of England, that it did not prevent his taking vengeance for the injuries and outrages committed upon his subjects at Amboyna, in case jus- tice were not done them within a certain time^ Shortly after the conclusion of this treaty at South- ampton, the Duke of Buckingham visited the Hague in person, for the purpose of negotiating a triple alliance between England, Holland, and Denmark, whereby the former powers engaged to support the King of Denmark with large subsidies of men and money in the -war he was about to undertake against the emperor. But the extreme poverty of the English treasury, and the disputes which arose between Charles and his parliament, frustrated in great measure the results of this union^. The King of France likewise was at the present ' Aitzema, deel i., bl. 469—476. " Idem, deel i., bl. 483, STADTHOLDER. 569 time at war with Spain, as the ally of the Grisons, from 1625 whom Philip had wrested the Valteline, under pretext of checking the spread of heresy in that province; but the rebellion of the Huguenots, who were possessed of Rochelle and other strong places, not only embarrassed all the measures of Richelieu, but endangered the safety of the kingdom itself. It was vain to hope that this enlightened minister could pursue with effect the line of policy he had marked out to himself from the moment of his accession to power, and which was fraught with so much advantage to Holland, — that of humbling the power of the house of Austria, — unless he were first enabled to procure peace at home; and the States therefore hesitated not to comply with his reqitest, in permitting the subsidy of twenty men-of- war, furnished in pursuance of the late treaty, to be employed against Rochelle, then besieged by the king's troops. But this proceeding, which deprived the Ro- chellois of the superiority at sea that they had hitherto enjoyed, was loudly complained of by them, and their complaints were re-echoed by invectives from the clergy throughout the United Provinces, who declared from the pulpit that the States had struck a fatal blow against their brethren in the faith, holding them up to the people as the most cruel persecutors of the Reformed Church. They, likewise, recommended sub- scriptions to be set on foot for the assistance of the besieged, which were, in fact, collected to a considerable amount. Perceiving the effect which their clamours were producing on the minds of the people, and that the sailors, imbued with the same spirit, testified ex- treme reluctance to be employed on this service, the States, themselves perhaps, not desiring that too hard conditions should be imposed on the Huguenots, recalled their vessels, for the ostensible purpose of revictualling, 570 FRKDERIC-HENRY, 1625 at the very instant that Rochelle was about to capi- tulate. The inhabitants were thus encouraged to pro- long their defence, and the anger which this disap- pointment excited in the breast of Richelieu, as well as of the king, was excessive; the cardinal loudly demanded satisfaction for the insult oflfered to his sovereign, and that Haultain, the admiral of the fleet, should be dismissed; and though Aersens, the ambas- sador from the provinces, found means to appease him in some degree, yet the league of amity, which the States -were earnestly soliciting, was delayed for a considerable period by the disputes on this subjects The late Stadtholder had, before his death, made the most strenuous exertions to collect troops for the relief of Breda. The treaties with England and France had enabled him to draw large bodies of auxiliaries from those countries, which, with some new levies of Germans and the native troops, amounted to forty thousand men. Nevertherless, every eflfbrt ou the part of Prince Frederic-Henry to raise the siege or to introduce supplies into the town proved futile ; and being reduced to extreme scarcity of provisions, the governor, Justin of Nassau, capitulated on favourable conditions'^. But the strength of Spain, so imposing in outward appearance, so exhausted in reality, was now put forth only in isolated and convulsive efforts, followed by long intervals of prostrate inanition. The conquest of Breda reduced the spirit and resources of the Spanish army, as the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom had done, to so low an ebb, that it was forced to act entirely 1626 on the defensive; and the summer of the next year passed without any event worthy of remark. Taking advantage of the continued inactivity of the enemy, 1627 the Prince of Orange commenced the siege of Grol, "= Aitzema, deel i., bl, 647, 582, ^ Jlem. de Fred.-Hen., p. 35. STADTHOLDER. 671 with one hundred companies of infantry, fifty-five of 1627 cavah-y, and ninety pieces of artillery. The capture of this strong town, within the space of a month, and in sight of a hostile army which made strenuous attempts to relieve it, added greatly to the reputation of Frederic-Henry, more especially as his brother had in the year 1606 failed in a similar enterprise, under far more favourable circumstances''. But it was on sea that the Dutch constantly gained such advantages as brought at once ruin and dishonour on their enemies. The West India Com- pany having equipped a fleet of twenty-four vessels, placed them under the command of one Peter Peterson Heyn, or "Piet Heyn" of Delftshaven ; a man who, by his courage and ability, had raised himself from a low station to the rank of admiral, and had signalized himself, as well by the share he had taken in the conquest of St. Salvador, as by the destruction of twenty-six Spanish vessels in the last year. He now 1628 received orders to sail towards America, for the pur- pose of intercepting the Spanish fleet, commonly called the "silver fleet," on its return from thence laden with specie. On his arrival ofi" the island of Havanna, he received intelligence that the fleet was close at hand and could not escape him ; and, in effect, early on the following morning, he fell in with ten ships, which he captured in a few hours. About mid- day eight or nine more galleons were perceived at three leasfues' distance, of which the Dutch imme- diately went in chase under press of sail, but were unable to come up with them before they had taken refuge in the bay of Matan9a, where nearly all ran aground. Finding it impossible to reach them with his ships, Heyn ordered the boats to be manned for " Mem. de Fred.-Hen., p. 42, ct seq. 572 FEEDERIOHENEY, 1628 the purpose of boarding, -when the Spaniards, who had stowed away such a quantity of merchandise as to render several of their guns useless, after firing a few shots began to make their escape to the laud. The admiral's boat ran close alongside an immense vessel, which there appeared no means of boarding. In tbis dilemma, a sailor catching hold of a rope that hung outside the ship, raised himself on the deck of the enemy, and began leisurely to search for more ropes to throw out to his comrades ; the Spaniards meanwhile standing by, without making the slightest attempt to molest him. Immediately on boarding, the boats' crews offered quarter, when the Spaniards surrendered their vessels without further resistance. Heyn brought the whole of his booty, except two of the captured vessels, safely into the ports of Holland. It was estimated at twelve millions of florins, a portion of it being 138,6001bs weight of pure silver. On his return Heyn Avas introduced into the Assembly of the States-General, who conferred on him the thanks of the nation, adding, that they were in deliberation what reward to offer him. But the hero, as single-hearted and disinterested as he was brave, replied, that after so many dangers, he desired nothing more than to end his days in repose. The office of Lieutenant- Admiral, vacant by the death of A'^'illiam of Nassau who was killed before Grol, Avas, however, in a manner forced upon him, in spite of his modest refusal of a dignity unbefitting, he said, his mean birth and unpolished manners. To acquit himself honourably of his charge, he resolved to undertake the extirpation of the pirates of Dunkirk, who had for many years been the bane and terror of the merchants of the provinces. With this intent, he sailed to the port of Dunkirk, where, not finding the ships, he left his vice-admiral, Hilie- STADTHOLDER. 573 brand Quast, to blockade the harbour, while he himself 1628 went in pursuit. On the I7th of June, 1629, he espied three privateers, to which he gave chase, and coming up with his single ship, which had left the others far behind, he placed himself between two of the enemy's vessels, and fired a broadside into both at the same time. The third discharge of the priva- teers' guns, stretched him dead upon the deck ; but his crew, becoming furious at the spectacle, attacked them with such vigour, that they soon captured both vessels, putting every man on board to death, in obedience to the barbarous custom enjoined by the States. The body of Heyn was interred near that of William, Prince of Orange, at Delft, and a monument of white marble erected to his memory^*. The war which had broken out in the last year between France and England, for no other cause as it appeared than to gratify the wanton folly of the Duke of Buckingham, placed the States of the United Provinces, the intimate ally of both powers, in a situation of painful embarrassment. To preserve a neutrality such as should satisfy the belligerents, was scarcely possible in itself, and rendered yet more difficult in consequence of the endeavours used by each party to draw them into some decided demonstra- tion in their favour. France proposed a treaty offensive and defensive, accompanied by a promise of considerable ' Aitzema, deel i., bl. 720, et seq., 821. * The States having upon the occasion of his death sent a message of condolence to his mother, an honest peasant, who, notwithstand- ing the elevation of her son, had heen content to remain in her original station, she replied : " Ay, I thought what would he the end of him. He was always a vagabond ; but I did my best to correct him. He has got no more than he deserved." — Cerisier, Tableau des Proy. Unies, torn. vi.,^. 40, 41. 574 FEEDERIC-HENUr, 1628 subsidies, but as Ricbelieu, with his characteristic haughtiness, insisted that the States should bind them- selves to make no peace wthout the permission of the king, the former peremptorily refused to ratify it. Carleton, on his side, demanded the subsidy of vessels, in accordance with the terms of the treaty of South- ampton ; but the States, observing that the king was now far more embittered towards France than Spain, and fearing lest they might be employed in hostilities against so valuable an ally, evaded his request. Carle- ton complained, moreover, that the Amsterdam mer- chants supplied France with arms and ammunition, desiring, in somewhat of a querulous tone, to be made acquainted with the true nature of the treaty which was then in agitation between the States and that country. At the same time, the capture of a French vessel by some English ships in the Marsdiep, gave excessive umbrage to the States, who protested loudly against this Aiolation of their neutrality, and placed them in extreme difficulty as to how they should satisfy the King of France, whose demands that they should insist on its restoration, it was equally impolitic to comply with or to reject ; while the injuries which the English committed upon the Dutch merchantmen, under pretext of reprisals for the acts committed at Amboyna, threatened an entire dissolution of friend- ship between the two nations. To these causes of estrangement was added the personal offence taken by Carleton at finding, on his return from a visit to his native country, that the right of sitting in the Council of State, Mhich the English Ambassador had enjoyed since 1585, was denied him ; nor could all his expostulations obtain a restoration of this privilege, which the States declared, was incompatible with the freedom of deliberation in the Council, and had only STADTHOLDEK. 575 been permitted by courtesy since the redemption of 1^28 the cautionary towns^. The disturbed relations in which the States thus stood with their two principal allies, and the dis- couragement inspired by the reverses the King of Denmark had sustained in Germany, gave the Arch- duchess and King of Spain hopes that they would now gladly listen to proposals for an accommodation, which had from time to time been brousrht forward since the expiration of the truce, but, generally accompanied by some pretension to the sovereignty of the provinces on the part of the king, had been treated with little attention. The Sieur de Marquette now came to 1629 Rosendaal, with offers from the King and Archduchess to renew the late truce for a period of twenty-four years. But no sooner did the negotiations become public than they encountered general and violent opposition. The West India Company presented an earnest remonstrance to the States-General, showing forth in strong colours the advantages of a continu- ance of the war; the ministers of the church and zealous Contra-Remonstrants inveighed against the proposed truce as detrimental to the interests of the provinces and the Reformed religion ; and a vast ma- jority of the people, encouraged by the late events of the war, were disposed to pursue still farther their successes, in the hope of reducing the enemy to more humble terms. The obstacles therefore in the way of a treaty were found so insuperable, that the attempt was for the present abandoned''. These obstacles were augmented in no small degree by the events of this year's campaign, during which the impoverished condition of the Spanish s Aitzema,vdeel i., bl. 602, 649, 660—652, 764. ^ Idem, deel i., H, 899, 903, 965. 576 FREDERIC-HENEY, 1629 government, occasioned by the loss of the silver fleet, and the absence of Spinola, who was sent to command the army in Italy, encouraged the States to carry on hostilities with renewed vigour. At the earnest per- suasion of the Prince of Orange, they consented that he should undertake the siege of Bois-le-Duc, a town of Brabant of immense strength, situated in the middle of a marsh, and hitherto deemed impregnable. Not- withstanding the unfavourable nature of the ground, the prince carried on his works with such activity and skill, that in the space of three weeks his position was sufficiently secure to admit of his making his ap- proaches ; during which he exposed himself so freely to the fire from the town as to draw upon him a flattering reproof from the States, and an admonition to be more careful of his safety for the future^. The Spanish commander Van den Berg having made several attempts to throw succours into the town, marched towards Guelderland with the design of forcing the prince to raise the siege by the necessity of defending the boundaries of the provinces. Passing the Yssel without oppposition, the Spanish army entered the Veluwe, where they burnt several villages. Frederic- Henry, however, steadily refusing to abandon an enter- prise which had already cost vast sums, and in the success of which, he declared, his o^vn honour and that of the States was involved, contented himself with sending a detachment of about 5000 troops under Count Ernest of Nassau, to strengthen the neighbour- ing garrisons. Even Tsith this addition the amount of forces in the provinces was wholly inadequate to make head against the enemy, whose progress to Utrecht, and even to Holland itself, there appeared no possibility of preventing. But the prompt and i Aitzema, deel i., bl. 859. STADTI-IOLDER. 577 decisive measures adopted by the States in this 1629 emergency averted the impending ruin. They com- manded tlie peasants to lay vi^aste tlie country and retire with their cattle and effects into the towns ; reinforced the garrison of Utrecht with 1000 men levied by the West India Company; took into their pay a body of troops dismissed from the service of the King of Denmark ; and placed three regiments of infantry, raised as auxiliaries for the King of Sweden, in the towns of Zwol, Deventer, and Cam- pen ; the States-General themselves removing to Utrecht, to be nearer the scene of action, and to reassure the minds of the people. By opening the sluices at Muyden, likewise, the whole country from the city of Utrecht to the Zuyderzee was laid under waterk. Meanwhile, Van den Berg, who had been rein- forced by 17,000 fresh troops under the Count of Montecuculi, laid siege to Amersfoort, which was sur- rendered without a blow. For this act of cowardice, the captain of the garrison was banished for life, and the other officers with the burgomasters of the town severely punished. The capture of Amersfoort, within six leagues of Utrecht, spread the utmost consterna- tion in that city, whence, in spite of the encourage- ment and exhortations of the States, the more timid fled with tlie chief portion of their effects to Holland. With this conquest, however, the successes of the Spaniards ended. Hattem, which was next invested, opposed a spirited and effectual resistance. The in- vaders, according to their usual barbarous mode of warfare, instead of sparing the country they passed through for the sake of such supplies as it might yet afford, had laid it entirely waste, committing the most '' Mem. de Fretl.-IIen., p. 52— 8-i, 89-9]. VOL. 11. 2 F 578 FREDERIC-HENEY, 1629 frightful outrages upon the inhabitants, and were in consequence, reduced to depend for support, wholly upon the provisions brought under strong convoys from the town of ^^'esel in Cleves. The surprise of this place, therefore, by Dieden, governor of Emmeric, rendered them utterly destitute, and obliged them to evacuate the provinces with all speed, and retire to Rhynberg. Shortly after, Bois-le-Duc surrendered to Prince Frederic-Henry, after a laborious and expensive siege of nearly four months' duration'. The hostile forces thus removed from their bound- aries, the States deemed it unnecessary, during the 1630 next summer, to bring any army into the field ; a de- termination to which they were prompted as well by the extreme dearth of corn, which the tolls levied by the King of Sweden at Dantzic, and the King of Den- mark in the Sound, contributed to increase, as by the backwardness of some of the provinces, especially Utrecht and Friezland, in producing their quotas towards the general expenses, and the necessity of diminishing the number of their troops, which now amounted to above 120,000 men". They were enabled still further to restrict the footing on which they had lately maintained their forces, in consequence of the withdrawal, by mutual consent, of the Sj^anisli and States' garrisons in Cleves and Juliers, except from the towns of Wese], Rees and Emmeric, retained by the latter, and Juliers, Orsoi and Sittart, by the troops of the Archduchess ''- But, though inactive at home, the arms of the Dutch were signalized in America by the conquest of Olinda, or Fernambuca, and the neigh- bouring forts, achieved by the fleets of the West India Company. Upon the acquisition of this important city, 1 Mem. de Fie'd.-Hen., p. 95, 110, 113. ■» Aitzema, deel i., bl. 880. » i^em, bl. 1057. STADTHOLDER. 679 the company, indulging the hope that it would become 1630 the mart of an extensive and powerful colony, opened the trade of all their West India possessions, provided it were carried on in ships belonging to the company; the article of dyewood only being prohibited". During the interval of leisure occasioned by the inactivity of the troops, the prince had matured the project of besieging Dunkirk, the rendezvous of pirates, by whose depredations the navigation of the German Ocean was rendered unsafe, not only to the Dutch, but all the surrounding nations. Transporting his troops by water to Ysendyk, he marched thence to 1631 Maldeghem without opposition, and succeeded in throM'ing a bridge across the canal running from Ghent to Bruges, the enemy having abandoned all the forts in the vicinity. But on the approach of the Spanish commander-in-chief, the Marquis of Santa Cruz, with an army of 12,000 men, the deputies of the States, who were constantly present in^ the camp, and whom the captain-general was obliged to consult on every movement of importance, were of opinion that the prince should give orders for an immediate retreat. In vain did Frederic-Henry remonstrate that their honour as well as his own was concerned in the success of an enterprise undertaken by their advice. Bearing in mind, probably, the danger to which the provinces had been exposed during the siege of Bois-le-Duc, the deputies declared in somewhat sharp terms, that they would not be answerable for the ill- consequences that might ensue from the further advance of the army into the enemy's country ; and the prince, unwilling to risk an undertaking of so much importance in the face of their disapprobation, found himself constrained to abandon it and retire to Gorcum. " Aitzema, deel i,, bl. 996, 997- 2 P 2 580 FREDERIC-IIENRV, 1631 He was recompensed, however, in some measure for his disappointment by a signal Yictory which the Hol- land and Zealand ships gained shortly after near Tholen, over a large fleet of the enemy, prepared to make a descent on Zealand ; when the whole of their vessels were captured, and nearly 5000 men made prisoners. Count John of Nassau, a cousin of the prince, who commanded on the Spanish side, escaped with difficulty in a small skiff p. The military successes of the Prince of Orange, the moderation he evinced in forbearing to interfere in those matters which more properly belonged to the States, and the conciliatory disposition he con- stantly showed towards the different parties in the nation, had so deeply prepossessed the public mind in Lis favour, that the States of the provinces did not hesitate to gratify him with the important and as yet unexampled gift of the reversion of his offices of stadtholder and captain and admiral-general to his infant son, William, born in the year 1626. Of the high merits of the prince towards his country, none could doubt ; but those to whom its welfare was en- trusted might well have found some other mode of testifying their gratitude, than that of conferring upon a child of five years old, of whose capacity or disposi- tion they could know nothing, charges, the maladmi- nistration of which might involve its entire ruin ; and we shall hereafter have occasion to observe what deep cause they had to repent their imprudent complai- sance. The States of Friezland and Groningen, although they imitated the example of the other provinces in granting the office of Stadtholder to the vouno- Prince Henry of Nassau after the deatli of his father, John p Mem. do Fre'd.-Hen., p. 125—129. STADTHOLDER. 581 Casimir, yet, more jealous of their liberties, took care jgsj that this act should uot form a precedent for the future, and that his authority should be confined within exact and narrow limits, by providing that no stadtholder should henceforth seek to obtain a rever- sion of his office, nor demand any further powers than such as are granted by his instruction and commission; the stadtholders were uot to interfere with the sove- reignty of the States, not to dispose of any military offices in the garrisons, or of lieutenant-generals', colonels', and majors' commissions, except in con- junction with the States and by plurality of voices*'. The favour which the Prince of Orange had always testified towards the Remonstrants, insi^ired them M'ith the hojie that at his accession, they might be again restored to their country, and permitted to profess their opinions unmolested. Van der Myle, the son-in-law of Barneveldt, was recalled from banishment, and permis- sion given him to dwell at the Hague ; and the venerable Hoogerbeets, who had been imprisoned with Grotius, was released from the castle of Louvestein, but died shortly after. Encouraged by this commencement, Uytembogaart, Episcopius, and the greater portion of the banished and fugitive Remonstrants, ventured to return to their liomes ; they likewise began openly to hold assemblies in several of the towns, especially in Rotterdam, where they were so numerous, that the government was unable, even had it been Avilling, to enforce the edicts against them. These circumstances aroused the indignation of the consistories and synods, who urgently exhorted the States to "put a stop to the insolence of the Arminians" by the renewal and rigorous execution of the edicts. Their reluctance to incur the risk of entering again upon the scene of '1 Aitzema, deel. i., bl. 1225, 1228. 582 FREDEEIC-HENRY, 1631 discord and turmoil they had so lately passed, caused the States to evince considerable hesitation iu comply- ing 'with their demands. But the clergy in the pro- vinces formed a body whom it was dangerous at all times to offend; the populace had already begun to show some symptoms of hostility towards the Remon- strants at Amsterdam; and it was to be feared that if the ministers were provoked by decided opposition, they might use the unbounded influence they possessed with them to excite some serious disturbances. The States of Holland, therefore, with the consent of Frederic-Henry, at length voted the republication of the decree prohibiting the Remonstrants under severe penalties from holding separate conventicles''. But the spirit of persecution which gave life and vigour to the penal edicts had passed away ; the harsh and painful lessons of toleration, which experience had taught the municipal governments, were not to be easily for- gotten ; the edicts wei^ everywhere slackly executed or wholly neglected; and the Remonstrants, though unable to obtain their express reversal, continued to hold their assemblies with little interruption. Even at Amsterdam the reaction in the minds of the more respectable classes of the inhabitants was so consider- able, that some of the members of the senate who had been deposed by Prince Maurice, in 1618, were re- elected to their offices ; a proceeding which excited to the most violent degree the ire of the preachers and consistory. Under the title of the " sorrowing church," they presented a petition to the senate, admonishing them to the execution of the edicts against the Remon- strants, and accusing them of introducing preachers of impure doctrine into the church, and of forcing some of the inhabitants, professors of the true religion, to ' Resol. Hoi. 1630. Aitzema, deel. i., bl. 666. STADTHOLDER. 583 leave the city. The petition itself, as well as tlie fre- iqsi quent meetings held by the clergy, savoured, the government conceived, strongly of sedition, and dis- putes soon ran so high that both parties appealed to the stadtholder. Not less pleased than his brother had been to make the divisions in the nation the means of exalting his own power, — though he cannot be accused of fomenting them to this end, — Frederic- Henry repaired to Amsterdam in person, and effected a sort of mediation between the parties, in which he showed himself entirely favourable to the Remonstrants, who now found it their interest to promulgate the same doctrine as their adversaries had before done, that the States should be liberal in granting an in- crease of military force, or anything else which might serve to augment the authority of the stadtholder. The magistrates found little difficulty, therefore, in obtaining his consent to the introduction of four com- panies of troops into the town ; and the Synod of Holland, having decreed that no burgher was bound to take an oath of obedience to an enemy of the true Reformed religion, they obliged all the members of the schuttery or burgherguard to renew their oaths of obe- dience and fidelity to the government of the town, displacing some of them wlio refused. Shortly after, two of the most turbulent among the Contra-Remon- strant preachers, named Adrian Smout and Kloppen- burg, "were banished the city; and the authority of the government, supported by the stadtholder, became by degrees so firmly established, that they ventured to grant the Remonstrants permission, not only to build a church for themselves, but to found a school, where the learned Episcopius subsequently gave lessons in theology, and Vossius and Barlseus, who had been among the sufferers for holding Arminian opinions, 584 FEEDERIC-HENRY, JC31 Tvere made professors of history and eloquence. From this time the Remonstrants began to enjoy increasing- liberty in Holland, except at Leyden and Haarlem; Uytembogaart preached openly at the Hague ; seven other ministers confined in the castle of Louvesteiu ■were enabled by connivance to make their escape ; and the consistories, perceiving that the government had no inclination to second their activity in persecu- tion, and that their complaints of " Arminian inso- lence" v.ere but slightly heeded, gradually ceased their importunities'. From this general restoration to peace and harmony Grotius alone "svas, unhappily, excluded. His friends had long and unceasingly laboured to obtain permission for him to return to his native coimtry without effect ; but, feeling confident, as he was fully justified in doing, that his countrymen would, now that the rancour of l^artj spirit was appeased, grant him a favourable reception, and longing to embrace once more his aged parents, he quitted France, where his residence was become irksome, on account of the unfriendly feelings evinced toAvards him by Richelieu, and came to Rotter- dam. As he was, however unjust his sentence, by the laws of the country an outlaw, it would scarcely have been decorous in the magistrates to have countenanced in their jiublic capacity his residence in their city. They, nevertheless, privately and individually promised him protection, and advised his remaining some time in retirement, till people were accustomed to his pre- sence, or till he had ascertained the state of general opinion concerning him. But, proud in the conscious- ness of his innocence, Grotius scornfully refused to compromise it, either by affecting concealment, or by » Resol. Hoi. passim. Aitzema, deel. i., bl. 703, 806, 808, 1094. Leeven van cle Groot, bl. 405. STADTHOLDER. 585 presenting a petition to the States that he might be ^°^' allowed to remain. It was probably this appearance of contumacy Mhich provoked the deputies of Haar- lem, Gouda, Leyden, Alkmaar, and Enkhuyzen, to declare, that they would proceed no farther with the public business till the insult offered to the authority of the States by the return of Grotius without their l^ermission, were punished ; and to pass a resolution commanding the attorney-general and other officers to secure his person. By some it is said, that jealousy of his talents and eloquence formed the ground-work of these proceedings on the part of the States ; but it is scarcely to be supposed, that the influence he miglit have obtained by these means could ever have been such as to give umbrage to so numerous and powerful a body ; and as none of the private correspondence of his adversaries is transmitted to us, posterity will most likely ever remain in ignorance of the secret springs which moved them to cast eternal disgrace on their country, by thrusting forth from her bosom the wisest and most virtuous of her sons to die an exile in a foreign land. All the members, however, were not equally culpable : the cause of Grotius was strenuously defended by the deputies of Amsterdam, Delft, and Rotterdam, the latter boldly asserting, that while he was pensionary of that town, he had done no act except in obedience to the orders of his masters, the Senate and Council, and if he were criminal, they were so to a still greater extent. The debates, ere long, assumed such an angry character, that the stadtholder was requested to attend, in order by his presence to impose some restraint on the contending parties. Had the prince shown any decided disposition to befriend Grotius, it is more than probable that he might have turned the scale in his favour ; but Avith that peculiar 586 FEEDERIC-HENKY, 1631 tact and caution which he inherited in large measure from his father, he avoided risking his popularity by opposing the sentiments of the majority, and it was under his sanction that a resolution was passed offering a reward of two thousand guilders for his capture. Grotius continued, notwithstanding, to reside unmo- lested for some time, at Amsterdam, whither he had 1632 shortly before removed. The manner in which this resolution was worded, declaring that Grotius had returned to Holland, in defiance of the authority of the States, created a general opinion that, could he be brought to present a petition to that effect, he might be allowed to remain in tranquillity. His friends accordingly exhorted him earnestly to the measure, the prince himself intimating, that he would then be enabled to give him his full and active support ; and Uytembogaart drew up a petition in which, simply soliciting permission to reside in the province, he left the question of the justice or injustice of his sentence untouched. But Grotius, conceiving that even this involved a tacit acknowledgment of guilt, firmly refused to sign it : nor could all the entreaties of his friends, among whom the celebrated historian Hooft was not the least zealous, prevail with him farther than to induce him to draw up a written request to the States, that having duly ascertained his innocence, they would permit him to live in his fatherland ; but this, from the haughty terms in which it was couched, it was not thought expedient to present. Preferring to quit his country, his parents, and his numerous circle of friends and admirers rather than cast the slightest shade on his fame, the illustrious exile retired to Hamburgh, and thence to Sweden, where he was honourably received, and employed many yeai-s as ambassador from that country to the Court of Paris. He finally STADTHOLDER. 587 returned to Germany where he died, at Rostok, in the 1632 year 1645. His body was afterwards brought to Holland, and interred at Delft, his native city'. The campaign of 1632 opened under the most flattering auspices for the Dutch. The signal victory obtained over the Imperial General Tilly, at Leipsig, by the renowned Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, to whom the States had in the last year, furnished a subsidy of 150,000 guilders, and the invasion of Bavaria by the Swedish army, had occasioned a large portion of the Spanish forces in the Netherlands to be drawn off to the assistance of the Emperor in Ger- many. The defection of the Count Van den Berg, formerly general-in-chief on the side of the Arch- duchess, and of the Coimt of Warfuse, administrator of the finances at Brussels, was also of considerable advantage to the provinces, though rather from the paralysing effect upon their enemy of the discourage- ment and mistrust it occasioned, than any actual accession of strength it brought to themselves. It was in compliance with the advice of Warfuse, that the Prince of Orange determined upon the siege of Maestricht, a town which in 1579 had detained the army of the Duke of Parma during nine months before its walls, when its fortifications were in a far inferior condition to what they were at this time. Marching from Nimeguen with 17,000 foot, and 4,000 cavalry, Frederic-Henry made himself master on his route, of Venloo, Straelen, and Ruremonde, at which latter place he sustained a severe loss in Count Ernest Casimir of Nassau, Stadtholder of Friezland, who was killed by a musket-ball. Scarcely had the prince commenced his approaches before Maestricht, when he received in- telligence that Don Gonzales di Cordova had been ' Leeven van de Groot, 405 — 442. Aitzema, deel. i., bl. 3173. 688 FREDERIC-HENRY, 1632 recalled from Germany, for the purpose of raising the siege, and was advancing by hasty marches to effect a junction with the Marquis of Santa Cruz at Tirle- mont; a circumstance which served only to induce him to press on the works with increased ardour. Within a few days, Santa Cruz, at the head of the united forces, amounting to 24,000 men, took up his position between Tongres and the besieging camp, firing heavy discharges of cannon, to warn the garrison of his arrival. The constant fear of a surprise obliged the prince to keep such part of the infantry as was not employed in guarding the approaches, stationed e^ery night along the lines, supported by the cavalry, he himself being present, at all hours, to see that every one M'as at his post. Several brisk assaults were made by Santa Cruz upon different quarters of the camp, Mhich were successfully repulsed, though some- times not without considerable loss to the besiegers. Among the slain was the brave and able de Vere, now Earl of Oxford, the most valued of all the English generals who served the States during this war, his brother Colonel de Vere, and Colonel Harewood. While thus pressed by the enemy from without, the besieging army were harassed by continual sallies on the part of a brave and numerous garrison Avithiu. It was at this juncture, when the difficulties in the way of success appeared almost insurmountable, that the imperial general, Pappenheim, arrived at the village of Meersen within half a league of the camp, at the head of an army of 16,000 strong, and commenced without delay a vigorous assault on the quarter of Count JMaurice of Nassau, which was, however, beaten off with the loss of 1500 men. Disappointed in his hope of forcing the prince's lines, Pappenheim changed his position to Neuvaigue, a STADTHOLDEE. 589 village between Maestricht and Liege, for the purpose 1G32 of stopping liis supplies ; but this also was defeated by the foresight of Frederic-Henry, who had, while oppor- tunity permitted, laid up ample stores of provisions for two months M'ithin the camp. Meanwhile, the besiegers, having gained the counterscarp, had next to contend with a still more formidable difficulty in a wide dry fosse inside, more than fifty feet deep, which it Avas impossible to fill. By dint of incredible pa- tience, skill, and labour, however, they succeeded in carrying mines under the bottom of the fosse to the walls. The principal of these, worked by the English troops, being fired, effected a considerable breach; the assault which followed was unsuccessful ; but the besieged, dreading that the enemy would fire all the others at the same time, offered to capitulate, which was permitted them on favourable conditions. On the reduction of the town, the hostile armies made a rapid retreat, Pappenheim to Cologne, and Santa Cruz to cover Namur. The capture of Maestricht was fol- lowed by that of Limburg, which enabled the prince to lay the country of Namur, Luxemburg, and Lesser Brabant under contribution^'. All the towns which submitted to the authority of the States during this campaign were allowed to retain the public exercise of the Catholic religion ; a measure adopted in order to encourage the defection of other places under the government of the Archduchess, expectations of which to a very great extent had been raised by the Counts Van den Berg and Warfuse. This mode of conciliation the States followed up by manifestoes exhorting the inhabitants of the Spanish Netherlands to unite with them in throwing off the yoke of Spain ; but the people manifested no dispo- " M'ra. de Fre'd.-IIcn., p. 131, ISU. 590 FREDEEIC-HENIty, 1632 sition to revolt, tlie discontents existing in fact chiefly among the nobility, who were indignant at finding themselves perpetually excluded by the Spaniards from any share in the administration of affairs. The uncertainty as to how far disaffection had spread in her dominions contributed with her advanced years and the disastrous state of her affairs to render Isabella now doubly anxious for that peace she had constantly endeavoured to procure. In this disposi- tion of mind she readily overlooked the affront offered to her by the States-General, in refusing to treat with any but the States-General of the Spanish Provinces, and assembled that body for the first time since her accession, (the Archduke having always raised his sup- plies from the States of the individual provinces,) for the pui-pose of deputing ambassadors to negotiate in its name. Accordingly, the Duke of Aarschot, the Archbishop of INIechlin, and others, were commissioned to the Hague with offers of a peace or long truce* ; but the conferences, thwarted by the intrigues of France and Sweden, to whom it was of the last impor- tance to retain the provinces in hostilities, as well as by the opposition of the Prince of Orange, the West India Company and the provinces of Zealand, Friez- lancl, and Groningen, were prolonged without effect for nearly a year, when they were suddenly broken off by a declaration which the French ambassador made, probably with that view, to the stadtholder, that his master was resolved upon the immediate invasion of Lorraine. Supported by the activity of so powerful an ally, the States conceived that they should now be * The painter Rubens also received a passport from tlie States- General, but was prevented appearing at the Hague in consequence of the jealousy of the Duke of Aarschot, -who, as the negotiations were somewhat advanced, was reluctant that he should have the credit of completing what himself had begun. STADTHOLDEE. 591 able to obtain advantages over the enemy, such as to 1632 reduce them the more easily to the terms they re- quired* ; and even those hitherto the most inclined towards peace, began to look forward with compla- cency to the continuation of hostilities^ The negotiations for peace did not prevent the Prince of Orange from taking the field ; but the cap- ture of Rhynberg and of fort Philippine in Flanders were the only events which distinguished the campaign"^. Towards the end of the year, the Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia died of consumption, at the age of sixty-seven ; a princess revered both by her subjects and enemies for her many admirable qualities, her piety, firmness, gentleness, and affability. At her death, the Netherlands, in pursuance of the terms of the surrender made by Philip II., reverted to the King of Spain, who placed the government, after it had been administered a short time by a commission, in ^634 the hands of the Marquis of Aitona, commander-in- chief of the army, until the arrival of his brother Fer- dinand, cardinal and archbishop of Toledo, whom he had, during the lifetime of the Archduchess, appointed her successor. The first care of Aitona was to arrest the progress of disaffection among the nobles of the Spanish Netherlands, which had not as yet ripened into actual revolt, nor had the invitations of the States- General, or the appearance of William of Nassau, who passed the frontier of Brabant with the view of sup- porting such movements as might be made, been ' Aitzema, deel i., bl. 1210—1220, deel ii., bl. 19—39. " Mem. de Fre'd.-Hen., p. 163. * Of these the principal was the recognition of their sovereig-nty and independence, whicli Spain could never yet be brouglit to malce in an explicit and unreserved manner. 592 FREDERIC-HENEY, 1634 attended with visible effects. The arrest of the Duke of Braban9oii, and the promulgation of sentence of death against the Count Van den Berg as guilty of high treason, struck terror into the malcontents, two of whom, the Prince d'Espinoi and the Duke of Bour- nonville, conscious of having indulged freely in obser- vations upon the misgovernment of the Spaniards, fled to France ''. Confidence being thus restored, the Marquis of Aitona, with an army of 30,000 foot and 10,000 cavalry, marched towards INIaestricht, and having cap- tured the fort of Argenteau, between Maestricht and Liege, commenced a blockade of the former city. From this enterprise he was, however, diverted by a feint attack which the Prince of Orange made for that purpose on Breday. Immediately on the termination of the conferences with the ambassadors of Spain, negotiations were entered into for a closer alliance between the United Provinces and France. The States had long solicited Louis to become a principal in the war, but hitherto without success ; since Richelieu had proposed as a condition of every treaty, that they should bind them- selves not to make peace or truce without the consent of the King, which the States pertinaciously refused, as derogatory to their dignity and sovereignty, limiting the proposed term to " advice " only. The relations of the two countries had, accordingly, since the year 1630, been confined to the promise of an annual subsidy from the King of France of 1, 000,000 liv., not very punctually fulfilled. Now, however, the peace between England and Spain, and the domestic discontents of the former kingdom, which rendered her utterly valueless as an ' Mem. de Fred.-Hen., p. 1G7. Aitzema, deel. ii., U. 165. y Jlem. do Fre'd.-Hcn., p. 1G8— 170. &TADTHOLDEK. 593' ally; the death of the King of Sweden, the heart and J 634 right arm of the Protestant confederacy, cut ofF in the midst of victory at Lutzen; and the want of jjower or will of the electors of Brandenburg and Cologne, and the other neighbouring German princes, to maintain the neutrality of their territories, rendered it of the utmost importance to the States, that by a powerful diversion in their favour, Spain should be deterred from uniting with the emperor to bring the war closer to their boundaries. The hope, therefore, of inducing the King of France to take an active share in hostili- ties against Philip, prompted them to accept, though not without considerable hesitation, the condition they had so long rejected, and to bind themselves not to conclude either peace or truce without the intervention of the king, who on his side was to furnish a subsidy of 2,300,000 livres, or 1,000,000, if he became a party in the war'^. As the terms of the treaty left the latter point still in uncertainty, it was deemed advisable by the majority of the States-General (the deputies of Groningen and Holland not having voted), that Adrian Pauw, pensionary of Holland, and John Knuyt, representative of the nobility of Zealand, should proceed to the French court, for the purpose of prevailing oh the king to make an explicit declara- tion of his intentions. Here they found that many circumstances had combined to render Richelieu de- sirous of a war with Spain, for which the occupation of Treves by the Spanish, troops and the imprisonment of the elector, who had declared his neutrality, under the. protection of France, afforded a plausible pretext. A fresh treaty, therefore, was now concluded of mutual hostility against Spain, to continue iintil the Spaniards should be entirely expelled from the pro- ^ Aitzeraa, ckel i., bl. 978; deel ii., bl. 94, 101. VOL. II. 2 Q 594 FREDEEIC-HENRY, 1635 vinces of the Netherlands, which were to be erected into a free and independent State, under the protection of the allies; and as the provinces would be unable alone to defend their frontiers against the power of the enemy, all the places on the coast of Flanders to Blankenburg inclusive, with Thionville, Namur, and Ostend, were to be put in possession of the king ; Hulst, the Waasland, Breda, Gueldres, and Stevensward being allotted to the States. But if it were found that the Spanish Netherlands were either unable or unwilling to assert their independence, they were to be divided between the contracting parties, when the king should have Luxemburg, Namur, Hainault, Artois, and Flanders, to a line drawn from Blankenburg to Rupplemonde, and the share of the States was to consist of the margraviate and town of Antwerp, the lordship of Mechlin, the duchy of Brabant, the remainder of Flan(^ers, from Blankenburg to Zwind, Dam, Hulst, and the Waasland. Neither party was to make peace, truce, or armistice, except jointly and by common con- sent; an army consisting of 25,000 infantry, and from 5000 to 7000 cavalry, furnished by each, was to make the first attack on two of tlie places allotted to the king, after which the States were to be put in posses- sion of two of those awarded to them; the States bound themselves to maintain a powerful fleet on the coasts of Flanders, and to assist the king, if he were attacked by sea; and the King of England was to be invited to join the alliance. The Catholic religion should be maintained as at present in all the toMTis included in the share of the King of France; a con- dition Avhich it was thought advisable to insert, in order to avoid giving offence to the Pope, and to exonerate the king from the imputation of a design to ruin the Catholic party; but which gave great occasion STADTHOLDER. 695 of scandal to the clergy, and a considerable party in 1635 the United Provinces. For the same reason, it was agreed, that the persecution of the nobles of the Spanish Netherlands should be made one of the chief ostensible causes of taking up avms^ It is remarkable that the proposition for this par- tition, which, if carried into effect, would have brought so formidable a neighbour close to the boundaries of the United Provinces, emanated, not from Richelieu, but from the States themselves''; and as the dangerous consequences resulting from it could not have been overlooked by the deputies, or the people in general, there appears a strong probability that it w£vs made for the mere purpose of flattering the vanity and exciting the ambition of the king and his minister, and by this means drawing them into a treaty, of which the Slates well knew it would be impossible to carry out the pro- visions, but of which the main object, as far as they were concerned, was the raising up a powerful enemy to divide the forces of Spain; and, this accomplished, the rest might be trusted to the effects of time and chance*. If such were their purpose, more to be commended, indeed, for policy than strict honesty, the ultimate results amply justified their foresight, though the immediate effects of the alliance were disasters, such as had not been experienced by the provinces since the accession of Frederic-Henry. ' Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 98, et seq. 110. t See Instructions to Ambassadors, Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 107. ''■■ If there were any truth (which is doubtful) intlie report mentioned in a letter to Cardinal Mazarin from Abel Servlen, ambassador of France, at Munster, at the time of the peace, it would go far to confirm this supposition ; he says, that Pauw and Knuyt, when remark was made upon their engaging the republic so deeply in the interests of France, answered in a Dutch proverb : " When once you have the bride in the boat, keep what promises to her you like."— Bougeant, Traite de West- phalie, torn, v., lib. vii., p. 180. 2 Q 2 596 FREDEBIC-IIEXRY, 1G35 The French army levied for the invasion of the Xetlierlauds according to the treaty, under the com - mand of the ^Marshals Chatillon and Breze, instead of first laying siege to Dunkirk, as the prince wished, and where they might have easily received supplies and been supported by the Dutch fleet, invaded Luxem- burg, where they obtained a signal victory near Aveine over the troops of the Cardinal Infanta, commanded by Prince Thomas of Savoy. It was late, therefore, in the summer before they effected a junction, at the village of Meersen, with the forces of the Prince of Orange, who, on his side, had been delayed for some time, chiefly by the tardiness of the States of Holland in contributing their share towards the preparations; a course of conduct occasioned by the distaste they had conceived towards the present alliance with France, as tending to present additional obstacles to the peace, which they had long desired. Tlie allied armies, about 40,000 strong, captured Thienen, which was cruelly pillaged, witli some other small places, and forced the Cardinal Infanta to retreat to Bnissels" But the evils of a divided command were soon felt. The prince, indeed, had been ap- pointed by Louis, general-in-chief of the combined forces; but his complaisance towards the French mar- shals led him to defer on all occasions to their opinion ; and, contrary to his own judgment, he consented, instead of marching in pursuit of the enemy, to lay siege to Louvain, where, as he had foretold, the French troops were soon reduced to distress for want of pro- visions. Unwilling, however, to incur the disgrace of abandoning an enterprise once begun, though in oppo- sition to his advice, Frederic-Henry endeavoured to induce them to keep the field, by affording them a - Jlem. de Fred.-Hen., p. 170, 178, 182. STADTHOLDEE. 597 supply of 30,000 pounds of bread from his own 1633 stores; but dispirited by sickness and famine, they hastily broke up the camp and retired to Ruremonde. The few towns captured were either evacuated or retaken by the enemy, who also surprised the Schen- kenschans at the confluence of the Rhine and Waal, thus opening a passage into Zutphen and the Betuwe, occupied the towns of Goch and Gennep in Cleves, and made themselves masters of Limburg''. Each party endeavoured to throw on the other the blame of these miscarriages, and "Frederic-Henry has even been accused of purposely causing the destruction of the French army in revenge for the cardinal's having attempted, in the year 1630, to deprive him of the principality of Orange". But it is impossible for any charge to be more unjust or unfounded. The fault lay wholly with Richelieu himself, who, gifted with a genius better adapted to the conception of vast designs than to the examination of the details necessary to ensure their success, had neglected to make any provision either for the payment or support of so numerous a force in a foreign country. So far from being instru- mental in depriving the French soldiers of provisions, the prince, as we have just observed, liberally supplied them at the expense of his own troops; and the States of Holland gave permission to the governments of the towns, where they were placed in winter quarters, to borrow the funds necessary for their support froni the States-General, in case they were not furnished by their own commissioners; in some towns the magis- trates themselves daily gave them bread, and advanced them loans of money which were never likely to be repaid ; the sick also were quartered in their hospitals, d Mem. de Fred.-Hen., p. 183—191. Aitzema, deel ii., U. 276. ° Wiquefort, Hist, des Prov. Unieis, liv. i., p. 20. Du Maimer, p. 867. 598 FEEDERIC-HENRY, 1635 and treated with tlie greatest humanity. But in spite of their efforts the sufferings of the unhappy creatures were dreadful in the extreme. The remnant of them, dwindled by want and the plague, which then raged in the provinces, to 6000 foot and about 2000 horse, were embarked early in the next year at Rotterdam, and carried back to their own country, where they were quartered in the different towns of Normandy for rest and. refreshment^. While the results of the campaign were thus unsatisfactory to both the allied powers, the jealousy of each was excited by the conduct of the other ; that of France, by negotiations for jDeace commenced with- out her knowledge, between the Registrar JMusch on the part of the States, and Don Martin d'Axpe, secre- tary to the King of Spain ; while the States on the other hand took umbrage at the offers of mediation which the Pope had made between Spain and France, and to which, as they conceived, Louis listened with an alacrity, incompatible with the spirit of the late treatyg. The negotiations between the States and Spain were as usual fruitless; though the embarrassed condition in which the domestic affairs of the provinces were at this juncture, rendered peace more than ever an object to be desired and laboured for. At the time of the Union in 1579, it had been found impossible to conciliate so many separate Statesj each claiming and jealous of their independence, and which at that time had lost, in their sovereign, their only bond of connection, without leaving to each many prerogatives and functions of sovereignty more properly exercised by the generality, and which must of necessity militate strongly against the amalgamation, Eesol. Holl., Sept. 1635, April, 1G36. Mem. de Fre'd.-Hen., p. 197. e Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 282. STADTHOLDER. 599 or ultimate consolidation, of the confederacy into a 1635 systematic whole. The 4th article of the Union, empowering the States-General to raise the funds required for the expenses of the generality by an impost on certain articles named, had been soon found impracticable and tacitly abandoned, each province retaining the right of levying its quotas. Thus no power existed in the State sufficient to coerce any one of them which might prove tardy or recusant, without resorting to the illegal and dangerous expedient of an armed force, as had been doiie with respect to Groningen in the year 1600. The quotas had accord- ingly, from the commencement of the truce, been a fruitful source of contention, and the disputes on this head were often carried so far as almost to threaten the integrity of the Union''. The province of Holland alone paid fifty-seven per cent, of the whole contri- butions levied for the service of the generality; and the remainder, notwithstariding, unceasingly com- plained that they were rated too highly. Friezlaiid, especially, had been long in arrear, and in the year 1626, some attempts of the stadtliolder, Ernest Casimir, to raise the taxes necessary for the payinent of the quota, by means of executions on the defaulters, had been followed by serious tumults. The discontents arising from this cause, had created a party in the States opposed to the stadtholder, sufficiently powerful to effect an entire change in the constitution, by granting to the inhabitants of the towns the right of choosing their own magistrates without his interven- tion. No sooner was this grant obtained, than the citizens deposed the existing governments, and erected in their stead councils, constituted in the same manner as in Holland. This change rendered the state of '' Carleton's Letters, p. 48, 600 FEEDERIC-HEXRV, 1635 aiiairs vrovse than before ; many of the taxes were remitted in order to gratify the jjopular party, to Avhom the present governments owed their elevation, and the arrears continued to increase, until at length the States-General, haying sent numerous deputations of remonstrance without eifect, were constrained to resort to force. They sent troops to be quartered in 1636 most of the towns of Friezland, and, by the advice of the Prince of Orange, commissioned the Council of State to arrange the affairs of the government and finances of the jDrovince. The members of the council having accordingly repaired to Friezland, the}' restored everywhere the deposed magistrates, and appointed perpetual councils in the towns, in spite of the earnest remonstrances of the States of the province, of the violation committed upon their freedom and sove- reignty. From these councils, five electors, chosen by lot, were to name the double number for the selection of magistrates by the stadtholder. The new deputies to the States, sent by these governments, in conjunction with the Council of State, placed the levy and disbursement of the jniblic finances on such a footing as to secure the payment of the quota, and made regulations to prevent bribery and intrigues in the acquisition of public offices, declaring those who were found guilty of such practices, incapable of ap- pearing in the provincial assemblies; and thus restored matters, for a time, at least, to a state of quietude'. Although the fact of the King of England having been invited to become a party to the late treaty between France and the United Provinces, seemed to afford evidence that it was not framed with hostile intentions, so far as he was concerned, yet the close connection subsisting betM'een these two countries, as ' Aitzema, deel i., bl, 538, et passim ; deel ii., bl. 382—434, CG3. STADTHOLDER. 601 well as the projected partition, inspired him with 1636 feelings of extreme uneasiness and alarm; while the body of the nation, grown jealous of the daily in- creasing navigation and commerce of the Dutch, com- plained that they hindered their trade, not only in their distant possessions, the East and West Indies and Greenland, but on their very coasts, by their mono- poly of the herring fishery. The latter, in particular, the English looked upon with the more discontent, as it appeared a lucrative branch of traflSc belonging solely to themselves and wrested from their hands ; and the king sought, perhaps, to make amends on easy terms for the many causes of complaint he had given his people, by issuing an order in council prohibiting this fishery in the English and Irish seas, except upon a license granted for the purpose. In this Charles followed the maxims laid down in the celebrated "Mare Clausum'' of Selden, published in the last year, and received with unbounded admiration by the English, in which the exclusive right of Great Britain over the seas surrounding these islands was maintained, in opposition to the " Mare Liberum" of Grotius, which, though written to defend the right of free trade to the Indies against the exclusive pretensions of Spain, had not failed to draw the severe displeasure of James I. upon the author''*. The States imme- diately dispatched an ambassador to obtain the revoca- tion of the prohibition, as well as to propose that the king should declare war against Philip, and equip a fleet for the purpose of making a descent on the coasts k Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 305, 306. ; * Even had the principles laid down by the " Mare Clausum" held good, the right of the Dutch -n-ould not have been affected, as that was founded upon the grant of Edv^ard I., permitting them to fish upon the coasts of England. 602 FREDEEIC-HENRY, 1636 of Spain in conjunction with the vessels of the States and France ; a scheme to which they could have little hope that Charles would accede, and which, probably, they brought forward with the view of conciliating the niation, whose spirit of enterprise such an invitation in former times would scarcely have failed to arouse. If unable to perfeuade the king to hostilities, the ambas- sadors were instructed to engage him to promise an exact and impartial neutrality. Their mission was, however, fruitless ; and some English ships of war having captured one of the herring-boats and scattered the remainder, the States were constrained to provide them with a convoy of men-of-war for their protection'. It was to carry the above-mentioned prohibition into eifect, as well as to maintain the sovereignty of the seas against the united power of France and Holland, that Charles put the powerful fleet to sea, to defray the expenses whereof, he resorted to the levy of the notable ship-money, of which the fatal results so conii pletely frustrated the object. The complaints, which Charnacg the ambassador of France now frequently and loudly made, that the States endeavoured to throw the whole burden of the war on the shoulders of their ally, were not quite with- out foundation ; since, while the Cardinal Infanta in- vaded Picardy and conquered several places from the French, the Prince of Orange was content to secure the frontier of the provinces by the recovery of the Schenkenschans ; and as he persisted in remaining inactive after that achievement, Richelieu found it necessary to inspire new life into his allies by a promise of 1,500,000 livres, to be expended in the support of the troops ; while, in order to bind Frederic-Henry the piore firmly to his interests, he induced the king to ' Aitzenia, deel ii., bl, 307, 310. STADTHOLDER. 603 confer on him the title of Highness instead of Ex- 1637 cellency which he had hitherto borne, and which, as Charnac^ declared to the States, had now become com- mon, and was neither worthy of the exalted birth nor the transcendant merit of the prince. This act caused the States no slight perplexity. That a foreign poten- tate should presume to bestow a title on their subject without first asking their permission, could appear in no other light than that of an insolent assumption of superiority, more especially as Louis was accustomed to address themselves, the sovereigns of the prince, merely as " lords" and " sirs." At the same time a refusal to confirm the gift would be invidious towards their most valuable ally, and occasion an irreparable breach with Frederic-Henry himself. As an expe- dient, therefore, at once to avoid these evils and maintain their own dignity, they, while they confirmed the title, thanked his majesty for concurring with them in bestowing it upon the stadtholder. The ambassador, however, insisted that they should simply return thanks to the king, and the States-General were obliged to swallow the affront as best they mig'lit ; but there is little doubt that this circumstance, which rendered the fetadtholder a devoted adliereht of France, contributed greatly to ■ create that feeling of coldness that the provinces soon began to manifest towards the alliance with that country™. It seems to have been under this altered state of feeliiig that the States-General shciwed themselves extretriely backward this year in making provisions of either troops or money for the campaign. The prince^ On the bther hand, evinced his gjatitude to Louis by Consenting to undertake, at the earnest desire of »> Mem. de Fred.-Hen., p. l96. Aitzema, deel i., bl. 326—328, 341 417, 419. 604 FREDERIC-HENRY, 1637 Charnaee, the siege of Dunkirk; and with this intent, he transported an army of 17,000 men by water to Rammekens, where they waited three weeks for a fail- wind, during which time the enemy's forces had assembled around Dunkirk, prepared to oppose their landing. The prince, therefore, suddenly dropped down to Bergen-op-Zoom, whence he marched to Breda, and commenced the siege of that town without delay, the soldiers labouring at the entrenchments with such activity, that their camp was put into a tolerable state of defence in a single day. On intelli- gence of the danger of Breda, the Cardinal Infanta repaired with his army to Antwerp, and passing the Scheldt by means of a bridge of boats, took up his position at Rysbergen ; but, unable to force the besiegers' lines, he turned aside to Venloo, which immediately surrendered. Frederic-Henry, true to the maxim Avhich he had laid down for himself, of never relinquishing an enterprise he had once begun, allowed the enemy to capture Ruremonde also without interruption ; finding an ample compensation for these losses in the sui-render of Breda, which capitulated after a siege of eleven weeks'^. Unhappily the Dutch missed an opportunity of inflicting excessive damage on the enemy by the esca]ie of a fleet, laden with specie to the amount of 4,000,000 of florins, which the King of France informed Van Dorp, vice-admiral of the provinces, was about to sail from Spain to Dunkirk, desiring, at the same time, tbat he would lie in T\ait in the Channel to intercept its passage. But Van Dorp, being short of provisions on board his vessels, was obliged to retire to Helvoet- sluys to revictual ; and during the interval, not only the Spanish fleet came safely to Dunkirk, but the ■■ Mein. de Fred.-Hen., p. 202 — 220. STADTHOLDEE. 605 pirates of that port captured the Dutch ships returning liM7 from Eochelle with salt. This circumstance so exas- perated the minds of the people against Van Dorp, that he found himself obliged to resign his office*, which was conferred on Martin Harpertson Tromp". The conquests of the West India Company had, since the possession of Fernambuco, been constantly advancing. In 1634 they occupied and formed a colony at Curasao ; an island as valuable for its pro- ductions as for its excellent harbour. Their territory in Brazil, which now comprised the three districts, or " capitanias" of Paraiba, Fernambuco, and Tamarica, was become so extensive, and its population so numerous, as to require the command of a person of more weight and authority than the governors that had hitherto held the office. The company accordingly, with the concurrence of the stadtholder and States- General, appointed John Maurice of Nassau, cousin of the Prince of Orange, to the government for the term of five years. On his arrival he found the colonists scarcely in a condition to preserve the conquests they had made ; the number of troops were deficient ; the scarcity of provisions was extreme; and the Portuguese were in possession of the fort of Porto Calvo, close to Fernambuco, having cut off the communication between that town and the neighbouring fortress of the Re9ifa. ° Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 483, 484. * The obloquy wliich Van Dorp sustained on this occasion was well deserved; since as eveiy captain of a ship in the Dutch navy received a certain sura for the maintenance of the crew, it was his duty to have his ship properly provided, and the admiral was bound to see that it was so. This x-egulation was not attended with the mischievous effects that might be supposed ; because, if tlie sailors were starved or ill-treated by their captain, they would not sail again with him, and he lost, in consequence, all hope of favour and employment. The captains, moreover, placed great pride in having a well-appointed and efficient company. 606 PREDEEIC-HESRY, 1637 Maurice, nevertheless, marched boldly upon Porto Calvo, defeated the Portuguese army, which, far superior in numbers, advanced to oppose him, and in three days captured the fort containing the arsenal of the King of Spain. Having cleared the district of the enemy, Maurice wrote to the stadtholder to send out to him a colony of Germans, whom the desolation occasioned by the war had driven from their countiy to take refuge in the provinces. But the consideration of the immense expense necessary for the transmission of colonists for whom everything must be provided, and the length of time that must elapse before they could be acquainted with the culture of Brazilian produc- tions sufficiently to make any returns, hindered the execution of this project. Maurice then applied him- self industriously to the improvement of the internal policy of the colony ; he granted entire toleration as well to the Jews and Catholics as to all sects of Reformers; established companies of burgher guards for the defence of Olinda ; appointed regular courts and bailiffs ; and made regulations to restrain the dis- soluteness and license of the inhabitants, which, owing to the remissness of former governments, had arrived at a most lamentable excess. The constitution of the colony differed, as we have observed, from such as were usually planted by the Dutch, inasmuch as it was essentially military, and holding out the prospect of acquiring riches rather by plunder and the spoils of the enemy than by steady industry, attracted thither, not the peaceful and honest agriculturist or trader, but speculators, deserters, and vagabonds of every descrip- tion. A population thus composed of individuals of different creeds and languages, almost destitute of religious instruction — since the ministers sent by the company were generally such as were with- STADTHOLDEE, 607 out consideration or employment in their own country, 1637 few others being found willing to go — and unrestrained by law, had become totally forgetful of their duties towards God and man, and prescribed to themselves as a law of morality, that nothing done without the pale or limits of the colonial jurisdiction, was a sin. It was no wonder, therefore, that the most revolting crimes and atrocities were daily committed, for the suppression of which Maurice found it necessary to resort to mea- sures of extreme severity, which proved, however, rather a palliative than a cure of the evilP. It was in this year that the singular mania, " Tuli- pomania," as it was afterwards termed, the offspring of wealth and luxury, became prevalent among the Dutch, especially in the province of Holland. The j)rice of tulips suddenly rose to an incredible height, the most esteemed varying from 2600 guilders to 150 for a single root. Large fortunes were acquired by speculations on this article, which, in Amsterdam alone, involved, it is said, no less a sum than 10,000,000 of guilders. Persons of all ranks, sexes, and ages, neglected their ordinary avocations to amuse themselves with this novel species of gambling; but as those who purchased were often of slender means and unable to fulfil their engage- ments, the speculation became so unsafe that men lost their confidence in it, and in course of time it died away of itself-J. The Hollanders, though still retaining their passion for tulips, have since been able to restrain it within more reasonable bounds. However we may condemn this idle traffic, and however well deserved the ridicule it has incurred, it is still gratifying to reflect in what a state of ease and prosperity, how free from care and light-hearted a people must be, Avho could find opportunity and inclination to devote their f Barlsus, Renim gestaram sub Mauritio, p. 65—105. ■■ Aitzema, dsel ii., lil. 603, 604. 608 FREDERIC-HENRY, 1637 attention to sucli agreea})le trifles. The mania did not extend to the Spanish Netherlands. From the time of the conclusion of the partition treaty, Richelieu had been unceasing in his solicitations to the King of England, that he would consent to remain neutral, while the allied forces attacked the towns on the coast of Flanders ; but he was met, not only by a firm refusal from Charles to promise the required neutrality, but by a declaration that he would consider any attack made on those towns as an act of hostility against himself--. In consequence of this line of conduct, which, however wise and just, had no small influence on the fate of that unhappy prince*, the allies were deterred from their meditated descent on the Flemish coast ; and d'Estrades, the French 1638 ambassador, who had come to Holland from England, induced Frederic-Henry to undertake the siege of Antwerp, promising that at the same time the king's army should attack St. Omer^. ^^'^hile preparations were making for the enterprise, d'Estrades complained to the prince tliat the merchants of Amsterdam transmitted to Antwerp, constant sup- plies of arms and ammunition. Frederic-Henry having sent to inquire concerning the matter, one Beyland was brought before the magistrates of the town, ' Lettres d'Estrades, torn, i., p. 6. " Idem, p. 18. * Richelieu offered, as an ec[uivalent, to afford him suecoui's against the malcontents of his awn kingdom ; and afterwards entered into a close correspondence with Mobel and Gordon, the active agents of the Covenanters in Scotland. — Lettres d'Estrades, torn, i., p. 7 — 11. It seemed, indeed, as though the good and evil actions of this ill-starred monarch were equally destined to bring him to ruin. Had he consented to com- promise the honour and safety of his kingdom, as his son Charles II. afterwards did, Richelieu would gladly have afforded him such subsidies as should have relieved him in great measure from his dependence on pai'liament. STADTHOLDEE. GOO accused of having freighted four vlieboats with pow-]638 der, muskets, and pikes, for Antwerp. Beyland boldly confessed the fact, saying that the merchants of Am- sterdam had a right to trade where they pleased, and there were a hundred commissioners from Antwerp, in the town, of Avhom he Avas one ; he added, that " if anything were to be gained by trading to hell, he would risk burning his sails." The magistrates acquitted him, on the ground that he had done his duty to his employers ; a decision which roused the [prince into a transport of rage : " You see," said he to d'Estrades, " what patience I must have with these brutes of merchants ; I have no greater enemies than the town of Amsterdam ; but if I once gain Antwerp, I will bring them so low that they shall never rise again s;'' a speech, affording, perhaps, the best possible explanation, of the motives which actuated the citizens of Amsterdam on this occasion. The city of Amster- dam, the most influential member of the States of Holland, who in their turn were predominant in the States-General, became thus the virtual head of the Union, and as such, was ever viewed with a jealous eye by the Stadtholders, to whom it appeared as a rival in authority and consideration. We shall, ere long, have to remark" to what an excess their mutual animosities were cai-ried. The French general Chatillon had been about a month before the walls of St. Omer, when Frederic- Henry commanded Count William of Nassau to march from Voorne, where the army was stationed, over the the land of Doel, and after having gained possession of the dyke of Calloo, to advance to the fort of Burght, while he himself went to occupy the fort of ' Letties d'Estrades, torn, i., p. 28, 29. VOL. II. 2 E 610 FREDERIC-HENRY, 1638 Berchem, with the purpose of throwing a bridge across the Scheldt, between that place and Burght. The Count succeeded in capturing the forts of Calloo and Verrebroek, and took up his position on the dyke, where he was, ere long, sharply attacked in three different places, by the enemy's troops under the Mar- quis of Leden. After a severe contest, the victory remained with the Dutch ; but William, being informed that the enemy was about to station himself between his army and the island of Doel with the view of cutting off his supplies, made a hasty retreat in the night to Liefkenshoek, pursued by the Spaniards, when the troops falling into disorder, nearly two thousand men were killed or drowned in attempting to escape, and the whole of the artillery taken. This misfortune obliged the prince to abandon his design on Antwerp, when he marched to the siege of Gueldres, which proved equally unsuccessful ; and the French, on their side, were forced by Prince Thomas of Savoy to raise the siege of St. Omer'. While the affairs of Spain thus began to assume a more encouraging aspect on land, her navy sustained one of those irreparable shocks, a succession of which, during this war, degraded her from the high station of mistress of the seas of both hemispheres, to a con- temptible rank among the maritime powers of Europe. The King of Spain had been for some time fitting out a powerful fleet, with the purpose of carrying the war to the coasts of Sweden, and for its equipment had commanded a re-inforcement of men and provisions, 1639 to be sent from Dunkirk. Fourteen men of war, three frigates, and seven smaller vessels, accordingly set sail from that port, when they were attacked by the States' admiral, Tromp, Mith eleven ships ; two were ' Mem. de Fr^d. Hen., p. 224—229, 248. STADTHOLPEE, 611 captured, and the rest forced to retire within the har* U hour. Soon after he seized three Englisli ships, with 1070 Spanish soldiers on board, whom they were con- veying from Cadiz to Dunkirk ; and taking the latter prisoners, he allowed the ships to go free. Having left seventeen vessels to blockade the port of Dun- kirk, and sent another portion of the fleet to convoy the merchant-men coming from the East Indies, Tromp, with his twelve remaining ships, advanced to meet the enemy's fleet, on its arrival. It was soon perceived entering the Straits of Dover, to the number of sixty- seven sail of the line, and having 2000 troops on board. He immediately commenced a skirmish, which continued till the Vice-Admiral De Witte came up at his signal, with four others. At the head of this dimi- nutive squadron, Tromp made a close and resolute attack on the enemy, attaching himself to the admi- ral's ship. The combat, during which one of the Dutch ships, named the "Great Christopher," blew up from the ignition of its own powder, lasted from sun- rise till four in the afternoon, when the Spanish admiral, Don Antonio d'Oquendo, finding several of his ships greatly damaged, retired, in conformity with his orders, to the Downs, where eighteen English vessels were stationed to receive them. The next day, Tromp being re-inforced by thirteen of the ships which he had left to blockade Dunkirk, followed them thither, and cast anchor in the roads, determined upon a general engagement, if they should attempt to come out. D"Oquendo, however, with his powerful fleet, of which several ships carried from sixty to one hundred guns, allowed himself to be blockaded by thirty vessels of inferior size, without making an effort to break through ; while the English admiral, Pennington, de- clared to Tromp that he was instructed to assist the 2 R 2 612 FREDEMC-HENRY, 1639 Spaniards in case he should commence hostilities. Fearing to prove the occasion of a war between his country and England, Tromp, while he maintained his station, sent to the States for fresh orders. The pro- tection of the English government, however, instead of saving the Spanish fleet, served but to call into action the vast maritime power of the Dutch republic, which had never yet been displayed in its full vigour, and which, ere long, became so formidable to England her- self. The States-General, irritated at the conduct of their ancient ally, commanded their admiral to attack the enemy at the first convenient opportunity, without regard to the place where they were, or the persons who should assume to protect them; and sent deputies to all the maritime towns to hasten the equipment of the ships they had hired. On this occasion, the Dutch evinced that, though habitually slow and cautious, few nations can surpass them in celerity when the emer- gency requires it. The East and West India Com- panies, the maritime towns, and Amsterdam in parti- cular, vied with each other in the diligence and rapidity of their preparations; and in less than a fortnight their exertions had augmented the fleet Oct. under Tromp to ninety-six sail, and twelve fire-ships. 21st. (pjjyg reinforced, he stationed De Witte at the head of a detached squadron to observe the English, with orders to treat them as enemies if they attempted to assist the Spaniards, and commenced the attack, em- barrassed by a thick fog, under cover of ^^hich the Spaniards cut their cables, for the purpose of effecting their escape ; but sailing too close to the shore, several ships ran aground, and, being sharply cannonaded by the Dutch, were abandoned. Most of the remainder, in attempting a retreat, were sunk, captured, or driven on the coasts of France. " Never," says a contempo- STADTHOIDEE. 613 rary author, " was a victory more complete." The 1639 squadron of Dunkirk, however, arrived safely in har- bour, bearing on board the Admiral d'Oquendo, the greater number of the troops having before made their escape thither in English vessels, during the time that the fleet remained in the Downs. The event was celebrated with bonfires and other rejoicings; and magnificent presents were bestowed by the States upon Tromp and De 'Witte^ Immediately after the battle, the States dispatched an embassy to appease the wrath of the King of Eng- land, who was highly affronted at the violation, as he declared, of the neutrality of his shores ; though the Spaniards were constantly permitted to supply them- selves with ammunition in his kingdom, and to trans- port money and troops to Dunkirk in English vessels. But the victory gained by the Dutch, in proportion as it gave displeasure to the court, was agreeable to the Parliament party, insomuch that the Earl of Warwick wrote a letter of congratulation to the Prince of Orange on the event ; and the king was not just now in a condition to admit of his chastising the provinces as his inclination prompted". The States-General, conceiving, probably, that while the lustre cast upon them by this brilliant vic- tory was still fresh, would be a suitable time to fix their rank and title among the powers of Europe, now resolved that their ambassadors were to rank after those of kings and the more ancient republic of Venice, and before the electors of Germany and minor jarinces; and that they themselves should be addressed by the title » Aitzema, deel ii., tl, 609, 616. Mem. de Fre'd.-Hen., p. 267, 260. Lettres d'Estrades, torn, i., p. 44. The letter containing the intelligence is, most unaccountaUy, dated the 20th of September, though the battle ■was fought on the 21st of October. ' Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 615, 620, 673, 614 FREDEEIC-HENEY, less of "High Mightinesses," and "High and Mighty -Lords ;" declaring, at the same time, that the sove- reignty rested not in the Assembly of the States- General, (" as foreigners ignorant of their constitution suppose,") but in the respective counties and lordships; and at the deposition of Philip II., became vested in the States of the several provinces. The title of lord-, ships or seigneuries •was to be dropped^. The events of the campaign of this year offer nothing trorthy of notice on the part of the Dutch. The French army mastered Hedin and Yvri, but failed before Thionville ; giving the Spaniards employment also on the side of Roussillon, by the capture of Salces ] 640 and Cannet. The Prince of Orange now engaged, on the receipt of a subsidy of 1,200,000 guilders from France, to undertake the siege of Bruges and Damme; but, finding all the passages strongly fortified and guarded, he resolved to attempt the reduction of Hulst. He accordingly sent Count Henry, stadtholder of Friezland, to occupy the fort of JVIoervaert, while the Colonel Hauterive should attack that of Nassau. The latter enterprise proved successful ; but Count Henry assaulting a redoubt of the enemy on the passage to Jan Steyn, was defeated with severe loss, and himself slain \ His death afforded the prince, who testified the deepest grief at the event, an opportunity of seeking to accomplish an object he had long had much at heart : the general stadtholdership, namely, of the pro- vinces, by tlie union of Friezland and Groningen with the rest. In the former province he found a formidable rival in William, brother of the late stadtholder. By the changes which the Council of State had, with the Sanction of Frederic-Henry himself, effected in the " Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 624, 62d. • Mem. de Fred.-Hen., p. 271, 275. STADTHOLDER. 615 goveriiment of Friezland, nearly all tlie members of it 1640 were devoted adherents of the late stadtholder; and they now used their efforts in favour of Count Wil- liam with so much success, that the States of Friezland, instead of attending to the recommendation of the States-General to choose the Prince of Orange stadt- holder, had, before the appearance of their deputies, elected his rival. In Groningen, however, he was more fortunate. The town and the Ommelande of that pro- vince being constantly at issue, (concerning the levy of the excise, the limits of their jurisdiction, and other matters,) each party was afraid that their opponents would, by their alacrity in forwarding the views of the prince, obtain in return the support of his authority. Accordingly, at the meeting of the States, tlie deputies of the town voted first in favour of conferring the stadtholdership on Frederic-Henry, with the condition that the nomination of their Council should rest M'ith the citizens ; and their example M'as followed, though with some reluctance, by those of the Ommelande, On his arrival in Groningen shortly after, tlie new stadtholder obtained the reversion of his office in favour of his son. But notwithstanding the acquisition of Groningen, the chagrin felt by Frederic-Henry at his failure in Friezland was excessive. He commanded Oostheym, the steward, and Sohnius, the secretary of Count William, and who had been chiefly instrumental in procuring his election, never more to ap|)ear in his presence ; and accused them before the States-General of circulating calumnies against him ; that he aimed at the sovereignty of the provinces, whose liberty would be endangered by having the power of the whole seven lodged in the hands of one stadtholder ; and that he was deficient in zeal for the .pure Reformed religion, inclining to the • Remonstrants arid Catholics. Not 616 FREDERIC-HENRY, 1640 satisfied with this exercise of his vengeance, he de- prived William of the command of the regiment which had been held by his father and brother ; and by his encouragement of the malcontents of Friezland, ren- dered his situation so irksome that he obliged him to resign the reversion of the stadtholdership in his favour)'. The anxiety of the Prince of Orange to elevate his dignity to a species of hereditary sovereignty over the provinces, was enhanced by the persuasion that it would make his son a more suitable match for a prin^ cess of England, an exalted alliance, on which he was now strongly bent. The project of a marriage between the young prince William and Mary, eldest daughter of Charles I., had been devised by the queen-mother of France, during a visit she made to Holland and England in 1638, as well in gi-atitude for the reception she had met with in the former country, as, by detach- ing the provinces from the alliance with France and cementing their union with England, to annoy her enemy Richelieu, under whose direction the King of France had banished her his kingdom, and against whom her feelings of animosity were largely shared by her daughter Henrietta of England. The proposal had been renewed from time to time by the Dutch Resident at the court of London, who, to reconcile the king to the inequality of the alliance, had extolled the dignity, power, and authority of the Prince of Orange in the provinces as royal in every respect but in namc==. It might, therefore, seem some contradiction to these high pretensions that he was unable to carry a favourite measure in opposition to a young noble whom in the last year only he had sent as ambassador into England. But the advantages of the marriage to ' Aitzeraa, ileel ii., bl. 709, "47, 748. ' Idem, bl. .545, 709. STADTHOLDER. 61 7 Charles at this juncture were such as to reconcile him 1640 to its want of dignity. It was of the utmost import- ance to him to secure partisans in the prince and the States-General, the former of whom was greatly under the influence of Richelieu, the most active agent in fomenting the disturbances in his kingdom; and a portion of the latter, particularly the States of Hol- land, imbued with the opinion that the court, or rather the queen, by whom it was guided, was devoted to the interests of Spain, appeared to incline strongly towards the parliament party, and had secretly supplied the Scots with ammunition and other necessaries ^ Having ascertained the favourable dispositions of the king, Frederic-Henry intimated his wishes to the States- General, who testified their approbation of the pro- posed alliance, desiring at the same time that the young princess might be sent over to the provinces without delay, " to be preserved in the Christian Reformed religion, and instructed in the language and manners of the people;" a request which evinced that they shared in no small degree the suspicions enter- tained by the English people of the secret attachment of the king and his court to the Catholic religion; though, by the expression " preserved," it would appear that she had been educated in the Protestant tenets, and not the Catholic, as it was stipulated by the articles of the treaty between England and France, that the children of the marriage should be till the age of thirteen. The Lords of Brederode and Sommelsdyk 1641 were commissioned to London to solicit the hand of the princess, and were followed within a few weeks by the young prince himself. The marriage was cele- brated at the chapel of Whitehall, on the 1st of May, but as the bride was not yet eleven years of age, she ' Aitzemp, deel ii., bl. 677. 618 FEEDERIC-HENEY, 1641 remained some time longer in Englandb. This is the first of those royal alliances contracted by the stadt-? holders of the house of Orange, which, inspiring them with the ambition to rank among the sovereigns of Europe, rendered them dissatisfied with their station as first ministers of a free republic, and prompted them to seek an extension of their authority incompatible with the liberties and happiness of the commonwealth, and was probably one of tlie most active contributory causes of its ultimate ruin. The renewal of the friendship with England, which was to be anticipated from this marriage, was contem- plated with extreme suspicion by Kichelieu, to whom, moreover, the . transactions of the late campaign had given no satisfaction. He could not but observe that insuperable obstacles were always found in the Avay of attempting the reduction of any town which was to be ceded to France by the terms of the partition treaty; and that the promises made by the Prince of Orange to that effect, at the time of the annual treaty of sub- sidy, were sure to end in the conquest of a place included in the portion of the States. Determined, if possible, to bring about a change in this mode of pro- ceeding, he sent d'Estrades once more as ambassador to the provinces, with instructions not to consent to the annual subsidy, unless Frederic-Henry should bind himself to undertake the siege of some place of im- portance. The prince did, in fact, agree to attempt Antvverp, Hulst, or Gueldres, with an army of 22,500 tnen, equal in number to that of the king, on paymejit of 1,200,000 guilders. But instead of attacking either of these places, he employed himself in the reduction pf Oennep, during which time the Spanish commander ^ Aitzema, deel ii., M. 709. Merii, de Fre'd.-Hen., p. 278, 279. STADTHOLDEB. 61 9 besieged and took Aire ; the remainder of tHe summer 1641 being consumed in the usual inactivity". Spain, indeed, was at this time, without any extra- ordinary efforts on the part of her enemies, sufficiently enfeebled by the civil war in Catalonia and the revolt of Portugal, which placed the family of Braganza on the throne of that country; and, being followed by a similar movement in all the Portuguese colonies in Asia, Africa, and America, deprived her of her most, valuable possessions in these quarters of the globe. The States immediately acknowledged the ambassador sent by the new sovereign of Portugal, John IV., and concluded with him a truce for ten years, engaging to assist him with a fleet of twenty ships against the King, of Spain; regulations were made for the mutual com- merce of the two nations in the West Indies, each party retaining those places of Avhich they were then in possession. The treaty was, however, extremely unpalatable to the East and West India Companies, particularly the latter, whose chief source of revenue M'as the spoil captured from the Spaniards and Portu- guese; and as it was not to take effect in the colonies for a twelvemonth, they availed themselves of this circumstance to pursue their conquests. A fleet of twenty ships, commanded by Cornelius Jol, sailing from Fernambuco, effected the reduction of Joanda di St. Paulo, in the kingdom of Angola, where they made a settlement for the purpose of carrying on the traffic in slaves to Brazil. Jol then made himself master of St. Thomas, where he perished from the effects of the unwholesome climate; and the same cause obliged the ships' crews to abandon the island. The Dutch next reduced the town and citadel of Maranhao, in Brazil, - Lettres d'Estrades, toift, i,, p, 68, Aitzeraa, deel il., bl, 771. Mem. de Fred.-Hen., p. 292.. 620 FEEDERIC-HENRY, 1641 -whereby the whole country from thence to the River Royal came into the possession of the Company^. Spain, likewise, sustained a heavy loss this year in the Netherlands, by the death of Ferdinand the Car- dinal Infanta, the most able general that had governed the provinces since the death of the Duke of Parma. Don Francisco di Melo was appointed his successor^. The campaigns of this and the preceding years rendered it fully evident, how little purpose the States entertained when they concluded the partition treaty, of carrying its provisions into effect. The progTess of France, though small and vastly disproportioned to tha expense, so that the war, if carried on a few years longer at the same rate, would have tended to her ruin rather than the increase of her power, had, never- theless, excited the deepest alarm in the minds of all ranks of men in the United Provinces. The neigh- bourhood of a military nation, governed by an absolute and ambitious minister, was far more dangerous, they conceived, than that of Spain could ever prove; nor did it appear probable, that with every facility for pushing their conquests within the boundaries of the provinces, such as the command of the frontier towns would give them, the French would rest satisfied with their share of the spoil, or with anything less, in fact, than the possession of the whole of the Netherlands. Finding that these sentiments daily gained ground with the States and the people, Frederic-Henry pro- posed to the cardinal, that in order to obviate such suspicions, the French army should be employed chiefly on the side of Catalonia or Italy, while he, with a force of 20,000 foot and 6000 cavalry, should guard the frontier of France. This scheme was highly ap^ " Barleus Ber. Gest. Mau., p. 339, et'sej. • Mem. de Fred.-Hen., p. 301, STADTHOLDER. 621 proved of by Richelieu, and the transactions of the 1642 next campaign in the Netherlands were therefore confined to the march of the Prince of Orange to Ordinghen, for the purpose of effecting a junction with the Count of Guebriant, general of the French troops in Cologne; whereby he prevented an attack which the Spanish commander Melo was about to make on the latter with a far superior force^. The affairs of England now began to occupy the attention of the States, and to involve them in the utmost anxiety and embarrassment. The discords between the King and parliament were at this moment on the point of breaking out into civil war ; and in the early part of the present year the Queen Henrietta visited Holland, disguising her purpose of collecting arms and ammunition under the pretence of bringing over her daughter to the young Prince Wil- liam s. She made earnest efforts to involve the Prince of Orange and the States-General in the quarrel, which were, however, strongly and successfully opposed by the States of Holland ; who, having deposed their own sovereign for his violation of their rights, were little likely to support Charles in his arbitrary measures of government, or to assist in chastising the English for acting up to those lessons which they had but too well learned from themselves. The prince on the contrary, shoM'ed himself entirely favourable to the royal cause, and assisted the queen with money from his private purse, with which, and the sums she raised by pledging her own and a part of the crown jewels at Amsterdam, greatly above their real value, she collected sufficient funds to freight several vessels with arms and ammu- nition. These the States-General, out of complaisance ' Lettres d'Estrades, torn, i., p. 63. Mem. de Fre'd.-Hen., p. 308, 309. « Aitzema, deel ii., bl, 815. 622 FBEDEBIC-HENRY, 1642 to the Prince of Orange would willingly have allowed to pass ; but Holland and Zealand took it upon them-- selves to prevent their exit ; and the parliament had so many spies in the former province, that they were able to intercept all communications from thence to England. The queen, however, sent back the small English vessel which had brought her over, laden with powder and arms for 3000 men, ^Yhich arrived in safety at Burlington ; and thus, by a singular fatality, Holland herself furnished the arms -wherewith to com- mence this destructive civil war in the bosom of her ally. A few other ships afterwards succeded in reach- ing England, in spite of the vigilance of the States of Holland, which called forth loud complaints fi'om the envoy of the parliament, Walter Strickland, who had been for some time in that province. The tenor of his commission was to represent the advantages of a close union between their party and the United Provinces, alike devoted to their civil liberties and the pure Re- formed religion ; and to solicit that no subsidies of money, arms, or troops, might be afforded to the " malignants." The States, unwilling to incur the displeasure of the prince by espousing the parliament side according to the desire of the States of Holland, or to create a division between that powerful province and the remainder, by supporting the royalists, deter- mined on adopting the middle course of an exact neutrality between the contending parties, and forbad any ships to leave the ports freighted with troops or 1643 arms for either. Early in the next year the queen was conducted back to England, in a small fleet under the escort of Admiral Tromp, and safely landed at Flamborough-head ''. _ t Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, vol. J., p. 521, edit. 1702, fol. Aitzema, deel ii., bl, 842, et seq., 878. STADTHOLDEK. 623 The death of Cardinal Richelieu, prime minister of 1643 France, wliich was followed within a short time by that of Louis XIII., made little or no difi'erence in the relations between that country and the United Pro- vinces, since the entire administration of affairs was confided by Anne of Austria, regent during her son's minority, into the hands of the Cardinal Mazarin, the pupil and confidant of the late minister, whose system of policy he followed out in almost every particular. The customary annual treaty of subsidy was accord- ingly concluded ; but the campaign, signalized by the brilliant victory of Rocroi, gained by the Due d'Enghien over the Spaniards, would have passed in entire inaction on the part of the Dutch, owing, among other causes, to the declining health of the Prince of Orange, except for a skirmish between the two armies, stationed, the Spanish at Selsaten, the States' at Bergen-op-Zoom, in which the latter, led by the young Prince William, was entirely successful'. The virtual cessation of hostilities gave the pro- vipces leisure to attempt the reform of some abuses which had latterly crept into the constitution of their States. The sittings of the States-General, formerly held only in pursuance of a summons issued by the Council of State, had for a period of about fifty years become perpetual; the deputies, seldom recalled by their principals the States of the provinces, remained members for several years, sometimes for life ; and the consequence of this change had been an undue aug- mentation of power on the part of the States-General, such as a permanent assembly in a constitution where all others are periodical and fluctuating', must inevi- tably acquire. The deputies began to transact many affairs of their own authority, instead of applying for Mdm. de Fred,-Hen., p. 816, 319. 624 PBEDERIC-HENRY, 1043 instructions to their principals ; and being placed in a sort of dependence on the stadtholder, in consequence of the number of lucrative and honourable offices he was able to bestow among them, rarely opposed his interests, and had come to be regarded as little else than the organs of his will. They formed, in fact, an oligarchy prone to stretch both his power and their own to unwarrantable lengths, and to encroach upon the prerogatives of all the other bodies of tlie federal government. So far back as the year 1628, the Council of State had complained, that the most im- portant affairs were discussed and determined by the States-General without their partition; and that, for want of a good correspondence between the several members of the government, the finances were in disorder, public authorities contemned, and the dis- obedience of the troops daily increasing ; and had sent a missive containing these complaints to the States of the provinces; an act at which the States-General conceived the highest umbrage''. The matter appears, however, to have been arranged, since we hear of no furtlier disputes between the two bodies, till ten years after, when the Council of State complained of the liberty of appeal to themselves which the States- General were in the habit of granting to those con- demned by the Council ; and the claim of the States was confirmed, though under some restrictions, by the stadtholderi. A cause of variance had likewise arisen between their High Mightinesses and the States of Holland, concerning three councillors of the college of admiralty at Amsterdam, who were accused of mal- administration in their office, and over whom the municipal court of Amsterdam claimed jurisdiction as being burghers of that city, while the States-General '' Aitzema, torn, i., bl. 781. ' Idem, deel ii., bl. 692. STADTHOLDKK. 625 maintained that the cognizance of the affair belonged 1643 solely to themselves of whom the accused held their oiRces. The States of Holland now framed a new instruction, which their deputies at the States-General were to swear to observe, and which, declaring that the States-General formerly met only on the summons of the Council of State for the discussion of certain specified subjects, bound them not to discuss, without special permission from themselves, any matter relating to the sovereignty, privileges, or customs of the pro- vinces; to peace or war, alliances, or subsidies to foreign princes and states ; issuing any charter affect- ing Holland ; raising or disbanding troops ; regulating the coin, convoys or licenses ; or the granting pardon of any crime committed against the state. The deputies were instructed to hold constant corres- pondence with their principals, and to consult with none besides upon affairs relating to the province; the latter article pointing, as it would appear, at the Prince of Orange. Friezland had charged their depu- ties with an instruction of a similar tenor in the year 1636, when the popular party had gained a prepon- derating influence ; but since the change effected in the year after, the whole province had become too subservient to the stadtholder to venture upon a measure which was likely to prove in the highest degree distasteful to him. The example of Holland was followed by Guelderland, and a like instruction was drawn up by the States of Zealand, but the oppo- sition of John de Knuyt, representative of the stadt- holder as the first noble, and the deputies of Veer and Flushing, of which the prince was marquis, prevented its being carried. A similar instruction for the depu- ties of Utrecht was successfully opposed by the depu- VOL. II. 2 s 626 FREDERIC-HENRY, 1643 ties of the nobles and clergy in the States of that province m. At the very commencement of the war between France and Spain, negotiations for a general peace had been opened under the mediation of the Pope, which were broken off by the refusal of the King of France to treat without the States-General his allies, but again resumed, and Cologne fixed upon as the place of meeting. Some difficulties raised upon the subject of safe-conducts, the King of Spain refusing to grant them to the ambassadors of the United Provinces, and the Emperor to those of the Protestant princes of Germany, occasioned this purpose also to be abandoned ; but in 1641 the Count d'Avaux, ambas- sador of France, had made an agreement at Hamburg with the ambassador of the Emperor, Conrad von Luntzow, whereby Munster and Osnaburg were appointed as places for holding the conferences with a view to a pacification between all the belligerent powers, and . the exchange of passports was stipulated. The government of Sweden immediately consented to this proposition ; and as it had not accepted the mediation of the Pope, and Urban VIII. on his side i-efused to treat with the ambassadors of those nations who had separated themselves from the Catholic church, it was agreed that the Swedes and Pro- testant princes should meet at Osnaburg, and the plenipotentiaries of the Catholic powers at Munster. After considerable delays, the Court of France nomi- nated as ambassadors to the conference, the Count dAvaux, and Abel Servien, Count de la Roche des Aubiers, with whom was associated the Duke de Longueville. On their way, the two former visited the Hague, for the purpose of admonishing the States- '" Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 910, 387, 938. STADTHOLDERi 627 General to send ambassadors to Gsnaburg, and of 1643 considering the terms on which the joint proposal of peace was to be made to the ambassadors of Spain. After some strenuous but unsuccessful efforts on the part of the States to induce the ambassadors to pro- pose a truce on the same terms with themselves^ instead of a peace with Spain, a treaty of mutual guaranty was concluded, whereby it was agreed, that 1644 if France made a peace with Spain, and the provinces a truce only, the king, at its expiration, if he were unable to obtain a renewal or prolongation of it, should take up arms in their favour ; each party engaged to maintain the interests of the other as its own, and not to conclude any treaty of peace with Spain, except jointly and by common consent, and upon the ground that nothing taken in the late war was to be restored to the enemy. The annual treaty of subsidy was also effected ; and matters were thus arranged after having experienced considerable difficulties, to the satisfaction of both sides". But the untimely zeal of the Count d'Avaux for his religion prompted him to make an application to the States-General for a full toleration of the Catholics, who, he urged, " had fought as well as the Reformers for that liberty in which they were not permitted to participate ; the remonstrance of the nobles in 1566 was signed by Catholics ; and it was they who had offered the most resolute opposition to the inquisition, and had contributed in a great degree to raise the States themselves to the sovereignty they enjoyed." This proposition was extremely ill received by the States, who, besides the encouragement it might give to the Spanish party at this juncture, could not but regard it as an indecent interference with their " Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 886, 860, 962. Bougeant, Traite de Weet- phalie, toni. ii., liv. 7, p. 222. 2 S 2 628 FREDERIC-HENKY, 1644 doniestic concerns; nor did it tend to render tli6 demand less offensive, that it was made on the score of the gratitude they owed for the benefits conferred on them by the Kings of France. As the Catholics were now never molested in their religious service, either in their own houses or places of private meeting, nothing less, it was thought, could be intended by this request, than that they should enjoy the liberty of holding synodal assemblies, celebrating festivals, and making public processions, to the great scandal of all good Reformers. The States, therefore, passed a reso- lution declaratory of the extreme dissatisfaction they felt at this proceeding, and of their determination to issue fresh edicts to restrain the presumption of the Papists ; which resolution was communicated to the ambassadors". The dispositions of the States were further alien- ated from France, by the reluctance of that court to recognise the rank and title of their ambassadors at the ensuing conferences at Munster ; which Henry IV. had acknowledged in 1609, but Mary di Medici, the queen mother and regent, after his death had again withdrawn, out of complaisance towards the Court of Spain. It was only the firm refusal of the States to allow their ambassadors to appear on any other terms, and the fear lest they might accept the offers made them by Spain to treat at the Hague, which induced Mazarin to cede so just and necessary a point; and even then, it was done with somewhat of insolence; the queen mother "granting this favour," as it was expressed, "to their prayers and remonstrances, in consequence of the powerful and earnest intercession of the Prince of Orange p." » Bougeant, Traits de Westphalie, liv. viii., p. 381, et seq. Aitzema, deel ii., bl, 965, 966. p Aitzema. Vredeliandel, p. 168, et seq., p. 182, STADTHOLDEE. 629 While the question of sending ambassadors to the 1644 conferences at Munster and Osnaburg was under dis- cussion, the States resolved upon making an effort to restore peace to England, by effecting, if possible, an accommodation between the king and his parlia- ment. With this intent, they sent thither the Lords Boreel and Renswoude, together with Joachim, who had been many years their resident in London, to offer themselves as mediators"!; a character which none, per- haps, were better fitted than these able negotiators to sustain. Bred up among a people who had now strug- gled for their liberties during a period of nearly eighty years, they were deeply imbued with respect for the sacred nature of those rights for which the parliament contended ; while their similarity to the English in their dispositions, habits, and pursuits, rendered them unlikely to overlook the absolute necessity of a rational and well-regulated freedom to the welfare and happi- ness of the nation. On the other hand, the attachment which the Dutch had at all times manifested towards their sovereigns, the deference and liberality with which they treated their stadtholders, though only first ministers of the State, and their reverence for prescriptive rights and customs, were an earnest that they would be little inclined to abet the parliament in their encroachments on those parts of the royal prerogative which were justly the king's due. Had both sides, therefore, honestly submitted their affairs to the decision of the States, and abided by their award, it is most probable that the subsequent misery and destruction of this deplorable civil war might have been spared, and those causes of animosity never have arisen between England and the United Provinces,^ which, arraying the two nations in hostility jigaijist . "i Aitzenia, deel ii., bl. 983. 630 FREDEEIC-HENRY, 1644 each Other, rendered each, in turn, subservient to the power of France, whose only hope of aggi-andisement was derived from their weakness consequent upon such hostihty. Unhappily, ho^yever, the States were at this time viewed with confidence by neither party. The parliament had grounded a notion that they were favourable to the king on the circumstance of their refusal to grant a public audience to their envoy, Strickland; and were displeased, moreover, that the States' ships had, in the maintenance of the ueutralit)-, seized some vessels conveying arms and ammunition for their troops. On the other hand, the States of Holland and Zealand were known to be averse to the royalists ; and the clergy throughout the provinces were led by the zeal manifested by tlie puritanical party in England against Popery, and their profession of Calvinistic principles, to regard their cause as iden- tified with that of the Reformed relis:ion. Thev for- warded, to the utmost of their power, the subscriptions set on foot in the provinces for the membei-s of the Protestant, or, as they termed it, pereecuted church iu Ireland ; and the preaching of the noted Hugh Petei-s was attended with such effect at Amsterdam, that the women who had nothing else to give, did not hesitate to sacrifice their wedding-rings for so holy a purpose ; the amount collected being, as the queen complained, no less than 30,000 guilders. The vessels, likewise, Avhich the king equipped in the ports of Flanders, were sometimes captured by the Holland and Zealand ships, and seldom failed to be declared lawful prizes by the colleges of the Admiralty iu these provinces''. The ambassadors, nevertheless, met with a gracious reception from both the king and parliament ; their offer of mediation was readily accepted by the former, ' Aitzema, deel ii., bl, 936, 981. STADTHOLDER. 631 but found less favour with the parliament, which, 1644 flushed with the pride of victory and power, had been besides possessed by Strickland with the idea that Renswoude and Boreel would, from obsequiousness to the Prince of Orange, prove wholly favourable to the royal cause. They were admitted to an audience of the Commons ; but scarce was it ended and the door closed, when a member of the independent party (whose name is not transmitted to us) started up and declared, that as soon as Gravelingues, which the French army were then besieging, should have sur- rendered, the combined forces of France and the States, to the number of 30,000 men, were to be brought over in a fleet by Admiral Tromp to the assistance of the malignants\ The fiction, absurd and improbable as it was, found ready credit M'ith the passionate and unreflecting spirits to whom it was addressed, and excited an indignation as violent as its inventors designed. The offer of mediation was rejected; and, though often again renewed, remained without effect, the Commons declaring at length, that they had of themselves drawn up propositions of peace to be presented to the king. In the affairs of their mission, relating more peculiarly to their own country, the ambassadors were equally unsuccessful. The parliament had declared all the ports of the kingdom where the authority of the king was acknowledged, in a state of blockade; and, should the royalists follow the like course, the Dutch beheld their commerce to England entirely stopped. The ambassadors accordingly urged, that if the Dutch vessels were not permitted to trade to the ports of England, the States would be justified in intercepting the navigation of the English to the places under the dominion of the King of Spain; they ' Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 992. 632 FREDEEIC-HENBY, 1644 demanded, likewise, that their ships should be free of search ; a right which the parliament had more than once claimed and exercised. But the parliament, fully determined on asserting the mastery of the seas, re- newed the prohibition against all tmde and navigation to the royalist ports ; nor Avould they even yield so far as to forego the offensive claim of search upon neutral 1645 "vessels. Finding their continuance in England of no avail, the ambassadors returned home, where the report they made to the States-General was so unfavourable to the parliament, that Strickland was immediately sent over to justify their proceedings. The influence of the Prince of Orange debarred him from an audience of the States-General; but he was received by the States of Holland, to whom he represented, that the rejection of the mediation was to be attributed solely to the unequivocal symptoms of favour which the ambas- sadors, from the time of their arrival, had manifested towards the king's party. The memorial drawn up by Strickland was published throughout the provinces, and tended greatly to coniirm the inclinations of the great body of the people towards the cause of the parliamentt. The negotiations for peace now on foot at Munster rather served as a spur to the activity than to slacken the efforts of France, who, hoping to retain all her conquests, now augmented by the acquisition of Gra- velingues and the Sas de Gend, continued to carry on hostilities with redoubled vigour. To incite the States to similar energy, ISIazarin promised them an additional subsidy of 300,000 guilders to be applied to the levy of 3000 or 4000 fresh troops. But a formidable obstacle presented itself to the execution of this ' Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 988 — 993 ; deel iii., bl. 40. Pari. Hist , vol iii J). 279, 314, .359. ■ ' • •. STADTHOLDEK. 633 agreement in the war which had lately broken out 1645 between Sweden and Denmark. The Prince of Orange, from the alliance of his son with the Princess of England, great-niece of the King of Denmark, was prone to favour that power; while a dispute of several years' standing concerning the tolls levied by Chris- tian IV. on the Dutch vessels in the Sound, had created strong feelings of animosity against him among the people, especially in Holland ; and the States of that province now resolved, that no levies should be made for any cause whatever, until a subsidy of fifty men-of- war and 5000 troops should have been furnished to the King of Sweden. In compliance, however, with the wishes of the remaining provinces, Holland con- sented, before committing actual hostilities, to try the effect of the mediation of their ambassadors, which, so powerfully supported, could scarcely fail to be suc- cessful. An accommodation was accordingly con- cluded between Sweden and Denmark, greatly to the advantage of the former power ; and the Dutch, not neglectful of their own interests while protecting those of their ally, obtained the remission of any further tolls in the Sound than such as should be agreed on by mutual consent. The new levies were then completed, and the campaign opened with an attempt by the Prince of Orange upon Antwerp, which, proving futile, he laid siege to Hulst and forced it to surrender within a month; the French army likewise mastered Bethune, Mardyke, Bourbourg, and several smaller places ; but Mardyke was again captured by the Spaniards". The West India Company were now beginning rapidly to lose the conquests they had been acquiring in South America during the last fifteen years. A military colony, seldom otherwise than unprofitable, ° Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 3, 7, 13, 19. Mem. de Fred.-Hen., p. 350— 3G0, 634 FREDERIC-HENRY, 1645 has doubly less chance of prosperity or duration when established, as in this case, by a company of merchants, who, intent upon present gain, are usually destitute of foresight to provide for contingencies which appear to them remote, or resolution to make the pecuniary sacrifices indispensably necessary to place it in a situa- tion competent for its own defence and maintenance. The Company had, in the last year, recalled Count Maurice of Nassau, in order to spare the expenses, attendant on a governor of his rank and dignity ; and the same ill-judged parsimony, wliich thus left the colony destitute of any chief of ordinary military skill, had kept the establishment of troops in a con- dition wholly inefficient for its protection. Imme- diately on the departure of Maurice, the Portuguese broke out into open revolt, captured several forts, amongst which were Surinam and St. Vincent, and, had it not been for a timely succour sent by the Company in the next year, the Dutch must have been forced to abandon all their possessions in South America". The instructions of the plenipotentiaries from the States-General to the Congress at jSIunster, occupied so long a time in preparing, that it was the beginning ,„,„of the year 1646 before they were able to rejmir thither. They were eight in number ; one from each- province, together with Adrian Pauw, ex-pensionary of Holland"*. On their arrival they found that not the slightest progress had been made in the conferences which had now continued above a year. The difier- ' Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 30. " Idem, h\. 51. ', Bertliold van Gend, baron of Loenen, was deputy from Guelderland ; Jolin van Mathenesse from Holland ; John de Knuyt, representative of tlie nobility of Zealand, was sent from that province ; Gerard van Nider-. horst from Utrecht ; Francis van Donia from Friezland ; William Rip- perda from Overyssel ; and Adrian Klant from Groningen, STADTHOLDEK. 635 ences, indeed, between the claims of the contending 1648 parties seemed at the first view totally irreconcilable. The emperor demanded the observance of the treaty of Ratisbon, (1630,) and the restitution of all which had since that time been taken from him, from the empire, and from the Duke of Lorraine. Spain appealed to the treaty of Vervins, (1598,) when Philip II. had restored all the towns he held in France, and thought that the same measure of justice should now be ob- served towards her with regard to the places conquered by France in the Netherlands and Italy. With Car- dinal Mazarin it was a fundamental principle on which alone he consented to treat, that nothing should be restored to the enemy ; and he therefore desired to retain all that France had acquired in those countries and Roussillon, and insisted upon the cession from the emperor, of the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, either absolute, or to be held as fiefs of the empire, as well as Alsace and Lorraine. Sweden, to whom the fifteen years' war she had waged in Germany had been little else than a career of uninterrupted victoiies, was not inclined to rest satisfied with anything short of Pomerania, the archbishopric of Bremen and the bishopric of Verden, and laid claim also to Halber- stadt, Osnaburg, and Minden. The two latter powers sought to prolong the negotiations with the view of pursuing their conquests during the time that they were pending, and preferred that they should terminate; in a rupture rather than abate the smallest of their high pretensions. The secret aim of Cardinal Mazarin, indeed, was rather to effect a long truce than a peace with Spain, who, he imagined, would in this case be the more easily induced to leave France in possession of her conquests''. * Bougeant, Traite de Westphalie, torn, iii., liv. 2, p. 42, et soq. 207, 210. 636 FEEDEBIC-HENRY, 1646 On the other hand the States of the United Pro^ vinces, except Zealand, were favourably inclined towards a peace, (or rather a truce, since the question of peace had not yet been brought forward,) more especially Holland, to whom it was now become an object of vital necessity. The debt of that province amounted to above 140,000,000 of guilders, for which she paid interest at five per cent*., besides 30,000,000 of unfunded debt ; her annual expenses were above 18,000,000, and her revenues being no more than 11,000,000, she was able to carry on the war only by accumulating yearly loans, which must ultimately absorb her whole capital'^. The same difficulties pre- vailed, though in a less degree, in the other provinces. Success in the war was little better than defeat, since it only entailed the expense of new fortifications, and additional garrisons to preserve the captured towns ; nor did the States desire to push their conquests farther in the Netherlands, which they would fain have beheld restored in their entirety to Spain, in order to form a barrier between them and France, of whose vicinity they had long entertained an extreme dread. The sole cause of the war was moreover removed, since Spain was perfectly willing to yield that which she had all along refused ; the acknoM'ledgment, namely, of the independence and sovereignty of the States in explicit terms, without condition or reservation. The Prince of Orange was, to all appearance, favourable to the !■ Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 899. Wiquefort, Hist, des Prov. Uuies, p. 50. Lettres d'Estrades, torn, i., p. 86. * Notwithstanding her extraordinary burdens, the province of Holland had been able in 1640 to reduce the interest from 6^ to 5 per cent. ; all the holders of stock who did not choose to let their money remain at the reduced interest receiving payment of the principal at par. Aitzema, deel ii., bl. 667. STADTHOLDER. 637 truce, since his faculties had become so impaired that 1646 he submitted his judgment wholly to the guidance of his wife, whom the Spanish court had gained over by presents and flatteries. The emperor, whose affairs had rapidly declined since the commencement of the negotiations, and who beheld the Swedish general Torstenson in his here- ditary states and the Duke d'Enghien, victor at Nord- lingen, threatening to become master of Suabia, although he could not hope to obtain peace unless by the dismemberment of some portion of his dominions, could look forward to nothing but utter ruin from the continuance of the war ; while Spain, overwhelmed on every side by enemies, her navy ruined, her veteran infantry annihilated by the army of the Duke d'En- ghien at Rocroi, and her finances completely exhausted, provided her plenipotentiaries with ample powers to conclude a peace or truce, whether general, or with either one of the parties whom they could succeed in detaching from their allies. Of the two ministers sent by Philip to the Congress, the one, the Count of Saavedra, was a Spaniard, a man of moderate talent, and imbued with all the pride and haughtiness of his nation ; his colleague, Le Brun, a Burgundian, pos- sessed in large measure all the talents requisite for a negotiator ; penetrating, subtle, and pliant, of insinuat- ing address, and equable temper, he was gifted with singular force and elegance of expression both in writing and speaking, and was well skilled in the affairs of Spain and the Netherlands. Gaspard Bra- camonte, who was afterwards added to the embassy, was a man advanced in years, taciturn and reserved; but, though entertaining a high, and, at that time, erroneous idea of the power and dignity of his master, not deficient in penetration or ability. 638 FREDERIC-HENRY, 1646 It was evident from the jealousy entertained by the provinces of the growing power of France, from the desire of the latter nation to prolong hostilities, and the anxiety of the former to procure peace, that a division might most easily be created between these powers; and the Spanish ambassadors accordingly devised a method for the purpose with admirable dexterity. While, on the one hand, they gratified the Dutch ambassadors by awarding to them directly on their arrival the rank and titles due to the representa- tives of a sovereign power, and by treating them with the most flattering tokens of respect, they privately informed them of a negotiation then on foot between Spain and France, calculated to excite the deepest mistrust and alarm of the States. This was a propo- sal suggested by Contarini, ambassador of Venice, one of the mediators, and listened to with apparent com- placency by the Spaniards, of a marriage between the eldest daughter of the King of Spain and the young King of France ; and that the princess should have as her portion the Spanish Netherlands in exchange for Roussillon and Catalonia, (which on its revolt had placed itself under the protection of France); these provinces reverting to France after the death of the infanta, even though she should leave no issue^. The passionate desire of Cardinal INIazariu to extend the frontiers of France on the side of the Netherlands, to the ]Meuse and Rhine, and to place Paris in security by making it the centre of the king- dom, prompted him to seize eagerly at the bait thus held out to him, without regard as to whether Spain were sincere in entertaining the proposal, or in what light it might be considered by England and the ' Neg. Sec, torn, ii., pa. 2, p. 35, 119, 145. Aitzema. Vredeliandfel, deel ii., p. 217. STADTHOLDEE. 639 United Provinces. Hoping to nullify through the 1646 influence of the Prince of Orange any opposition that the States-General might be disposed to oiFer, he des- patched d'Estrades into Holland with instructions to lay open the scheme to him in private, and to con- ciliate his approval hy the promise of the margraviate of Antwerp to be held as a fief of the French crown. The prince showed himself highly favourable to this arrangement, which, according to the wish of the car- dinal, he kept secret from the States, until Pauw and Knuyt, two of the plenipotentiaries at Munster, re- turned from thence to the Hague, as bearers of the intelligence, that the King of Spain had submitted all the differences between himself and France to the arbitration of the queen-mother*. The prince then made them acquainted with the information he had received from d'Estrades, which, coupled with the cir- cumstance of his having kept it so long concealed, excited in the States violent suspicions both against him and the court of France. These were augmented still further, when Frederic-Henry, being asked his advice on the point, gave it as his opinion that they should consent to the arbitration of the queen mother, provided the partition treaty of 1635 were adhered to; and the States thereupon immediately began to debate whether they should not at once accept of the advan- tageous conditions lately offered them by Spain. To obviate the effect produced on the minds of the plenipo- tentiaries at Munster as well as the States, the French ambassadors, d'Avaux and Servien, made public, with great display, the queen's refusal to accept the media- tion ; and Brasset, resident of France in the provinces, » Mem. du Card. Maz., aux Pleh. a Munster, Jan. 20th, 164G. Preuves de Wiq^uefort, torn, i., p, 149, 150. Bougeant, Traite de West- phalie, torn, iv., liv. v., p. 196. 640 FREDERIC-HENRY, 1646 declared that the Spanish match was a mere idle report, and an artifice of the enemy to sow mistrust and division among the allies^ But it was found im- possible to efface the impression that such a design really existed, or that d'Estrades, who was known to be familiar with all the movements and sentiments of his court, would have broached an assertion of the like nature without authority. This appearance of a sepa- rate treaty on the part of France justified the States, as they conceived, in sending back Pauw and Knuyt with instructions to commence negociations for a truce between Spain and the provinces, for twelve or twenty years, on the footing of that concluded in 1609. They were provided with a memorial containing the condi- tions on which it should be framed; and which being submitted to the plenipotentiaries of Spain, there appeared so few points of contestation, that had the States resolved to conclude without France, the affair, it was evident, might have been easily arranged. This proceeding excited the bitterest complaints on the part of d'Avaux and Servien as a violation of the late treaty between France and the provinces, which provided that neither party should advance in the negotiations with Spain without the other ; they were possessed with the idea that Pauw and Knuyt were entirely devoted to Spain, and that they were deter- mined at all hazards to accomplish a truce, even in opposition to their coadjutors, Niderhorst and Ripperda, deputies of Utrecht and Overyssel, who were disposed to identify the interests of France with those of the provinces. Servien, indeed, had written to the car- dinal, that he must prepare himself for an ultimate ■■ Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 122. Idem. Vredehandel, deel ii., bl. 222—225. stadtholdeK. 6-il rupture with his allies. But Mazarin observino- the 1646 effect which the rumour of the Spanish alliance had produced on the States, allowed this matter to lie quiescent, when it began at length to die away : and the reduction of Courtrai by the French rendered the States yet more desirous of including the king in any treaty they might make with Spain. They therefore rejected the proposal of a cessation of arms, which had been offered them by the Marquis of Castel Rodrigo, governor of the Netherlands, and declared to the .Spanish plenipotentiaries that they could not conclude except jointly with their allies. They renewed the annual treaty of subsidy with France, and excused themselves for having advanced so far in the negotia- tions, by alleging, that the conditions were proposed, not with a view to a final treaty, but merely to ascer- tain what Spain might be disposed to accede. They likewise entered into a fresh agreement to conclude no treaty except in conjunction with France". Taking advantage of these favourable dispositions, Thuillerie, who had succeeded Brasset as resident of France in the provinces, induced the Prince of Orange once more to attempt Antwerp, the possession of which had long been the object of his most ardent wishes. For this enterprise, the prince was joined by 6000 French troops under the Marechal de Gram- mont ; but on the very day of the junction, he was seized with a stroke of the palsy which deprived him of speech. In a short time he grew better; and uncon-' scious of the shock which his reason and memory had sustained, he persisted in resuming the command of the army out of the hands of his son, against whom he •• Aitzeir.a, Vredehandel, deel ii., bl. 234, et scq. 2.50. Basnage, Annales de3 Piov. Unies, torn, i., p. 30. Eougeant, torn, iv., liv. vi., p. 384, 3C6. VOL. II. 2 T 642 FfiEDERIC-HENEY, 8 had conceived an unbounded jealousy. He captured the fort of Temsche on the Scheldt, and advanced to Avithin half a league of Antvs'erp, when he totally forgot the purpose for which he had come, and com- manded a retreat. The French, irritated at this failure, retired into the Waasland, ^vhere they com- mitted violent excesses ; the youug ^Prince William vented his indignation at losing so fair an opportunity of signalizing his valour on Knuyt, who happened to be present in the camp, and whom he accused of giving counsels, calculated to foil the attempt, lest it should cause the rupture of the negotiations; while the report was spread that Amsterdam and Zealand had secretly opposed obstacles to its success, from the fear that Antwerp might draw away their commerce to her own shores. After having remained for some time inactive at Bergen-op-Zoom, the prince marched to Venloo, which he invested, but without success'!. The plenipotentiaries of Spain, disappointed in the hope they had indulged of inducing the Dutch to make a separate treaty, adopted the politic measure of placing in the hands of their ministers, the mediation of their differences with France ; a method of securing their good will to which they were impelled as well by this motive, as by the facility which the simplicity and frankness of the ministers themselves would afford to their negotiations, and the interest they had in bring- ing France to reasonable terms of accommodation. This arrangement was acquiesced in by the French ambassadors, and those of the empire also having besought them to use their influence with the French to hasten them on to a speedy determination, a large share of the weight of the negotiations rested on Pauw ■> Basnage, Ami. des Prov. Unies, torn, i., p. 31. Aitzema, deel iii., U. 118. STADTHOLDER. 643 and Knuyt, men of clear and upright views, and of sin- 1646 gular dexterity and ability. In their new capacity of mediators, they engaged the Spanish ministers to con- sent to every article proposed by France, except the truce which she required for Portugal. But instead of acceding to the terms i)roffered, or even taking them into consideration, the French ambassadors began to affect a mighty interest for their allies both of Portugal and Catalonia, and to make them as it were the principal object of the treaty. As the Dutch plenipotentiaries were well aware that Mazarin was fully prepared to abandon these his ostensible allies, could Spain have been brought to agree to the cession of the Netherlands, this proceeding excited violent contentions between Pauw and Servien ; of whom the former maintained that the treaty between France and the States-General having regard only to the Netherlands, the conditions were fulfilled if France obtained what she demanded in those provinces. Servien, on the other hand, contended, with a strong appearance of justice, that if Holland were to be the interpreter of treaties, according to her own pleasure, they would be of little worth ; and that the interests of the allies being common in all parts of the world, if the re]:)ublic had reaped the benefit of the diversion of the Spanish arms in Italy and Catalonia, she was bound to see France indemnified for the losses and expenses she had incurred on that account^. The anxiety of the Dutch for peace was still fur- ther enhanced by the events of the campaign ; during which the French had acquired, besides Courtrai, St. Vinox, Mardyk, Furnes, and finally Dunkirk, with the assistance of a fleet under Tromp, leaving only <^ Bougeant, torn, iv., liv. vi., p. 387, 434, 460. Basnage, Annales de3 Prov. UnieSj torn, i., p. 40. 2 T 2 644 FREDERIC-HENRY, 1646 Nieuport and Ostend between tlieir frontier and that of the United Provinces. Finding the obstacles as far as regarded themselves and Spain vanish rapidly before them, and that France refused to ratify the article of the treaty whereby she agreed to take up arms in their favour at the expiration of the proposed truce, the Dutch plenipotentiaries, Mathenesge and Knuyt, repaired to the Hague with a proposal to the States to open negotiations for a perpetual peace; a project gladly adopted by Holland, and assented to by all the others, after some difficulty on the part of Zealand f. But in proportion as Pauw and his coadjutors effected pi-ogress in the negotiations, it became evident that France sought only to prolong them till she had carried into effect her views upon Ostend and Nieuport, and pushed her conquests so far into the Netherlands, that Spain should be no longer in a condition to refuse the cession of a large portion, if not forced to consent to the proposed plan of an exchange of these provinces for Roussillon and Catalonia. The ambassadors, D'Avaux and Servien, reproached the Dutch with imprudence and ingratitude in forgetting the obligations they owed to France, and prophesied that they might one day find themselves in a situation, M'here the protection of an ancient ally would be preferable to that of a reconciled enemy. Tlie Spanish ambassador, Le Brun, mean- while spared neither inventions nor artifices, whether to appease the ambassadors of Venice and the Pope, chagrined at their mediation being cast aside, or to persuade those of the States to conclude a separate ti'eaty. He represented to the latter that the cardinal was still pressing the marriage of the infanta at the Spanish court; a measure more than ever alarming ' Preuvcs de Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 185, 187. Aitzeraa, dee! iii., lil. 127, et seq. Idem, Yie-^ehandel, dcel ii., bl. 263. STADTHOLUER. 645 to the Dutch, since the crown-prince being now dead, 1646 the princess was presumptive heiress to the throne of Spain?; and succeeded so far, that the proposals of peace were at length sent to the States-General for their approbation. About the same time, the Elector of Brandenburg, in order to obtain the influence of the States with Sweden for the restoration of a part at least of Pomerania, repaired to the Hague, where he contracted a marriage with Louisa of Nassau, eldest daughter of the Prince of Orange**. Not long after this event, the lingering disease of jjar. Prince Frederic-Henry terminated in death at the age 1^, ] 647 of sixty-three : a loss the less sensibly felt by the commonwealth, from the state of feebleness and com- parative imbecility into which he had sunk for the last few years. When in the vigour of his age and intel- lect, he added to the military talents of his brother superior constancy and firmness of purpose ; though, perhaps, equally ambitious, he possessed sufficient pru- dence to keep this passion within bounds, and never sought the extension of his power by illegal or violent • means ; while his cupidity discovered itself rather in the adoption of some parsimonious habits, than in the selfish rapacity with which Maurice -was but too deeply tainted. As a friend he was generous, liberal, and sincere : as an enemy, placable. Courteous and affable, though reserved, he conversed well, and was not de- ficient in literature. He was acustomed to carry con- stantly about him a small volume of " Caesar's Com- mentaries," in the study of which he took peculiar delight ; and the memoirs published under his naime, which, if not written, were undoubtedly revised and e Basnage, Amiales des Prov. Unies, torn, i., p. 48, 49. Bougeant, torn, v., liv. vii., p. 15. Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 132. >■ Idem, W. 144. 646 WILLIAM II., 1647 corrected by him, are highly creditable to his talents. His veneration for his father, whom he resembled in many points of his character, amounted almost to idolatry, a sentiment which he evinced by his adoption of the motto " Patriseque, patrique," signifying that his life was devoted to his country, and to vengeance for the murder of his father'. Without brilliancy of genius, or extraordinaiy power of mind, his clear good sense and sound judgment combined with his mode- ration and integrity to render him one of the best and most esteemed stadtholders the provinces ever pos- sessed. By virtue of the Act of Reversion, passed in 1631, his offices devolved immediately on his son William ; but the States of Holland and Zealand de- siring to convince the young prince that the stadt- holdership was their free gift, and not a right he was entitled to claim, allowed the delay of a year to inter- vene before they confirmed him in the office''. The projected treaty of peace having been ap- proved of by the States, instructions were sent to the ministers at JNIunster to proceed to the conclusion on the footing of the conditions contained in it, which D'Avaux, finding himself unable to prevent, he ob- tained the addition of a clause that it should be of none effect, unless France were first satisfied ; while Servien, repairing to the Hague, induced the States to consent to a fresh treaty of guaranty with the King of France, by which they agreed to make war in con- junction with him, if he were attacked by the King of Spain, the Emperor, or any prince of the house of Austria'. As this treaty, however, was not to take effect till after the conclusion of the peace between France and Spain, it contributed little, with this reservation, to ' Du Maui-ier, p. 366. •= A.itzema, deel iii., bl. 172. ' Mem, Vredeliandel, deel ii., bl. 326. Bougeant, torn, v., liv. vii,, p. 20- STADTHOLDER. 647 moderate tlie indignation manifested by the two am- 1647 bassadors at the jji-ogress of tlie separate negotiations. D'Avaux, at Munster, represented to the ministers of Sweden that the sole object of the Dutch was to leave that country occupied in the war with Germany, M'hile they extended their power in the Baltic; and to the Portuguese, that Spain being left at liberty by the l^eace, would infallibly reduce their nation again under her dominion ; he failed, however, in exciting either of them to any active interference for the purpose of arresting the progress of the treaty. D'Avaux likewise threatened the deputies of Holland with the resentment of his sovereign, who would find an oppor- tunity of exercising vengeance for their infidelity ; and in concert with the other ambassadors, the Duke de Longueville and Servien, hesitated not to accuse Pauw and Knuyt of being corrupted by Spanish gold ; a charge no less absurd than untrue, and which called forth from the States of Holland, a spirited resolution expressive of their thanks to these ministers, and approbation of their conduct throughout the negotia- tions". The French plenipotentiaries found a power- ful supporter in the young Prince of Orange, who was naturally averse to any pacification, — a conse- quence of the error committed by the States in uniting to the office of stadtholder those of captain and admiral-general, of which the emoluments are consi- derably decreased in time of peace, thus giving to the head of civil affairs in the republic an interest in maintaining it in a state of perpetual warfare. In defiance of the tacit cessation of arms which, since the negotiations had commenced for a perpetual peace, had taken place between Spain and the provinces, ■" Bougeant, torn, y., liy. vii., p. 25, 26, Preuves de Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 267. 648 '^^-ILLIAM it., 1647 William now advanced, with a considerable body of troops, towards Flanders, under pretext of guard- ing the frontiers from insult, but, undoubtedly, with the hope of producing a rupture of the negotiations; and replied to the remonstrances of Holland on the subject, that it belonged to him as captain-general to provide for the security and honour of the republic, and that he would retire as soon as the Archduke Leopold had ceased to threaten its boundaries. He did not succeed in procuring a renewal of hostilities ; but it was ultimately found necessary to purchase his accession to the peace, as had been the case with Prince Maurice, in 1609, by large sacrifices to his jjrivate interests, as well on the part of Spain as the provinces"- The movements of D'Avaux and Servien at Munster and the Hague were followed up, on the part of Cardinal JNIazarin, by the angry withdrawal of the mediation from the hands of the Dutch plenipoten- tiaries, and its restoration to the nuncio and ambas- sador of Venice, the original medijitors. He likewise ordered Marshal Turenne, who was on his march towards Bohemia, with the view of effecting a junc- tion with the Swedes, to return to Luxemburg, since he had every reason, he said, to fear that the States- General would, ere long, join with the Spaniards against France. But Turenne was prevented obeying his commands by a sedition which arose among his troops ; and the capture of Armentieres and Landreci by the Archduke Leopold, together with the failure of an attempt upon St. Omer, convinced the cardinal that, inefficient as the co-operation of the provinces had of late years appeared, it was not deserving of the - Preuves de Wiciuefort, torn, i., p. 228, 229. Aitzema, Vredehandel deel ii., tl. 360. ' S TADTHOLDEE. G49 slight esteem in which he had begun, or affected to 1647 hold it ; and that to make any further conquests over Spain in that quarter, if they became either neutral or unfriendly, would prove impracticable. Accord- ingly, he consented, after a while, to place the media- tion once more in the hands of the Dutch ambassadors, when, after long and tedious contestations, they brought the two powers to agree upon every point except as to the disposal of the duchy of Lorraine, of which the King of Spain demanded the restoration to the duke, while Mazarin insisted that it should be ceded as a forfeiture to France". The mediators pro- posed, by way of compromise, that France should restore old Lorraine, retaining the duchy of Bar and the dependencies on the bishoprics of Metz, Treves; and Cologne ; and as they deemed these terms amply favourable to France, they promised that if the mes- senger whom they sent to propose them to the car- dinal did not return with his acceptation by the 30th of the ensuing January, they would sign the separate treaty of peace?. But if Mazarin had at any time entertained the purpose of coming to a conclusion, it was now wholly superseded by the desire of prolong- ing the negotiations till he could ascertain the issue of the revolt against Spain, which had now broken out in Naples, headed by the fisherman Thomas, or Mas- Aniello, or in what manner France might be able to turn this event to her own advantage. Accordingly, on the arrival of the messenger within a few hours of the time appointed, it appeared that no power was given to the French ambassadors to restore any part " Preuves de Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 204. Bougeant, torn, v., liv. vii., p. 117, 122, 185. p Aitzema, Vredehandel, deel ii., bl, 350. Bougeant, tojn, v., liv. viii,, p. 394—400, 650 WILLIAM II., 1647 of LoiTaine, except upon such conditions as it was quite impossible to expect the adverse party would listen to. This proceeding confirmed the Dutch in the conviction that the only object of the cardinal, in affecting to accede to their jiroposals, vras to avoid the obloquy of refusing that peace which he had not the slightest intention to conclude. That Lorraine was not the obstacle, but the pretext only, was incon- testably proved by an intercepted letter from the sister of the duke, offering him, on the part of the cardinal, the entire re-establishment in his states, if he would consent to receive them from him, and espouse the side of France against Spain ^. But even had the desire of possessing Lorraine been real, the rupture of the negotiations upon a point so entirely indifferent to the provinces would have been tantamount to an admission, that they had bound themselves to the im- politic and unchristian condition of continuing at all hazards a destructive war with a power, against whom no cause of quarrel remained, until the ambition of France should be satiated. In no mood, therefore, to acknowledge this, or to be longer trifled with, the Jan. (Jef)uties proceeded immediately to the signature of 1648 the treaty so long agreed on; except those of Zealand and Utrecht, of which the former province was averse to any pacification, and Niderhorst, deputy from the latter, persisted in his refusal to conclude, unless France became a party*. "■ Preuves de Wiquefort, torn. J., p. 206. Basnage, Ann. des Prov. Unies, torn, i., p. 98, 103. ' Vredehandel, deel ii., bL 348, 352. * The French historian Bougeant, in his valuable history of the Treaty of Westphalia, led away by partiality towards his own country, repre- sents the conduct of the States in these transactions, in colours eq^ually unfavourable and untrue. He observes, that they were not' justified in STADTHOLDER. 651 By this treaty, which was little else in fact than a 1648 compliance on the part of Spain with such terms as the States thought proper to dictate, the acknowledg- ment of their independence and sovereignty, which in 1609 the united efforts of France and England had been unable to obtain from the King of Spain, was expressed in ample and unlimited terms. The United Art. Provinces were now declared a free and sovereign ^ ' state, to which the Icing, for himself and his successors, renounced all title or claim for ever. Each party was Art. to retain the cities and territories of which they were ?'? then in possession, as well in Europe as in the East and West Indies, including those of which the Portu- guese had deprived the West India Company since 1641; and to abstain from trading to the places occu- 6th. pied by the other in the latter countries. The sub- jects of the king and States respectively were to be Sth. freed from any tolls or impositions in their dominions, further than such as were paid by the inhabitants. The Scheldt, with the channels of the Sas de Gand, Mth. Zwin, and the others on that side, were to be kept closed by the States. By a separate article, the Dutch obtained liberty to carry on their commerce with concluding their separate treaty, by the indisposition of the cardinal towards peace, because they were ignorant of the fact. (Tom. v., liv. viii., p. 433.) But they knew it perfectly well ; and had made the dis- coveiy, moreover, that his sole purpose in the alliance with the provinces, was to make them the stepping-stone to tlie elevation of France. Neither were they ignorant that the maiiiage of the infanta, with the cession of the Netherlands, the report of whicli the French affected to treat as a gross artifice of the enemy, was, in fact, tlie favourite object of Mazarin's ambition; that his desire to attain it liad been tlie chief cause of all the chicanery and delays that had impeded tlie progress of the negotiations ; and that he was ready at any moment to have concluded a separate treaty with Spain, could slie liave been brought to accede to this project. Tlie engagement entered into between France and tlie jirovinces, to treat conjointlj', was made witli the view of obtaining more advantageous con- ditions of peace, and could not possibly hold good in the event of either party determining not to make peace at all. 652 WILLIAM II., J 648 France, during the continuance of hostilities between that country and Spain, in all articles except contra- band goods, manufactured in the King of Spain's dominions". Utrecht having, in order to avoid creating a schism in the provinces, consented to the separate treaty, the 15th of March was appointed, in spite of the reproaches and menaces of the French ambassadors, for the exchange of the ratifications at Munster. On that day, the plenipotentiaries of Spain and the States pro- ceeded to the great saloon of the council house, between two ranks of burgher guards, drawn up in arms along the streets, amid the firing of cannon, the sound of drums and trumpets, and public acclama- tions. The ratifications being read, the oath was taken first by the Spanish ambassadors, laying their hands on a volume of the Gospels, whereon was placed a crucifix; the Dutch in swearing pointed the two forefingers of the right hand to heaven. The peace was proclaimed on the 5th of June, (the very day, as the curious remarked, on which the Counts of Egmond and Hoorn had been beheaded eighty years before,) and celebrated with bonfires, illuminations, and dis- charges of artillery throughout the provinces, except Zealand, the States of which admitted the publication only with the greatest reluctance, and with a protest that they did so without approving of the conduct of the States-General, or being answerable for the dis- graces and misfortunes consequent on the peace, and merely to avoid the accusation of fomenting divisions in the nation. Thus ended this long and remarkable war, having ■ Pi-euves de Wiijuefort, torn, i., p. 169, 222. Aitzema, Vredehande], deel ii., bl. 373. ' Preuves de Wiquefort, torn, i„ p. 213, 217, 219. Aitzema, deel iii., W.272. STADTHOLDEil. 653 now continued for a period of sixty-eight years, exclu- 1648 sive of tlie twelve years' truce, from the first invasion of Louis of Nassau, in 1568; a war wliich, unexampled in the history of nations, had brought commerce, wealth, civilization, learning, and the arts, in its train ; and which well deserved its high exemption from the com- mon lot of humanity, because of the nobleness, the purity, and the elevation of the motives from whence it originated; a war which had its foundation in justice, and its termination in glory*. Often in the annals of other nations, examples of bold and successful struggles for liberty, against the oppressor and invader, have roused the sympathy and inspired the pen of the his- torian; Athens has had her Marathon, Sparta her Thermopylse, Switzerland her Morgarten, and Spain her Saragossa; but it was left for Holland alone to present the spectacle of the continuance of such a struggle, against jDower, wealth, discipline, numbers, in defiance, it seemed, of fate itself for a long series of years ; with resolution unwavering, with courage un- daunted, with patience unwearied ; rejecting, proudly and repeatedly, the solicitations for peace proffered by their mighty foe ; and yielding to them at last only when she had, as it were, the destiny of that foe in her hands. The results of this war, as wonderful as were its commencement and progress, are to be attributed chiefly to the moral qualities of the Dutch ; to their maritime power ; to the constitution of their govern- ment anterior to the revolt ; their geographical posi- tion; and the rapid increase of their population by the influx of foreigners of all nations. Among the moral qualities which distinguished the Dutch of this period, the most remarkable was honedy; a homely virtue, * Vide Note C. at end of volume. 654 WILLIAM II., ]648 and now, politically speaking, fallen into disesteem; but none the less real, none the less efficacious in the cir- cumstances in which they were placed. Of the advan- tage it proved to them in their pecuniary relations with other states, their history aifords sufficient evi- dence. At the time when their affairs were most desperate, none ever doubted their national credit; the parsimonious Queen of England, the cautious William of Orange, the mistrustful German princes, never hesitated for a moment to advance them loans, or to trust to their honour for the payment of the troops which served under their standards. Carried into their commercial transactions, this probity won them the confidence of the merchants of foreign countries, and caused them to become in course of time the providers and cashiers of nearly the whole civilized world. Pervading their political counsels, it produced a spirit of mutual confidence which bound together all ranks of men in an indissoluble tie. The government, acting in perfect good faith itself, never suspected the fidelity of the people, nor descended to the mean arts of rousing their passions by fictions or misrepresentations ; they never deceived them as to their relations with foreign powers, as to the exact condition of their strength and resources, or as to the true nature of the contest in which they were engaged; and the people on their part awarded to the govern- ment entire reliance and obedience. Thus a state, formed of the most heterogeneous parts, was united by the strong bond of mutual fidelity into a firm and compact whole, which defied alike the assaults of force from without, and the undermininor of intrio-ue from withiu. From the effects of this virtue of integrity, sprang another, which characterized tlie Dutch no less strongly; STADTHOLDEE. 655 that of firmnesfs. Never led astray by false rumours 1G48 or false opinions, they contemplated calmly and clearly the object they had in view — security of person and property, and freedom of religion — and employed with undeviating steadiness of purpose the means they con- ceived calculated to attain it ; they desired no more, they would be satisfied with no less ; the most flatter- ing promises, the most advantageous offers of peace, which did not realize that object to the full extent, jiever caused them to waver for a moment ; not raising their expectations to a summit of national happiness which it is not permitted to mankind to enjoy, or of national perfection too great for human nature to arrive at, they were exempt from that reckless spirit of innovation, that prurient desire of change, usually remarkable in the actors in great revolutions ; they never condemned a custom as obsolete because it had been practised by their forefathers, nor a law as absurd because it was not framed according to the maxims of policy or philosophy which happened to be current. The goal which they had determined to reach, there- fore, did not change its position froin day to day, as whim, ambition, or circumstances dictated ; in their deepest reverses, at their highest elevation of pro- sperity, it was still the same ; they pursued their path towards it with slow and measured steps ; and when at last they attained it, they suffered no disappointment, they experienced no reaction ; they did not, as it too often hajipens, in the bitterness of deceived hope, rush back to a condition worse than that they had left; but ■were content to find what they had sought, freedom and security, and riches, glory, and honour were added to them. Not the least among the moral causes which led to the national aggrandizement of the Dutch, may be 650 WILLIAM II., 1648 found in the singular absence of selfishness and per- sonal vanity, observable in all ranks of men. In the great events which occurred during the revolt and subsequent war, and which might easily be supposed to call forth stirring and ambitious spirits, each man performed his part quietly and unostentatiously, without aiming to draw on himself public attention, or to place himself in a prominent light; in other cases it often appears as if the revolution were made for the man, in this, the man was made for the revolution; his indi- viduality was lost, if we may so express it, in his nationality ; the Dutchman was less a man than a Dutchman, less a Dutchman than a Hollander or Zealander; himself and his country were identified; her glory was his glory, her wealth his wealth, her greatness his greatness ; the part he bore in the admi- nistration of her government, however small or obscure, he looked upon, not as a possession to be made use of for his own advantage, but as a sacred trust to be administered for her benefit ; in his country his pride, his hopes, his wishes, were centred ; in vain might prosperity await him in a more favoured land ; in vain might titles, riches, and dignities be heaped upon him ; if his fatherland were in slavery — if he were no longer the citizen of a free state, he was, in his own eyes, a' degraded and dishonoured man. This sentiment it was which rendered the Dutch so universally incorruptible, that neither during the war nor the truce, though oifers and promises were never spared by Spain, do we find a single instance of a traitor of that nation bought with gold; it was this sentiment which led the banished and persecuted Remonstrants to risk being driven from their place of refuge, rather than give the slightest encouragement to the foes of their country*; which *■ Vide Chap, v., p. SCO, r.ote. STADTHOLDER. 667 prompted her great naval hero, Heemskerk, before the 1648 battle of Gibraltar, to refuse all share of the spoil con- quered from the enemy till he had secured a large sum to her coffers; and the scarcely less great Heyn, to pour millions of treasure into her lap, without so much as soliciting a trifling portion to add one luxury to his frugal fare*; inspired by this sentiment, the officer who found himself neglected or superseded forgot his private wrongs, and, because the interests of his country demanded, served under his former subaltern with undiminished zeal and cheerful obedience. Intellectual superiority is another quality by which the Dutch, as a nation, were honourably distinguished; a claim which may excite, at the first blush, a smile among those accustomed to the by-word of the slow and heavy Dutchman. But although, from the consti- tution of their government, it was next to impossible that individuals should stand out in striking relief as statesmen and legislators ; and though the attention they have been forced to devote to the pursuits of trade and commerce in order to exist, may have pre- vented their making so distinguished a figure in the walks of science and literature as many other nations, (granting for a moment such to be the case,) the talents of this people, more solid than brilliant, were yet of a very high order ; a fact, in consequence of the circum- stances above-mentioned, exemplified chiefly in the aptitude of every individual to fill the office in which he was placed. This aptitude is most conspicuous in the persons of those who have at different times held the post of advocate or pensionary of the States ; the only members of the government besides the stadt- lioklers who take a share in the public proceedings in their individual capacity; we have already seen the * Vide Chap. VI., p. 672, VOL. II. 2 U 658 WILLIAM II., 1648 able and the wise of all nations award to Barneveldt the first place among them, and the talents of Adrian Pauw admitted alike by friend and enemy; and a De Witt and a Heinsius will hereafter appear before us their not unworthy successors. That the deputies of the States were generally men of eminent ability, is evident from the wisdom of the laws they framed for the regulation of their internal police and their army and navy ; for the security and advancement of their commerce, and for the administration of justice. Sel- dom, if ever, indeed, is a mischievous, inept, or short- sighted resolution found to deface their statute-book ; nothing appeared too trifling to be accurately examined in all its details, nothing too great to be comprehended in all its ramifications. Nor do the Dutch appear in a less advantageous light as negotiators. Among the whole number of their treaties, — some concluded in times of extreme difficulty and danger, others by which the most opposite interests were to be recon- ciled, and the most knotty disputes decided, — not one has betrayed ignorance or imprudence in its framers. The reputation of their military officers was little displayed, since the stadtholders, as captains-general, being constantly in the field, the credit of all the successes obtained redounded to them ; but very rarely do we find their movements embarrassed, or their plans disordered, by want of capacity or promptitude in their inferiors ; and the results of their operations bear testi- mony that they must have been as ably carried out as skilfully combined. Their naval commanders, as their sphere of action was more extensive and independent, so their genius and ability shone out with a more marked and brilliant lustre; Heemskerk, Warmont, Heyn, JNIaatelief, Keen, and Spilbergen, are names of •v^hich any people may justly be proud. Nor was it STADTHOLDEE. 659 only in profound and practical knowledge of matters 1648 relating to their profession that these great captains excelled ; the admirable treaties made with the native sovereigns of India, and the advantageous terms they obtained for their merchants and factors in foreign countries, proved them no less skilled in the mysteries of political science, and the delicate and intricate sub- ject of the commercial interests of their nation. The merchants also of Holland were as remarkable for enterprise and judgment as for integrity in the management of their commerce ; nor less so for the dexterity with which they secured a footing in foreign countries, and the confidence and prudence with which, often in spite of very adverse circumstances, they con- trived to retain it*. But though probity, firmness, courage, patriotism, and wisdom, might have given the Dutch strength to prolong the contest, and to obtain at the end favourable terms of peace, these qualities might yet scarcely have sufiiced to render them independent and powerful, had they not been favoured by some considerable incidental advantages. Among such may be rekoned, as one of the principal, the excellence of their navy. We have endeavoured to trace in the last volume the rise of this important branch of their political economy, and shown, * I may be thought to have here drawn too flattering a picture of the Dutch people, and to be indebted for it more to imagination than to the existence of tlie original ; but a careful reflection on the foregoing pages will, I think, fully bear me out in the truth of these observations. At the same time, I must be understood to confine them to the United Pro- vinces ; diiring the miion of these with the Southern Netherlands, we find neither the same mutual confidence, the same energy of measures, nor the same stability of counsels ; a result which may be attiibuted, in some degree, though not wholly, to the difference in religion between tlie component parts, and to the jealousies arising from this cause. Tha only advantage which Holland and Zealand gained by its junction with those provinces at the Pacification of Ghent, was that of transferi-ing tlie seat of war from their own boundaries ; an advantage in itself inestimable. 2 U 2 660 WILLIAM II., 1648 that at the reign of Philip III. (Ilnd of Spain,) the fleets of the Netherlands were able to cope with, if they did not surpass, those of any of the great powers of Europe. These fleets consisted for the most part of armed merchant ships, and of vessels of war belong- ing, not to the central government, but to the muni- cipal governments of the towns by which they were equipped. The breaking out of hostilities, therefore, found the Dutch prepared with a maritime force suf- ficient to keep the seas against the enemy. The ships merely, which were banished from the ports of England in 1572, were twenty-four in number, at that time a considerable armament; and, in the next year, the fleet of the towns of North Holland was sufficiently power- ful to obtain a signal victory over that of Alva, and which gave them the possession of the Zuyderzee. From the very early period of the war, indeed, when they were to all appearance a mere feeble band of insurgents, they were rarely worsted by the enemy in any naval encounter; and the mastery of the seas which they thus retained enabled them at all times to supply themselves with ammunition, corn, and other provisions, and to transport in safety the subsidies in money and troops afforded them by England ; to pre- vent the conveyance of the armies from Spain by water, forcing them to undergo the tedious and diffi- cult journey over land at an immense waste of men and money; and, to hinder the passage of supplies and oblige the enemy to have recourse to themselves, drawing by this means the greater portion of the sums applied to the maintenance of the troops into their own hands. While thus benefiting by the streams that flowed from the treasury of their enemy, they were often able to drain it at its very source, by the capture of the vessels laden with the specie on wbicli STADTHOLDEE. 661 her sole dependence was placed; while the provinces 1648 themselves, trading in comparative security, collected from all parts of the world the wealth which enabled them to sustain burdens apparently so disproportioned to their strength. The municipal system of government, which for so many centuries prevailed in the United Provinces, has been remarked upon as tending to disunion, since attaching its subjects principally to their own town or province it caused them sometimes to overlook, in their anxiety for its interest, the interest of the whole*. But in circumstances where all were bound together by one strong tie, where the same powerful impulse directed the movements of all in unison, it went far towards rendering them invincible. The oppressor found that he had the Hydra to subdue, and that each head was imbued with the strength of the whole body. Every city was, as it were, a fresh nation to conquer. Accus- tomed to self government, the burghers depended in nothing upon the direction or influence of a central power, but adopted upon their own authority and their own responsibility such measures as the exi- gencies of the case required; and when attacked by the enemy's forces they did not, dismayed at finding themselves, perhaps, left with a slender garrison or none at all, seek instantly for terms of surrender. Armed, drilled, commanded by officers, between whom and their men long familiarity had inspired confidence, and with an active government on the spot to look to for guidance and support, the burghers presented a formidable rank of defenders, whose courage, alacrity, and obedience, made up for what they wanted in know- ledge and experience. It was chiefly in defence of the walls of their cities, indeed, that the efforts of a * Vid. Part I., Chap. II. 662 WILLIAM II., 1648 people uninstructed and inexperienced in war could ba attended with success; here, in the then inefficient state of artillery, the superiority of skill in the generals, and of numbers of veteran troops, was of little avail ; had the besieged but courage to repel and patience to endure, hunger, sickness, and privation would frequently do the rest; the Spanish armies, which, had they encountered the Dutch in the field, must have over- powered and cut them in pieces, melted away before Haarlem and Leyden. Nor less than by this active and vigorous principle of their constitution were the Dutch favoured by their geographical position. Their harbours, shallow, diffi- cult, and dangerous, while affording to the courageous and practised seamen of their own country havens of sure refuge, present to the ignorant and unguided enemy nothing but shoals, where destruction awaits him ; if threatened with invasion they had but to remove the buoys and beacons, and bold indeed muht be that pilot who would venture among their innume- rable sand-banks, unless taught by long experience to find the narrow channel where he might pass in safety. Secure on the side of the ocean, their rivers and inland waters afforded them the means at once of cheap and rapid conveyance of troops, artillery, and provisions to all parts of the country, and an arm to repel with terrible force an invading enemy. Once resolved to sacrifice their private interests to the public safety, — a sacrifice at which they rarely hesitated a moment, — and surrender their rich pastures a prey to the devour- ing but friendly element, it often required but the cutting of a dyke or the opening of a sluice to over- whelm the troops, camp, and artillery of the invader in one fearful deluge, or place between him and them- selves a wide and impassable lake. STADTHOLDER. 663 As another cause of the rapid increase of Holland 1648 has justly been adduced, the influx of multitudes of refugees of different nations who sought shelter within her boundaries. Fugitives from the Spanish Nether- lands, from Spain itself, Protestants driven from Ger- many by the miseries of the Thirty Years' war, Jews from Portugal, and Huguenots from France, found here welcome, safety, and employment. Nor was it more in the numbers than in the sort of population she thus gained, that Holland found her advantage. The fugitives were not criminals escaped from justice, speculators lured by the hope of plunder, nor idlers coming thither to enjoy the luxuries which their own country did not afford ; they were generally men persecuted on account of their love of civil liberty, or their devotion to tlieir religious tenets ; had they been content to sacrifice the one or the other to their present ease and interest they had remained unmolested where they were ; it was by their activity, integrity, and resolution that they rendered themselves obnoxious to the tyrannical and bigoted governments which drove them from their na- tive land; and these virtues they carried with them to their adopted country, peopling it not with vagabonds or indolent voluptuaries, but with brave, intelligent, and useful citizens. Thus, not only was the waste in the population of the provinces consequent on the war rapidly supplied, but by means of the industry and skill of the new comers, their manufactures were carried to so high a pitch of perfection, that, in a short time, they were able to surpass arid undersell the traders of every other nation. The advancement of the United Provinces in com- merce and navigation, and their successful formation of settlements and colonies, has been noticed in the course of the history as far as its limits permitted; it 664 WILLIAM II., 1648 M'ill suffice, therefore, to observe, that at the time of the peace, this nook of lauci, (the proTince of Holland containing scarcely 700,000 souls, and the others pro- portionably less,) found itself mistress of the island of Amboyna and its dependencies; Banda; a part of the ]\Ioluccas; Minado, in the Island of Celebes; Timor; the town of Malacca; Tenasserim, and Gudjansalang; the fort of Gueldria, and the towns of Paliacatte and Ulegapatnam, on the coast of Coromandel; with the town of Batavia and the surrounding country in the Island of Java; the fort of St. George, in Africa; and the town and colony of New Amsterdam, in North America. In South America, the possessions of the West India Company, comprised a few years before this period, 300 leagues of territory from Siara to the Bay of All Saints, but were now much diminished by the revolt of the Portuguese. The Dutch had likewise discovered portions of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land, but had not as yet attempted to form a colony on any part of this continent. To enumerate the various articles which were the objects of trade in these settlements, as well as almost every country of the globe, would be tedious; everything conducive to the support, con- venience, and luxury of man was brought in abundance to the shores of the United Provinces, where, however, but a comparatively small portion was consumed; the remainder being again exported to supply the demands of other nations, while the inhabitants, retaining just sufficient for social decencies and comforts, were con- tent to live in their ancient style of simiilicity; nor was the increase of riches among them followed by the usual consequence ofl uxury, ostentation, or extra- vagance. From another vice, often attendant on increased wealth, that of avarice, they cannot be judged equally free. An excessive greediness of gain STADTHOLDER. 665 began to pervade all ranks of men; which, though not ]648 displayed in acts of dislionesty or rapacity, led them to devote themselves with too much passion to pursuits of traffic and speculation. The avarice of the Dutch, however, never interfered with the love of their country; and the same individual, whose habits of economy in private life amounted almost to parsimony, was found to contribute cheerfully a considerable por- tion of his income to the wants of the state, and to lavish without grudging large sums to forward the progress of any work, having for its object the relief of the poor, or the improvement of his native city in strength, beauty, or commodiousness. It was in the advancement of the arts, indeed, that the effect of increased wealth and civilization was most sensibly felt; in the magnificence and elegance of the public buildings; and more particularly in the art of painting, of which, if the Dutch school be not the first, they have arrived as near as possible to perfection in that school. Destitute of the grandeur of conception, the fire, or the spirituality of the Italian, the Dutch school of painting has confined itself chiefly to pourtraying the ordinary scenes and objects of nature with a live- liness, fidelity, and delicacy of finish which leave nothing to be desired. This difference is to be attri- buted less, perhaps, to the difference in the character of the two nations, or the power of the artists, than to the different kind of patronage under which they flourished. The Italians, painting for churches, or for the extensive galleries of princes and nobles, naturally chose subjects of a sacred character, and such as admitted and required boldness of design and freedom of execution; the Dutch artists, excluded by their religion from the wide field of church painting, found their patrons chiefly among the gentry and wealthy 666 WILLIAM n., 1648 merchants, whose apartments were decorated with their works in great abundance; it was necessary, therefore, to choose such subjects as should present a cheerful and agreeable spectacle, not too solemn for daily con- templation, nor too complicated to be readily entered into; while their pictures being constantly subjected to close inspection, they were induced to labour for that exquisite finish, correctness of colouring, and smoothness, in which themselves and the Flemings have left the painters of all other nations at an im- measurable distance. Above fifty painters of celebrity flourished during this era; among whom Rembrandt van Rhyn, Philip Wouvermans, Albert Cuyp, Nicholas Berchem, Paul Potter, and Adrian Brouwer, were at this time in the full blaze of their fame; and Gerard Dow, now about eighteen, just starting into life. The art of glass painting, for which the Netherlands have always been so celebrated, ^^as brought to its highest point of excellence in Holland at the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the last century, by the brothers of Gouda, Dirk and Walter Crabeth. In the sister art of music, the Dutch have been less fortunate; though admired and cultivated with success among them from a very early period, they cannot boast of the name of any composer which has been found worthy to be handed down to posterity. The language of the Dutch, rich and flexible, capable of an infinite variety of compound terms, and fertile in rhymes, affords a facility to versification of which the people have at all times availed themselves with more liberality than judgment. The event of a marriage or death in any family above that of an infe- rior burgher, was invariably celebrated by an epitha- lamium or epitaph, as the case required, from the pens of a dozen rival poets, of whom the learned Avrote in STADTHOLDER. 667 Latin, those of more humble pretensions in their native 1648 language ; a minister elected to a cure was welcomed by a deluge of complimentary odes, some addressed to him by parishioners from whom he was little entitled to expect such effusions ; birthdays, christenings, and festivals, alike afforded occasion for soliciting the assistance of the muse, who numbered all ranks of persons from the highest noble to the humblest artisan among her votaries. This universal propensity to rhyming, besides corrupting the general taste, and introducing a careless and trivial style, from which their best poetical writers were not wholly exempt, was productive of another evil, inasmuch as it tended to fritter away, in occasional and ephemeral efforts, those talents which might have been employed on works worthy of [a more lasting fame. The Dutch, however, did not want for poets of a higher order; the names of Catz and Vondel, the illustrious rivals of the age, are sufficient to secure the reputation of any nation in this branch of literature ; the poetry of the former, soft, flowing, and harmonious, is remark- able for purity of diction, felicity of description, and tenderness of sentiment ; though he cannot be exone- rated from the imputation of difFuseness and occa- sional triviality. Vondel, the fertility of whose genius is only equalled by its force and depth, is distinguished for the lofty fire of his imagination, the grandeur of his conceptions, and the vigour of his expression; though sometimes degenerating into bombast and prolixity. But the faults that may be found in both, are amply atoned for by the high moral feeling, and the ardent spirit of patriotism which breathe in most of their works. That the Dutch were inferior to many other nations in the different branches of science and literature, is a 663 WILLIAM II., 1648 postulate M'liich, though granted for a while a few pages back, it appears by no means just to admit. I confess myself unable, however, even did my limits allow, to enter into a review of the authors whose works enriched their country at this period ; the diffi- culties which always present themselves in the way of a foreigner forming any other than a crude and inade- quate opinion of the literature of a nation, being here doubly enhanced by the want of an accurate and com- prehensive history of that of Holland. But there are illustrious names, familiarly known to the public, suffi- cient to exculpate the Dutch from this accusation. In the eloquent and philosophic Hooft, the faithful and graphic Bor, the acute and comprehensive JNIeteren, and the accurate Reyd, they have found historians in their native language worthy to immortalize their deeds. In divinity and theological learning, for which they have at all times shown an extreme predilection, they are surpassed by none ; Agricola, Arminius, Episcopius, Gomarus, and Francis Junius, are but a few out of a multitude who have obtained honourable distinction in this science ; and what classical scholar has forgotten the debt of gratitude he owes to a Vossius, a Gronovius, and a Heinsius? On Erasmus, and on Grotius, the divine, jurist, philosopher, histo- rian, poet, mathematician, and critic, great in all, in some unequalled, Europe has long since passed its judgment. Literature, however, was not made a distinct pro- fession in the United Provinces ; nor did men engage in such pursuits as the business of their lives, but rather as an innocent and profitable mode of employing their hours of leisure. Grotius has often appeared before us as filling the arduous office of pensionary of Ilptterdam, and taking an active part in public STADTHOLDEft. 669 affairs ; Jacob Cats, the poet, was for many years pen- 164q sionary of Holland; Peter Plancius, the celebrated geographer, was a diligent minister, and a preacher of considerable eminence; the historian Meteren was a merchant, and consul in London ; and Bor, whose history is published in four vast folios, exercised the duties of treasurer of North Holland. Thus brought by the active occupations of life into daily contact with persons of all classes, literary men were divested of that exclusiveness sometimes remarked in them, while their association contributed much to inspire that taste for learning which so generally prevailed. 670 WILLIAM II., CHAPTER VII. Relations of the United Provinces mth Fordgn Powers. Causes of estrangement between the Provinces and England. Assassination of Dorislaus. Disputes between the States of Holland and the States-General. Deputation to the Towns of Holland. Arrest of tJie six Deputies. Attempt on Amsterdam. Compromise. Death of the Stadtholder. Arguments for and against the appointment of a Stadtholder. Meeting of the Great Assembly. English Ambassadors at the Hague. Their reception. War with England. Sea-Jight of three days. Defeat of the Dutch Fleet. Bem.on- strances of the Captains to the States-General. Inclination of the Belligerents towards Peace. John de Witt chosen Pensionary of Holland. Proposal of a Coalition. Disturbances in the United Provinces. Negotiations with England. Conclusion of the Treaty. Act of Exclusion. Loss of Brazil. Interference of the States in the affairs of the Northern Powers. Differences with France. War between Sweden and Denmarh. Treaty effected under the Mediation of England, France, and the States-General. J 643 At the termination of the negotiations at Munster, the United Provinces found themselves on a footing of cordial amity with scarcely any nation of Europe, except Spain, their ancient enemy, and Denmark, whom they had forced to conclude a disadvantageous treaty with Sweden a few years before. Sweden, closely allied with France, shared in some degree the resentment of that nation against the States-General, on account of their separate treaty with Spain ; and was further alienated by the support they had, given to the claims of the Elector of Brandenburg to the restoration of Pomerania. Between the States and the Empire, notwithstanding that each party had inflicted all possible damage upon the other, a nominal neutrality had been professed during the whole period of the war. At the peace of Munster, the King of STADTHOLDER. 671 Spain undertook to obtain from the Emperor a con- ig^g firmation of this neutrality, but was never able to accomplish it, except in so far as regarded himself and his hereditary dominions, which was unsatisfactory to the States, as not including the princes of the Empire, between some of whom and themselves subjects of dissension existed. They had incurred the animosity of the Duke of Nieuburg by the support they had afforded to his rival the Elector of Brandenburg; the Bishop of Cologne required them to surrender Rhynberg, in which they retained a garrison; and the Elector of Brandenburg himself was chagrined at their refusal to evacuate the towns of Cleves and Juliers, where their troops had remained since the war of the succession, as well as at their denial of a loan he soli- cited of 200,000 crowns^. The truce with Portugal, so hastily concluded in 1641, had never since been observed, either in the East or West Indies; and the revolt of Fernambuco was strongly suspected to have been fomented, if not occa- sioned by the secret machinations of that, court. The Portuguese ambassador at the Hague, indeed, Souza di Cotinho, disavowed the fact in the most express and earnest terms, declaring that his master was ready, if it were in his power, to restore the possessions of the company and punish the insurgents. But as he re- fused to deliver Bahia, or the island of Terceira, which the States demanded as a security for the fulfilment of his promises, hostilities continued in Brazil, until ter- minated in the manner we shall hereafter have occasion to notice. There was every appearance of probability that the treaty of Munster, which proved the foundation of a > Wiquefort, Ilist. des Prov. Unies, torn, i., p. 173, 179. Preuves, torn, i., p. 371—374. 672 William ir., 1648 lasting friendship between the two powers, whose ani- mosity, judging by the common course of human events, might have been supposed implacable, would have produced a violent rupture between those whose long alliance it ought to have cemented by still closer ties. Though the continuation of the war by France suffi- ciently vindicated the suspicions of the States as to her real intentions during the late conferences, she evinced none the less umbrage at their having fulfilled the object for which they were held. Before the ratifica- tion of the treaty, Louis XIII. had written in strong terms to demand of the States-General that they should disavow the act of their plenipotentiaries, and had manifested the highest indignation at their refusal. Servien the ambassador at ISIunster had even proposed to levy restrictive duties on brandy, wine, and salt, articles of necessary consumption imported into the United Provinces from France. But the intimate connexion which JMazarin still maintained with the Prince of Orange, and the hope that through his influ- ence some favourable change might be effected in the dispositions of the States-General, induced the former to dissemble his resentment ; and, within a few weeks, the breaking out of the civil wars of the Fronde occa- sioned the temporary expulsion of the cardinal fi-om public affairs and from the kingdom. Even between Spain herself and the provinces, mutual complaints arose of the non-observance of the treaty, though unproductive of any evil result. In the next year, Le Brun came to reside at the Hague in the quality of ambassador from the King of Spain; and in his address to the States, which he did not forget to embellish abundantly with the title of "high and mighty lords," expressed in the most unequivocal manner the desire of his master to continue in the STADTHOLDER. 673 present relations of peace and amity with the United ]G48 Provinces'^. With England, though reduced by her intestine commotions, to remain an indifferent spectator of the conferences at Munster, the States had their own peculiar causes of estrangement. The affairs of the unhappy monarch of that kingdom were now utterly ruined, and his person in the hands of his enemies. The Prince of Wales and the Duke of York had found means to make their escape into Holland, where the former placed himself on board a portion of the fleet which had revolted from the parliament and taken refuge in the port of Helvoetsluys. Thither it was followed by a squadron of the parliament vessels under the command of the Earl of Warwick; when the States, by their remonstrances and the equipment of some ships of war, induced the contending parties to abstain from violating the neutrality of their shores by the commission of actual hostilities". The Prince of Wales then retired to the Hague, and during his resi- dence there, his brother-in-law, the stadtholder, used his utmost endeavours, but without success, to prevail with the States to lend some efficient aid to the royal cause. At length, however, the trial of the king, and the ] 649 imminent danger that threatened him from its pro- bable issue, impelled the States to lay aside all consi- derations of the evil consequences that might ensue to them from irritating the more powerful party, and to interfere with zeal on his behalf. Upon the requi- sition of the PriiTce of Wales, Adrian Pauw and Albert Joachimi, men to whose wisdom and extreme old age it was hoped some deference might be paid, were appointed ambassadors to the parliament, to intercede '' Basiiage, Ann. des Prov. Unies, torn, i., p. 150. " Clarendon, vol, iii., p. 124, Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 277. VOL. II. 2 X 674 WILLIAM II., 1649 for the life of tlie royal prisoner. In the depth of a rigorous ■winter, the Aenerable mediators, of -whom the former was seventy-seven and Joaehimi eighty-eight years of age, set out on their arduous mission; and obtained an audience of the parliament in London on the day before that fixed for the king's execution*. They protested that they had no desire to interfere in the domestic affairs of the English commonwealth ; but that in consideration of the mutual and inseparable inte- rests of the two countries, they besought the parliament to avoid the dangers they ^^ould incur from offering such an outrage to humanity in the person of a monarch, allied by the ties of blood and treaties to the most poAverful sovereigns of Eui'ope. Their expostulations were at- tended with no further effect than, perhaps, to increase the sentiments of dislike and suspicion which the par- liament had long since begun to entertain against the United Provinces. The assembly separated without giving them any answer, nor would they even deign to read the English translation of their harangue, which the ambassadors presented the same afternoon'*. The feeling with which the intelligence of the king's execution was received by all ranks of men in the United Provinces was one of unmiugled detesta- tion. The character of Charles, subdued and purified by adversity, had shone out during the latter part of his life with the lustre of so many virtues, that even his bitterest opponents forgot the eiTors and crimes of his more prosperous years, in commisei-ation for the seve- rity of the retribution, and admiration at the fortitude with which he suffered it. The States-General and ^ Wiquefort, Hist, des Prov. Unies, torn, i., p. 99—101. Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 297, 298. • Februaiy 8tli (Xew Style). STADTHOLDER. 675 States of Holland immediately waited upon the Prince i640 of Wales, attired in deep mourning, to condole with him for his loss; they saluted him with the title of majesty as King of Scotland; but Holland and Zealand, whom the interests of their commerce obliged to keep some appearance of terms with the new republic, obtained that the title of King of Great Britain should be omitted, and no mention made of congratulations upon his accession to the throne of his ancestors. But, however modified this proceeding, it failed not to give the deepest offence to the parliament, more particularly as not one of the great powers of Europe, with the exception of Christina, queen of Sweden, ventured to pay the fugitive monarch a similar compliment. The ministers of the churches at the Hague, also, a class of men hitherto the most unfriendly to the royalists of England, presented an address of condolence to Charles, in which they compared the execution of the deceased king to the martyrdom of St. Stephen. But for this they were sharply reprehended by the States of Hol- land, as assuming an interference in political affairs un- becoming their character and calling^. On the other hand, the ambassador of the parlia- ment, Strickland, had been constantly refused a public audience by the States-General; and the melancholy fate of Isaac Dorislaus, who was now sent over to pro- pose a league of amity between the two republics, afforded new matter of bitterness and hatred. This man, the son of a minister of Enkhuyzen, had been made professor of history in the university of Cam- bridge*; but afterwards espousing warmly the side ° Wi(iuefoi't, torn, i,, p. :55. Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 323, 324, 329. * According to Clarendon, vol. iii., p. 228, lie was professor in the Gre- sham College. Clarendon also gives a somewhat different account of the following transaction ; but as that of the Dutch historian is founded on the legal examinations taken at the time it is most likely to be correct. 2X2 676 WILLIAM 11., 1649 of the parliament, was nominated one of the counsel for conducting the prosecution of the king. These cir- cumstances rendered him peculiarly obnoxious to the royalist party, of whom great numbers had taken refuge at the Hague, and he was accordingly marked out as the first -victim upon whom vengeance was to be exercised. The evening after his arrival, as he was sitting with some other persons in the room of an inn at the Hague, four men entered in masks, leaving several others stationed outside to keej} watch. They first mortally wounded a gentleman of Guelder- land, A^hom they mistook for Dorislaus. The latter endeavoured to make use of the opportunity to escape; but, unable in his agitation to open the door, he was seized upon and murdered with several wounds. The assassins, who proved to be followers of the earl of Montrose, then dispersed unmolested; and were sub- sequently enabled, by the aid of their numerous friends, to quit the Hague in safety. The court of Holland immediately took Strickland under their special pro- tection, and offered a reward of 1000 guildei-s for the discovery of the criminals; but the parliament of Eng- land persisted in believing, or affecting to believe, that they were allowed to escape by connivance; and made violent complaints of the outrage committed against them in the person of their ambassador, to Joachimi, resident of the States in London^. Not lono- after, Strickland quitted the provinces without having suc- ceeded in procuring an audience of the States-General; and Joachimi, to whom they refused to send letters of credence to the new Government of England, was commanded to leave that country. Thus matters appeared ripe for an immediate rupture; the only < Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 157 ;• Preuves, 540, 552. Aitzema, deel iii. bl. 877. STADTHOLDBR. ^11 friendly relations between the commonwealths being 1649 maintained by the States of Holland, Avho sent a commissioner to London with instructions to award to the republican goTernment, such style and title as might be found most pleasing, and to watch over the commercial interests of the province^. While thus deeply and embarrassingly involved in the affairs of England, Holland was threatened with a revolution no less entire in her own constitution; and which, though of a totally different nature, would pro- bably have terminated in like manner in a military government, had not its results been frustrated by unforeseen circumstances. After the conclusion of the peace, it was found that the cessation of contribu- tions, passports, and safeguards, had caused a consider- able deficiency in the yearly revenue which the receiver- general was accustomed to apply to the payment of the interest accruing on the debt of the generality. The States of Holland had accordingly induced the States-General to follow their example in reducing the interest from 6^ to 5 per cent., engaging to assist them with a loan, in case the creditors demanded the repay- ment of their principal. The same consequences however occurred, as had attended a similar measure on the part of the province of Holland in 1640; the holders of the stock consented to allow it to remain at the reduced interest; and thus the States, while they preserved their credit unimpaired, effected a large saving in their annual expenditure''. They likewise retrenched several useless appointments, and paid off a number of small vessels, employed on the rivers during the war. But these reductions were of «r Aitzema, deel iii., 376, 412. Wiquefort, Preuves, 567, 573. Tliur- loe's State Papers, vol. i., p. 123, 133. i" Preuves de Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 403, 405, 678 WILLIAM It., 1(549 little moment while a military force was kept on foot so vastly disproportioned to the extent and resources of the provinces. At the peace of Munster the army amounted to sixty-eight troops of cavalry, besides the two forming the prince's guard, and 411 companies of infantry. Of these the States-General proposed that the latter should be diminished by 18,570 men, and the cavalry by 2,600. But the States of Holland, who were indebted to their troops above 3,600,000 guilders, considered this reduction insufficient, and proposed that the number of infantry should be les- sened by 20,550, and the cavalry 8,500, or fifty men in each troop, a plan which was acceded to by the Council of State, and prince of Orange, but rejected by the other provinces. The States of Holland, how- ever, declaring themselves unable to sustain any longer the burden of maintaining so large a number of troops, gave notice to the officers of those regiments forming their contingent, that payments would henceforth be made only on the reduced footing; when the States- General acquiesced in the measure, though with some reluctance". At the time of making this reform in the last year, the States of Holland had declared that it was only provisional, until the provinces could agree upon the mode of effecting a second still more considerable; and accordingly they now proposed the abolition of the office of general of cavalry, and the abatement of the salaries of governors of garrisons, generals, and colonels. As the gift of these offices was vested in the prince of Orange, as captain-general, this measure encountered vigorous opposition both from him and from the Council of State. The latter, in. presenting the annual " petition," declared, that it was unjust that ' Pi-euves de Wiquefort, torn. i. p. 410, 414. STADTHOLDER. 679 those who had expended their blood for the safety of 1649 the country during the war, should be deprived of the fruits of their labours in time of peace; and a further proposal made by Holland, that fifty-five companies of foreign troops should be cashiered, and 585 men on twenty-two companies of infantry, together with half the cavalry, disbanded, proved equally unpalatable. The prince and States-General insisted that a diminution should be made in the number only of men in each company; alleging, that it was unsafe to reduce the military establishment of the provinces to so small a scale, while they were uncertain as to the dispositions of foreign powers, and obliged to maintain garrisons in sixty frontier towns. On the part of Holland it was urged, that according to the plan of the States- General, all the oflScers being retained, the expenses of their maintenance would still amount to a sum exceeding the revenues of the province. These charges could therefore be defrayed only by successive loans, which must so deeply involve their finances, that at the end of a few years, if a war should break out they would be found overwhelmed with debt, and utterly unable to contribute to its support. A more favour- able time than the present for reducing the army could not be found, when no hostilities threatened from without, since France and England, torn by intestine commotions, were not in a condition to molest their neighbours, though never so well inclined; nor was there the slightest reason to suspect that Spain enter- tained any desire to violate a peace which she had sought so anxiously to procure. At length the States of Holland, unwilling to create a division, proposed that twenty troops of cavalry, and fifty-five of infantry should be disbanded, and that the companies of infantry CSO- WILLIAM II., 1649 containing seventy men should be reduced to sixty, and those of sixty to fifty. The States-General yielded so far as to consent, that besides the fifty-five com- panies, sixteen troops of cavalry should be disbanded, and two hundred and one companies decreased, five men iu each''. Thus the difference between the parties had become A^ery trifling, and might easily, as it would be supposed, have admitted of a compromise where so much more had been already ceded; the estimate at which the States of Holland had fixed the troops, appears, moreover, amply sufficient, if not larger than was exactly consistent with the security of public liberty. But the passions of men were now deeply involved. The prince regarded every attempt to lessen the army in the light of a direct attack upon his authority, and was reluctant to let it appear that any province could carry such a measure into effect without his concurrence; Holland conceived her rights and sovereignty violated by having a larger number of troops forced upon her than she was able or willing to maintain; while the other prvvinces, jealous of the wealth and power of Holland, hoped, by sup- porting the authority of the stadtholder, to secure a counterbalance to the authority she assumed. The States of Holland, finding their offer not accepted, and being now on the eve of separation, sent notices to the officers of the regiments they wished to disband, that they should cease any further payments'. While these disputes were pending, a transaction occurred w-hich tended to increase to a still greater degree the alienation between the stadtholder and the ' Preuves de Wiquefort, torn. i. p. 437, 438. Aitzema, decl iii., U. 346, 408. ' Preuves de Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 446, 456. STADTHOLDER. 681 States of Holland. Witte Corneliuson de Witte, a 1650 captain in the service of the West India Company, having returned home without the permission of the Council of Fernambuco, was immediately arrested by the prince as admiral-general. This measure, ill-timed and injudicious at best, was followed by the appoint- ment, on the part of the States-General, of a commis- sion, composed of members of the different colleges of the admiralty, to try him for his misconduct ; and at the same time they commanded the college of admi- ralty of Amsterdam to arrest some officers of his squadron. The States-General justified their proceed- ing on the ground that they had a right to exercise jurisdiction over crimes committed in the dominions of the generality, such as Brazil, which belonged to them as a conquered country, and over the persons of officers who took the oath of fidelity to them ; and that the same practice had been usual for fifty years. The States of Holland, on the contrary, loudly com- plained of it, as a violation of their territory ; and insisted that the prisoner should be tried by the ordi- nary courts, as had been the immemorial custom. They declared, that if the States-General had ever acted in contravention of this rule, it must have been without the sanction of their principals, the States of the provinces, in which case they had betrayed the interests of their country ; or that if their principals had given them any such instructions, it must have been through inadvertence, or in consequence of some sjDecial cir- cumstance. They had resolved upon issuing an order to the attorney-general to release De Witte, when they were prevented by the Prince of Orange, who himself set him at liberty. The magistrates of Amsterdam also sent to demand of the college of admiralty the persons of those whom they had arrested; and, on their 682 WILLIAM II., 1650 refusal, broke open the prison doors and freed tbem from restraint™. With minds embittered by this defeat, the prince and States-General were doubly inclined to take in ill part the notice given by the States of Holland to the troops, of the suspension of further payments, which, in fact, was nothing less than an actual dismissal. They declared it to be an act done in contempt of their authority, and tending to the dissolution of the Union. But, if they judged rightly, that the conduct of the States of Holland was inimical to the constitution, the mode in which they proposed to remedy the evil was still more so. They sent a missive to several of the officers, reminding them of their oath to the States and captain-general, and desiring them not to allow them- selves to be disbanded without their orders; and at the same time passed a resolution that deputies should be commissioned to the different towns of Holland to dissuade them from the measure. This deputation was to be chosen by the Prince of Orange, and authorized to provide for the preservation of the peace, and the maintenance and confirmation of the union of the pro- vinces, and to resist any attempt that might be made to violate either. This resolution was of course strongly opposed by Holland ; it was not consented to by either Guel- derland or Utrecht; and of the four provinces by whom it was carried, Friezland and Overyssel had one deputy each, and Groningen two, at the assembly; so that four individuals only were parties to it". The usual practice had been, when one province opposed itself to the remainder upon any question, to send a ■» Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 416. Preuves de Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 538—540. Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 142 ; Preuves, p. 467. STADTHOLDEB. 683 deputation from the States-General to the States of 1650 that province, for the purpose of persuading them to unanimity ; but the adoption of a course calculated to intimidate or corrupt particular towns, who had no immediate relation with the States-General, but with those only of their own province, was as yet unprece- dented. The members themselves, probably, hurried on by party spirit and their desire to gain the favour of the stadtholder, had scarcely reflected on the real nature of the commission, or the wide interpretation which that designing prince might find it expedient to put upon its instructions. It was to the sur- prise of all, therefore, when William signified the next day his intention of putting himself at the head of the deputation, which M'as to consist, besides, of one member each from Guelderland, Zealand, Utrecht, and Groningen, two deputies from the Council of State, and the treasurer-general". The first town they visited was Dordrecht, where the head burgomaster consented, in deference to the quality of the stadt- liolder, to receive him in the council, but without pre- judice to the sovereignty of the States of Holland. The deputation being accordingly admitted, one of their number, Alexander van der Oapellen, lord of Aartsbergen, read a written harangue to the assembly, couched in terms strongly condemnatory of the pro- ceedings of the States of Holland, and requiring that the government of the town would engage to con- tinue the payment of the troops. Highly affronted at the style of this address, and yet fearing to come to an open rupture with the stadtholder, the council of Dordrecht attempted to defend themselves with the tortoise-shield of delay, so often found available to the Dutch people in similar embarrassing encounters. ° Preuves cle Wiqiiefort, torn, i., p. 471, 684 AVILLIAM II., 3650 They replied, that they would deliberate upon the matter, and report their decision at the next assembly of the States of Holland. But this was by no means satisfactory to Aartsbergen. He declared, that the deputation would not leave the town until the council had given a direct and categorical answer to his de- mands, and made prompt and effective reparation for the violation of the Union of Utrecht, of which they had been guilty, thereby rendering themselves punish- able in life and goods. He added that "if he were not satisfied on this head, he should be obliged to hold a different language and to make other overtures." This insolent and indecent menace had no other effect, than to call forth a sharp rebuke from the council, with an expression of their determination to have no more communication with the deputies. The presence of the stadtholder only, it is said, saved Aartsbergen from still more unpleasant consequences of their resent- ment. From Dordrecht, the deputation proceeded to Gouda, and some other towns of South Holland, where, though they were admitted to an audience of the councils, they obtained nothing but indirect and evasive answers. At Edam, the prince was waited upon by the ex-burgomaster and president of the mu- nicipal court of Amsterdam, to represent to him, that the council could neither receive nor recognise any deputation from the States- General ; but besouaht him to come into the town alone, and in the quality of stadtholder, when all imaginable honours would be paid to him. AYilliam sent them back with the reply, that he should come vriih all his company, and in all the qualities with which he was invested. He immediately proceeded to Amsterdam, and demanded an audience of the council as the STADTHOLDER. 685 bearer of credentials from the States-General. This 1650 was refused. Leaving the city in high wrath, he repaired to Haarlem, where he met with a similar reception, as well as at Delft. In the towns of North Holland he had better success, except at Hoorn and Medemblick; the government of the latter pleading the poorness of the accommodation they should be able to afford him, as an excuse for declining to receive him at allP. On his return, the stadtholder, in giving an account of his proceedings to the States-General, expressed himself in terms of angry emphasis at his reception in some of the towns, particularly Amsterdam^; and his resentment soon displayed itself in an act of similar passion and imprudence to that which had, a few years before, proved so fatal to the interests and reputation of his father-in-law, Cliarles I.; the accusation, namely, of the five members of the House of Commons. Under pretext of desiring a conference, he sent for six mem- bers of the States of Holland, Jacob De Witt, ex- burgomaster of Dordrecht, John de Waal, burgomaster, and Albert Ruyl, pensionary of Haarlem, John van Voorhout, burgomaster of Delft, Nanking Keiser, pen- sionary of Hoorn, and Nicholas Stellingwerf, pension- ary of Medemblick, who, either unsuspicious of his intentions, or determined that no oiFence should be given by an appearance of disrespect on their part, readily attended the summons. They were arrested by the lieutenant-colonel of the prince's body guard, and the next day imprisoned in the castle of Louvestein. The stadtholder pleaded in justification of this measure the commission given him by the States- p Herstelde Leeuw, p. 14 — 16, 21. Idem, Justif, van Dovt, 105. Justif. van Amsterdam, 168. 1 Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 144 ; Preuves, 47S. 686 WILLIAM IL, 1650 General to maintain the Union, which he said was endangered by the machinations of these evil-disposed persons. He gave information of the circumstance to the States of Holland ; but not until he had taken the precaution of surrounding the court-house in which they sat with his two troops of guards, and filling all the avenues leading to it with several companies of foreign soldiers. The assembly thus deliberating in a state of siege, he had little cause to fear any violent opposition in their resolutions. He forbore to arrest any of the deputies from Amsterdam; since, against this town, he had determined upon a more signal ven- geance, and, in order to carry it into effect, had already engaged in an enterprise such as could scarcely be expected to prove other than the commencement of a destructive civil war'. The city of Amsterdam, situated, as it is well known, on the point where the Amstel empties itself into the Y, in a plain of low and marshy ground which may at any time be easily inundated, and being approachable only by narrow roads and dykes, is impregnable against a siege ; but in the heart of Holland, and unprepared for the attack of a foreign enemy, it was easily open to a surprise. This, therefore, the stadtholder now de- termined to attempt. He instructed Count William- Frederic, stadtholder of Friezland, to march with a considerable body of troops from the Hague to Ab- koude, where he was to be joined by several regiments of cavalry from Nimeguen and Arnhem. The combined forces M'ere then to advance in the dead of the night upon Amsterdam, the prince having sent before one Gentillot, with fifty picked men of different nations. These, to avoid suspicion, were armed only with side- ' Herstelde Leeuw, p. V3, 34. Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 487 — 489; Pi-euves, 081. STADTHOLDER. 687 arms and pocket-pistols, and were ordered to enter the 1650 the town as friends, to possess themselves of one of the gates, without committing any hostility if possible, and to admit Count William with the troops on their arrival. The plot thus skilfully and secretly laid was frus- trated by a mere chance. The cavalry from Nimeguen and Arnhem in order to reach Abkoude, the place of meeting, had to pass over the Gooiland, a barren and heathy morass, where it was scarcely possible to find the way without a guide. But either fearing to trust to the fidelity of any one, or that their inquiries might arouse suspicion, the commanders, instead of hiring a guide, prevailed with a surgeon, who inhabited a house on the spot where there was most danger of erring, to place a light in one of his windows, to favour the escape, as they pretended, of a friend who had been engaged in an affray. It happened that the night was fearfully dark and tempestuous, and the surgeon, thinking that no one could possibly venture to brave such weather, extinguished his light at about eleven o'clock. The troops, thus left without the expected beacon, wandered about the heath till break of day, when they were seen by the courier from Hamburgh, who gave intelligence to the burgomaster, Cornelius Bikker, that some soldiers were advancing upon Am- sterdam. It was at first supposed that they were a part of the Swedish army which still remained in the bishopric of Liege. Bikker, the only burgomaster then in the city, with the assistance of John Huyde- coper, one of the sheriffs, instantly caused the gates to be closed, the drawbridges raised, and the artillery placed upon the walls. At beat of drum the schuttery assembled under arms; and a number of persons who, in the event of a siege, would be deprived of employment, 688 WILLIAM II., 1650 readily consented to take service under the govern- ment as soldiers. Every one was in movement ; whole guilds offered themselves as volunteers ; and even the Anabaptists, if they did not, as some say, overcome their conscientious scruples so far as to bear arms in defence of their native city, vied with the most active in labouring at the repair of the fortifications. Eight ships of war were stationed in the Y, and a number of outlyers in the Amstel. All this was the work of a few hours. Count William, on his arrival, which instead of being before sunrise, was delayed till nearly mid-day, found preparations completed for a long and resolute resist- ance ; and that Gentillot had been at the gate,but hear- ing nothing of him, and fearful of remaining, had again retired. William therefore sent to the government a letter with which he was provided by the stadtholder, wherein the latter declared that he had "lately met with so strange a reception at Amsterdam, as to induce him to send Count William at the head of some troops, to prevent the evil-disposed from thwarting the measures he found necessary for the service of the countr)'.' The senate having read the letter, deputed Huydecoper to declare to tlie count in answer, that they had received the missive of his highness, which they could have wished less magnificently attended; that they had sent to solicit the advice of the States of Holland, and, meanwhile, they besought him not to approach nearer the town, "or they would be constrained to defend themselves with such arms as God and nature had pro- vided for them." As the count remained silent with astonishment and perplexity, Huydecoper added, as if from himself, that the town was filled with strange people who might easily proceed to extremi- ties, dangerous to himself and his troops, and painful STADTHOLDER. 689 to tlie government. In this he alluded to the cutting 1650 through the main dyke, and thus inundating the whole land nearly to Utrecht; a plan proposed in the council and negatived by two voices only out of the thirty-six. Two sluices were in fact opened, and a cutting made here and there in the small dykes, in order at once to satisfy the people, and to convince Count William tliat it was not the want of power but of will only which prevented them from overwhelming his whole army. In these difficulties he sent to inform the stadtholder of the failure of his enterprise, who received the intel- ligence with the utmost discomposure. He started up from the table where he sat at supper, and refusing to finish his meal, shut himself up in his cabinet, where he gave way to transports of rage. The next day he went in person towards Amsterdam, in spite of the admonitions of the council of state and court of Hol- land, pleading the instructions of the States-General to maintain the Union ; the pretext he used to cover all his arbitrary measures. He purposed to lay a regular siege to the town ; but on beholding the destruction which threatened his army, if the citizens should com- plete the work they had already begun of cutting the main dyke, his resolution failed him. Pie instantly sent to desire that the States-General would petition him to draw off the troops; and at the same time, assured the senate of Amsterdam that he had entertained no evil design against their city^ On the other hand, the government of Amsterdam were no less anxious to put a speedy termination to this unpleasant state of affairs. They feared the injury that would ensue to the commerce of the town, if it came to the knowledge of foreign nations that it was ' "Vad. Hist. b. xlv., bl. 95. Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 443. Herstelde Leeuw, bl. 32—34. Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 190—193. VOL. II. 2 Y 690 WILLIAM II., 1650 in a state of siege: tlicy were iaistrastful of Low far they should have the support of the rest of Holland; and should that not be afforded, their sole reliance must be placed on the inhabitants, who might, ere long, become discontented at the inconveniences and the loss of employment consequent on the prolongation of hostilities. By the cutting of the main dyke, they were able, indeed, to inundate the besieging army; but, besides their reluctance to risk the destruction of their countrymen and allies, a large portion of their most valuable lands must be sacrificed. In this disposition, the two parties soon came to a compromise; or, rather, the senate yielded to all the demands of the stadt- holder. They consented to vote in the States, that the army should remain on the footing that he and the council of state desired till the termination of the present war between Spain and France; that the arrears should be paid to those troops which Holland had disbanded; and the council of the town bound itself to grant an audience to the prince, whenever he thought fit to demand it as stadtholder. Upon the signing of the compromise, tHe troops Mere to be with- drawn, and the soldiers which the burgomaster had raised were to be dismissed. A secret article was insisted on by William, that the burgomaster, Cornelius Bikker, and his brother, a member of the council, should be deprived of their offices. But the senate, revolted at the idea of thus rewarding magistrates against whom the only accusation was zeal in the service of their city, were inclined rather to forego the agreement than submit to so humiliating a condition. In this dilemma, the brothers, rather than prove an hindrance to the restoration of peace to their countrj^, voluntarily resigned their places and dignities.. But the minds of men M'ere yet far from appeased. The STADTI-IOLDEB. 691 government of the town testified their continued jnis- J 650 trust of the stadtholder's designs by retaining their troops some time longer in service, strengthening the fortifications, and doubling the number of bands of schuttery. The prince's party accused the senate of Amsterdam of a private understanding with the par- liament of England; while William was spoken of by the citizens of all ranks in terms of disparagement and aversion. The Duke of Alva, it was said, had done all his tyrannical acts by the commission, and under the direction, of the sovereign of the country; but the prince had, without any authority at all, committed a wanton outrage against the dignity and persons of his sovereigns themselves. A design was even imputed to him of plundering the bank and mercantile companies of their ready money, for the purpose of assisting with it his brother-in-law, the King of Scotland'. Meanwhile, the towns, from whence the six pri- soners arrested by the stadth older were deputies, made strenuous efforts for their release; more particularly Dordrecht, where the government engaged to indem- nify De Witt and his family for all the injuries he might sustain. The dispute was, in fine, terminated by the voluntary resignation of their offices on the part of the whole number, when the prince consented to their liberation. The councils of the towns, how- ever, made it an express condition that they should retain their rank, and declared their honour and repu- tation undiminished. William afterwards justified his conduct in memorials addressed to the States-General and States of Holland, which neither deeming it advi- sable to read, the latter delivered theirs, sealed, into the hands of their pensionary, Catz". ' Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 410, 456. Hei'stelde Leeuw, bl, 85, 40. Preuves de Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 704. " Herstelde Leeuw, bl. 36, 37. 2 Y 2 692 WILLIAM 11., 1650 By these violent and audacious proceedings, Wil- liam attained all the ohjects he had in view. The reduction in the army was made according to the plan devised by himself and the council of state, fifty-five companies of foot and twelve troops of horse only being disbanded; and a resolution was passed in the States-General, that it was not competent for indivi- dual provinces to disband troops, which must always be done by the States-General, with the advice of the council of state. His acts were approved and thanks awarded to him by the States of Zealand, for the testimony he had given of his zeal for the service of the commonwealth. The remaining provinces, though they voted him thanks, forbore any expression of approbation; the States of Utrecht declaring, that they had no doubt he had just and powerful reasons for the measures he had pursued. One circumstance, how- ever, served to convince him that he was not quite absolute. He was obliged to yield his own inclina- tions to the general wish of the provinces, that all the companies disbanded should be foreigners. They were thirty-two English, twenty French, and three Scotch^ William Avas the more anxious to preserve the military force on an extensive scale, and his own power over it unimpaired, since he was now engaged in secret negotiations for a treaty with France, of which the intent was to engage the provinces anew in the war with Spain, as an ally of that power, and to carry out the provisions of the treaty of partition of the Spanish Netherlands, made between the two parties in 1635; hostilities were likewise to be declared imme- diately against the rebels of England, to continue until the family of Stuart were restored to the throney. 'HersteldeLeeuw,bl.38. Wiquefort,tom.i.,p.200. Preuves,p.727,733. 'Lettres d'Estrades, torn, i., p. 99—101. Basnage, Ann.' des Prov! Unies, torn, i., p. 189, STADTHOLDEK. 693 But, happily, before he could either accomplish 1650 entirely the destruction of the liberties of his country, or plunge her into an unjust and ruinous war, his short but eventful life terminated, at the age of twenty-four. Returning one day from hunting, overheated and fatigued, he Avas seized with a fever, when symptoms of the small-pox soon discovered themselves; and though the disease appeared for a time to be of a favourable nature, it proved fatal in a few days. The good and evil qualities of this prince tended alike to ruin the liberties and happiness of his country. Brave, active, and indefatigable, with a considerable portion of the strength of mind and talent hereditary in his family, he was only so much the better fitted to carry into execution the measures his pride and ambition suggested. His person was well formed and agreeable, and his constitution healthy, though somewhat enfee- bled by his habits of violent exercise, and his disposi- tion to excess in eating^. The tidings of the stadtholder's decease awakened different emotions of joy and grief among the inhabit- ants of the United Provinces, according as they were diflferently affected to the two political parties in the state. The soldiery, his immediate friends, and the populace, manifested the deepest sorrow; but in the countenances of many a scarcely disguised satisfaction was apparent. At Amsterdam in particular, his death was regarded as the epoch of a regeneration of free- dom to the provinces. A trivial circumstance evinced how strongly this sentiment prevailed. The deacons of the principal church found in one of the poor boxes some pieces of gold in a paper, on which was written a doggrel verse, purporting that the " gift was the greater ^ Herstelde Leeuw, bl. 40—42. 694 THE STATES. 1660 because for eighty years no rhore joyful tidings had ■been heard than that of the prince's death." ^ ■ Within little more than a week of the event, the widowed , princess-royal was delivered of a son, bap- tized by the name of William-Henry. Contention and strife, of which the infant, afterwards William III. of "England, was during the whole of his life (some- times innocently) the subject, marked almost the hour of his birth. When he was yet but a few weeks old, the guardianship of his person and estates was claimed arid sharply disjDuted between his mother, his grand- nlother the widow of Frederic-Henry, and the elector of Branderiburgh,- who had married Louisa of Nassau, Sisteif of the late Prince of Orange. After being tried before the court of Holland and the supreme council, the matter was compromised by the division of the guardianship between the three, the share of the princess-royal being" equal to the other two; but the enmity between the princesses, to which this suit gave rise', was never after reconciled^*. Though the premature death of the stadtholder riiight be considered as the salvation of the liberties bf the provinces, it placed them in a situation such as they had never yet found themselves since the forina- tioii 'of the republic. The stadtholders, William I., Maurice, and Frederic-Henry, had each at his death left a son or brother, capable of administering the office, arid to whom the eyes of men were naturally " Herstelde Leeuw, bl. 40, 12-t. * Even the naming of the habe was the occasion of an angry discus- sion. The' princess-royal was desirous that he should be called aftef her father, Charles; but his grandmother, deeming this a name of ill omen, insisted that he should receive that of William, and refused to be present at the baptism unless, her wish wei'e complied with,— Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 657. THE STATES. 695 directed as his successor; but at present the provinces 1650 were left with the important offices of stadtholder,. captain, and admiral-general vacant, and no near rela- tive of the late occupant remained, eligible to fill them. William-Henry, stadtholder of Friezland, in- deed, was cousin to the prince; but he was unaccep- table for many reasons, even had the States been inclined to overlook the claims which the babe then unborn might be supposed to possess. It was to be feared that, deprived of so powerful a bond of union and principle of motion, the framework of the consti- tution might either fall to pieces, or prove wholly inefficient; more especially as the share taken by some of the provinces in the late proceedings against Hol- land were likely to have created strong feelings of mistrust, if not animosity, between them. From such evil consequences, however, they were saved by the wisdom and energy of the States of Holland. To obviate any susjpicioU that might be entertained of their sentiments towards th& rest, they commissioned their deputies at the States-General to declare, that the mutual good understanding and confidence of the provinces was the firmest bond of union, which they were ready at all times to prove their desire to con- firm. Their next step was to send a deputation to all the provinces, with a request that they would commis- sion a sufficient number of delegates to appear at the Hague, for the purpose of taking into consideration all matters relating to the Union, Religion, and the Militia. Meanwhile they proceeded to the arrangement of the ititernal affiiirs of the provinces. They ordained that the senates of the towns which had hitherto been nominated by the stadtholder out of a double number chosen by the council, should be appointed by the towns themselves, on their application to the States 696 THE STATES. 1650 for a charter to that effect. In their other regulations they evinced an unequivocal disposition to assume to themselves those functions of sovereignty which they had hitherto grudgingly permitted to the stadtholders. They determined upon retaining in their own hands the nomination to the posts of all military commanders in the pay of the province; to the rectorship of the University of Leyden; and to all offices of which the appointment was not already vested in other bodies of the state. The pardon of offences was henceforth to emanate from them alone; and the guard which usually attended the stadtholder was now termed the States' Guard''- After all the vexations which the province of Holland had endured, and the imminent danger to which her liberties had been exposed by the proceed- ings of the late stadtholder, it was natural to conclude that her chief efforts would be directed to the esta- blishment of the constitution of the provinces on such a footing as should enable them to dispense the more easily with this office, as well as that of captain-general. The appointment of a stadtholder, they represented to the other provinces, was, for the present at least, highly inopportune; that it was impossible to foresee what the infant prince, upon whom this office would naturally devolve, might become when he grew up to man's estate; it was an equal chance whether he proved able and well-disposed, or inclined to follow the foot- steps of his father and Prince Maurice; that it would be necessary to appoint a lieutenant to act in his name, who, during the young prince's minority, might esta- blish his authority so firmly, that some difficulty would be f«und in obliging him to surrender it. Even •> Prenves de Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 740, 751, 766. Herstelde Leeuw, bl. 45. THE STATES. 697 as matters now stood, the influence of the prince, pos- 1650 sessed of \ast estates and allied with the Kings of France and Great Britain, would hereafter be quite as great as was compatible with the liberties of the pro- vinces; nor could he be elevated to a still higher degree of power M'ithout great danger to those liberties; a danger the more to be feared from a prince, whose predecessors had aspired to be sovereigns under the name of stadtholders, and from whom he might ima- gine the dignity transmitted to him as an hereditary right. The objections to the appointment of the infant prince as stadtholder would apply in yet greater force against his being nominated captain-general ; an office which the peace rendered wholly unnecessary. If they should be involved in hostilities and a captain- general become indispensable before he was of an age to execute its duties, they would be precluded from choosing an efficient person to fill this office; while, on " the other hand, circumstances might be such when he came to years of maturity, as to render the existence of a captain-general at all highly inexpedient. These reasonings were warmly controverted by Friezland and Groningen, who having a stadtholder themselves, were desirous that the other provinces should conform to the same mode of government ; either from conviction of its beneficial effects, or from jealousy that they should appear to assume more liberty than themselves enjoyed. They insisted, that the framers of the Union of Utrecht had wisely considered the stadtholders the best arbitrators of the differences wliich might arise to disturb that Union ; that the Union itself was framed under the supposition that the stadtholders formed, and always would form, a part of the constitution ; that these ministers were of eminent utility in preventing the extreme tardiness of their resolutions, the common 698 THE STATES. 1650 defect of a polygarchical government; that any change in an ancient form of government was always attended with danger; and that the obligation to choose a stadtholder was no more derogatory to the sovereignty of the provinces than the obligation not to make peace, war, or alliance, except by common consent. Besides Friezland and Groningen, the States of Zealand, although they abolished the dignity of first noble enjoyed by the Princes of Orange, manifested a strong disposition to invest the infant prince with the offices of stadtholder and captain-general ; a purpose which they were induced to forego, or at least to defer, by the remonstrances and persuasions of Holland. AVitli regard to the necessity of this office to the jireservation and welfare of the state, a question which has afforded matter of vehement debate among the historians and politicians of the United Pr o- ~vinces, it may be observed, that there is little doubt that, in a constitution so framed, the presence of a sole and ostensible head is advantageous, and even requisite, to give it uniformity and stability; to serve as a counterpoise to the too great tendency towards aristocracy; to contribute to the celerity of public measures; to facilitate the negotiations of the provinces with foreign powers, and the prevention or termination of disputes among themselves. Yet v>e have seen the measures most beneficial to the republic, such as the truce of 1609 and the peace of 1648, delayed, and their success endangered by the opposition of the stadt- holders; while such as have been remarkable for energy, promptness, and decision have been adopted for the most part without their intervention. We have seen also that nearly all the public dissensions and divi- sions among the provinces, that had hitherto occurred, were fomented, if. they did not originate, in the same THE STATES. 699 quarter. The seeming anomaly is to be attributed to 1650 this cause; that the benefits which might be sup- posed to result from the existence of the office, were almost wholly neutralized by the great and radical defects of its constitution. Of these defects the prin- cipal was its union with the office of captain-general, while the functions and responsibilities of neither were clearly expressed, nor the limits exactly defined. Thus duties and interests wholly incompatible were joiiied in one and the same person. As stadtholder, the ostensible head of the state was bound to procure fov that state peace and repose ; as captain-general it ■ft^as his desire and interest to maintain it in perpetual warfare : as stadtholder, invested with the power of pardoning offenders, he was the fountain of mercy ; as captain-general, and supporter of military discipline, the rigorous dispenser of justice: as stadtliolder, one of his first duties was to uphold the liberties and econo- mize the finances of the provinces ; as captain-generah whose chief object was to keep the military force of the country in the best possible condition, he would be inclined to place the army on a footing dangerous to the one, and ruinous to the other : as stadtholder, he was the sworn defender of the rights and privileges of the towns ; as captain-general, he had a force always at hand to crush those rights and privileges, when they opposed themselves to his will, or clashed with his views. If the stadtholder and captain-general were con- sidered only as first minister of the state, his power was too extensive; if in the light of a sovereign, his autho- rity was too circumscribed. Every law, every alliance, nearly every public measure in fact, being valid with- out his concurrence, the States might, upon any ques- tion, reduce him to an apparent nonentity in the oonstitutipn,and he -was thus tepipted to thwart such 700 THE STATES. 1650 measures as were distasteful to him by underhand and illegal means. The deputies of the States in the camp seemed to him always an irksome restraint, sometimes retarded his movements, and constantly excited in him a disposition to waywardness and ill humour; and when, under the impulse of these feelings, he acted in opposition to their direction and advice, no power existed in the constitution sufficient to coerce or punish him. The immense income, of which the liberality of the States-General had secured to the stadtholder the pemaanent enjoyment, rendered him totally indepen- dent and careless of their favour ; while, on the other hand, the number of offices he had to bestow created a kind of subjection to himself in a large portion of that body. Consequently, though there was scarcely any function that he could perform except under their direction, he contrived that their orders should be framed pretty much in conformity with his o^vn wishes, and serve rather to shield him from responsibility, than as a restraint upon his actions. If persuasive methods failed, he had the anny at his disposal to overawe them into acquiescence, or to support him in any measure he might choose to adopt without their sanction. Thus, while he was perpetually irritated by the appearance of opposition, and restrictions on his authority, he found himself in possession of power to silence all opposition, and set all restrictions at defiance. 1651 ^° *^® meeting of the deputies from the provinces, Jan. or, as it was termed, the Great Assembly, the proceed- ings were opened by the pensionary of Holland, Jacob Catz, who, in a long oration, recommended to the assembly the consideration of the maintenance of the Union, as framed in 1579; of religion, as established by the decrees of the synod of Dordrecht; and of the militia, in conformity with the resolutions passed at THE STATES. 701 the time of the peace". The Union, notwithstanding 1651 the complaints lately made of the violation of it by the States of Holland, was adjudged to exist in its integrity and pristine vigour; and the only question ■with regard to it was, therefore, into whose hands the arbitration of the differences that might arise between the provinces could be most safely trusted, According to the terms of the act, a difference between any two provinces was to be submitted to the decision of the remainder, and if it concerned all the provinces, the arbitration was to be left to the stadtholders; but as this only related to the stadtholders then in being, no provision was made after their death. Utrecht, Overyssel, and Guelderland, were of opinion that such disputes as might arise between the provinces would be best arranged by some members of the judicial courts, joined to arbitrators chosen by the provinces themselves ; but Friezland and Groningen insisted that the stadtholders were the only competent judges, and that the words of the Act of Union, " the stadtholders of the provinces now being," applied not to the stadt- holders, but to the provinces which then had joined the Union. In consequence of their opposition no decisive resolution was taken upon this poinf. The debates on the subject of religion terminated with greater unanimity; although a deputation of ministers from the synods, proposing to the assembly a means of preventing the increase of popish superstition, appeared likely to produce some heats ; and the more, as the province of Holland considered it an insinu- ation directed against her as allowing an entire tolera- tion of the Catholics. The resolutions now passed by the Great Assembly, were to the effect, that each province should support with all its power the true ' Herstelde Leeuw, bl. 52, ■• Idem, bl. 183, et seg., 188. 702 THE STATES. 1651 Christian reformed religion as taught in the churches, and expounded by the synod of Dordrecht ; and that this religion should be preserved for ever without change. That those sects vrhich were tolerated should be kept in quiet and good order, and not permitted in any other places than those where they were established already; that the decrees against the papists should remain in force; and the foreign ambassadors be enjoined not to permit any service in their chapels to be performed in the Dutch lang-uage^. These articles were directed wholly against the Catholics, since the Lutherans and Anabaptists enjoyed entire liberty of religion. They were, however, never enforced ; the Catholics continued to hold their assem- blies in private buildings unmolested, and sermons were constantly preached in the Dutch language, in the chapels of the foreign ambassadors, without ani- madversion on the part of the authorities ; the restric- tive edicts being only retained, it would seem, as an instrument of coercion ready to be used if the Catholics showed any disposition to erect themselves into a distinct body, or to create any disturbance in the state. The third point, the regulation of the militia, the cause of so much foregone dissension and heartburning, Mas one of more difficulty. Holland was desirous that the conduct of military affairs hitherto administered by the captains-general, should be entrusted to the council of state, in which that province had three members, and most of the others only one. Utrecht and Overyssel desired that in this case either all the provinces should have an equal number of members in the council; or that, instead of their voting indivi- dually, each province should have one vote, as _in the States-General. "With either of these conditions it ' Hei-stelde Leeuw, bl. 183, et seq,, 188. THE STATES. 703 would have by no means answered the purpose of Hoi- 1651 land that the council of state should have the entire power over the army, since her share in the direction of its aifairs would then have been reduced to one- seventh, while she had to pay more than half of the whole expenses. As no probability appeared of being able to carry the measure in any other manner, the States of that province proposed a middle course, which, after some debate, was agreed to. The patents or orders for the disposal of the troops were to be given by the States-General, with the previous advice of the council of state, in pursuance of an instruction framed by the individual provinces ; but no troops were to be removed either out of, or into, any province, without the consent of the States or the council of that province, and they were to take the oath of fidelity to the States of the province by whom they were paid, as well as to the States-General. The assembly, likewise, issued a decree against the re- ceiving of bribes and presents by the members of public bodies; but too incontrovertible a proof that the increase of -wealth had deeply corrupted that integrity formerly so honourable a characteristic of the Dutch people. The pernicious and dishonest custom, indeed, of obtaining offices by presents and sums of money to those who had the disposal of them, had begun to prevail to a considerable extent^. Before the great assembly separated, a vote was passed of general pardon and oblivion of all acts done or advised by any persons or provinces against another. Yet the States of Holland condemned the deputation of the last year to the governments of the towns as contrary to the spirit and form of the constitution; f Wiquefort, torn, i., p. 236, 252. Preuves, 916. Herstelde Leeuw, bl. 138—143. 704 TH£ STATES. 1651 aud resolved that the States of the other provinces should be requested to declare the resolutions adopted at that time by a few deputies only at the States- General, illegal and invalid, and to revoke the appro- bation of his acts which the stadtholder had extorted from them. The attack on Amsterdam and the arrest of the six deputies was voted an attempt upon the freedom and sovereignty of the province, and diametri- cally contrary to its laws, rights, and privileges. The conduct of these persons, also, who had been restored to their offices immediately upon the death of the stadt- holder, was declared to be that of true patriots Avho had the good of their country at heart ; and the town of Amsterdam received an indemnification for the expenses it had incurred at the siege. The resolutions authorizing the prince to form the deputation to the towns of Holland, as well as those returning him thanks for his acts, Avere accordingly expunged from the register-book, as well of the States-General as the States of the provinces. The assembly then ter- minated with every appearance of mutual friendship and goodwill between the members, upon which the pensionary of Holland, Jacob Catz, took occasion to expatiate, in an address more remarkable for its length and earnestness of expression than for refine- ment of taste^. The stability of the new order of things was destined to be put to a severe test almost at the mo- ment of its establishment, by a war, the most needless, the most ruinous, and the most odious to the republic of any in which it had yet been engaged. The relations with England had been, as we have observed, for some time in a disturbed state. So long s Preuves de Wiquefort, torn, ii., p. 285, 302, 430, Herstelde Leeuw, bl. 189—191. THE STATES. 705 as the stadtliolder lived, Holland alone had ventured 16j1 to testify a desire to keep up any appearance of friend- ship with the new commonwealth, a circumstance which tended not a little to embitter the animosity of the prince towards that province. His death inspired the parliament with the hope, that through the influence of Holland with the other provinces which had now no counterpoise, they might be brought to consent to an alliance of close and exclusive amity with England. Oliver St. John and Walter Strickland Avere accord- ingly sent with this view as ambassadors to the Hague, where — so much were affairs changed — they immediately obtained a public audience of the great assembly which was then sitting, and commissioners were appointed to treat with them concerning the terms of the proposed alliance''. Never, perhaps, were negotiations opened between two powers, to both of whom the maintenance of peace with the other was an object of more vital imj^ortance. A war with England was to the United Provinces ever an event to be deprecated and dreaded. It must necessarily be mari- time; and, even if attended with the most signal success, as ruinous to themselves as to her. In debas- ing the power of England, they cast down the bul- VA'ark of their own religion and liberties against their natural enemies, the Catholic and absolute sovereigns of Europe; in destroying her commerce, they annihi- lated the most ready and advantageous market for their own wares; while the expense of protecting their vessels, must in any case swallow up the profits of their merchants, and occasion a certain and immense decay of trade. In the event of adverse fortune, which, considering the relative strength of their anta- gonist, would appear almost inevitable, the very exist- >■ Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 638—640. VOL. 11. 2 Z 706 THE STATES. 1651 ence of the provinces was endangered. Their situation, indeed, and the inaccessible nature of their harbours, precluded the idea of conquest; but, by the destruc- tion of their commerce, England might deprive them of subsistence, diminish their population, and reduce them to such an extremity of distress, that they would be forced to terms little less humiliating. Neither was it from motives of national interest alone that the Dutch might be supposed to view a war with England with the deepest aversion. They could not but reflect in how large a measure she had contributed to their own happiness and glory; that all their proud- est recollections were associated with her; that nearly a century had now elapsed since the Dutchman had appeared on the field of battle without the Englishman by his side, or a drop of his blood been shed, but the bravest and noblest of Eno-land had been mingled with it; that the bones of their fathers had lain whitening together on the ramparts of Haarlem, and on the strand of Nieuport. Long and intimate intercourse had, indeed, so mixed together the population of the two countries, that a war between them was scarcely less than fratricidal. The descendants of many of those wlio had fled from the persecutions of Philip of Sjjain, still remained in England; while numbers of the volunteers both from Eno-knd and Scotland serving in the armies of the States, had from time to time married and become naturalized in the provinces. To these general reasons for preserving peace, was added that of the situation in which the provinces noAV found themselves; with a government scarcely yet settled from the shocks it had sustained, alike by the misconduct, and the loss, of its most influential mem- ber; with an army indisposed by the reductions that had lately been effected in its numbers and emoluments; THE STATES. 707 and a navy scarcely more to be depended' upon, since 1651 the sailors, particularly those of Zealand, were to a man devoted partisans of the house of Orange, and dis- satisfied that the title of admiral-general was denied to the infant prince. Neither was it less incumbent upon the present government of England to keep peace with the provinces, the only foreign power from whence any vigorous attempt to restore the exiled royal family was to be apprehended. The nation, exhausted by the civil war she had now waged for so many years, filled ^^■ith discontents, and weary of the extortions of the ]5arliament, was ill-prepared to sustain the vast charges which a war with so powerful a maritime nation as the Dutch must necessarily bring in its train; and the authority of Cromwell, afterwards increased by the events of the battle of Worcester and the subjugation of Scotland, was as yet not suflficiently confirmed to risk the shock it might receive in case the issue of hosti- lities were otherwise than successful. In this state of affairs, and with no subjects of dispute existing be- tween the two nations but such as might have been readily arranged, it might be supposed that an alliance would prove a matter of speedy and easy accomplish- ment. Yet was this desirable object frustrated by unforeseen, and, as it would appear, wholly inadequate causes. Among other visionary schemes in Avhich the Par- liament of England — filled with the wildest enthusiasts both in religion and politics — indulged, was that of forming a coalition between the two republics under one sovereign, and a council, sitting in England, wherein the States were to be represented by a certaifi. number of members'. To this end the negotiations of the ambassadors were to be directed ; but fearful that ■ Verbaal van Bevoming, bl. 61. 2 Z 2 708 THE STATES. 1C51 if too abruptly broached, the proposal would be at once rejected by the States as absurd and infeasible, they were instructed to keep it carefully in the background, and to pave the way for its introduction by the offer of a close and intimate alliance between the two re- publics. But even this was proposed upon terms with which it was utterly impossible for the States to comply, had they been ever so well inclined. The Parliament demanded that the States should expel those avIio were declared rebels in England from the United Provinces, or any territory belonging to the Prince or Princess of Orange, and that they should not permit the prince or princess to aid or succour such rebels in any manner, on pain of forfeiture for life of the estates on which they had been harboured. As the English fugitives were protected and warmly favoured by the Orange party, any attempt to dislodge them from the boundaries of the provinces would be resisted by the whole power of that party, and attended with nothing less than general commotion and tumult ; nor could it be expected that the States would expose their authority to contempt by consenting to a condition which they knew per- fectly well they were unable to carry into effect. They, therefore, unanimously resolved that they would not interfere in any manner in the quarrel between, the English Parliament and Charles II., or Scotland. The negotiations thus made uo progress, and were soon terminated by the hasty recall of the ambassadors, in consequence of the treatment they had experienced at the Hague''. The Orange party in the United Provinces, strongly attached to the royal cause in England, were even desirous of involving their country in a war to accom- plish the restoration of Charles II.; and being now k Thurloe's State Paper?, vol. i., p. 182, Aitzema, dcel iii., bl. 663. THE STATES. 709 ■without sufficient influence in the States to prevent 1651 the alliance with the Parliament, adopted a means of securing their object equally unjustifiable and effectual. The English ambassadors, immediately on their arrival at the Hague, were surrounded, and greeted with the epithets of "regicides" and " executioners," by a rabble of the lowest class, to whom, it is said, a page of the princess royal had distributed money; and during the whole period of their stay, neither themselves nor any of their household could appear in the streets without being loaded with reproaches and contumely, and even incurring danger of personal violence fi-om the popu- lace, encouraged and assisted by the English royalists and the chiefs of the Orange party. Prince Edward, son of the titular Queen of Bohemia, who had taken a prominent share in these outrages, was summoned to appear before the court of Holland, and one of his ser- vants was scourged and another banished. But all the efforts of the authorities to arrest the petulance of the mob proved futile ; and a military guard was at length placed over the house where the ambassadors resided. The insults they had received, rendered the more stinging by the mixture of truth contained in the expressions of their persecutors, sunk deep into the minds of the ambassadors, more especially St. John. On his return to England, he delayed not to exhibit his feelings of vengeance by carrying through the Par- liament the celebrated Act of Navigation, the object of which was the ruin of the Dutch commerce. By this act it was decreed, that no productions of Asia, Africa, or America should be brought to England, except in vessels belonging to that nation, and of which the greater portion of the crews were English ; and that no productions of Europe were to be imported into England except in ships belonging to the country of 710. THE STATES.. 1651 which stich productions were the growth or manufac-- ture. As the United Provinces had little of their own produce to exjjort, but maintained an immense carrying trade to England, as Avell from the other nations of Europe as the more distant quarters of the globe, the drift of this measure could scarcely be mistaken, even had it not been rendered evident by an article declaring that the prohibition did not extend to bullion or silk wares brought from Italy; while salted fish, whales, and whale oil, commodities of special traffic with the Dutch, were expressly forbidden to be exported or imported except in English bottoms. This step was followed by letters of reprisal issued to such persons as conceived themselves aggrieved by the inhabitants of the United Provinces ; and by the equipment of two men-of-war, which inflicted im- mense injury on the Holland and Zealand merchant- ships'. 1652 Regarding these i^roceedings as equivalent to a declaration of hostility, the States-General, while they dispatched an embassy to London to complain to the Parliament on the subject, and to propose the renewal of a treaty, framed, as far as present circum- stances permitted, upon the model of that of 1496, resolved on the immediate equipment of one Ihundred and fifty ships of war to protect their navigation and fishery. The command of the fleet was intrusted to Marten Harpertson Tronip, with instructions to cruize in the Channel, but to avoid as much as possible the coasts of England; the question of striking the flag' to the vessels of that nation being left to his discretion. Tromp, receiving intelligence that seven rich mer- chantmen from Turkey were closely pressed by some ' Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 638, 658—660, 667. Ludlow's Memoirs, vol. i., p. 346. Pail. Hist., vol. iii., p. 1374. THE STATES. 711 English privateers, sailed towards tlie coast of Dover, 1653 with forty-two vessels, where he encountered the English admiral, Blake, at the head of a squadron fifteen in number. He was preparing for lowering his sails to the English ilag, when Blake fired two shots into his ship. A third, Tromp answered with a shot that went through the English admiral's flag. Blake instantly sent a broadside into the Dutch ship, which Tromp was not slow in returning. The English being reinforced with eight vessels from the Downs, both fleets then engaged in a fierce contest, which, after four hours' duration, was terminated by the approach of night, with the loss of two ships on the side of the Dutch. Such is the account given by Tromp, in a letter to the States-General; but Blake asserted, that Tromp' being warned by three shots to strike to the English flag, fired a broadside instead of obeying. Which of the two was to blame, is impossible to decide. It may be doubted whether Tromp, a zealous Orange- royalist, was in any hurry to strike to an inferior number of the Parliament's vessels, or whether Blake exhibited much patience in Avaiting for him to do so ; but it is quite clear, tliat had either nation been really desirous of preserving peace, they would scarcely have adopted so singular a means to that end, as the sending, under the present circumstances of irritation, two jealous and high-spirited captains at the head of armed fleets to encounter each other in the narrow seas'"- Immediately on information of this engagement, the States, desirous of proving that they were not wil- fully the aggressors, commissioned Adrian Pauw, lately chosen pensionary of Holland on the resignation of » Aitzema, deel ili., bl. 094, 713, 714. Verbaal van Beverning, bl. 48. Clarendon, vol. iii., bl. 366. 712 THE STATES. 1652 Jacob Catz, to represent fo the Parliament, that if Tronip had committed the first act of hostility, it was entirely in consequence of a misunderstanding, since no instructions of that nature had been, given him ; and to endeavour to terminate the affair by an ami- cable arrangement. To this the Parliament showed itself by no means inclined ; they demanded a reim- bursement of their expenses, or satisfaction, as tbey termed it, and security for the preservation of peace in future, by which was meant an immediate compliance with their proposal of coalition between the two republics''; conditions which were of course inadmissible for a moment. The States-General, therefore, ordered Tromp to engage with the English ships on every opportunity, and the war now commenced in good earnest. Blake having attacked the Dutch herring boats, destroyed several, and scattei'ed the remainder, Tromp directed his course in search of the Englisli fleet, but being overtaken by a violent storm, he was forced to seek refuge, with his ships much disabled, in the ports of HoUandj This misfortune, though wholly beyond his control, brought Tromp into temporary disfavour with the common people ; and many members of the government suspecting that to serve the purposes of the house of Orange, of which he was a zealous parti- san, he had wilfully given rise to the dispute concern- ing the flag, in order to involve his country in a war, he was superseded by ]Michael de Ruyter. The neAv 26th admiral, at the head of thirty light vessels, and eight fire-ships, fell in with Sir George Ayscue, near Ply- mouth. After a sharp and well-fought engagement, Ayscue was forced to retire into the harbour, whither the Dutch ships were prevented by a contrary wind from following him. De Ruyter having soon after " Aitzcma, deel iii., U. 715, 718. Tliuiloe's State Papers, vol. i., p. £07. THE STATES. 713 joined another squadron, under the vice-admiral, Cor- 1652 neliuson de Witte, they were attacked while cruizing- on the Flemish coast by Blake and Ayscue. In this Oct. encounter, twenty of the Dutch ships kept out of '' ^ gunshot ; and De Ruyter, finding himself considerably weaker than his opponent, retired to the haven of Goree". The unrivalled skill and experience of Tromp, in maritime affairs, prompted the States once more to reinstate him in his post as head of the fleet, De Ruyter taking the command of a squadron under, him. The coasts of Dover and Folkestone were the next Dec. scene of combat, when two English ships were cap- ^^^^^ tured ; Blake, being himself wounded, and many of his ships disabled, was obliged to retire to the Thames, leaving the sea clear for the passage of a large number of merchant ships into the ports of the United Pro- vincesP. Both the belligerents took advantage of the cessa- tion of hostilities during the winter months to improve the condition of their naval armaments. The States 1653 proposed to add another hundred and fifty vessels to the fleet of that number they already possessed ; but the public finances not admitting of so heavy an expense, they were obliged to content themselves with repairing and refitting the old ones. Seventy only remained under the immediate command of Tromp, the rest being employed in various quarters as convoys. With these he received orders to blockade the Thames; but while previously escorting two hundred merchant ships on their return home, he was intercepted by Blake oft" Portland Point. The two fleets were equal in number, but vastly disproportioned in strength, from the inferior size and equipment of the Dutch " Brandt, Leeven van de Ruyter, bl. 25 — 33. "■ Idem. 36. 714 THE STATES. 1653 vessels, of -which a great number were merely armed merchant ships, hired by the States in the beginning of Feb. the war. Blake commenced the attack by a distant ^^'^ fire into the ship of the Dutch admiral, which Tromp left unausM'ered till he had come within musket-shot of the enemy, when he gave him a broadside, and rapidly veering round, sent in another from the opposite side of his vessel. The lightness of his ship enabling him to sail round his antagonist, he discharged a third fire into her opposite side, which was followed by a loud cry, g,s though several in the English ship were Avounded. Blake, then retreating, kept up only a skirmishing fight. De Ruyter at first engaged with the "Prosperity," of fifty-four guns, his own vessel being no more than twenty-eight. Suffering consider- ably from the enemy's cannon, he ran close up for the purpose of boarding, and on the second assault ca^jtured the English vessel. But being afterwards surrounded by twenty others, he was obliged to abandon it ; and with difliculty extricated himself from his perilous situation by the aid of the Aice-Admiral Evertson. He afterwards, with two of his captains, engaged seven large vessels of the English. Many others performed prodigies of valour; but, as evening approached, Tromp descried about six and twenty of his ships taking advantage of the wind to escape. Darkness at length separated the combatants. Two vessels were sunk on the side of the English, and as many on that of the Dutch ; one of the latter was captured and burned, another blew up, and that of De Ruyter Avas greatly damaged. During the night the Dutch retired towards the Isle of Wight, whither they were pursued by the English, Avho renewed the attack the next morning. The latter now fired chiefly from a distance, at the masts and rigging of their oppoueuts, with the view, THE STATES. 715 after having disabled the vessels of war, to take posses- 1653 sion of the merchantmen, which Tromp -was endea- vouring to protect by ranging the fleet in a semicircle around them. The contest vi^as again prolonged, with unflinching courage on both sides, until evening, when the fleets separated without any decisive advantage ; but the Dutch had expended nearly all their ammuni- tion, and De Ruyter's shijD was so disabled, that she was obliged to be taken in to-\v. Nevertheless, Tromp commanded his captains to show a good face to the enemy, and prepared to renew the engagement, which commenced at ten in the forenoon of the following day. At the first attack Tromp approached close to the ship of the Vice-Admiral of the Blue, which he cannonaded so briskly as to force him to retire. De Ruyter, though still in tow, was found in the midst of the enemy until his ship was so damaged as to become utterly helpless. But again a portion of the Dutch captains failed in their duty by retreating from the fight ; some did so in consequence of having no more ammunition; others had no excuse but their cowardice. Mere exhaustion at length compelled both parties to a cessation of hostilities ; yet, after sunset, Blake made as if he was about to renew the attack. Tromp took in his sails to await his approach, when the English admiral, changing his purpose, sailed towards the shores of England, and the Dutch continued their course homewards without pursuit. The Dutch had nine vessels missing, the English only five or six ; but the loss in killed among the latter far surpassed that of their antagonists, amounting to two thousand, while no more than six hundred perished on the side of the Dutch. The former claimed the victory; but the latter reckoned it as an advantage more than equivalent to a triumph, that they had been able to preserve all their 716 THE STATES. 1653 mercliant vessels, except twenty-four, which fell into the hands of the enemy. The States-General testified the highest satisfaction at the conduct of Tromp and De Ruyter, and the other commanders who had offered such determined resistance to a fleet so vastly more powerful than their own. Those who had best ac- quitted themselves received presents both from the States-General and the States of Holland. But no punishment was inflicted on such as had avoided the combat, in the fear, jjrobably, of increasing the discontents that already existed against the present government^. About the same time the Dutch commander, John van Galen, obtained a signal victory over some English vessels under Appleton, near the port of Leghorn. The English had three ships captured, and as many destroyed ; but their loss was counterbalanced on the side of their enemies by the death of Van Galen"". After the event of the last battle the States were active in repairing their fleet and putting it in a con- dition again to take the sea. The command was given to Tromp, which he accepted, but with extreme reluctance. The best ships, he said, were destroyed, the remainder but in a very inefficient state; and in the last encounters many captains had neglected their duty, without being visited by any penalty. He declared plainly that he would not be answerable for the disasters that M^ere sure to ensue unless larger and better equipped ships were provided. It was subse- quently resolved to build sixty vessels of the requisite magnitude; but as this must be a work of time, the existing evil was left without a remedy. The English fleet, now commanded by George Monk, (the restorer 1 Brandt, Leeven van de Ruyter, LI. 39 — io. Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 766, 781—788, 796. ' Idem, 797. THE STATES. 717 of royalty to his country,) and Richard Deane, con- 1653 sisted of ninety-five sail. In cruising about tlie shores of Zealand and Flanders, they at length fell in with the Dutch vessels under Tromp, at the harbour of Nieuport. Tlie latter were ninety-eight in number, June with six fire ships, but incomparably inferior in size to ' the enemy. In spite of this overwhelming disadvan- tage the contest was terrific ; and, though several ships were disabled on both sides, and the admiral, Deane, was slain, it continued until nine at night, and was renewed the next day before Dunkirk. The English had now the advantage of the wind, and the Dutch were thus precluded from adopting the only mode of attack, that of closing and boarding, which could place them on anything like an equal footing with their antagonists. Some disorder, also, occurred in the Dutch fleet, by the ships running foul of each -other, and seven fell into the enemy's hands. At the close of day, Tromp found so great a number of his ships damaged, and all so deficient in ammunition, that he was forced to retire behind the sandbank of the Wielingen, on the coast of Zealand ^ This, the first decided defeat which the Dutch navy had sustained, called forth grievous complaints from Tromp and the principal commanders to the States- General. They urged, that it would be impossible for them to carry on the war without a powerful reinforce- ment of good and well equipped vessels ; since there were in the English fleet more than fifty, of which the smallest was larger than the Dutch admiral, and thirty of their own were totally unfit for battle. The vice- admiral De Witte, in his address to the States, bluntly exclaimed ; " I am here before my masters : but why ' Letters of Admiral Tromp to the Sta'es-General. Aitzema, dcel iii,, bl. 81", 818. Thurloe's State Papers, vol. i., p. 269. 718 THE STATES. 1053 dissemble ? The English are in fact our masters, and we are debarred from the navigation of the seas till we have better ships ;" and De Ruyter declared that he would go to sea no more unless some remedy were provided for the present state of things*. Though time dfd not admit of the completion of new vessels, the States, convinced of the justice of the remon- strances made by their officers, laboured so earnestly to satisfy them, that within six weeks Tromp was dis- patched, with nearly ninety sail, to drive the enemy from the VI ie and Texel, which they had blockaded since the last battle. An indecisive ena'agement near Catwyk was followed by a desperate battle at the Aug. mouth of the Meuse, the Dutch fleet being augmented ^^^^ to one hundred and ten sail by the junction of the squadron under De AVitte. Nearly at the commence- ment; Tromp having penetrated into the midst of the enemy, was shot in the breast by a musket-ball. "It is over with me now," he exclaimed ; " but for you, take courage." His flag was left flying to conceal his death from the enemy and the crews of the other vessels, and the contest was continued with unremitting fury. Each side claimed the honour of a victory; both shared the disasters of a defeat. The English lost eight vessels and eleven hundred men in killed and wounded ; the Dutch nine or ten vessels, about an equal number of slain, with seven hundred prisonei-s. Neither fleet kept the sea; the Dutch retiring into the Texel, and the English towards the Thames. The former considered it as a decisive advantage to have freed their coasts from the presence of the enemy's ships, but this was more than counterbalanced by the inestimable loss they sustained in the death of their commander Tromp. The States evinced their grati- ' Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 822, 829. THE STATES. 7 19 tude to his memory by the care they took of his widow 1653 and posterity, and the erection of a magnificent monu- ment to him in the church at Delft"i. Determined to show that they had regained pos- session of the sea, the States dispatched the fleet under De Witte to convoy the merchant vessels from the north, which arrived, to the number of four hun- dred, safely in port. No further engagement occurred during this season ; a design formed by the Dutch of sailing to Margate, with the view of blockading the Thames, being prevented by a terrific storm, which destroyed several of their ships, and forced both fleets to retire to their havens^ Somewhat late in the day, considering that there was now a probability of a speedy termination of the war, punishment by fining, keelhauling, and imprisonment, was inflicted on a few of the commanders, who in the late engagement-s had been guilty of cowardice or neglect of duty. But the alleviating circumstance, that most of their ships were of such inferior size and equipment as to be totally insufficient to make a stand against the enemy, caused the States to be lenient and sparing in the pursuit of the criminals'". Both the belligerents had now become heartily weary of a war engaged in for no valid reason, between parties who had no cause of quarrel, except such as their mutual pride and obstinacy aflbrded. The English, indeed, had been victorious ; but they had been just that, and no more. They had not been able to inflict any sensible damage on the power of the Dutch navy ; and the defeats the latter had sustained " Brandt, Leeven van de Ruyter, bl. 61 — 59. Thiirloe's State Papers, vol. i., p. 406. Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 834. ' Thui'loe's State Papera, p. 419, 420, 637, 571, 682. Brandt, Leeven van de Ruyter, bl. 61. " Thurloe's State Papers, vol. i., p, 607. 720 THE STATES. 1653 were to be attributed solely to tbe inferiority of their vessels, while the resolute resistance they offered, under so immense a disadvantage, might well inspire a doubt, whether, if the war continued till the vessels now preparing of heavier bulk and more complete equip- ments should put to sea, the results might not prove directly contrary. The jealousy entertained by the English of the commerce of the Provinces also, had now in great measure abated, in consequence of the discovery they had made, that they could not succeed in effecting the destruction of that of their rivals, without involving, to a certain extent, the injury of their own. The subject of the cruelties committed by the Dutch at Amboyna, constantly recurred to and expatiated upon by designing men in England, in order to rouse the vindictive passions of the people, had long since begun to fail of its effect ; and the convic- tion to spread more widely, that even were the circum- stances exactly as represented, the wrong was not to be imputed to them as a nation, but to the cupidity of a few merchants, exercising that licentiousness which dis- tance from the control of the central government seldom fails to create. The new commonwealth, moreover, was anything rather than on a secure foundation. The parliament was at variance with the army ; both were hostile to the numerous and influential body of the presbyterians ; while the royalists, to whose party tbe widely spread discontents of the nation daily gave strength, Avere lying in wait to turn their mutual dis- sensions to advantage. Charles II. had already twice made offers to the States, through the medium of Boreel, their ambassador at tlie court of Paris,t o serve as a volunteer in their fleet, engaging that great part of the English vessels would desert to him, as soon as they were acquainted M'ith the fact of his presence on THE STATES. 721 board the enemy. They had refused this offer, and 1653 passed a resolution that no foreigner of dignity should come within the boundaries of the Provinces without their permission ; but if the minds of the States were further embittered, the next proposal of the like nature might be more successful, and any peace then become impossible, of which the restoration of the dethroned family were not a condition. The conti- nuance of the war, also, served to strengthen the Orange party in the state ; and should it once gain the ascendency, there was little doubt that the royalists of England would be supported by the whole power of the United Provinces. The expenses of maintaining so large a naval armament, would absorb the funds necessary for the support of the land forces; and it was suspected that one of the motives of the Parlia- ment for engaging in the war, was to obtain a pretext for diminishing the army, and with it the power of Cromwell. This consideration was in itself sufficient to render the latter, who had now assumed the almost absolute control of affairs, desirous of a peace. Among the Dutch the causes of anxiety for the termination of hostilities were increased in ten-fold pro- portion. The whole of the eighty years' maritime war with Spain, had neither exhausted their treasury, nor in- flicted so much injury on their commerce, as the events of the last two years. The province of Holland alone paid from six to seven millions annually, as interest for her debt, and while the taxes began to press severely on all ranks of the people, their usual sources of gain were nearly closed ; the Greenland fishery was stopped ; the herring fishery, the " gold mine of Hol- land," unsafe, and almost worthless, the English having captured an immense number of the boats ; and the decay of trade was so great, that in Amsterdam alone VOL. II. 3 A 722 THE STATES. 1653 three thousand houses were lying vacant-^. To these causes were added others peculiar to the province of Holland. The States of this province, whom the j)ro- ceedings of the late stadtholder had rendered strongly- averse to the Orange family, had applied all tlieir efforts to prevent the young Prince William from being appointed to that office, and that of ca])tain and admiral-genei-al. These had hitherto been successful ; but the increased influence which his party gained by the continuance of the war, might soon enable them to carry that measure in spite of all opposition. The name of the Prince of Orange had heretofore been used in raising recruits for the army and navy; and the people readily flew to the conclusion, that the unwonted disasters of the late maritime encounters were to be attributed to the want of the customary head of affairs. The States of Zealand had already found themselves obliged, in compliance with the cla- mours of the populace, to propose a resolution that the young prince should be invested with the offices enjoyed by his father, and Count William of Nassau appointed his lieutenant ; and' it might be feared, that the discontents arising from the present state of things, would incline Guelderland, Utrecht, and Overyssel, and even some towns of Holland itself, to the same measure, for which Friezland and Groningen were strenuous advocates^. At the head of the party favourable to peace, and opposed to the Prince of Orange, or the " Louvesteiu faction," as it was termed, was John de Witt, chosen in the early part of this year pensionary of Holland, on the death of Adrian Pauw. He was the son of Jacob de Witt, pensionary of Dordrecht, one of the '■ Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 790, 803, 810, 813, 858, 861. ' Idem, bl. 826. THE STATES. 723 six deputies who had been thrown into prison by the 1653 late stadtholder; an injury which had implanted in the mind of the young man feelings of resentment, deep, bitter, and implacable*. De Witt obtained the usual act of indemnity, whereby reparation was pro- mised him for all the injuries he might sustain in the execution of his office, and that he should be bound to give an account of his actions to none but the States of Holland. He was at this time not quite eight and twenty ; yet had merited and obtained so high an esteem for his talents and prudence, that he was often called the " Wisdom of Holland." The enmity exist- ing between him and the family of Orange, rendered him, however, always unpopular with the multitude^ The States of Holland, informed by a spy whom they kept in England of the favourable dispositions of that government, had, in the early part of the year, secretly dispatched a letter expressive of their desire that the Parliament would unite with them in termi- nating a war ruinous to both nations, and to the Reformed religion which they mutually professed. The Parliament returned an answer both to the States of Holland and the States-General, signifying their willingness to put an end to the present state of affiiirs. But notwithstanding that secresy was in the highest degree requisite, at the beginning at least of the nego^ tiations, they caused the letter of the. States of Holland to be printed and published, with the title of "The humble Petition of the States of Holland to the Par- liament of England for Peace." This display of inso- lence had well nigh frustrated all attempts at accom- » Aitzema, deel iii., W. 787. Thurloe's State Papers, vol. i., p. 364. * These sentiments were sedulously inculcated and nourished hy his father, whose morning salutation to him is said to have often been, "Remember the prison of Louvestein,"— Me'na. de Guiche, p. 31. 3 A 2 724 THE STATES. 1653 modation. The States-General testified extreme cBagrin at the opening of a separate negotiation on the part of Holland; Groningen and Guelderland strongly urged that it should be pursued no farther; and, together with Zealand, proposed to take advan- tage of the opportunity to enter into a strict alliance with France against England a- At the persuasion of the States of Holland, however, the States-General ultimately consented to send ambassadors to London; the Lords Beveming and Nieuport from Holland, Van de Perre from Zealand, and Peter Jongestal from Friezland; the two former adherents of the Lou- vestein party, the latter partisans of the house of Orange^ As the Parliament had proposed to treat only on the footing of satisfaction and security, such as they had demanded at the commencement of the war, Beverning, one of the ambassadors, was sent forward to endeavour, if possible, to induce them to abate somewhat of these conditions. Shortly after his arrival, the dissolution of the Long Parliament, an act to which, it is said, he himself instigated Cromwell, was highly flattering to the hopes of the Dutch for peace; yet the other three ambassadors found Crom- well and the new council he had instituted, no less wedded to the scheme of the coalition than the Par- liament had been. The strong representations of the ambassadors as to its absurdity and impracticability at length induced the council to modify their proposal so far as that, each nation retaining its own government, three English should have a sitting in the Council of State of the provinces, and three Dutchmen in that of " Aitzema, deel iii., bl.790, 803—805. Thurloe's State Papers, vol. i., p. 489, 494. Wiquefort, Hist, des Prov. Unies, torn, ii., p. 375, ^ Sec. Ees., deel i., bl. 71, 76. THK STATES. 725 England. Two of tlje ambassadors, Peter Jongestal and 1653 John van Nieuport repaired to the Hague, for the pur- pose of submitting this project to the States-General". Meanwhile the States, to provide against the not improbable event of the rupture of the negotiations, sought to draw closer their relations with foreign powers. They commissioned Boreel, their ambassador in France, to propose a renewal of alliance with that country: and dispatched embassies to Sweden and Denmark, to solicit the friendship of those monarchs. With the Queen of Sweden they had little success; but Frederic III. of Denmark, conscious how great a loss to his kingdom would be the destruction of the Dutch trade in the Baltic, had already been induced by the promise of indemnity on the part of the States to seize two-and-twenty English ships in the Sound. He now concluded with them an offensive alliance against England, engaging to equip twenty men-of-war to blockade the Sound against the vessels of that nation; and that neither party should make a separate peace with the Parliament''- The negotiations now pending in England, and the fear lest, if they proved successful, the consequence might be the exclusion of the young Prince of Orange from the dignities possessed by his father, aroused into an activity the zeal of his partisans. His opponents, or the Louvestein party, were assailed from all quarters by libels, lampoons, and accusations the most odious and improbable; in many places the populace would not permit recruits to be levied for the fleet, except in the name of the Prince of Orange; and shot to pieces the banners of the town that were displayed ' Thui-loe's State Papers, vol. i., p. 293. Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 814. Verbaal van Beveming, W. 62, 65, 67, 84. " Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 751, 763, 868. 726 THE STATES. 1653 instead of the Orange flags, if the governments refused to obey their behests in taking them down. At the Hague and Haarlem the schuttery evinced their fa,vour to the Orange party, by playing constantly the national tune of "AVillem," and by parading the town in orange colours, wearing on their breasts the semblance of a heart with an orange stuck in the middle. Such was the perturbed state of the public mind, that at the former place the collection of a rabble of children with flags, cockades, and scarfs made of orange-coloured paper, had well nigh given rise to a serious tumult. At Amsterdam and Dordrecht the windows of some of the principal houses were broken, and the names of rogues and traitors liberally lavished on De Witt and his friends. At Enkhuyzen the populace forced a trumpeter who was reci-uiting in the name of the States to use that of the Prince of Orange; but, not content with this, they attacked the house of the chief burgomaster, William Lange, plundered and destroyed it. Some troops sent by the States of Holland, at the request of the senate of the town, were denied admittance by the rioters, who possessed themselves of the guildhall, closed the gates, and dragged the artil- lery to the walls. The deputies, commissioned by the States to appease the tumult, met with equally little ceremony, and were even in danger of losing their lives. AVilliam of Nassau, on. the contrary, who repaired to Enkhuyzen upon an alarm of inva- sion by the English, was received with the respect and magnificence due to a sovereign; a circumstance which gave rise to the suspicion that he had covertly some hand in fomenting the present disorders^. After a while, however, matters were somewhat appeased; « Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 825 — 830. Thurloe's State Papei-s, vol. i., p. 253, 295. THE STATES. 727 the deputies of the States gained admittance, and 1653 having summoned the inhabitants to hear the publica- tion of an edict, they assembled in great numbers before the guildhall. Advantage -wsiS taken of this opportunity to introduce nine companies of infantry into the town, when a few of the ringleaders were seized, and the magistrates who had been deposed by the populace restored to their authority. Similar dis- positions manifested themselves in the principal towns of Zealand^. These disturbances added considerably to the diffi- culties which before retarded the negotiation with England. The proposal of a coalition between the two republics was unanimously rejected by the States- General, who were at a loss to conceive how the idea that a free and independent nation would voluntarily subject itself to a powerful and ambitious rival, could have suggested itself even to the enthusiastic visionaries with whom it originated. The Orange party pressed, as usual, for an instant rupture of the negotiations; but the States of Holland obtained, that the two ambassadors should be sent back with instructions to refuse the coalition, but propose in its stead an inti- mate defensive alliance, binding the two nations to defend each other against all enemies whatsoever. The determination evinced by the States at length induced Cromwell and his council to forego this favourite object of their desire; but the conditions proposed by their commissioners were yet such as it was impossible to accede to. Among them the principal was, that no English rebels should be harboured on any territory belonging to the Prince or Princess of Orange, on pain of forfeiture of such estate; and that both the States of the provinces and the States-General should engage ' Sec. Res., deal i., bl. 73, 79, 91, 96, 109. 728 THE STATES. 1653 never to appoint the Prince of Orange or any of his posterity to the office of stadtholder, captain, or admi- ral-general, but resist all attempts made to that end to the utmost of their power^. As the ambassadors were fully convinced that the States-General could never be induced to enter into any such engagement, the negotiation, after long debates, came to a rupture. The ambassadors, however, yielded to the solicitations of the council to delay their departure for a few days; and, in the interval, Cromwell was chosen protector, a circumstance which seemed to promise a more speedy 1 654 and favourable result to the conferences. They were resumed with him in person; but the matter of the exclusion still remained a difficulty. The protector expressing himself in bitter and angiy terms against the family of Orange, declared that there could be no security for peace with the United Provinces so long as a probability existed that the administration of affairs might fall into the hands of persons so closely allied with the man who called himself King of Eng- land \ The States-General proposed, as a compromise, that any one chosen to the offices in question should swear to maintain the treaty; and on this footing the peace was, in fine, concluded. Mutual injuries were to be buried in oblivion, and the two nations were bound to defend the peace and liberty of each other against all attacks whatsoever. The rebels of neither were to be received or harboured in the territories of the other. Navigation and commerce were to be unmolested, and vessels of war of the one nation to enter freely into the ports of the other, in a number not exceeding eight. All ships belonging to the e Verbaal van Beveming, 167, 180, 201. Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 858. 859. >■ Verbaal van Beverning, bl. 222, 243, 247, 252, 277. THE STATES. 729 United Provinces were to strike the flag to an English 1654 man-of-war in the seas of Great Britain. The ships of war of the two nations were each to protect the merchant ships of the other when occasion required. No letters of reprisal were to be granted till a period of three months had elapsed after reparation had been refused. Commissioners were to be named to estimate the injuries which each party had inflicted on the other in Greenland, the East Indies, and elsewhere, from 1611 to 1652, and to award the amount of indemnification; and the States engaged to indemnify the English for the seizure of their ships in the Sound, according to the arbitration of two commissioners chosen on each side. Justice was to be done on the participators in the " manslaughter," as it was termed,, of Amboyna, if any were still alive '. This treaty was signed by both parties to the astonishment of many, who suspected that some fraud lurked under the ready abandonment by Cromwell of an article on. which he had insisted with so much passion. The mystery soon explained itself. Thurloe, the secretary of the protector, had before declared to Beverning and Nieuport, that his master had no in- tention of yielding the point of the exclusion unless; the States of Holland M'ould bind themselves to deliver an act to the same effect within three months; and Cromwell now refused to ratify the treaty until this condition were complied with. The question was accoi'dingly proposed to the States of Holland by the pensionary De Witt, under an oath of secresy, and the adoption of the measure earnestly recommended. With some of the towns it met with ready approval ; others consented to it provided it were carried unani- mously; while Haarlem, Leyden, Enkhuyzen, Alkmaar, ' Aitzema, deel iii., bl, 918i 730 THE STATES. 1654 and Edam, voted that it should be referred to the States-General, which was in fact to reject it alto- gether. Unable to overcome their opposition, De Witt obtained that the act should pass by a majority. It was accordingly transmitted to the ambassadors in London, but with express directions to keep it in reserve, until every effort had been used to induce the protector to ratify the peace without it''. This was found impossible; and the act was therefore delivered, binding the States of Holland never to choose the Prince of Orange or any one of his poste- rity, stadtholder, or admiral, of their province; and to prevent, in so far as regarded their vote, his aj)- pointment as captain-general of the United Provinces. Both the measure itself and the mode in which it was carried excited the violent indignation of the States- General. De Witt was accused of having been the first to propose the addition of this article to the treaty, on which Cromwell, it was said, was induced to insist so resolutely, only to gratify him whose support was necessary to forward his interests in the provinces'. But Beveming afterwards denied on oath that such was the fact"*, nor does the conduct of De Witt want this addition to render it in the highest degree reprehensible. It is one of the privileges of wise and good men that they are permitted to be useful to mankind as ^ Thurloe's State Papei-s, vol. ii., p. 219, 238, 253. Sec. Res, deel i., H. 134—140, 143. ' Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 930. Thurloe's State Papers, vol. ii., p. 263, 264, 318. " Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 1153. • It is, however, an extremely suspicious circumstance, that all the conferences tending to this object were held with Beveming and Nieu- port only, unknown to their colleague Jongestal, Van de Perre having died previously.— Thurloe's State Papers, vol. iL, p. 7, 343. THE STATES. 731 "well by their errors as their virtues; for as these 1654 serve to arouse in our minds the love and desire for excellence, so are their errors beacons of warning to inspire us with a due mistrust of ourselves, and a watchfulness against the insidious workings of selfish impulses, mingling with, and disguising themselves under the mask of pure and virtuous motives. De Witt was both an enlightened statesman and an upright patriot ; and yet on this occasion he evinced that the wisest of mankind, when they allow passion to have a share in their resolves, are as incapable of acting with sound judgment as the weakest. Impelled by party spirit and personal hatred to the family of Orange, he was now hurried into a measure unjust in itself, and prejudicial in the extreme to the true in- terests of his country. Neither he, nor the States of Holland, had the smallest right to pass a vote disabling the young prince, who could have been guilty of no crime against the state, from holding any offices in the state, for which he might be found capable ; nor to abridge the right of their successors to appoint to such offices any one by whom they might be benefi- cially administered. The injury done to the innocent offspring of a race so highly esteemed, shocked the best feelings of the people, in whose breast gratitude for the services rendered the country by his ancestors had taken deep and firm root; and created between the two parties in the state a cause of violent and irreconcilable discord. The adoption of such a mea- sure by one province without the participation or knowledge of the rest, was a proceeding inimical to the constitution, the very essence of which consisted in perfect ojjenness and mutual confidence; since, it is evident, that the secret and independent corre- spondence of individual provinces with foreign powers 732 THE STATES. ] 654 must create such a separation between them and the remainder, as would tend directly to the dissolution of the Union. Neither was the influence of the Act of Exclusion less sinister on the foreign relations of the provinces than on their domestic affairs. Should Charles II. ever regain the throne of England, it must prove the occasion, in all probability, of an irre- parable breach between themselves and that country; a cause of alienation and disgust was offered to the Elector Palatine, the Elector of Brandenburg, and other princes allied by the ties of blood to the house of Orange, and whose friendship it was expedient carefully to preserve ; while by her tame submission to an act of such insolent interference with her rights and liberties, Holland degraded herself in the eyes of foreign powers, and afforded them a pretext for pur- suing a similar course towards her whenever oppor- tunity should offer. The strongest plea produced by the States of Holland, or rather De Witt, in their justification, namely, that the peace would have been impracticable without this condition, affords but an insufficient excuse. Had Cromwell found the States firm in their refusal he would scarcely have ventured to renew, for this cause alone, a war "which would then have appeared no longer national, but personal to himself; and as such, in the present state of anxiety of the people for its termination, would have proved dangerous, if not fatal, to his authority. The am- bassadors had already obliged him to yield a point to which at first he seemed equally averse; the inclusion of the King of Denmark in the treaty as the ally of the United Provinces. But even had his hatred against the family of Orange been sufficiently powerful to absorb all prudential considerations in Cromwell, the gtateg "vyottld then have occupied the high ground of THE STATES. 733 preferring rather to submit to violence and injury 1654 from others, than commit an act of injustice them- selves; and the unanimous spirit of both parties in- the provinces, would have been aroused to the vigorous prosecution of hostilities, carried on, it would appear to the one, in defence of the rights of the house of Orange, and to the other, in support of the dignity and independence of the nation. The peace thus dearly bought proved in no wise adequate to its price. The publication was received in most of the towns, even of Holland itself, with coldness, and in some with undisguised demonstrations in favour of the Prince of Orange". The Dutch were unable to obtain, as they had hoped, the repeal of the Navigation Act, the main cause of quarrel; while on the other hand, they had some difficulty to induce Cromwell to forego a claim' he made to the free navigation of the Scheldt, which the United Provinces were entitled by the treaty of Munster to keep closed; The settlement of the pecuniary claims of the two nations, likewise, terminated wholly in favour of the stronger. The indemnity for the English ships seized by the King of Denmark, together with an additional sum demanded by the king himself for those which the English had captured from him, amounted to 97,973^. sterling, the whole of which the States were obliged to pay; and in the estimation of the mutual injuries committed by the contracting parties in the East and West Indies, and elsewhere, the balance inchned heavily to the same side. The Dutch East India Company were obliged to cede, to the English, the island of Pouleron, and to pay 80,000^.; with an additional payment of 3,650^. to the heirs of those who had suffered death at Amboyna. In consider- » Thurloe's State Papers, vol. ii,, p. 264, 304. 734 THE STATES. 1654ation of this sum all future demands or complaints on this subject were laid at rest for ever^" The absorbing events of the English war, and the previous commotions in the provinces, had prevented the States from affording to the West India Company that aid of which they had long stood in the most pressing need. The revenues of the Company had, from the first, been scarcely sufficient for the defence of their settlements ; and after the revolt of the Por- tuguese, in 1645, it had so rapidly lost its possessions in Brazil, that at the time of the peace of ]Munster they were reduced to three forts : at the Recif, in Eio Grande, and Paraiba. The earnest requisitions of the States to the ambassador of Portugal, that the king would restore the dominions conquered in violation of the treaty of 1641, had been entirely fruitless. In the last year one of the members of the council of Brazil had visited the provinces, to represent the miserable condition of the colony, destitute of provisions and ammunition ; and to solicit, that if no assistance were afforded, some ships at least might be sent to fetch away the remnant of their countrymen. But, occupied in negotiations with the King of Portugal, the States delayed compliance with his request ; and, in this year, the fort of the Recif was taken, that of Rio Grande burned, and, by the surrender of the third to the Portuguese, they became sole and undisputed masters of Brazil p. It was some disadvantage consequent on the widely extended commercial relations of the United Provinces, that a difference conld scarcely arise between any two nations in Europe without their being, to a certain » Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 936. Wiquefort, Hist, des Prov. Unies, torn, ii., p. 451, 452. I- Thurloe's State Papers, vol. i., p. 562. Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 874, 1116, THE STATES. 735 degree, involved ; since hostilities, however distant, 1654 were sure to interfere with some branch of their trade. The balance of power between the northern nations in especial, was an object of careful and anxious policy; and the States had always thrown the weight of their alliance into the scale of one or the other, as it seemed likely to gain such a preponderance as to be in a situation to embarrass the navigation of the Baltic. The resignation of the Queen Christina had now placed on the throne of Sweden the ambitious and restless Charles Gustavus, who, shortly after his acces- sion, declared war against the King of Poland, overran 1655 Poland and Lithuania, and, having mastered Elbing, laid siege to Dantzic. Should Charles gain possession of Dantzic, his first proceeding would be, as the States well knew, an attempt to defray a part of the expenses of the war, by levying heavy tolls on the valuable trade in corn they carried on with that port, They accordingly resolved to send ambassadors to the King of Sweden at Elbing, to endeavour to persuade him to an accom- modation with Dantzic ; and to give emphasis to their negotiations by the presence of a considerable fleet. De Ruyter was recalled, with his squadron, from the Mediterranean, where he had been employed in clearing the sea of pirates, and joined to the portion of the fleet under Obdam van Wassenaar, who had been appointed lieutenant-admiral of Holland on the death of Tromp. The fleet, consisting of forty-two ships of 1656 war, sailed to the gulf of Dantzic, when, at their approach, the siege was raised, and the ambassadors found little difficulty in inducing Charles to consent to a treaty, including that town, whereby he engaged not to molest the commerce of the Dutch on account of the warq. 1 Brandt, Leeven van de Ruyter, bl. 97—102. Sec. Ees., deel 1., bl. 346. Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 1261, 1263, 1267, 1278. 736 THE STATES. 1656 It behoved the States to provide the more sedu- lously for the security of navigation in the Baltic, since their commerce in other quarters had to sustain continual oppressions and assaults. The alienation produced in the mind of the French nation by the con- clusion of the peace of Munster, had in no degree abated; but, distracted by internal commotions, and embarrassed by the war with Spain, she had been able to display her hostile dispositions in no other manner, than by a continued course of privateering against the merchant ships of the United Provinces. The com- plaints of the States had been productive of no remedy; and within the last nine years no less than three hundred vessels had been either captured or plundered by the French privateers, involving a loss to the merchants of 3,000,000 of guilders. Negotiations had been opened about three years before for an alliance between the two countries ; but as the Car- dinal Mazarin discovered that they were commenced chiefly with the view of rendering England more amenable to terms, this circumstance had but served to increase his feelings of animosity against the States. The vessels belonging to the English nation likewise claimed the right of search, and exercised it whenever an opportunity offered; and the intimate alliance which Cromwell had lately entered into with France, gave the States but too much cause to believe the truth of the intelligence communicated to them by Boreel, their ambassador at Paris, that the protector and Mazarin were in league to ruin, to the utmost of their power, the commerce of the United Provinces'. Determined to arrest, if possible, the progress of this scheme, the States dispatched De Ruyter once more to the Mediterranean, with orders to seize all the ' Thuiloe's State Papers, vol. ii., p. 693. THE STATES. 737 French privateers coming out of the harbours of 1656 Provence, Portuguese, and other pirates; accompanied by a secret instruction to resist the right of search, and to defend himself by arms if any attempts Avere made to carry it into effect by force. This instruction was afterwards revoked, but, on the earnest remonstrance of De Ruyter, the admiralty of Amsterdam issued another nearly similar in its tenor. Arriving off the island of Corsica, De Ruyter seized two French 1657 privateers, one of which, commanded by De la Lande, a notorious pirate, he sold, and landed the crews in Spaing As these vessels, though fitted out by private persons, belonged to the king, who had given his third of the profits to Cardinal Mazarin, this proceeding excited the deepest ire of the latter, as well as other nobles of the court, many of whom had a share in the privateering ships. Mazarin and his party were vehe- ment with the council to declare it a rupture of the peace ; and an embargo was immediately laid on all the vessels and effects of the Dutch in France. De Thou (son of the renowned historian) was sent to the Hague to demand the instant restoration of the cap- tured ships, and that exemplary punishment should be inflicted on De Ruyter*. The patience with which the United Provinces had hitherto endured the injuries committed by the French on their commerce, and the anxiety they had manifested to obtain peace with England, probably possessed the cardinal with the idea that the fear of hostilities would prompt them to a ready submission. But he found himself widely mis- taken. Instead of complying with his requisitions, the States arrested all tlie property belonging to the ' Aitzema, deel iii., bl. 64.5. Brandt, Leeven van de Ruyter, bl. 104—108, 113, 115. ' Aitzema, deel iv., bl. 46, 62. VOL II. 3 B 738 THE STATES. 1657 French in the United Provinces, prohibited the im- portation of any wares from that country, and demanded restitution of all the seizures that had been made by their prirateers. They gave symptoms of a disposition, moreover, to comply with the solicitations of the admiralty, that a fleet of ships might be sent to blockade the ports of France. These vigorous measures lowered the high tone of the cardinal. De Thou was instructed to propose that the embargo should be taken off in Fiance as soon as the two ships were restored ; that a treaty of navigation and commerce should be concluded, giving to the Dutch in France the same privileges as were enjoyed by the most favoured nations ; and that the royal commands for the restora- tion of the vessels captured from their merchants should be exactly executed. Upon the conclusion of this treaty the two privateers were restored ; the States testifying, at the same time, their approbation of the conduct of De Ruyter by a magnificent present ''. Scarcely was this perplexing matter arranged, when the States were again involved in hostilities, which this year broke out between Sweden and Denmark. Frederic III., king of the latter country, conceived the opportunity favourable, while his rival was engaged in the war with Poland, for recovering some of those territories conquered by Sweden from his father about twenty years before ; and having obtained a loan of money from the States, he declared war against Charles, and invaded the duchy of Bremen. On intelligence of this event, Charles Gustavus, leaving the affairs of Poland under the conduct of his brother, hurried to the defence of his own states. The Danes were forced by the Swedish general VVrangel to retreat from Bremen ; and a bold and successful march over " Sec. Res., deel i., bl. 667. Aitzema, deel iv., bl. 47, 54, 57, 60. THE STATES. 739 the ice, in the depth of winter, to Funen, Langeland, 1658 Laland, and Falster, and from thence to Zealand, brought the King of Sweden close to Copenhagen. The same cause which favoured the progress of the invader, debarred the King of Denmark from receiving any assistance from his allies ; and, in this emergency, he consented to an extremely disadvantageous treaty at Rostock. This, however, was of little avail to arrest the progress of the conqueror. Complaining of non-compliance with its provisions on the part of Frederic, he quickly resumed hostilities, invaded Zea- land a second time, and laid regular siege to Copen- hagen. The danger which threatened the Danish capital, and with it their own trade to the Baltic, at this time worth 3,600,000 guilders annually in freight alone, excited extreme alarm in the States. They sent ambassadors to persuade the King of Sweden to listen to terms of accommodation ; and as he mani- fested no inclination to yield to their remonstrances, they resolved to afford the King of Denmark imme- diate and effective assistance. A fleet of thirty-seven men-of-war, with above two thousand troops on board, was placed under the command of the admiral Obdam van Wassenaar, for the relief of Copenhagen, with secret orders to destroy the Swedish fleet of thirty- eight (or according to some, fifty-four) sail, then block- ading the Sound, under Wrangel^. The Swedes had already mastered the fortress of Cronenburgh, commanding the Sound ; but the Dutch ships, keeping their course exactly in the middle of the strait, happily escaped the fire both from that fort and Elsinburg on the opposite shore. As soon as they had passed, they commenced a general and brisk attack on the Swedish ships. The Dutch admiral ' Aitzema, deel iv., bl. 233. 3 B 2 740 THE STATES. 1658 Obdam, being unable to stand, with the gout in both feet, caused himself to be placed in a chair at the main-mast, whence he directed all the movements of the fight, with mingled energy and composure. His vessel, surrounded by seven of the Swedes, was cruelly damaged, and once caught fire, which, by the strenuous exertions of the crews of some ships that came up to his assistance, was happily extinguished. Both sides did their duty to the utmost ; when, after six hours of sharp fighting, the victory declared itself in favour of the Dutch. Three Swedish ships were captured, and eight destroyed, with the loss of above a thousand men. Four hundred only were killed on the side of the victors ; but among them were the Admiral Flo- renceson, and Comeliuson de Witte, whose ship was sunk ; the only one missing of the Dutch. The rem- nant of the Swedish fleet then retired to the harbour of Landscroon, and Obdam landed his troops in safety at Copenhagen. On the tidings that an armament was preparing in England to assist the King of Sweden, the States determined that Obdam should winter in Denmark, 1659 and, early in the next year, sent a reinforcement under De Ruyter, with a land army of four thousand men. Had the English fleet, on its appearance in the Baltic, proceeded to afibrd any active aid to the King of Sweden against the Dutch, there seems little doubt that these two jealous and irritable nations would soon have been involved as principals in the quarrel. But the measures of England no longer displayed their wonted vigour ; Cromwell was now dead ; and the confusion in which that event left the aifaii-s of the nation, did not permit the newly-restored parliament to embarrass itself with a distant and useless war. Tlie Admiral JNIontague was, therefore, instructed to THE STATES. 741 declare to Obdam that the only object for which he 1659 was sent, was to procure peace between the two powers. As the States were no less anxious for this consumma- tion, a treaty was soon concluded between France, England, and the United Provinces, specifying the conditions upon which an accommodation should be effected between Sweden and Denmark, under their mediation. Both the English and Dutch fleets mean- while were commanded to abstain from hostilities ; and a cessation of arms accordingly ensued for six weeks. But the belligerents, indignant that the republics of England and the United Provinces should presume to oblige two crowned heads to receive peace at their dictation, were neither of them found readily amenable to terms. The negotiation accordingly was drawn out to a tedious length. Meanwhile, the insurrection of the Royalists in England, headed by Sir George Booth, to which Montague was privy, induced the admiral to return home, alleging as a pretext the scarcity of pro- visions on board his fleet. This proceeding was loudly complained of by the Dutch, but proved in the event the most propitious that could have been adopted. So long as the English fleet remained in the Baltic, that of the States was obliged to abstain from hostilities, lest they might force the English to use arms in defence of their ally ; while, on the other hand, there seemed little probability of bringing Charles Gustavus to rea- son, unless by coercive measures. The departure of Montague, therefore, left De Ruyter, upon whom the chief command had now devolved in consequence of the recall of Obdam, free to act with vigour; and he soon after sailed to Funen, for the purpose of co- operating with the land troops in an attempt upon Nybourg. A pitched battle, fought before its walls, terminated in a complete victory on the side of the 742 THE STATES. 1659 Danish army, chiefly owing to the valour and con- duct of the Dutch auxiliaries; while the town was so briskly cannonaded by the fleet of De Ruyter, that it was forced to surrender at discretion. This 1660 conquest, which involved the submission of Funen to the Danes, was followed within a short time by the death of Charles Gustavus, and the blockade of the Swedish fleet by De Ruyter in the harbour of Lands- croon; events which tended greatly to the advance- ment of pacific negotiations. Accordingly, a treaty was ere long concluded between the two powers, under the mediation of France, England, and the States- General, whereby the Swedes evacuated their conquests in Denmark"^. De Ruyter, having received a patent of nobility from the King of Denmark, returned with his fleet to Holland, leaving the nations of the north secure in a peace, upon which the safety and success of the Dutch commerce in the Baltic mainly depended. " Brandt, Leeven van de Ruyter, bl. 153 — ^217. Aitzema, deel ir., bl. 381, 383—386, 393, 567. Thirrloe's State Papers, vol. vii., p. 680, 733, 741, 788. De Witt's Brieven, deel iii., bl. 676. 743 NOTES. Note A. (Page 294.) It was the opinion of the geographer Peter Plancius, that Heemskerk had erred, first in remaining in too low a latitude, and next in steering too close to the shore. The region between the arctic circle and the pole, he supposed to be less cold than the space between that circle and the tropic of Cancer, from the circumstance of the sun never setting in the former during several months of the year; just as a small fire, kept constantly burning, will warm a room more than a large one which is occasionally extinguished. The ice, likewise, according to the information of one of the pilots on this expedition, was less abundant in the deep water : in the first voyage, indeed, they had found the Sea of Tartary nearly clear. Plancius, therefore, recommended that the ships should pro- ceed at once to past the eightieth degree of north latitude. — Vid. Lett., in Neg. de Jeannin, torn, iii., p. 294. In compliance with this opinion, the admiralty of Amsterdam, having in the year 1611 fitted out two vessels for the purpose of discovering the passage, ordered them to sail direct to latitude 80°; but their advance was arrested by the ice long before they could reach that point. — Meteren, b. xxxii., fol. 716- Note B. (Page 466.) PosTERiTV will hardl}' feel inclined to acquiesce in the opinion formed of Grotius by the English court on the occasion of this visit. " On his first coming to the king," writes the Archbishop of Can- terbury, Abbot, to Sir Ralph Winwood, " by reason of his good Latin tongue, he was so tedious and full of tittle-tattle, that the king's judgment was of him, that he was some pedant full of words, and of no great judgment. I myself discovering him to be of this habit, as if he did imagine that every man was bound to hear him. so long as he would talk, did privately give him notice that he should plainly and directly deliver his mind, or else he would make the king weary of him. This hint had no effect; for afterwards, at a supper at the Bishop of Ely's, he was so full of words, that Dr. Stewart afterwards observed that, ' like a smatterer, he had studied some two or three questions, whereof, when he came into company, he must be talking to vindicate his skill ; but if he were put from these he would show himself but a simple fellow.' The bishop, too, wondered what a man he had there, who, never 744 NOTES. being in the place or company before, could overwhelm them ^^ith talk for so long a time." — Win wood's Memorial, vol. iii., p. 451. This affords one of the many examples of how erroneously great men are often appreciated by their contemporaries ; unless, indeed, the courtiers of James I. shared in the jealousy that he might be supposed to feel towards so formidable a rival in those branches of learning on which he most prided himself. Note C. (Page 673.) Grotius, indeed, adduces as the sole motive of the war, the reluctance of the Dutch to pay the tenth demanded by Alva, " Jam ira oppressis armorum libidinem suggerens, documento erat, nuUam esse tain firmam concordiam, q-aam quae privatae rei vinculo continetur. Gens ilia quEe cives flammari, occidi rectores, eripi leges, religionera, rempublicam viderat poene immota tum primum consensit priora ulcisci, imminentia arcere." — Annal., Uh. ii., p. 47. But in this instance, I would venture to observe, he does his coun- trymen a cruel injustice. It was not the mere payment of the tax, but the mode of its levy (without consent of the States), and the fear of its perpetuity, which drove the Hollanders to revolt, as after events most fully proved ; and he himself makes the obverva- tion, a few pages lower down, " omnia dabant, ne decimam darent j" it was because they knew that their forefathers had been accus- tomed to arrest the arbitrary measures of their sovereigns chiefly by withholding the supplies ; because they knew, that if deprived of this power, their only means of redress, except by arms, was gone, and those privileges which they might expect to recover when the government became needy or impoverished would then be lost for ever; because they must then afford their tyrant _a constant supply of strength to oppress them ; and, in the words of their historian, "every one feared an eternal slavery." — Bor, boek v., hi. 289. Nor is it just to assert that they had beheld their fellow -citizens burned, their laws annulled, and their altars violated, " unmoved ;" they had made every effort to defend them, short of offering an armed resistance : an alternative which, however it may be contem- plated with indifference by a restless, unreflecting, and predatory people, is resorted to only in the last extremity by an industrious and virtuous nation. Men in whose breasts the love of peaceful occupations and the domestic affections are strong — ^to whom their hearths and altars are dear — wiU endure much and long, ere they surrender them to be desecrated and trampled under foot in the fury of civil war; the hand of oppression must crush these ties before it can rouse them to revolt ; but, once roused, such men are rarely appeased. London : Harrison and Co., Printers, St. Martin's Lane,